Next up in our season preview series: the young core forwards that have a pretty darn good shot to be on the next great Flyers team. For now, we grouped four players into this category: Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, and Bobby Brink. So, let’s dive into what we can expect from the young forwards in 2025-26.
Tyson Foerster
What did we see from Foerster last season?
Foerster did well to build on his strong rookie year, totaling 25 goals and 18 assists across 81 games last season. It wasn’t the massive leap forward that some expected from the player, but Foerster continued to show that he’s an essential part of the team’s future plans. On the Flyers’ most consistent line last season with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink, Foerster was an essential cog in the machine. His strength in winning battles all over the ice, improved skating, and defensive awareness helped to make that line relentless in all three zones. So, even when Foerster was in an extended scoring slump (8 points in the first 24 games), Foerster’s style of play earned him consistent and lenient amounts of ice time from John Tortorella.
Remembering back to his rookie season, Foerster had some of the most sterling defensive metrics in the league for a winger, an impressive mark for a rookie. While Foerster’s on-ice 5-on-5 shot-attempts share decreased from 54.3% to 47.4% from his rookie year to last season, Foerster remained above average in his expected-goal share at 5-on-5. The Flyers earned nearly 52% of the expected goals at even strength when Foerster was on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick. Really solid stuff from the second year winger.
It’s also worth noting that Foerster went to the World Championships in May for Team Canada, and turned heads with his improvements. He was the subject of some pretty high-end praise from Sidney Crosby, as Rick Tocchet mentioned the other day. Things are looking up for Foerster, even after an elbow injury that held him out of the first bit of training camp.
What type of role do we expect Foerster to play this season?
After sustaining the elbow injury and infection at the World Championships, there has been some concern about Foerster’s ability to properly train and prepare for the upcoming season. There was also a moment of worry that Foerster wouldn’t make it back in time to start the season, but by all accounts, Foerster’s a full participant in practices as we get the second full week of camp started.
So, we expect Foerster to slot right back into the Flyers top-6 to start the season. He could also end up on a line with Cates and Brink again, as a reliable puck-possession focused trio. But, considering the importance the Flyers have placed on Foerster in this rebuild, we really expect Foerster to get an extended look alongside either Trevor Zegras or Sean Couturier in the top-6. There’s lots of opportunities for Foerster’s strengths to play well off either Zegras or Couturier, specifically as defensive-zone and forechecking support with Zegras. And, if he’s placed on a line with some more offensively gifted players than Brink and Cates, Foerster’s own scoring totals have a pretty good chance at going up. If there’s a significant step to be taken by Foerster, expect somewhere in the 50-60 point range for the third year player.
Noah Cates
What did we see from Cates last season?
Last season, Noah Cates really took his position as the Flyers’ jack of all trades forward. While he’s probably best suited in a third-line role, Cates’ ability to play center and on the wing is really becoming an asset. He’s really a perfect guy to plug into the top-6 in a pinch, kind of like how Scott Laughton did for quite a while. For that level of play, Cates was rewarded in June with a four year contract extension worth four million dollars annually, making him a crucial part of the plan moving forward.
As to his performance, Cates registered 16 goals and 21 assists across 78 games. He returned to his rookie-year level, where Cates reached 36 points and even received down ballot Selke votes. Taking a look at Cates’ defensive zone play, Cates continually graded out well by Corey Sznajder’s metrics. While Cates didn’t frequently leave the defensive zone with possession very often, what Cates excelled at was continually being around the play in the zone and helping to snuff out danger. Further, Cates’ 2024-25 season featured his continued excellence on the forecheck. Cates, as the first or second forward flying into the offensive zone, remained one of the Flyers’ strongest forecheckers year over year.
What type of role do we expect Cates to play this season?
Cates should slide right into the third line center role, probably on a line with Foerster and Brink to start the year. With Trevor Zegras and Sean Couturier in front of him on the depth chart, we would expect Cates to earn some of the tougher defensive assignments (along with Couturier). He’s likely going to be deployed in all situations, on the penalty kill and especially when holding a late lead. Somewhere between 30-45 points is probably the range of point outcomes for Cates, but considering his defensive acumen, that’s a really effective and valuable player. Quickly, we expect Cates to become one of Tocchet’s favorites.
Owen Tippett
What did we see from Tippett last season?
Owen Tippett’s 2024-25 season was maddening, frustrating, and wildly inconsistent. His point total decreased from 53 to 43, and Tippett scored 8 less goals than the year prior. It wasn’t merely that Tippett was less productive, his season was also maddening because Tippett’s playing style significantly shifted. Especially during his lulls, he wasn’t nearly as aggressive, he lost confidence in his shot, and it’s not exactly like Tippett offers a ton on the defensive end. Even more than in 2023-24, Tippett’s offense was frequently on the perimeter, and he was shooting even less.
Tippett’s shooting percentage actually increased from 9.7% to 10.6%, but that doesn’t exactly show any improvement, due to his massive dropoff in shot attempts. Tippett’s lack of aggression in 2024-25 is really evident in his 120 less shot attempts than in the previous season, attempting only 424 shots compared to 2023-24’s whopping 544. He just seemed less explosive than he was in his first two years in Orange and Black, frequently disappearing over the course of a game. If Tippett’s going to be inconsistent like he was last season, you’d expect him to maintain his explosive skill when he’s “on”. That wasn’t really the case for most of last season, prompting some real concern for Tippett moving forward on this team.
What type of role do we expect Tippett to play this season?
As was the case the last three years, Tippett is going to be given every chance to be a top-6 player for the 2025-26 Flyers. Despite his struggles, Tippett remains one of the most skilled forwards on this team and will be expected to perform as such. Even though the pressure might be a bit less than in previous years, following the arrival of Trevor Zegras and second-year Matvei Michkov, Tippett performing well could really help raise the ceiling of the Flyers this year. We’ll see how it goes, but we can expect anywhere between 20 to 30 goals for Tippett.
Bobby Brink
What did we see from Brink last season?
With 41 points in 79 games, Bobby Brink’s season was easily the most productive season for him in the NHL thus far. On that very productive third line with Foerster and Cates, Brink really came into his own as a skillful, chance-creating winger in the NHL. The big takeaway from Brink’s season though was how he responded to the criticism from John Tortorella of his defensive zone play and physicality. He legitimately became a pretty solid defensive player that no longer had glaring positional mishaps or crucial turnovers in the neutral zone. That’s a real positive, and despite his smaller NHL frame, Brink became a pretty good all-around player that wasn’t only offensively oriented. There was a ton to like, and Brink is going to need to keep his upward trajectory going in order to cement his future with the organization.
What type of role do we expect Brink to play this season?
Having said that, Bobby Brink might be on…the brink. This feels like a particularly big season for Brink to prove his long-term worth with this team. There’s simply a lot coming in the pipeline that could challenge Brink for his top-9 role at points this season and certainly next. Guys like Alex Bump and Denver Barkey could certainly threaten Brink’s role in the top-9 (particularly the latter in 2026-27). Considering Brink’s skillset doesn’t make much sense in a fourth line role, we’d be looking at a player that could be quite expendable in a year’s time. For now though, Brink is expected to slot into a third-line role with this team, and probably the second power play unit. Similar to last season, it’s fair to expect 40 or so points from Brink this season.
