The second and final full week of the Flyer’s preseason is officially in the books, and while the results for the team on a collective level were something of a strange mixed bag — the Flyers ended last week by having their A-team lose to the Bruins’ B-team, but then began the week beating their A-team with their B-team in the rematch up in Boston, and then fell in a close game to a middling Islanders lineup at home, and then closed it out by being taken to a shootout by, effectively, the Utica Comets (though they did still manage to come away with that win). There’s certainly a lot to unpack from this run of preseason action, and we’ll certainly be working through more of the headlines this week as we approach the regular season opener, but in the meantime, let’s run through some of the standout performances of the week.
3. Noah Cates
2 G, 3 SOG, in 3 GP
Cates has gotten a lot of work in throughout the back half of this preseason schedule, having played in all three of the Flyers’ games this past week, and despite others in the lineup showing some signs of fatigue, Cates has done well to rise to the occasion. While he hasn’t been racking up a whole ton of chances, he’s been efficient in converting on the chances he’s getting, like this pretty emphatic putaway after a nice little tick-tack-toe setup on the power play.
🚨 Tied up! 🚨
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 3, 2025
Catesy and Tys stay HOT. 🔥#NYIvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/qjnUqA1U2F
And while Cates has put together a very solid week for himself on an individual level, it’s worth mentioning that he’s also working exceptionally well as a cog in the wheel that is his newly reassembled line with Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink — reunited when Foerster was finally cleared to return to play on Monday in Boston, the trio has been clicking well in their higher volume of minutes at 5-on-5, but also as a presence, kept together, on the Flyer’s second power play unit. Between the forechecking nightmare they can inflict on their opponents, the chemistry they’ve managed to carry into this new season, and the finishing ability they’ve shown so far, this line has been a force to be reckon with, and Cates has been a driving force in that early success they’ve found.
2. Travis Sanheim
2 G, 1 A, 4 SOG, in 2 GP
While the bottom of the Flyers’ defensive lineup has remained, at times, a bit suspect, the same can’t be said for Sanheim at the top of that same lineup. Sent out for his usual top minute usage — and often deployed with a familiar partner in Cam York — Sanheim has been able to immediately jump back into this new season as a player for the Flyers who can take a lot of difficult minutes and do it largely without major incident. His largely steady presence has been big for the Flyers in the pair of games he got in for, but it wasn’t even the flashiest bit about his week — in this pair of games, his offensive game has also been coming to life in a big way.
🚨 SHG! 🚨
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 2, 2025
Dvo with the dish, Sanny with the finish. #NYIvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/O9Kf6czyas
It’s no secret that Sanheim has the tools to be an effective offensive contributor as well, but all the same, it’s been nice to see that part of his game waking up already. We might not be expecting to see huge highlight reel plays from him like we did on that shorthanded goal — and a nod to Christian Dvorak for what couldn’t have been a niftier setup is in order as well — on a more or less nightly basis, but to see that he feels empowered to step up in that way as the opportunity presents itself under this new coaching staff does feel like it bodes well for what we might see from him as the season really gets going.
1. Travis Konecny
3 G, 1 shootout goal, 4 SOG in 2 GP
And to close this one out, it really was a big week for Flyers players named Travis. Konecny also got in for two of the three games on the schedule this past week, and he showed up as an absolute force for them on offense. He kicked off his week with a goal against the Islanders on Thursday and a bit of spark contributed to that game, but he really popped in his second game of the week in Saturday’s matinee — providing a nice response goal on the power play to get things moving again for the Flyers in the second period, and then adding the much-needed tying goal late in the third period to force this one past regulation, and then he capped things off, of course, with this very slick move in the shootout to seal the win for the Flyers, and close out the preseason on a high note.
🔶 FLYERS WIN 🔶
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 4, 2025
TK saves the day. #NJDvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/0dT63arMfo
To see Konecny stepping up in this was, all in all, is a huge positive. Despite all the games played and the foundation beginning to be laid for the Flyers’ new system, there are still some lingering questions about what things are going to look like for this team, and who’s going to step up and help lead them as they look to move into this next step of their rebuild. If the team is going to find success here, Konecny is going to need to be a major part of it, and he certainly seems ready to hit the ground running.
