The calendar has flipped to September, preseason games are just weeks away, and NHL 26 is about to be released. That’s right, EA Sports isn’t waiting until after the season begins this year, with NHL 26 set to release on Friday, September 12.
They started by revealing the top 10 players at each position in late August, which shockingly had no Flyers players on it, and then revealed the top 10 players for each team.
You can probably guess who some of the top-rated players on the Flyers are, but some of the ones down the pecking order may make you scratch your head.
Travis Sanheim — 88
NHL 25 Rating: 87
Alright, I’ll give EA some credit here. Sanheim was arguably the Flyers’ team MVP in the first few months of the season and turned that into a steady role on the blue line for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
But is name recognition enough to bump him up a rating from 87 to 88? Sanheim went from 10 goals and 34 assists down to 8 goals and 22 assists last season. Maybe going from being a minus-20 to minus-6 helps?
As someone who exclusively uses the Flyers to play online, I’m not going to complain too much, but keeping Sanheim at 87 may have made more sense.
Travis Konecny — 88
NHL 25 Rating: 89
The Travii are at the top, as one might expect, with Konecny joining Sanheim at 88 overall. But what’s that? Konecny was an 89 in NHL 25!
He also played for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, although he was a healthy scratch in the championship game. He also set a career-high with 76 points and 52 assists, but I guess the decrease from 33 goals in 2024-25 to just 24 tallies last year did him in.
But c’mon, keeping Konecny at 89 would’ve been justified.
He had 58 points (21 goals, 37 assists) in his first 51 games while playing through some nagging injuries for part of that. He admittedly emptied the tank to make Team Canada, which, combined with the Flyers trading away a few top-six forwards, resulted in just 18 points (and a paltry 3 goals) in his final 31 contests.
Matvei Michkov — 88
NHL 25 Rating: 87
Michkov joins the Travii at 88 overall, and honestly, not many notes here.
The Russian phenom met expectations during his rookie season while playing for a notoriously tough coach and on one of the worst offensive teams in the league. He led all rookies with 26 goals and added 37 assists for 63 points to blow past his preseason over/under set in the high 40s.
Sean Couturier — 85
NHL 25 Rating: 85
Once EA Sports decides a veteran’s rating, they’re usually set there unless something drastic happens.
If anything, though, Couturier may have deserved a bump up to 86 after seeing an increase of four goals and three assists while playing strong two-way hockey. We’ll see how he fares this season with a more player-friendly head coach.
Cam York — 84
NHL 25 Rating: 84
Not many Flyers fans even know what to make of York, so keeping him at a solid 84 isn’t surprising. He missed 16 games last season and saw his point total drop from 30 to 17.
This is going to be a big season for York after signing a five-year extension this summer.
Owen Tippett — 84
NHL 25 Rating: 85
Much like with York, EA Sports echoed Flyers fans’ sentiments around Tippett. He had a disappointing season last year with just 20 goals and 43 points after putting up 55 goals in the previous two seasons.
Offense is where it’s at, though, especially in video games. His speed and shot are still there; he just needs to use ’em more.
Bobby Brink — 83
NHL 25 Rating: 82
Brink had a breakout season last year after an offseason of hard work. He bulked up off the ice, and it paid dividends on the ice as he became one of the Flyers’ most-trusted forwards.
His goal total only increased from 11 to 12, but he jumped up from 12 assists to 29 to see his point total nearly double from 23 — in a season when he got sent to the AHL — to 41 while playing over a minute more per game.
Noah Cates — 83
NHL 25 Rating: 81
Cates is the first Flyers player to jump up two ratings points from 81 to 83, and deservedly so. He more than doubled his 18 points from the previous season with a season-high 16 goals to boot.
Brink and Cates being at 83 makes sense, but there’s someone noticeably missing.
Trevor Zegras — 83
NHL 25 Rating: 82
The cover boy from NHL 23 has had a fall from grace in recent years. He fell all the way down to an 82 overall last year, but hopefully, this will be the start of his renaissance.
Zegras showed that he still had it last year with 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists) in 33 games after coming back from knee surgery. That’s an 82-game pace of 54 points, which would be just fine for the Flyers this season.
Nick Seeler — 82
NHL 25 Rating: 80
With all due respect to Nick Seeler and his willingness to throw his body in front of anything and take on anyone, what? Nick Seeler is the Flyers’ 10th-best player? And he went up two overall points from the previous year’s game?
There are at least a few other Flyers players who should be rated at 82 or higher.
Notable Snubs
Tyson Foerster (NHL 25 Rating: 81)
Brink and Cates are up at 83. Why isn’t Foerster?
After posting a 20-13–33 statline in the 2023-24 season, Foerster hit career-highs in all three categories with 25 goals and 18 assists for 43 points. He shot at a 17.6% clip while playing strong two-way hockey. What’s not to like?
Jamie Drysdale (NHL 25 Rating: 82)
Drysdale was an 82 in last year’s game, and could very well be an 82 again with Seeler winning some sort of tiebreaker, but seeing a stay-at-home defenseman rated over an offensive-minded one is quite surprising.
The right-handed rover played in 70 games and put up a respectable 20 points while playing 19:55 per game. We all want to see more from him, and this will be a big season, but he should be at least 82 overall.
All in all, we guess EA Sports did a fine job in rating the top 10 Flyers in NHL 26, but there are definitely a few bones to pick.
