The season hasn’t even started yet. Hell, the pre-season hasn’t started yet. So there’s a long way to go before the 2026 NHL Draft rolls around. As is the case every year, the NHL holds its draft lottery during playoff time, with those teams with the most lottery balls possibly looking to land Gavin McKenna, the forward who, as of now, is the consensus top pick in 2026. The Philadelphia Flyers were pining to move up in the 2025 lottery. Instead they moved down to sixth but still ended up with Porter Martone, a highly-skilled blue-chip winger who should be a key piece down the road.
This offseason saw the Flyers take baby steps to address some issues. Goaltending? Well, they signed Dan Vladar, who should help ease the burden on Sam Ersson’s shoulders. Defense? With the injury to Rasmus Ristolainen and the departure of Erik Johnson last season, the Flyers signed Dennis Gilbert and Noah Juulsen in free agency. But prior to free agency and the draft, the Flyers addressed their center depth with the trade for Trevor Zegras, giving up Ryan Poehling and some picks in the process. The goal in addressing these concerns was obviously to improve the Flyers in 2025-26. In a perfect world, these adds get the Flyers deep into the season with playoffs still in their minds. Or having a chance in April to get into a wildcard spot. Flyers general manager Danny Briere wants to turn the corner, and wants that turn to start this season.
But what Philadelphia looks like on paper and what might be the on-ice product could be two drastically different things. And a bevy of different problems could arise that could see the Flyers out of the playoff picture before the Winter Olympics begin in February. If that’s the case, you could see Briere sell off a few pieces for picks to open up more slots for the younger talent in the pipeline? And at the same time make the team a bit worse to possibly end up in the lottery.
Anything is possible, but here’s a few key items (in no particular order) that would have to happen for the Flyers’ 2025-26 season to go quite pear-shaped, leaving them with the same amount or possibly more lottery balls than they had in 2025.
Dan Vladar gets injured
Last season Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov provided Flyers fans with the worst exhibition of goaltending in their franchise history. That’s saying an awful lot for a franchise who has had goaltending issues over the decades. With the addition of Vladar, the idea is to help Ersson while at the same time provide the Flyers with a credible backup this year. And with the extremely condensed, concentrated schedule, Vladar is going to be called on a lot this year.
An early-season (or mid-season) injury to Vladar that takes him out of the lineup for weeks (or months) puts the Flyers back to square one. Ersson would be left holding the proverbial bag most of the time, with either Fedotov or (if he’s still with the Flyers) Kolosov trying to fill in. Maybe one of them would be solid between the pipes and get the job done in Vladar’s absence. Yet based on logic, there is nothing to indicate that the 2024-25 versions of Ersson, Fedotov and Kolosov would be vastly different for the 2025-26 season. It’s rare that a backup goaltender has had the chance to possibly be a starter coming into training camp. Vladar may have that opportunity if the other three are looking bad. Which is why it’s crucial for him to remain healthy. If Vladar is on the sidelines, or has a recurring or nagging injury that limits his appearances, then the Flyers are behind the eight ball in terms of a playoff spot. And an awful lot closer to the draft lottery.
Power play pitfall
It’s difficult to imagine a power play as pitiful as the last three seasons. But until the Flyers prove over a lengthy stretch or half of a season they can score rather regularly on the power play (or roughly once every five times), not much will change during the regular season. Fortunately, a new head coach in Rick Tocchet (and his staff) should be able to find out what Rocky Thompson attempted to do and do the antithesis of that. And the addition of Trevor Zegras should help get the Flyers to respectability (ideally in the middle of the pack in terms of effectiveness).
However, the idea of Zegras gelling with Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny, or Owen Tippett on the power play is just that for now. Maybe the power play gets off to a horrid start and the mistakes they made last year start to creep back in. A slow start would also result in little to no confidence, making the rather stationary, over-thinking and ridiculously deliberate power play emerge. Again. The Flyers have a bit more high-end talent over last year. Regardless, they are still going to have to fight for every goal on most nights. And if the power play doesn’t help them get goals that can tie a game up (or put Philadelphia ahead), then it’s going to be pushing a boulder uphill a majority of these upcoming 82 games. If anyone assumes Zegras immediately improves the power play, one only has to remember the Penguins drooling over acquiring Erik Karlsson and how it would help Pittsburgh’s power play. It didn’t.
Trevor Zegras acquisition becomes a disaster
If Zegras doesn’t pan out, it shouldn’t be a huge issue. It’s a season, one to see if Zegras can deliver the good and end up creating a lengthy second chapter with the Flyers. Granted, injuries could play a part as it could with any player. However if a healthy Zegras is a miss on far more nights than he’s a hit, then the effect will be two-fold. For one, it will definitely affect the power play. And secondly, it will also mean that Philadelphia is still going to be looking for a center (or two) next summer in free agency. A lot of that would depend on if Jett Luchanko is ready to step into the lineup on a regular basis. But let’s not get that far ahead of ourselves.
Zegras putting in the work and the effort every shift should keep him out of Tocchet’s doghouse. If he begins missing assignments, jumping the zone or cheating a bit when it comes to defensive zone coverage, that’s a problem. That might mean Tocchet cutting his ice time. Which could see Zegras go from being the happy-go-lucky newbie eager to prove doubters wrong to a forward with an axe to grind and looking forward to getting out of town. It’s a one-year experiment. If it blows up in Briere’s face it doesn’t bode well for this year. Other than possibly landing McKenna.
Michkov and the sophomore slump
Matvei Michkov enters his second year as a pro with a lot to live up to in terms of his own expectations. They are quite high, higher than even Briere thought was doable in his rookie year. So with that bar so high, and the dreaded sophomore slump possibly awaiting him in 2025-26, Michkov might take a step sideways or a step backwards regarding his production. A slow start could see the Mad Russian flustered and frustrated, putting more pressure on himself and trying to do everything alone. He may also see the opposition paying a lot more attention to him than in his first year. Being one of the biggest threats on the Flyers may have him playing against the opposition’s best checking line or shutdown unit.
There’s nothing better than knowing Michkov is starting his second season when many believed he was still a season away from playing for the Flyers. Here’s hoping that he (and Zegras) are able to find some magic or chemistry off the bat. A lengthy pointless streak or goal drought could have Michkov looking a bit out of sorts. And the Flyers out of the loop early on.
Sanheim sags
There’s nothing to indicate Travis Sanheim is going to reverse course on what has been a very fine couple of seasons of late. He’s eating up minutes galore, is a credible top pairing defenseman and should find himself wearing Canada’s colors in February for the Olympics. He should remain one of the key and best blueliners the Flyers have to offer for the next few years.
What would an average or sub-average season from Sanheim do for Philadelphia? Well, nothing really good. The first pairing would be struggling, leaving the middle and bottom pairs with a lot more responsibility to pick up the slack and play above their heads. And that would certainly put more pressure on the goaltenders, something that nobody needs to see or bear witness to. It’s unlikely Sanheim regresses drastically this year, but a poor year from Sanheim means a pretty poor season for the Flyers. And a lot of lottery balls at the end of it.
