The year of 2024 was very interesting for the Philadelphia Flyers, but 2025 might top it. Before, we were all awaiting the arrival of Matvei Michkov and whether or not he would actually be truly in the Orange and Black sometime soon. And on top of that, it was an interesting summer of inactivity other than restocking the prospect cupboards with some solid foundational pieces. Besides that, it was clearly going to be a year focused more on what is to come rather than what is right in front of us.
Now, the calendar has been turned to a new year and we are looking to see what the next step is in this master plan that Flyers management have apparently cooked up. And, well, some other things to look out for in the next 12 months.
Where the Flyers go from here in the rebuild
This is certainly the most significant thing about the Flyers’ upcoming year. Right now, the Flyers are playing out the start of the rebuild, but doing it in their own way. There will be no purposeful tanking, but rather a team that will keep the good players around, and ship out the excess who could be replaced much easier than the top skaters. That’s their plan right now. It has not happened yet, as players like Rasmus Ristolainen and Scott Laughton are still here but in trade rumors leading up to the March 7 deadline, but it could come.
And then comes the offseason. It will be a crucial Draft for this Flyers team — or at least an interesting one. With three first-round picks and three second-round picks, the Flyers have a rare opportunity to either fill the prospect pool with a substantial amount of talent for the future, or make some moves to make the team right now much better with a slight focus on the future (young top-six center?); or they can do a little bit of both. Either way, it will be a very important summer and that should include maybe a free agent acquisition with a little more jump than some AHL depth.
While it feels impossibly far away, it will be interesting to see what the team looks like to start the 2025-26 season. We have no idea what this roster will look like then, but through the first couple months of a fresh season, is this team making the right progress in the rebuild? Would there be a whole lot of young players on this roster? We’ll see, but we do know one dude who will be here.
Matvei Michkov’s ascension
It’s all about Michkov. As we have repeatedly said leading up to this current season, the Flyers whole plan resolves around this young Russian winger being a franchise player. And so far, we have seen plenty to be happy about, but there have of course been bumps in the road of his rookie season. It was expected though. Not every single top prospect comes in with an innate sense in all three zones and can score a billion points.
He has made this team better when he is on, so now we are just waiting to see what his next level is and if he can avoid any sense of a sophomore slump. Maybe, just maybe, he gets to have a full-time center he could build some chemistry with and get even more recognition for his play.
What they do with the goaltending
Maybe it’s just recency bias as we are midway through this season and none of the current three Flyers netminders have shown anything resembling Good Goaltending. Sam Ersson was good while under the wing of a former Flyers starter but has not been able to be the No. 1 on this team. Ivan Fedotov, while a great story, has not been able to take control of games and is currently on the bottom of this trio. And then we have Aleksei Kolosov, who forced his way into the Flyers tandem, looked decent for a brief period of time, but the 22-year-old clearly needs more development. It’s just not a good situation.
But with the growth of both Yegor Zavragin and Carson Bjarnason as very good prospects in between the pipes, the focus is now on when they can eventually get here. There is a window to either wait and see, or to address the issue as soon as possible. Will be interesting to see what they actually do (if anything).
How the next wave of prospects perform
Speaking of prospects, there will be an influx of talent climbing the ranks and hopefully playing up a level to start the 2025-26 season. Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk will be leaving London and turning professional, most likely starting a crucial season for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Jett Luchanko could find himself on the Flyers roster beyond the four games he played at 18 years old. Alex Bump, Cole Knuble, and Devin Kaplan probably have an opportunity to sign contracts and leave college hockey. And then you have current AHLers like Samu Tuomaala and Hunter McDonald who could be battling hard for a spot at training camp next fall.
It is going to be really interesting to see just where everyone lands and how their seasons begin. There will be massive tests and challenges for these young players, and that will further filter out who will truly make it.
What RFAs the Flyers decide to commit to
In the NHL, beyond Michkov and what is in between the pipes, the next biggest storyline has to be the upcoming class of restricted free agents this summer. Cam York, Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Morgan Frost will all be RFAs and all will most likely be given an opportunity to come back to the team.
But who will be offered the long-term deals, and who will be just given something to bridge the gap to unrestricted free agency with hardly a pay raise? Will the Flyers really want to hand seven- or eight-year deals to York or Foerster with how the team is playing right now? Do they think high enough of Cates to commit to him being a bottom-six center for the rest of the decade? We will find out the answers in a few months, but the rest of the season will most likely spell it out for us.
