Welcome to Broad Street Hockey’s Summer 2025 Top Under 25! The series is back and with the Philadelphia Flyers focusing so much on the future, it’s more important than ever. Join us as we rank the 25 best players under the age of 25 for the next few weeks.
No. 12: Emil Andrae
2024-25 Primary League/Team: Philadelphia (NHL)
2024-25 Statistics: 1 G, 6 A in 42 GP
Age as of 9/15/2025: 23 (2/23/2002)
Acquired Via: 2020 NHL Draft – Round 2, Pick 54
Entering a new week and inching ever so close to the top 10, we find ourselves with Emil Andrae. Andrae, who split time with both the Flyers and the Phantoms, had an interesting season that saw him over the course of three months go from not making the team out of camp, to being deployed like a top-four defenseman, to losing his spot and getting sent back to the Phantoms. So, what exactly did the past 12 months tell us, and where does he go from here?
How did Andrae’s 2024-25 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?
Whether or not Andrae had a good season or not is a bit of a tough question to tackle. This time last year we said that it would be a bit disappointing if he were unable to stick in the NHL, and while he did end up playing in just over half of the Flyers’ games this past season, it’s hard to call what he did “sticking” in the league. Joining the team in late October, Andrae quickly looked the part of a quality NHL defenseman, playing just around 20 minutes a night, and putting up impressive underlying numbers. However, following a rough game for Andrae against the Blue Jackets, in which he was directly responsible for two goals against, and was generally getting pushed around pretty easily, he was healthy scratched for the next three games. He’d return to the lineup just one game before being sent back to the Phantoms.
Then-head coach John Tortorella called that an “easy decision” at the time, much to the dismay of the fanbase. At the time, Andrae’s on-ice numbers were eye-popping and while they dipped a bit down the final stretch of the season following his post-trade deadline recall, he still finished first among Flyers defensemen in both weighted and unweighted on-ice shot metrics, as well as second-best in goals for percentage. Now, it’s important to note that, per PuckIQ, Andrae spent just 22 percent of his 5-on-5 minutes against elite competition, the lowest percentage among all Philadelphia defenders. This can not only inflate his on-ice metrics to some degree, but also, and maybe more importantly, points towards Andrae not having the trust of his coaches. Not that this comes as a surprise given the minutes that he played down the stretch.
That post-trade deadline stretch saw Andrae play almost exclusively third pair minutes, with the main exception being the game that Tortorella sat Cam York for two and a half periods. And it wasn’t just Tortorella’s trust that Andrae lost; his minutes fell even further once Brad Shaw took over as interim head coach. He never quite looked like the player that he showed he could be back in November. The clean and quick exits that were seemingly holding the Flyers’ transition game up were few and far between, and his play without the puck left a lot to be desired. Not that he was in the best situation.
Look, we’re not going to blame Egor Zamula for Andrae’s finish the season, but that pair could not have looked more disjointed. Both Zamula and Andrae played their best hockey apart, and they were each other’s most (for Andrae) and second-most (for Zamula) common defensive partner; not great! Andrae also saw little power play time with just eleven minutes (13% of PHI’s PP time) post-deadline. Also not great! He has to play better at evens, but that’s not helping an offensive defenseman develop.
All of that being said, 42 games of NHL action with good five-on-five impacts is still nothing to throw away. While Andrae’s stock around here is slightly down from last year (ranked 10th in the Summer of 2024), one could argue this year was still relatively good, and that he shouldn’t be knocked too heavily for a questionable roster decision and his results in a poor situation.
What are we expecting from Andrae this season? What should we be looking for from him?
This will be a pivotal season for Andrae in many ways. He’ll get a fresh start with a new coaching staff, and will have to impress from the jump to make the team out of camp. While Rasmus Ristolainen is expected to miss training camp and potentially the start of the season, it will still be a battle. If we ignore the four locks and focus on the last two spots, there’s Zamula, the new additions in Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert, and the prospects. Handedness (and familiarity) likely gives Juulsen a slight edge for one of the spots, and then Andrae is left competing with Zamula, who the previous coaching staff preferred, and bruisers in Gilbert and Hunter McDonald. Add in the fact that he’s still waiver-exempt, and it’s fair to assume that Andrae will enter camp on the outside looking in.
Maybe the most important thing to look for from Andrae this season is his offense translating, assuming he gets into NHL games this season. It has to happen for him stick. There are some exceptions, but third-pair, depth defensemen roles will generally be filled by big, physical defenders. That leaves Andrae in a spot where if he can’t prove himself to be a no-doubt top-four defenseman, there’s a decent chance he’ll be out of the the league. Another thing to look for, and this would be a big development for both the Flyers and for Andrae himself, is if he can play his way onto the top power play unit. It’ll be up for grabs, and if he can win it (and keep it), he suddenly becomes an important piece of the puzzle.
How does Andrae fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be a part of the next good Flyers team?
When it comes to Andrae being a part of the next good Flyers team… maybe? We know, what a cop out. But look, let’s be realistic here. It is hard for shorter defensemen to stay in the NHL. There’s only a handful in recent history, and most of them are near the best in the league at something. If a 5-foot-9 defenseman isn’t shutting down top stars like Jared Spurgeon or quarterbacking a power play at an elite level like Lane Hutson, they’re not going to stick. There’s been a small handful of depth guys in recent years; Brad Hunt had some staying power, Victor Mete had a run in Montreal, and Jacob Bryson currently has a role in Buffalo. But that’s about it. So for Andrae to be a part of the next good Flyers team, his offense is going to have to start to translate. If you’re convinced that it can, then you’re likely a yes, and vice versa.
But that’s not all that may get in his way.
Here’s the thing: the Flyers might not be comfortable with all three of Andrae, Drysdale, and York in the lineup at the same time. Whether that mindset is concerning or not is a conversation for another day, but if it is the case, Andrae would likely be the odd-man out. While this is a theory that gained traction throughout the early stages of the season, they did dress all three for the final 17 games of the regular season, which may or may not actually mean all that much given that they weren’t high stakes games. They may also generally just want to get heavier on the backend, and could prioritize a player with an archetype similar to McDonald in the future, further reducing Andrae’s likelihood of being a part of the next good Flyers team. We also can’t forget that Oliver Bonk, who turns pro this season, and Spencer Gill are on the way. There’s competition coming.
If one thing is clear it’s that Andrae has a small window left to prove himself. If he spends the majority of this coming season with the Phantoms, it’s hard to imagine him being in the Flyers’ plans at all moving forward.
What do we think Andrae’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?
The tone here overall feels a bit too negative for No. 12, but that’s mostly due to circumstances out of his control. The reason he’s as high as he is on some of our lists is because of exactly this: his upside. When it comes to Andrae’s upside, it’s been popular to compare him to Kimmo Timonen. The similarities are easy to spot: both are undersized left-shot defensemen who rely on vision, anticipation, and competitiveness to make up for not being the biggest or the fastest. Like Timonen, Andrae wants to posses the puck when exiting the zone, has the instincts to find passing lanes under pressure, and won’t hesitate to jump into the play offensively when the opportunity rises. Take his game against the Bruins in late October, where he shows off his Timonen-like style and ability.
We riot if Emil Andrae comes out of this lineup again. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/TKhWQ6zy1l
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) October 30, 2024
It wasn’t just that game either, he was making these kinds of plays at both ends of the ice with consistency prior to being sent down. Yes, the sample size is small, but it’s hard to believe that the player he showed us is completely gone and can’t be unlocked again.
Peak Timonen is too far of a stretch, but if everything breaks right, there’s still a chance that Andrae turns out to be a slightly-worse Timonen; a reliable second-pair defender who’s responsible at both ends of the ice and runs one of the power play units. While that would obviously be a huge development for the Flyers, it might not feel super likely given what he has going against him. A more centered projection could be a Matt Grzelcyk-type; a third-pair, offensive guy who can play up in a pinch. But the upside? We’ve seen it, albeit briefly, at the NHL level. Get it back and he’s golden.
Previously in Philadelphia Flyers Summer 2025 Top 25 Under 25:
