The Philadelphia Flyers sit in playoff position in April. We wrote them off, and they didn’t write back. There’s still time for things to go sideways, but if we’re to believe our eyes, the rest of the teams in the hunt are out of gas. Philadelphia has gotten a huge boost from adding two young, healthy top-six forwards when other teams are firing their coaches. Turning back the clock, we remember that the goal of the season was to get the young players in “meaningful games” late in the season. They’ve absolutely done that, even if they had to scratch and claw every minute of the way, and regardless of how everything plays out, they’ll be hungry to get back here next season.
The young players are driving the bus
This isn’t a case of Travis Konecny putting the team on his back, or in the past, Claude Giroux dragging a mediocre roster with no high-end prospects to a first-round exit. The Flyers are getting big contributions from players still developing: Tyson Foerster, Trevor Zegras, and now, Porter Martone. Matvei Michkov just had a three point game to defeat the New York Islanders on the road and open the door for Easter Sunday’s Boston Bruins contest to give the Flyers the third spot in the Metropolitan division. Martone kicked that door down with his first NHL goal and a primary assist.
"Give him the chance to grow and get the experience of playing some meaningful games."
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 30, 2026
Danny Briere looks forward to Porter Martone joining the Flyers' young talent down the stretch. pic.twitter.com/BBWEofv0oG
Martone in particular has been a revelation in just four games. He’s up to 20 shots on goal, and was finally rewarded in a big way on Easter with the overtime winner. Per MoneyPuck, all of Martone, Zegras, Foerster, Drysdale, and Michkov all cleared 70 percent Expected Goals Share in all situations against Boston. Emil Andrae continues to play well when he’s given opportunities. Despite the loss to Detroit, Andrae was second among Flyers with a 92 percent Expected Goals Share. Turning 25 a couple of weeks ago, Zegras is the old man of that bunch. It’s a great endorsement of the development staff and a big reason why the Flyers have such an optimistic outlook for the coming years.
Even a late-round pick like Alex Bump has grown into a key contributor in the stretch run. Despite rotating out of the lineup with Denver Barkey, Bump has two multi-point games in the last five that he’s played in limited minutes. After winning a national championship with Western Michigan, he’s getting more big games under his belt– and performing well. The Flyers are doing a good job getting guys who have some dog in them, and they’re showing it.
Alex Bump – Philadelphia Flyers (4) pic.twitter.com/282HOGJQ9N
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) April 4, 2026
Learning how to win playoff style games
The schedule has been intense. With the amount of back-to-backs, the Flyers will have more days off than practices scheduled in the final two weeks of the season. They finish with eight games in the final 13 days. It’s a sprint to the end, and the Flyers are catching up quickly. Even running on fumes, the Flyers hang on; the Islanders game is a prime example of that. There were long stretches of time, including the final eight minutes of empty-net attacking, where Islanders were pounding the Flyers, who had just played a big game the night before. It didn’t break their resolve, and they hung on for a huge regulation win, and even found a way to drive in a dagger with that fourth goal by Travis Sanheim.
They’ve outdone themselves again with Sunday’s big win against Boston. In their biggest home game in, conservatively, at least two years, the Flyers beat a 95-point Bruins team in their fourth game in six days. It was physical, it was chippy, and the referees let them play for the most part. It’s a good example of how games will be at this time of the year, and it can’t be overstated how important it is that Porter Martone looked excellent– again. His size and tenacity were plus-traits heading into the draft, and he had playoff-style player written all over him even before his big year at Michigan State.
It’s a good mix the Flyers have going for them right now. With a foundation built around Konecny and Sanheim, and Dan Vladar giving them good goaltending, the veterans on the team are providing good stability for the young players to take their moments. Christian Dvorak, who opened the scoring on Sunday, has been a steady linemate for 19-year-old Martone. Their combination with Konecny has a 66.7 percent Expected Goals Share in their 40 minutes together– the most of any line the Flyers have used this season with that much ice-time. After stabilizing for Zegras all year, Dvorak is doing well bringing Martone along.
Missing out, while it would hurt, would be a good experience long-term
This is in no way saying they should miss the playoffs for the benefit of their long-term growth. At this point, for the fanbase to latch onto this team, they should make the playoffs and carry some momentum into the next season. Simply the worst-case scenario at this point, missing the playoffs would still serve as a motivational boost for the younger guys. Players like Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim surely don’t care for that, as they’ve been in these situations before, but to learn from mistakes made in April wouldn’t hamper development as mentally taxing at it would be to everyone. Rasmus Ristolainen, who has played over 800 NHL games and never seen playoff hockey, can probably taste it. Missing out would really stink, probably more for the veterans who have stuck around for a while, but wouldn’t be a disaster on the whole.
Much has changed in the last week; it sure seems like there’s several more “meaningful games” on the schedule than maybe we expected. For a starving fanbase, it’s the best outcome. The other Philadelphia teams aren’t exactly in the spotlight at the moment, so all eyes are on them. It’s easier to play with house money than with expectations. It’s still not their year to win the Stanley Cup, unless Martone is an immediate superstar level talent, but they’re definitely getting the experience they needed. To build off of the success is the next challenge in front of Danny Briere, as expectations will rightfully be higher next year. For the first time in a long time, we approach an offseason where playoffs become a necessity.
