The Philadelphia Flyers enter the 2026-27 season with higher expectations than last year. They’re looking at the playoffs not just as a possibility but as a given, although it’s not going to be easy to get there. They’re hoping goaltender Dan Vladar can repeat most of the numbers he delivered in his first year with the Flyers. Or at least come close to those statistics. And get Joseph Woll to pick up whatever slack might be there. They’re hoping for a healthy season from Tyson Foerster, a strong first full season from Porter Martone, and a great rebound season from Matvei Michkov. If most of those things all come together, then chances are they’ll be in good shape when March and April rolls around.
The biggest elephant in the room, and the one everyone around the team (and covering the team) hopes gets somewhat rectified is their biggest hurdle the last few years. John Tortorella couldn’t do much with it. Rocky Thompson did less. And in their first year with the club neither head coach Rick Tocchet nor Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovsky had any real answers outside of keep trying. Of course the issue is the team’s power play, and being essentially powerless the last few seasons. The Flyers were dead last in 2025-26, chugging away at 15.7 per cent. Of the eight teams in the Eastern Conference that made the playoffs, the second worst team during the regular season on the power play was Buffalo (20th at 19.5 per cent). Everyone else was at least five per cent better than Philadelphia. Carolina was almost 10 per cent better (24.9 per cent, good enough for fourth overall).
If the Flyers don’t quite resolve or improve this special teams issue (and it is an issue), the chances of once again being dead last a man up and making the playoffs are slim. The chances of a deeper playoff run is almost miniscule, as you need to have an effective power play to be a contender most of the time. The last 10 Stanley Cup winners were often in the top half of the league regarding the power play. Most of them were in the top 10 at the very least. The lone exceptions being Pittsburgh in 2015-16 when they ranked 16th, Vegas when they were 18th in 2022-23, and Florida (13th in 2024-25). In short, if you’re power play isn’t clicking, the chances of getting sixteen wins in the playoffs are possible, but very remote.
Effective power play makes everything else better
Philadelphia’s power play was responsible for just 15.4 per cent of the total goals they scored all season (37 power play goals, 240 overall). The man advantage was such a momentum stopper most nights if the Flyers had the opportunity to decline the power play and keep playing five-on-five, they probably would’ve taken that option. To be dead last in the regular season one year is a problem, but often written off due to injuries or just puck luck. When you’re dead last four of the last five seasons, that’s a huge concern. And it’s probably in the heads of some players who have been here all that time, especially a player like Travis Konecny. Fortunately that hasn’t rubbed off yet on guys like Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone, Trevor Zegras, and Denver Barkey as they haven’t been with Philadelphia long enough to have those longstanding doubts creep in.
When you’re able to score on the power play, it makes everything seemingly work better. The margin for error is a little wider, as you know a one-goal or two-goal deficit can be made up with one or two power play goals. They’re not guarantees, but having an average efficiency at least gives a team hope they can square things up on special teams. It also gives Tocchet’s extremely tight defensive structure even more prowess. Should the Flyers get one or two power play opportunities in the first, and manage to capitalize on one (or both) of them, then the team can simply play its game, check tightly, and end up with a much easier win. On top of that, knowing a team can score on the power play enables a goaltender like Dan Vladar to settle in a bit more. He’ll know he has a team in front of him capable of tying games up after allowing a goal. Not that he can be leaky or see his own stellar stats drastically drop this season. But having that knowledge that his team can score if a power play emerges can only help his play.
The Flyers scored first roughly one-third of the season. Imagine how an effective power play could change that number to roughly 50 per cent or more?
Not asking for miracles
Nobody is expecting the Flyers to end up with an Edmonton-ish power play this season. It would be foolish to think they could catch fire for 82 games and end up with a power play purring at nearly 30 per cent or more. What shouldn’t be a huge ask is an improvement that is noticeable from beginning to end, having some dry spells at times but also catching fire over a two-week or three-week period. Another season where the league ranking is worst, second-worst or third-worst should be deemed another complete failure or disaster for the power play, regardless of how many good looks, goal posts or wide open nets the forwards miss.
Ten more goals over last year’s total would put them at 47, which in 2025-26 was good enough to crack the top 20 overall, finding themselves one goal behind Buffalo and one goal ahead of Utah. A 15-goal improvement over the 37 last year would put them at 52 power play goals, and you’re easily looking at top 20 and perhaps being in the middle of the pack league-wide. That would be a huge victory this season if the Flyers were able to find themselves in the teens in terms of power play ranking. And it’s not impossible, considering again how the younger players haven’t been around much to be blamed for the awfulness the last half-decade. They’re too raw and young to understand what’s happened before them. And guys like Bump, Barkey, Martone, Zegras, and Michkov are hoping to be the answers to the problem. Fresh talent, and fresh blood, results in fresh approaches and ideas. The same old plans have come up with the same poor results.
A good start for the power play would be a blessing and a huge boost to the team’s overall confidence. The 37 goals they scored were essentially split down the middle in terms of home and away, with 19 on the road. A solid first few weeks for the power play would most likely make a lot of players forget about what happened and didn’t work the last five seasons. And start focusing on what’s working now. If the Flyers repeat everything from last season, but are still wallowing a man up, then it’s going to be all the harder to get back into the playoffs, particularly given how some non-playoff teams in the Metropolitan Division added pieces to get better. It’s an issue they can’t hide from, especially considering how glaringly bad it’s been for a good chunk of time. It has to start moving in the right direction. And the time for that is now.
Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.
