The Flyers have four games remaining. Nothing is secured just yet, and the magic number is just slightly higher than the tragic number going into tonight’s critical contest against Detroit. But whatever happens over the next periods, Philadelphia has turned some heads this season. And have shushed a lot of the critics, particularly since the Olympic break. So while no champagne corks should be popping just yet, we can at least look back at what some of the notable experts around the league projected. Most of it was dire, with the Flyers looking directionless, mediocre at best, and just waiting for a miracle to have any playoff aspirations.
Nobody here at Broad Street Hockey predicted a season like this, and certainly not a homestretch this thrilling. Yet, here the Flyers are in third in the Metropolitan Division, and in full control of their own destiny. Here then are some of the point predictions/projections various sites had for the Philadelphia Flyers. And how those projections are looking a bit sillier with each passing day. So, in no particular order, are a handful of analysts/experts and what they believed was in store for the Flyers before the puck dropped in October to get the season going.
Evolving-Hockey
Evolving-Hockey correctly had Carolina sitting atop the Metropolitan, but then things get a bit screwy to say the least. The Capitals, Devils, and Rangers were set to be second, third, and fourth in the division, respectively. Two of those teams are toast, and one needs the hockey gods to shine on them the next week for them to eke in. The cellar dwellers included Pittsburgh at sixth who were projected to be at 81.3 points (and with a 13.8 per cent of making the playoffs). They look to be the second seed now. And last and certainly thought to be the least? The Flyers with 78.7 points for the season (and 8.6 per cent chance of playoff hockey).
“The Flyers, on the other hand, are looking bleak,” the site wrote. “After several years of icing quite a few players that have shown up in our infamous year-end award threads on ‘X’, they now have a team with little direction. Not that a projected point total of 85 is anything special, but falling short by nine points in 24-25 and entering this season with a roster where your only standout players are depth players that only Evolving-Hockey could love doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.”
The Flyers currently sit with 92 points and have a chance to hit 100 points if they run the table the last four games. And their playoff percentage sits a wee higher than nearly nine percent. But let’s move on.
The Athletic
The Athletic had the Flyers with 79.1 points, which they deemed to be “about right.” The site said unless the Flyers got “reliable goaltending” thanks to the arrival of Dan Vladar and Sam Ersson having a bounce-back kind of season, there was “no reason to think they can be in the mix for a playoff spot. The addition of Trevor Zegras was lauded but generally, the site believed it would be primarily more of the same, just with Rick Tocchet behind the bench and not John Tortorella.
ESPN
The Flyers were once again at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division barrel, at least that’s what ESPN predicted for them. “They’re going to be a tough out, and fun to watch, depending on how much time Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov are given to create content,” the site wrote. “But the Flyers aren’t likely to grab too many headlines in Philadelphia this season.” Meanwhile, ESPN’s bold prediction for the club in 2025-26 was winning the 2026 NHL Draft lottery, thus being able to select Gavin McKenna with the top pick. Unless McKenna’s stock plummets in the weeks leading up to the draft, it’s doubtful that’s going to happen now.
The Hockey News
The site’s Adam Proteau placed the Flyers in sixth in the Metro. “But while the Flyers are a team to keep your eye on, they’re still well behind the majority of the Metro, and they’re going to need another couple of years of growing pains before they can be reliably be a playoff team,” Proteau wrote. While the reporter acknowledged the addition of Trevor Zegras, he was lukewarm at best on Dan Vladar’s signing. “He’s not going to stand on his head for this team or any other team,” he wrote of the Flyers addition between the pipes. “Thus, it’s definitely possible that the Flyers fall to seventh or eighth spot in the Metro.”
HockeyViz.com
The number here didn’t look good unless you were hoping the Flyers had a great chance in the 2026 NHL Draft lottery. Philadelphia once again found themselves at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, six points back of the Islanders. However, they were also projected to be the fourth-worst team in the league with 72 points, one back of San Jose but one ahead of the Kraken. The site also projected the Flyers had a 51 per cent chance of being the cellar dwellers. They also had a three per cent chance of making the playoffs. Again, those percentages are a little bit higher now.
