What we’ve learned halfway through this Flyers season

Following the loss against Toronto Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Flyers have now played 41 games and reached the official halfway point of the season. In many ways, particularly with the team hovering around hockey .500, the season has gone the way one might have expected. A team on the bubble, but pretty close to the bottom of the league at the same time, with constant questions looming about the franchise’s true commitment to a rebuild. No matter what, the 2024-25 season has allowed the Flyers to collect data points on players and evaluate who should or should not be on the next great Flyers team. For the first 41 games, there are a ton of key takeaways that Danny Briere and Co. could have gleaned, so here’s our best crack at what we’ve learned thus far in the 2024-25 season.

Matvei Michkov is the real deal

What this season always was truly about was the development of young players and no player in more important than one Matvei Michkov. The heralded prospect has largely lived up to the hype in his rookie season, posting 12 goals and 17 assists in 39 games. Michkov’s 29 points only trail Montreal’s Lane Hutson, who Michkov also likely trails in this year’s Calder race.

He’s had his moments, and flashed the elite skill that was promised, but there’s no question that Michkov has a long way to go to become a dominant player. For Michkov, adjusting to the 82-game schedule and the toll it takes on his body has seemingly been difficult, and it’s much expected for a 20-year-old in his first NHL season. Michkov’s best years likely are four or five years from now, and there has been nothing to indicate that Michkov won’t reach his star-level potential based on what we’ve seen in flashes. He’s also got a flair for the dramatic, with numerous overtime goals already in his young career.

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Strong early returns on Konecny contract

The Travis Konecny eight-year contract extension caused much debate within the fan base over the player, what it means for a rebuilding team, and whether extending Konecny was the right choice. Well, it turns out that Travis Konecny is a darn good hockey player, and deserves to be paid like one, regardless of whether it’s right or wrong for the rebuild. Konecny has been far and away the best Flyers forward, with 45 points thus far. Whether certain sections of the fanbase like it or not, Konecny is an integral part to the “culture” they are building here, and it’s a positive sign that Konecny is having one of the best years of his career fresh off a contract. That doesn’t mean that Konecny will remain first-line caliber for the duration of the deal, but penciling in Konecny as a guarantee for at least the next few years is a resounding positive at this very moment.

Couturier isn’t what he used to be, but he’s a viable future depth center

Another takeaway from the first half? It’s certainly time to fully recalibrate our collective expectations of Sean Couturier, and the role that he is likely to play on future Flyers teams. Couturier has clearly lost a step, and his point totals reflect that (20 points in 39 games). The best-case scenario for Couturier might just be a Jordan Staal-level player, and that is perfectly fine for a player of Couturier’s defensive and play-driving acumen. If Couturier can’t provide the offense anymore, it would be hard to believe that Couturier can’t provide value in a proper third-line role on the next great Flyers team. Couturier remains at slightly below even Corsi-for percentage at 49.52 percent and a 51.87 percent of the expected goals share at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. And there might be more left in the tank if given more favorable matchups. It’s definitely possible that Couturier continues to fall off and is fully cooked, though, so how Couturier finishes the season is well worth watching.

A mess in goal

There’s no other way to describe the Flyers current situation in goal but as a disaster. The trio of Ersson, Kolosov, and Fedotov has worked to an NHL worst .869 save percentage, even with the Flyers running positive expected goals-for differentials and above-50 Corsi-for percentages as a team since early December. The Flyers are losing games they really shouldn’t be losing, and all three goalies are culprits. There’s been so many games where Tortorella has been content with how the team as a whole played, but remarked that the Flyers simply “needed an extra save or two”. At their core, the Flyers are a team that needs to overwhelmingly outplay their opponent at 5-on-5 to win games, enough to outweigh the high-end talent deficit between the Flyers and their opponent. Winning games 3-2, though, is simply not happening with this goaltending – and the Flyers are on their way to a stealth tank if this continues. That might not be the worst thing, and at the very least, the Flyers are finding out that these goaltenders are likely not the full answer in net, and can operate under that assumption moving forward.

Frost and Farabee remain frustrating and expendable

We’re not sure if this is something we are just learning in 2024, but it’s certainly something that has continued over into this season. Frost and Farabee have been incredibly disappointing, and are probably the two members of the Flyers that have consistently been in the rumor mill (alongside Laughton) dating back to last year. After positive signs for Frost’s defensive game appeared in 2023-24, Frost has reverted into the inconsistent and unreliable player that he once was early last season. Farabee, on the other hand, has driven play but been unbelievably snakebitten, leaving questions of if Farabee can truly crack this team’s top six. Either way, it appears that one, if not both, are on the outs in Philadelphia, likely in the offseason.

Ristolainen turns himself into a valuable trade piece

If we’re talking about the Flyers that might be traded, there’s no stronger trade candidate on the Flyers than Rasmus Ristolainen. We’ve learned a ton about Ristolainen as a player in 2024-25, enough to think that it’s well within the realm of possibility that the Flyers fetch a first-rounder for Ristolainen at the deadline. It’s truly remarkable how much Ristolainen has revamped his game from his Buffalo years, and become a lockdown defensive defenseman with the Flyers. It’s hard not to trust Ristolainen when he’s on the ice now, which is incredible considering how mistake-prone and indecisive Ristolainen was throughout his time as a Sabre. The decision to move on will be quite similar to the Sean Walker decision in a lot of ways, if the Flyers choose to make it.

Brad Shaw continues to work his magic

On the note of productive defensemen, so much credit should be given to Brad Shaw’s work behind the bench. After the full turnaround of Rasmus Ristolainen this season, it can safely be said that Brad Shaw’s ability to get the absolute most out of defensemen is becoming a trend. Shaw was credited for Nick Seeler’s ascendance into being a quality NHL four or five, for Sean Walker’s breakout in 2023-24, and now for Ristolainen’s career resurgence. There’s also the career trajectory of Travis Sanheim, who continues to perform to first-pair levels under Tortorella and Shaw. This goes without mentioning the dynamism of Emil Andrae, or the sneaky-good version of Jamie Drysdale that the Flyers have been getting lately. If it wasn’t clear prior to this season, the Flyers seem to have a real gem in Brad Shaw, and it’s only a matter of time before the assistant coach brings the game of a different defensemen to another level.

Rocky Thompson on the other hand…

If the results and trends of the first 41 games hold, it would be no surprise to see Rocky Thompson let go at the end of the season. Somehow, the power play is only marginally better than last year’s dreadful mark, sitting at 14.9 percent efficiency and 29th in the league. Thompson has thus far been unable to crack the code to the Flyers power play struggles, even with the addition of the crafty Michkov. Eventually, somebody has to take the fall for the team’s ineptitude with the man advantage, and it’s likely to be Thompson down the road.

Really, what might have helped Thompson keep his job in 2023-24 was the progression of the Flyers’ forwards across the board, particularly at even strength. This year, though, while the process is still overwhelmingly solid for most of the forwards, the point production isn’t really there. Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost are in the midst of disappointing seasons, and lots of the young forwards are taking time to come around. In fairness, the line of three young forwards in Brink-Cates-Foerster has been ridiculously strong in this recent stretch, so Thompson should probably be credited a bit there. Still, that might not be enough to outweigh the power play struggles when all is said and done on the 2024-25 season.

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What we’ve learned halfway through this Flyers season

Matvei Michkov is the real deal

Talking Points