Why Tyson Foerster’s rough playoffs shouldn’t worry Flyers fans

When Tyson Foerster went down in December with an arm injury, he was amongst the team’s best scorers, with 10 goals and 13 points in 21 games at the time of his injury.

The five-month recovery time that the Flyers announced after he underwent surgery on December 15 was a crushing blow to the team’s forward corps. Especially given that, at the time, it was assumed that Foerster would be out of commission for the entire regular season, and perhaps even the playoffs if the Flyers were to get there.

Fast forward to April, and Foerster had defied the odds to return to the lineup quicker than anyone thought possible. In his first game back from injury, he scored the Flyers’ opening goal against the Red Wings in a triumphant return that brought the home crowd to life. Foerster had another two-goal game against the Devils in a 5-1 win, and helped buoy the team to a 6-1-0 finish that helped them reach their first playoff appearance since 2019-20.

But once the Flyers got into the playoffs, Foerster struggled to find the same rhythm that he was in pre-injury, and he was left pointless until the Flyers’ final game of the season, when he scored the opening goal in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Hurricanes. But beyond the box score, Foerster seemed to look a step behind the pace. When he was on the ice, the Flyers had just 45% of the expected goals share, and in two series where he would have normally been used as a shutdown option against an Sebastian Aho or a Sidney Crosby, he didn’t really get the call.

And it was warranted. It looked as if Foerster didn’t trust himself fully physically. Normally, his willingness to get a shot off from a standstill is what sets him apart from the rest of his Flyers counterparts, with his durability to continue to play a holistic defensive game at the same time being the real separator. When he’s at his best, he is one of the team’s most important players, so when he fails to make a meaningful difference while being on the ice for the most important time of the year, there’s bound to be disappointment.

But it is important to frame the discussion of Foerster’s playoff struggles around the fact that he wasn’t even supposed to be there at all. Rushing back from injury to rejoin the team for the stretch run meant beating his projected return time by multiple weeks, and while it isn’t an excuse, Foerster himself even acknowledged that it did cause some difficulties in getting back up to speed.

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And while there are other even younger players on the roster who were also making their playoff debuts, it’s important to remember that Foerster was too. The growing pains were likely coming regardless, but coming in for your first postseason game after a brief runway getting back into the lineup just makes it even more difficult. The confidence wasn’t there for Foerster, but it’s hard to believe that someone with his playstyle won’t grow to be an asset in a playoff setting.

Foerster’s peak game is one that is very physically demanding, there is no area of the ice where he switches off his motor, and trying to do that at 80% will take a toll. And despite his struggles, Foerster was still receiving a heap of playing time in most of these playoff games. His 28.7% share of possible ice-time was the most out of any forward on the team, as Rick Tocchet continued to believe in his player and give him the leash to try and turn things around. He wasn’t fully able to keep pace with his usual workload, and it ate him up a bit.

It also didn\'t help that the rest of the forwards around him, while stout and responsible defensively, struggled to get their offense going. They only got 14 goals from forwards in their 10 playoff games, as opposed to seven goals from defensemen, and the back end was often used as the main source of shots once the Flyers set up in the offensive zone. The spots where Foerster typically shoots from, weren\'t really available within the Flyers offense. Not to mention the disastrous power play.

As you can see in the chart below, Foerster managed 20 unblocked attempts during the entire playoffs and while there was a solid collection in front of the net, the majority of the attempts came from the mid-to-high-range that were ultimately not at all effective. The opposing defense was not giving up a whole lot of opportunities, but Foerster still managed to generate a total of 1.8 expected goals, according to Evolving Hockey.

The driving force of Foerster usually gets him open in these spots, but without the same amount of jump, he found himself having to cheat and try to make some hurried plays in order to keep the play moving. The offensive part of the game is something that relies a lot more on rhythm than the defensive side, and Foerster just seemed out of sync, despite Tocchet still deploying him as one of his best offensive options. He started over 20% of his shifts in the offensive zone, the most on the team; more than Martone, more than Konecny, more than Michkov. The scoring touch just didn\'t come until the very end of the Carolina series, where Foerster seemed to be getting into a bit more of a groove, but unfortunately ran out of games.

Foerster was given the opportunity and made use of it, it just didn\'t pop up on the score sheet. It wouldn\'t be shocking to look at where the young Flyers winger managed to get his shots off from and his deployment, and the end result being that he had four or five goals and was able to set up his teammates for a couple more. The process is still there, while the result just wasn\'t and in such a small little sample size like the 10 games in the postseason, it\'s better to see what was happening under the hood.

But all experience is good experience when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and next time around, there’s a better chance than not that Foerster will be a massive factor in whatever success the Flyers have.

Talking Points