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With Foerster down, likely for the season, the spotlight is on Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, and Bobby Brink to step up.
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Nick Tricome
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Flyers thoughts: Tyson Foerster’s surgery leaves a lot for other Philly forwards to make up for
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Matvei Michkov scores again, but Flyers fall to Oilers in OT
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The seconds were ticking down, and Travis Konecny thought he had just tipped in the game-winner.
Then the officials took an extra look. They deemed that Owen Tippett was a step ahead of the play and entered the offensive zone too early on that pivotal possession.
The Flyers were offside, the goal was taken back, and Wednesday night against superstar Connor McDavid and a struggling Edmonton Oilers team went into overtime at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Jack Roslovic scored the winner for the visitors a 1:19 into the extra frame, on a neutral-zone turnover and a quickly ensuing 2-on-0 that had goalie Dan Vladar caught in no-man’s land.
The Flyers lost, 2-1, still taking a point out of the contest, but dropping to 8-5-3 on the season.
Here’s how an up and down night played out…
Mich unleashed
Matvei Michkov has his legs again.
He was covering a lot of ice Wednesday night and getting after puck carriers, and you could tell just by his stride that he’s moving way more efficiently than he did at the start of the year – his knees are staying bent and he’s been laboring a lot less of late.
Michkov was moving well with the puck through the first period, and created a couple of decent looks for the Flyers’ energetic start, but then late into the second period, he broke through.
The Flyers went on their first power play of the night with a Jake Walman hook on Tippett.
Michkov’s unit got its setup established in the offensive zone, and after giving the puck to Cam York up by the point to take a scan, the defenseman fed it back to Michkov, who was given space along the wall by Edmonton’s penalty kill.
Michkov wheeled in around the top of the left faceoff circle, then rifled a shot to the right post just over Stuart Skinner’s glove for the power-play goal and a 1-1 tie.
Michkov had a slow start to the season, and by his own admission, an altered training regimen following his first year in the NHL and a struggle to focus out of the gate contributed to that.
But the 20-year-old has found a flow again.
Michkov now has a goal in each of his last three games and brought himself up to nine points through 16 games on the year.
The talented winger has star, face-of-the-franchise level potential, and the Flyers do believe he’ll reach it as a key part of their long-term future.
The hope now is that those early struggles and the prospect of a sophomore slump are falling behind him, and that he’ll start accelerating back toward his ceiling.
Because, for as much as the Flyers’ focus is still on tomorrow, a breakout from Michkov now can do a lot for a team that is playing much better today.
It just didn’t get them a win on Wednesday night.
Some jump through (most of) one
The Oilers came out wanting to play fast.
The Flyers were prepared to match.
Tippett made a clean zone entry and then a cut inside between Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse to fire a shot that rang off the post; Matvei Michkov carried the puck up the ice and back into the zone, making his own move across to drop off a pass for Noah Juulsen to sneak in and take a healthy shot on; and even Cam York and Travis Sanheim jumped up from the defense to carry their own two-man rush to the Edmonton net, helped by a slick give-and-go pass from Travis Konecny through the neutral zone.
The Flyers had juice, were moving the puck pretty cleanly, and taking chances. That gave way to some good looks for McDavid and the Oilers, sure, but to the Flyers’ credit, they did well to keep their sticks in the way and on the puck…for a while, at least.
Energy did seem to taper off toward the end of the first, and that reflected in the 13-5 shot count in favor of Edmonton by the end of it.
So did McDavid wrapping around from behind the Philadelphia net to pick up a loose puck and set up Evan Bouchard with a clear shot in front while everyone in orange collapsed in.
Vladar, who was otherwise solid in goal through the opening period and for the whole game, couldn’t track that puck in time, allowing the Oilers to take a 1-0 lead.
The Flyers, meanwhile, would go into the intermission operating from behind, not irrecoverably so, but at a clear lack of shot volume and, as the period wore on, a noted struggle to generate effective scoring chances from inside.
It didn’t get much better in the second for a while. With about 7:30 left, they only had two shots all period that were relatively harmless, and were getting outshot 24-7 in total.
It wasn’t until the power play and Michkov’s ensuing goal a couple of minutes later that the Flyers finally started to break from it.
Back in the fray
Tyson Foerster returned from injury Wednesday night, and his line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink was put back together.
And maybe to little surprise, they got back to being a key two-way line.
Cates as the center, especially, would play a major role in defending against McDavid, and past Edmonton’s first goal, he held up pretty well in doing so.
Toward the end of the second period in particular, Cates kept McDavid tied up against the boards while the Oilers’ superstar had the puck to suppress any last-second chances before the horn.
Cates did get tagged for a high stick on McDavid right off the draw to begin the third period, but just as important for the Flyers on Wednesday night was that their penalty kill held up and went a perfect 2-for-2 against the Oilers with a man-advantage.
Watch where you’re going
Vladar, once again, was stellar in net for the Flyers, cutting down angles with his big frame and keeping bounces and any chaos in front under control on the way to stopping 29 of 30 Edmonton shots through regulation.
He also got ran twice by the Oilers.
In the first period, Vladar reached out from the crease to cover a puck, and Curtis Lazar, charging in to try and pick it up, tripped over the goaltender and appeared to jam Vladar’s wrist in the process. Vladar got up, put his blocker back on, and stayed in.
Then in the third, Trent Frederic tried to chip at a pass to the inside, was short on space in front of the crease, and skated straight into Vladar, who was not happy after getting back up from the collision. None of his teammates were either.
A scrum broke out, Mattias Janmark, off to the side, drew Vladar’s ire and then a couple of jabs from Noah Juuslen.
Janmark got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Frederic got goaltender interference for the charge at the net, and Vladar a roughing minor after the pile-up.
The Flyers left it with a late power play. Nothing came of it.
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Nick Tricome
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Flyers thoughts: Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, Bobby Brink never missed a beat, remain their best line
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Three games in, and the line of Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink has remained as the Flyers’ best.
Cates crashed the crease and scored the Flyers’ lone goal in Game 1 down in Florida on a perfectly executed offensive zone faceoff.
Brink stepped in toward the faceoff circle from off the wall and fired a shot home in Game 2 against Carolina, and had the would-be winner in overtime later on had goaltender interference not waved it away.
Then in the home opener on Monday night, back up against Florida, Foerster notched the first goal from drifting down to support Sean Couturier, who slipped him the puck to send him skating in toward the net for a clean shot that made it through.
At every turn, that combo has made an impact.
They haven’t missed a beat coming back from last season – might’ve even gained a step, too – and for a team that’s under a new head coach in Rick Tocchet and still very much trying to iron out the early kinks elsewhere, that’s been huge.
Foerster and Cates each have a goal so far, Brink has two, they all have three points and plus ratings, and as a line together, they’ve skated with a 56.25 high-danger chances for percentage, per Natural Stat Trick.
They haven’t missed a beat, especially so for Foerster, who suffered an infection in his elbow over the summer and wasn’t even sure ahead of training camp if he’d be ready in time to start the season.
But he made it, and picked up right where he left off.
“Just do the same stuff,” Foerster said. “Just do the same stuff we did last year. Defense first and offense is going to come with the way we play. Dump it in, we get on the forecheck, we have a good forecheck, and we get the puck back. Make plays, and we take it to the net.”
Sometimes it’s just that simple, but hey, it’s working.
A few other thoughts on the Flyers…
Michkov’s minutes
There’s been an early focus on Matvei Michkov, but not because he’s been putting up highlights.
It’s been the opposite, actually. He’s been quiet, a bit concerningly so, and moreover, he’s been sitting as the initial games have pushed later and later in.
Michkov didn’t touch the ice in the overtime loss to Carolina on Saturday, and with Monday night’s home opener against the Panthers still tied pressing further into the third period, the 20-year-old sat tight on the bench.
He has no goals or points so far, has taken a penalty in each of the first three games, hasn’t skated above 15 minutes in either of them, and has only three registered shots.
Tocchet acknowledged earlier in the week that Michkov suffered an offseason ankle injury that hampered his training and left him needing to catch up on his conditioning as a result.
Michkov spoke after practice on Wednesday in Voorhees, alongside his usual translator Slava Kuznetsov, and had no interest in using the injury as an excuse.
“That I’m not scoring or making any assists in the last three games, it’s not anyhow connected with the injury,” Michkov said via Kuznetsov.
But there have been lapses, too.
![Matvei-Michkov-Flyers-Hurricanes-Bench-NHL-2025.jpg]()
James Guillory/Imagn Images
Matvei Michkov has had a slow start to the season.
On Monday night, for example, Florida was skating down with the puck into the Flyers’ zone within the final minute of the second period.
Michkov chased down to backcheck, trying to help take Gustav Forsling away as the passing option on the initial rush, but as soon as the first shot was stopped, he took a wide turn to start trailing up toward center ice, all while the Panthers still had control of the puck.
Sam Reinhart scored on a scramble around the goal line seconds later to get the Panthers on the board.
“He’s just gotta differentiate when is the time to take off and when it’s the time we need him to hang in there,” Tocchet said of Michkov, who did qualify that he believes his game is improving. “That’s the one thing he’s gotta figure out.
“I get it. He wants to be an offensive player, but you can’t take off when we don’t have the puck.”
It’s a learning process, Tocchet continued, and for the whole team.
“We’re trying to create a culture,” the coach said. “It’s not about one player.
But for Michkov…
“He is obviously a player that is a special guy,” Tocchet said. “We gotta hone his talents, but it’s gotta be somewhat in a team game, and he’s willing to do it because I think his last two practices have been great.
“He did video again today. He came up for us and goes, ‘Coach, I need video,’ and he talked about some other stuff where he felt his legs felt better the last couple days, which is good.”
So maybe chalk it up to a slow start for now.
As for the defensive part, though…
“Should play more in the offensive zone and be more offensive,” Michkov joked. “Then you don’t have to defend as much.”
That is one way to do it.
Built to handle it
Travis Sanheim has skated some incredibly heavy minutes to begin the year, from 25 minutes at minimum to nearly a half-hour in the case of Saturday night’s overtime loss to Carolina.
It’s a lot, but Tocchet has been a fan of Sanheim going back to when they were on Team Canada together in the 4 Nations Face Off last February and trusted him to be able to handle it.
Sanheim has answered the call without issue.
“He works out, he does the right things off the ice, that’s why he can play 30 minutes,” Tocchet said. “The guy came in in unbelievable shape for us. It goes hand in hand. He’s a professional, and that’s why he can play big minutes.”
That said, neither Tocchet nor the rest of the organization are looking to throw that much at Sanheim from game to game.
His usage has been a consequence of the Flyers having such thin defensive depth to begin the season, which wasn’t helped by Cam York going on Injured Reserve when they had to submit their opening night roster.
Until they can get York back – Rasmus Ristolainen, too – the Flyers are going to need to find a way to get more out of Jamie Drysdale, Adam Ginning, and Emil Andrae, at least to get by.
“We gotta develop some guys here to get more minutes off of,” Tocchet said. “We’re in the business of winning, but we’re also in the business of maximizing some players.”
![Travis-Sanheim-Flyers-Goal-Carolina-2025-NHL.jpg]()
James Guillory/Imagn Images
Travis Sanheim has racked up a ton of ice time in the early going.
Speaking of…
York just might be ready to come back, though, for the Flyers’ next game at home Thursday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
He skated through practice in the standard black jersey, and after the Flyers left the ice, Andrae’s name was removed from the roster to indicate that he’s reporting to Lehigh Valley in the AHL, which opens up a roster spot.
“It’s day-to-day,” Tocchet maintained of York’s status. “He’s a possibility. We haven’t penciled him in yet.”
But the signs are lining up.
It’s a big year for York, who is looking to bounce back after a rough 2024-25 season and then some after signing a five-year contract extension in the summer.
It’s just starting on a bit of a delay.
Just fire away
Jett Luchanko has appeared in two games so far, Saturday night in Carolina and Monday night against Florida, skating in a limited 8:49 and then 7:40 of ice time.
Just like last season, the 2024 first-round center has a nine-game trial run before the Flyers have to decide between keeping him as a full-time NHLer or sending him back to juniors in Guelph.
They have seven more games to make a call.
Tocchet said Wednesday that he likes Luchanko’s speed, yet still, he needs to see the 19-year-old shoot, and not hesitate to do it.
“He has to start shooting the puck,” Tocchet said. “That’s one thing if he’s gonna get more ice time. I mean, there’s times he has the puck in the middle of the ice and he’s passing the puck at the front of the net. That’s a mental block for him right now…If he would shoot the puck, it’ll actually make him look faster.”
![Jett-Luchanko-Puck-Flyers-Canes-2025.jpg]()
James Guillory/Imagn Images
The Flyers are still deciding what’s best for Jett Luchanko’s development.
The Flyers are caught between a bit of a rock and a hard place with Luchanko when it comes to his development.
He’s too young still to go straight to the AHL, where he could get valuable and consistent pro minutes, but might not be fully ready yet to stick in the NHL, all while having outgrown juniors.
Sending Luchanko back to Guelph wouldn’t hurt, but it isn’t ideal either. Keeping him up full time with the Flyers, though, but at the cost of sitting him constantly or only giving him limited minutes unless he suddenly breaks out, that could.
“We’ll evaluate as it goes on,” Tocchet said. “I don’t think it’s gonna hurt him for a week or two, but you start talking months and months, yeah, it could hurt the development of a player, 100 percent.”
They have to be careful here.
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Nick Tricome
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Flyers thoughts: About that overturned goal, Sanheim’s minutes, and no Michkov in OT
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The Flyers are 0-1-1 to start the year after Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to Carolina in overtime, but not without some early controversy.
See, the Flyers won initially, or at least they thought.
Just within the final minute of OT, Trevor Zegras carried the puck into the offensive zone, made a move, then slipped a pass to Travis Sanheim crashing in.
Sanheim, with speed, took the puck and cut around the Carolina defenders across the top of the crease. Goaltender Frederik Andersen pushed up to disrupt Sanheim, but as he did, the puck rolled straight to the stick of Bobby Brink, who took an extra glide across and fired home the winner.
Andersen took issue with the sequence, though, and after review, the officials sided with him. They waved off the goal for goaltender interference on Sanheim. The Hurricanes took it the other way and scored for the win soon after.
It’s what it is.
“It’s in the situation room. At that point, you usually don’t get an explanation,” Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “It’s a tough call. Yeah, been on the right side of those and the wrong side of them, so I really don’t have a comment on it.”
But here’s the other way it looks: There is contact between Sanheim, as the puck carrier, and Andersen at the top of the crease, which starts the goaltender interference conversation. However, Andersen appears to initiate the contact by punching his glove out to disrupt Sanheim, and commits to playing him while not registering where the puck actually is until it’s too late, as this replay captured by Nasty Knuckles producer Travis Ballinghoff shows:
The NHL Situation Room explanation on the play and its ruling to disallow the goal, per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman:
That seems like a lot of onus on Sanheim when it’s pretty plain to see that Andersen made a decision on a move that pulled him out of his crease.
Even if he wasn’t touched, his slide carried him to the left post as Brink was striding across to the right. Andersen never would’ve had a chance at stopping that shot in any scenario.
But hey, it’s the call the league made, and it’s two games into the season. It’s what it is.
“Just trying to make a play to net,” Sanheim said. “I guess incidental contact. Felt like he kind of pushed his arms out, too. It was kind of ‘I have to make a play’ as well, and when I see it, I don’t think he was ever getting back, even if I don’t touch him. So tough call.
“Obviously, it’s not the refs, it’s the league that decided that, so it’s unfortunate and we have to live with it.”
It’s what it is.
A few other quick thoughts on the Flyers…
Here’s a Tipp
The Flyers opened the scoring Saturday night in the first period’s final seconds, and while on the power play.
Travis Konecny fired a shot that ricocheted off the glass behind the Carolina net that took a perfect bounce right back to the front for Owen Tippett to pot home.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead into the intermission, Tippett had his first goal of the year, and the Flyers had their first power play goal of the year.
And those latter two facts might be key.
The power play has been abysmal the past few years, but in the sequence shown in the clip above, it moved pretty fluidly with Trevor Zegras handling the puck in the middle of the Flyers’ setup and drawing attention. It left Konecny alone at the wall with plenty of space to move in and pick his spot.
The bounce to Tippett is a bit of luck, but you do need to be in the right place, right time to score more often than not, and he was right where he needed to be.
The Flyers need to be better this year on the man advantage, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, and they could really use Tippett getting back to scraping up against or even breaking the 30-goal mark after struggling through long droughts of inconsistency last season.
Saturday night was only one case, but a promising one for both.
A lot of skating for Sanheim
The Flyers had to submit their opening night roster with Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen both sidelined, and right away, their defense looked concerningly thin without them.
So far, it’s easy to see the strain. You just have to look at Travis Sanheim’s minutes.
Thursday night against Florida, he skated 27:15, and then Saturday night with the overtime period, he totaled 29:34 with 38 shifts taken.
The Flyers have been leaning heavily on their top defenseman in the early going. He’s handled it, and scored the tying goal to push Saturday night into overtime, but they still have 80 more games.
They need some defensive depth to balance themselves out.
Never miss a beat
It’s early, and the Flyers have the benefit of a grace period to fully get acclimated with new head coach Rick Tocchet.
The rough patches have been there through the first two games, but the line of Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink? That trio hasn’t seemed to miss a beat.
They put together the sequence that led to the Flyers’ lone goal in the loss to Florida on Thursday night, and Saturday night, they were all over the ice.
Brink scored in the second period off some strong play along the wall from him, Cates, and Nikita Grebenkin before the latter winger hopped off for a change:
Then in overtime, Brink had the puck, the space, and the extra step inside for the OT winner before it was overturned, while throughout the night, it felt like if a Hurricane had the puck, Cates was instantly bearing down on them.
There’s no quit in that line, and out of the gate, they’ve been chaos for the opposition. Pretty safe to say they’re staying together.
Where was Matvei?
When the Flyers went into OT, Matvei Michkov didn’t see the ice.
Last season, through all the ups and downs for the rookie, it was clear immediately that he can fly with the extra ice available to him at 3-on-3, and rise to the occasion, too, with three overtime winners.
But Tocchet didn’t send him out. Why?
“Just wanted the guys I thought were skating,” Tocchet said.
Michkov has been mostly quiet through the first two games, which maybe lends to Tocchet’s point – though the winger did get scrappy with the Hurricanes after a hit on Konecny with his back turned.
Even so, the counterargument is that you want your best offensive skaters out there in OT, so Michkov’s usage under Tocchet might be an early point to monitor.
Granted, we’re still only two games in.
For now, it’s what it is.
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3s are Wild: let’s hand out our 3-Stars following Week 3 for the Flyers. – Philadelphia Sports Nation
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Let’s look back at the past week for the Flyers, and we’ll hand out our 3-Star selections.
Game 8: Flyers at Capitals (10/23/2024) // Flyers 3, Capitals 6
Ivan Fedotov got the start in this one and it didn’t go to plan, where he made 19 saves of 23 shots (.826 SV%). The Capitals struck first within the first six minutes of the game on a deflected shot. Then, the Capitals struck early in the 2nd period, shortly after killing off a penalty to go up 2-0 on the Flyers. Just 1 minute and 15 seconds later, following a miscue by the Flyers led to a breakaway and the Caps were up by 3. Minutes later, another deflection in front and the Flyers were down by 4 with over half the game still to be played.
Credit the Flyers for not caving completely in this game. TK and Tippett scored before the end of the 2nd to take something positive into the dressing room. The Flyers put up some fight in the 2nd period, putting 17 shots on net, which was positive considering that the middle stanza has been their weak spot this year. Michkov found a way to get a shot from the point through traffic on the Power Play mid-way through the 3rd period and the Flyers had life. The Flyers Power Play was 2 of 4 in this game and this year, gives the Flyers a better chance to get back into games than in the past few years. Unfortunately, the comeback was not in store in this one as the Capitals grabbed two separate empty-net goals to put this one away.
Game 9: Wild at Flyers (10/26/2024) // Flyers 7, Wild 5
Sam Ersson started in net in this game and made 21 saves on 26 shots (.808 SV%). The Flyers Power Play went 1-2 in this one, which is a good sign, in both that the Power Play is operating efficiently, and in this game at least, the Flyers finally got some 5-on-5 scoring.
The captain, Sean Couturier led the team in this one nothing a hat-trick along with 2 goals and a +5 on the night, while also notching his 500th career NHL point in his impressive career. The story in this one was the newly formed top-line TK, Couturier and Michkov, which put up a combined 12 points in roughly 18 minutes of on-ice time, each. Couturier showed that he’s back and feeling good this year and at least for one night, much enjoyed playing with TK and Michkov, especially finding himself on the wing and down in the line-up earlier this month.
Game 9: Canadiens at Flyers (10/27/2024) //Canadiens 4, Flyers 3
Following another tough outing by Fedotov, the Flyers somewhat unexpectedly called up Alexei Kolosov, the 22-year-0ld netminder whom started the season with the Phantoms in the AHL. The young goalie did, in fact, make his first career NHL start where he collected 20 saves on 24 shots (.833%). The Canadiens struck first with 9:18 left in the 1st period, jamming in a rebound out front. Sanheim was able to tie the game late in the 1st period with a shot from the point through a screen. Sadly, the Flyers were down 4-1 by the end of the 2nd period, chasing yet another game. The never-say-die Flyers found two goals from Sanheim and Konecny scoring in the find five minutes, however, again, time-runs out on another comeback attempt this season. Simply put, the Flyers need to find ways to stop chasing games.
Game 10: Flyers at Bruins (10/29/2024) // Flyers 2, Boston 0
This game was a nail-bitter, but perhaps exactly what the doctor ordered. Sam Ersson earned his first shut0ut of the young season, stopping all 25 shots he faced, helping him bring his season save percentage to a .890 SV%. Perhaps the Flyers played the Bruins not firing on all cylinders, yet. Regardless, this Flyers team desperately needed a game they were not chasing, especially within the first 5 minutes. In this tilt, Tyson Foerster got the Flyers on the board just after the five-minute mark. The Flyers locked this one down and Farabee was able to secure the win with the empty net goal.
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PHOTO: Yong Kim / Philadelphia InquirerGame 11: Blues at Flyers (10/31/2024) // Flyers 2, Blues 1
The Flyers kept the momentum rolling
, and for the second game in a row, Sam Ersson grabbed the #1 star of the game, making 21 saves on 22 attempts (.952 SV%). Hathaway scored at 8:48 of the 1st on a beautiful feed by Poehling, following his individual skating and stick-handling exhibition on the play. The Blues scored at just before the midway mark in the 3rd period on a loose rebound into the slot and a lost man in coverage. The Flyers night would be saved with Brink jamming home a rebound in the slot with 3 minutes to go in the game.
Three Stars of the Week
3rd Star: Sean Couturier
What an up and down week of games for the Flyers. With the Flyers desperately needing a win and at home against the Wild, tied at 4 in the 3rd, Couturier picked up a hat-trick and his line put-up a combined 12 points that night. Unfortunately for the Flyers, the only points he scored over the past week, including the three Minnesota game, despite more ice time. However, the Flyers defense, including defensive forwards like Couturier, stepped up and secured two low score wins.
2nd Star: Travis Sanheim
Netting two goals and an assist in a lackluster game against the Canadiens was huge for Sanheim as he tries to get himself going offensively. For the season, through 11 games, he only had 3 goals and 2 assists, but he is a plus 1 +/- and he’s logging huge minutes on the backend of the Flyers, including the aforementioned low-score wins. Sanheim has logged an average 24 minutes on ice this season.
1st Star: Sam Ersson
Prior to this game, Tortorella looked like a coach in search of an answer. Signal Sam Ersson to the rescue. Earning the first star in the game over the past two games tells you almost all you need to know this week for Sam. Sam turned in a desperately needed gem in goal on Tuesday night against Boston. Prior to this game, the Flyers arguably had the worst goaltending league-wide to start the season. Following that shutout win, he turned in another great game against the Blues, at a time this Flyers team needed a few strong games in net. The Minnesota game was wide-open, and it was great to see him tighten things up. Overall, he picked up 3 wins this week that his team sorely needed.
It’s a dynamic league with incredible talents and scoring threats each night. The Flyers are a young team, which them prove nightly. especially on Defense and in the net.
It was good to see the Flyers find a way to tighten up on defense and hold on to some leads. Will it continue?
PHOTO: Yong Kim / Philadelphia Inquirer
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Instant observations: Sean Couturier hat trick lifts Flyers to first home victory of season
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It’s early in the 2024-25 season and the Flyers are still trying to find themselves.
For stretches in a wild 7-5 win against the Wild Saturday — the first win at home this season — the team looked like the playoff hopefuls from last year, destined to turn around the fortunes of a mediocre franchise sooner than was hoped. And for other stretches, they looked lost, immature and lazy.
But somehow the sheer talent on the Flyers roster found a way to prevail in an impressive win over a quality opponent, as the Flyers win marked Minnesota’s first regular loss of the season.
The Flyers’ first line was diabolically productive in the victory, and with the game tied at five inside the three minute mark, Rasmus Ristolainen found a way to shove the puck past the Minnesota goalie to get the Flyers the game-winner:
In the win captain Sean Couturier completed his second career hat trick.
Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from a feisty one in South Philly that ended a six-game losing streak:
The good
• Thank god for Matvei Michkov. With the Flyers seemingly out of gas after surrendering two goals to relent a 2-0 lead late in the second, the Russian rookie decided enough was enough, firing a lightning quick shot from the slot that beat Filip Gustavsson to get the Flyers back ahead, 3-2.
Having a player who can shift momentum that quickly is a luxury the team hopes it can get used to. It was his first career goal in Philly and he leads all NHL rookies in points so far.
• As soon as the Flyers got their first offensive zone possession of the game in the opening period, they had their 5-on-5 offense looking on point. After some jockeying for space, a shot from near the blue line from Ristolainen was blocked by Wild goalie Gustavsson and right in front of Flyers’ vet Couturier.
Coots got his 500th career point and first goal of the year just about a minute into action and it doesn’t get much simpler than this:
The goal has to feel good for Couturier, who has not scored for 32 games dating back to last season.
What felt even better was the Flyers’ captain relentlessly finding a way to get the Flyers back on top after a wild series of see-saw goals, scoring midway through the third to return Philly to a one-goal lead, 5-4. It marked the most goals scored by the Flyers this season and ignited the Philadelphia crowd, desperate to witness the first win at home.
• He completed the hat trick with an empty net in the waning seconds of the game.
• Nick Seeler gave Philly early breathing room a few minutes after the initial Couturier score, with a slap shot fired from the slot (thanks to savvy passes from Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov) into the back of the net at the 3:51 mark of the first. The Flyers’ first line really does have the potential to be lethal when it gets some steam — responsible all five Flyers’ even-strength goals Saturday.
It was only Philadelphia’s third time this season scoring first, and its first time scoring in the first in three home games.
• In a goal that screamed both effort and creativity off the stick of Konecny, the Flyers found second equalizer on the power play in the final period — a beautiful lunging wrist shot. There is too much talent for the Flyers to roll over and give up when things are not going well and the fight while trailing in this one was reassuring throughout. A look at the gorgeous score from the Flyers’ All-Star:
• The Flyers entered play this weekend with one of the most reliable penalty kill units in hockey (successful over 89% of the time through the first seven games). They continued that trend early in the second period, when a pair of back-to-back penalties set up nearly four minutes of short-handed time (with around 25 seconds down 5-3). The team was able to keep the puck in front of them and make things very difficult for Minnesota, which didn’t capitalize — and Travis Konecny even created a short-handed opportunity that nearly found the back of the net.
The bad
• They may have come out firing (to the tune of the aforementioned 2-0 lead) but the offense sputtered to a halt for quite a while after that, as the Flyers collected just three shots on goal in the frame and none on latter part of the period. In fact, it wasn’t until they were down a man in the second period that the team even got its fourth shot on net. They didn’t reach double-digits in SOG until the final stanza.
Coming into Friday’s action, the Flyers were one of just nine NHL teams with less than 200 total shots on goal, and they average just 28 of them per contest. Their 8% scoring rate on those shots is the fifth worst in the league, which helps to explain why the offense has been so flat to start. More opportunities will go a long way, and the offense needs to find a way to generate a much higher quantity of looks.
• The Samuel Errson shutout didn’t make it to the third period, as a redirect from Brock Faber got past the Flyers’ goalie and seconds later the 2-0 lead evaporated when Marcus Foligno was able to focus and net a shot while falling down and speeding toward the Flyers’ goal in transition. A third goal for the Wild came on a too many men on the ice penalty with seconds left in the frame, drawing things even at 3-3 (after Michkov’s goal put the Flyers briefly ahead).
• A go-ahead (for the moment) fourth Wild goal came right after an early third period face off, as Foligno beat Errson with a slap shot from the point — with a few frustrated stick slams from Flyers players to follow. A tying goal came again, from a shot at the point as the Flyers failed to clear the puck after having a chance to end a Wild scoring chance — this one via Jake Middleton.
The ugly
• Here’s a perfect contextualization of the above point about the mediocre number of shots on goal from Flyers’ sticks. Midway through the second period, the Flyers had what looked to be a sure goal — or at least an extremely high percentage chance of scoring with a two-on-zero, with just the goalie to beat for Morgan Frost and Garnet Hathaway.
They didn’t even get a shot off. Too many passes.
• The Flyers are admittedly the third youngest team in the NHL (average age is 26.3), but they need to play with more discipline and thought. In Saturday’s win the Flyers were called for five penalties while drawing just three of their own (the final coming with just a few seconds to play). That kind of disparity will hurt a team more often than it doesn’t — the solid Philly PK unit not withstanding.
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Flyers flash their potential in opening win over Canucks
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The Flyers’ season opener stretched way late into the night, and in almost typical Philadelphia Flyers fashion – or at least the one fans have become conditioned to over the past decade or so.
A slow start, a push to catch up, and then a stalemate through overtime that takes them into the shootout.
Philadelphia has seen that script before, numerous times and to varying degrees of frustration and then longstanding apathy, but as Morgan Frost buried the winner at 1:00 a.m. Saturday on the dot back here on the East Coast, the energy about the Flyers felt different from mostly anything seen in years past.
They beat the Canucks, 3-2, in the shootout out in Vancouver to take that first game of the 2024-2025 season, and they did it because they were faster. They did it because they were younger – one of the youngest teams in the entire NHL even. They did it because Sam Ersson, going in for the first time as the full-time No. 1 goaltender, looked the part. And they did it because there was a newfound creativity and decisiveness to them, with a power play that finally looked effective and actually was in its first rollout of the year.
The Flyers won, this first game at least, because they played in a way they couldn’t before – not last year, and definitely not in the several years prior since leaving that 2020 COVID bubble.
They won because they have Matvei Michkov, the offensive phenom on the ice now, and first-round speedster Jett Luchanko, too. They won because Cam York can take on 20 minutes and counting on the blue line while knowing when to sneak down for an opening to unleash a laser of a shot. And they won because a healthy Jamie Drysdale was able to fly up and down the ice roaming with the puck, because Bobby Brink is stronger and another year wiser, and because Tyson Foerster isn’t as hellbent on his defense above all else anymore – he’s going to get down in front of the net to score now.
The Philadelphia Flyers, the new Philadelphia Flyers, they’re coming together, and Friday night (into early Saturday morning) was the first show of it, as well as the first result.
Back-to-back penalties early into the first period put the Flyers on their heels out of the gate, which let Quinn Hughes and the Canucks – a club that fell just a goal shy of sending the eventual Western Conference champion Oilers home in the playoffs a few months back – go to work.
Ersson got tested immediately in goal, but he answered the call, stopping 10 Vancouver shots within the game’s first 10 minutes, including an impressive nab of a Brock Boeser shot from across the crease.
A blistering wrister from Nils Höglander in front of the net off of a defensive zone turnover later in the first and then a deflection from Teddy Blueger in the second on an assignment Luchanko lost track of were the blemishes, but the 24-year old Ersson held the line to keep the Flyers in it and give them a chance.
He stopped 24 of 26 shots through overtime on Friday night, then 4 of 5 in the shootout, and as the one in the front of a goalie situation that head coach John Tortorella admitted during training camp he wasn’t entirely sure about, Ersson offered an early assurance.
“That’s what I thought the key to the game was, Ers just giving us a chance to get our legs,” Tortorella said postgame.
They started finding them when Höglander went to the box for holding late into the opening frame.
The Flyers’ power play, statistically, was the worst in the league last season at a 12.2 percent conversion rate, and watching at the time arguably made its case worse.
They struggled to establish steady cycling in the offensive zone, and even when they did set up camp, it often devolved into circling around without anyone opening up an impactful shooting lane.
The speed just wasn’t there, neither was the true skill to present a serious threat of scoring, but a couple of new faces and structural changes over the summer can do wonders sometimes.
Michkov took in the puck from up high and before the Canucks could even react, he had zipped it down to Morgan Frost who had snuck his way to the front of the net, only getting stopped shy of the tying 1-1 goal on a great stop from Vancouver goaltender Kevin Lankinen on the move.
The power play units swapped, Brink, Foerster, and Joel Farabee tried nearly the same sequence, and Foerster put the puck home to knot the score.
Everything happened so fast, much faster than anything the Flyers’ power play would’ve done last season, and though they only went 1-for-4 on the man advantage for the night on the whole, the difference in how the power play was operating was night and day – plus, Farabee came a fraction of an angle away from netting another. He knew it, too.
But the Flyers pressed on.
York dropped toward the circles to rifle a puck that found him from behind the net to match Blueger’s goal, 2-2, early into the third, and as the game progressed, both Michkov and Luchanko as the debuting rookies grew increasingly comfortable and involved.
By the second period, Michkov started shooting from anywhere, from the sharp angle near-parallel to the goal line and on between-the-legs tries from way in close.
Then, past the halfway point of the third with the game still tied, the 19-year old took the puck from the right of the Vancouver net, then made a cut inside and a shot where the rebound had him and Luchanko an inch away from their first NHL points.
Michkov went on to play a considerable 18:32 of ice time and Luchanko 14:36. Neither ended up making it on the scoresheet for the night, but as the key faces to the Flyers’ long-term vision, whenever they were on the ice, they were noticeable. They had a hand, at least, in something happening that got the puck going Philly’s way. And at the outset, that’s huge.
So is their composure through it all.
“I thought they looked as calm as ever for guys making their debuts,” Frost told the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast after his shootout goal secured the Flyers win. Even throughout the day and over the last couple of days, they’ve been pretty stoic. I don’t know what they were really feeling inside, but they weren’t showing it too much.
“And yeah, they’re big parts of the team, and I thought they played really well tonight.”
There are still 81 games to go, with the next one directly on deck for Saturday night in Calgary, and years’ worth of work beyond that for the organization to get the team built up into the Stanley Cup contender it hopes it can one day be.
But the Philadelphia Flyers, the new Philadelphia Flyers, they’re coming together.
Friday night was the first show of it.
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Nick Tricome
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Flyers 2024-25 Season Preview: Bottom 6 Forwards – Philadelphia Sports Nation
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With only a few weeks remaining before regular season hockey, let’s take a look at the Flyers, likely bottom 6 forwards to start , in no particular order.
Matvei Michkov
Let’s start with the biggest story of the Flyers offseason. The Flyers were about to ice likely the same roster from last year, then word began to circulate that Michkov would be released from his KHL contract in order to come to the NHL. Michkov was selected # 7 overall by the Flyers in the 2023 draft, with perhaps some teams shying away simply with the uncertainty of his ability to be allowed to play in North America. We recently reviewed the challenges his countryman, Ivan Fedotov, had to endure to make it to the Flyers.
Last year, Michkov posted 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points in 47 games. During the 2023-24 season, Michkov flirted with breaking the KHL record for points by a teenaged rookie.
Despite his youth, Expectations will be high for the talented young player; with possible early Calder talk.
Brent Flahr, Flyers assistant GM, had this to say at the timing of his signing:
“Matvei’s been a world class player since he came on the scene a number of years ago. He wants to be the best. We are excited for him to be a Flyer”
The big question is not how talented, rather, how will the Flyers use him. Torts is well known to be a disciplinarian that historically has some difficulties with young players, or any players for that matter, i.e. Sean Courtier. Talented players need ice time and opportunities. I included Michkov on the bottom 6 list as it seemed unfair to immediately rank him above some of the experienced and talented veterans. It would not be surprising to see the Michkov get significant power play and top 6 minutes this year.
Who knows, Michkov could be so impactful he forces the Flyers to start a young top line of Foerster, Frost and Michkov. All we do know is we should be in for a few more flashy thrills compared with the team the Flyers iced last year.
Nic Deslauriers
(Last Season: 60GP 1G 3A 4P 89PIM -7 +/- 8:09TOI)
At the Michkov press conference announcing Michkov, Flyers GM Briere joked:
“On that, we also showed him the video of the fight of Nic in the Rangers game last year,” Brière quipped. “We told him he’s his [Michkov’s] new best friend.”
Toughness and being a good teammate are never things that are questioned with Delauriers game. Last year, Delauriers played in 60 games for the Flyers putting up 1 goal and 3 assists to go along with 89 PIMs. Delauriers could find it a bit harder to crack the lineup once Michkov gets going. With the Flyers icing essentially the same team with the addition of Michkov and younger players needing time, will we see Delaurier crack 60 games again in a season for the Flyers? Deslauriers has 2 years remaining on this deal with a $1.75MM cap hit.
Garnet Hathaway
(Last Season: 82GP 7G 10A 17PTS 132PIM -7 +/- 12:29TOI)
Garnet Hathaway, along with Delauriers, will be vital in helping Michkov learn the locker room and with learning how to be a pro in the NHL.
Hathaway played all 82 games for the Flyers last year notching 7 goals and 10 assists to go along with 132 PIMs. Like Delauriers, Hathaway is a guy who might get squeezed for ice time as the season rolls along, especially if some of the Flyers youth starts pushing for ice time with the big club. Hathaway in on the last year of his deal carrying a $2.4MM cap hit.
Ryan Poehling
(Last Season: 77GP 11G 17A 28P 6PIM -11 +/- 15:00 TOI)
Poehling signed a two-year extension with the Flyers in January 2024 which kicks in this season pays him $1.9MM AAV, a 500k pay increase from his one-year $1.4MM contract he signed in July 2023.
At the time of his extension signing, Briere said
“Torts has really enjoyed him, likes that he can use him on the PK, for faceoffs. His speed and size combination helps us because of having a few smaller-sized wingers.
Poehling’s 28 points was a slight increase in his points per game average from earlier in his career. The 25-year-old will look to build upon last year and continue to grow and thrive with the Flyers.
Noah Cates
(Last Season: 59GP 6G 12A 18P 0PIM -8 +/- 13:48 TOI)
Frankly, it was impressive to see Cates play 59 games averaging 13:48 TOI and he took zero penalties. I needed to double check that stat, and it was correct, and I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I for one find that impressive. I mean, not once do you misplace your stick and a guy accidentally trips over it. Kudos to Cates. Looking deeper, Cates has only 16 PIM in 157 games with the Flyers, contributing 65 points in his parts of 3 years with the Flyers. That might be a particular skill on a team with Delauriers and Hathaway.
Cates, who will turn 26 in February, is on year 2 of his bridge deal carrying a $2.7MM cap hit. Unfortunately, Cates will have to turn around his slumping points-per-game average which currently sits at 0.3 points per game compared to his 0.5 points per game average in his first 98 games with the Orange & Black. This would be the right year for Cates to get back on track if he wants to be in the Flyers long-term future or if he wants to secure a nice deal in free agency.
Scott Laughton
(Last Season: 82GP 13G 26A 39P 69PIM -9 +/- 15:39 TOI)
Laughton was a likely trade candidate last year and not much is expected to change, as Laughton should remain a top trade target this year.
Laughton, now entering, parts of his 11th NHL season, all with the Flyers. in 2012-13 he played 5 games and in 2016-17 he played 2 games. In his career to date, Laughton has 95 goals and 143 points in 601 games.
As a veteran leader who can play up and down the line-up and offer secondary scoring to go along with a modest $3MM cap hit, he’s a valuable player for the Flyers or a number of other teams. As we saw last season, it will likely take the right offer for the Flyers to move on, especially with two years remaining on this deal.
Tyson Foerster
(Last Season: 77 GP 20G 13A 33P 32PIM 0 +/- 17:16 TOI)
Foerster set new career highs in goals (20), assists (13) and points (33) last year. Now, his goal will be to build off his breakout year in 2024-25.
Foerster’s a guy who, like Michkov could end up playing top 6 minutes. In addition to having already eclipsed the famed NHL 20-goal mark, Foerster’s got a wicked shot and surprisingly put up 102 hits last year, showing he can handle the physicality of the NHL, a concern as a prospect. With Foerster on year 3 of his ELC, the Flyers are going to want to figure out if he is complimentary to their long-term plans and Foerster will want to perform to get paid on his next deal.
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JR Martin
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Rumor: Michkov Could Be Coming Soon – Philadelphia Sports Nation
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This week it has been rumored that 19 year old Russian prospect Matvei Michkov could be joining to the Flyers this summer. Michkov currently has two years left on this KHL contract with SKA St Petersburg. But it has been reported that the two teams are in decision with terminating the young forward’s contract so that he can join the Flyers. This practice is not unheard of as Ivan Miroshnichenko had his KHL contract terminated so that he could join the Washington Capitals last year. The final decision is in the hands of SKA and Michkov’s family, but the Flyers and SKA are in good relations.
If Michkov is able to come to America this summer the Flyers would pivot their free agency, draft, and trade plans into a “win-now” attitude. To quickly build a competitive team around Michkov with the aspirations of making a deep playoff run for the first time in over a decade (not counting the bubble playoffs of 2020). The quicker the process happens, the better it would be for the Flyers. As the draft takes place June 28th-29th with free agency starting on July 1st. Last month the Flyers were able to quickly bring goaltender Ivan Fedotov in from Russia after his KHL season ended with CSKA Moscow. This is a developing story with no deal set in place yet.
Other Flyers prospect have been having success in their playoff runs. As Oliver Bonk, the Flyers best defensive prospect won the OHL Championship, J. Ross Robertson Cup, with the London Knights. In 18 games Bonk recorded 16 points in the championship effort. Bonk and the Knights will now be playing in the Memorial Cup for the CHL champions against the champions of the WHL, QMJHL, and the host team Saginaw Spirit. While the Lehigh Valley Phantoms quest for a Calder Cup has ended in the second round to their division rival Hershey Bears. The defending champion Bears won the best of five series in four games.
CHRISTOPHER HANEWINCKEL/USA TODAY SPORTS
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Nathan Harding
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Is Matvei Michkov even closer to joining the Flyers sooner than expected?
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Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and there’s definitely a lot of smoke surrounding Matvei Michkov right now, especially after this past weekend.
A report from Russian outlet Sport-Express dropped on Sunday saying that the Flyers’ top prospect would be moving on to Philadelphia, getting his current KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg terminated in order to do so, though with the Russian pro club retaining his rights within that league.
And just like that, in the middle of what should be a dead period for the Flyers with them out of the playoffs, Michkov Watch went into overdrive, especially after this was picked up on over on Instagram:
A few weeks ago, SKA St. Petersburg chairman Alexander Medvedev opened up the possibility of Michkov arriving to the Flyers sooner than expected when he discussed the seventh overall pick’s path to the NHL in an interview with another Russian sports outlet in Match TV, hinting, among other things, that some sort of decision on Michkov’s immediate future would be made by the end of June.
Since then, Michkov has posted a couple of videos of him working out – curiously in Flyers gear – to Instagram, and all the while, general manager Danny Brière has been keeping things extremely close to the vest regarding Michkov in interviews since the season ended.
So there very well could be something brewing here, but there are by no means any guarantees, at least not yet.
A key hurdle to jump through, as reported and followed up on by The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco and The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz after word got out of Russia, is that Michkov is still a SKA St. Petersburg player under contract in the KHL. The Flyers aren’t allowed to get involved, can only do so much, and only know so much.
So if there is an out for Michkov to make his way to the NHL, it’s up to him and his representation to work that exit out with SKA St. Petersburg over in Russia.
Something to keep in mind — the Flyers technically can’t just write SKA a big check. The money for a buyout would have to be paid by Michkov. The only thing the Flyers can do is offer him an NHL entry level contract, which, of course, can only go so high. https://t.co/DUBqCTDyqx
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) May 19, 2024
But if they do, then the Philadelphia Flyers’ outlook would be shifting in a major, major way.
Flyers stay or go: Gauging the futures of Laughton, Konecny, other forwards
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Nick Tricome
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