As the 2024-25 NLHL season breaks on the horizon, the Philadelphia Flyers will finally get to see how their quiet offseason pans out. Because they ran back virtually the entire roster, the burden will fall on the returning players and John Tortorella to elevate their own games with no help provided for the push. So who has the most to prove this season?
Number 5: Noah Cates
As Noah Cates enters the third season of his NHL career, the 25-year-old forward is at a bit of a crossroads, with his first two campaigns telling completely different stories. As a rookie, he became one of the better shutdown centers in the league, garnering both Calder and Selke votes for his efforts. Then as a sophomore, he ended up back on the wing and was generally ineffective in most aspects of the game. So which version is the real version? For the Flyers’ sake, with the weakness down the middle and the unknown state of Sean Couturier, if Cates can throw it back to his rookie sensation days, it would go a long way for the team’s stability at center.
Number 4: Joel Farabee
Farabee’s name popped up in various trade rumors during the summer, but he wasn’t dealt away. Now entering his sixth NHL season, he’s very much feeling like the odd man out of the overcrowded winger group. Even though he hit new career highs of 22 goals and 50 points during the 2023-24 season, he still struggled to be a force on a night-to-night basis. Can he overcome the wing depth and have a career season at the same time? It’s hockey and anything is possible, but Farabee is running out of time and has quite the uphill battle to prove to be anything more than “just a guy.”
Number 3: Jamie Drysdale
When the Flyers acquired Jamie Drysdale from the Ducks, the two things that were known about him were his injury history and the fact that he wasn’t quite living up to the hype of a former sixth overall pick. He underwent offseason surgery to repair a hernia and stated he feels the best he has in a long time during the early days of training camp. Considering he’s the spiritual successor to what was supposed to be a franchise player, the heat will be on Drysdale to not only stay healthy, but to elevate his game to that of a top pair defenseman.
Number 2: Sean Couturier
Yet another season opens with the storyline of Sean Couturier returning from a major injury and whether or not he’s got one more comeback in him. Couturier had core muscle surgery in the offseason, something that was attributed to his steep decline towards the end of last season, and despite the fact that Couturier himself downplayed the severity of the injury and surgery during his training camp press conferences, the difference between a top-six Sean Couturier and and a bottom-six Sean Couturier could play a major role in the outcome of the season.
Number 1: Morgan Frost
Much like Farabee, Frost is entering his sixth professional season and has quite a bit to prove. He has yet to hit the 20-goal or 50-point plateau in his career and has had a years-long battle with head coach John Tortorella just to get the minutes he has. The team’s refusal to upgrade at C should mean Frost is their de facto number one center playing alongside someone like Matvei Michkov… But it’s also possible that his play remains mediocre at best and Tortorella continues to put his thumb on the scale just enough to keep Frost from truly breaking out. It’s “very much put up or shut up” time from Morgan Frost and his ability to be a bonafide top-six center. If he can’t do it this year, the Flyers have to waive the white flag and search elsewhere for main roster center help.
Honorable mentions
Nick Seeler
31-year-old Nick Seeler is coming off the best season of his career that earned him a four-year, $10.8 million contract extension. Now it’s about whether or not he can keep his game at an elevated level or will he fall back to replacement status. Considering he’s going to be the one primarily tasked with playing alongside and helping develop Jamie Drysdale, Seeler remaining an effective defenseman would go a long way to helping steady the blue line.
Matvei Michkov
Obviously, Michkov isn’t at the make-or-break stage of his career like most players on this list, but he does have lofty expectations he has to live up to. The front office essentially put every egg they have in his basket, and whether or not he’s an immediate star will have ripple effects on how the Flyers conduct business at the 2025 trade deadline and offseason. Are the Flyers finally going to reap the rewards of a top ten pick? Or is the mediocre roster they surrounded him with going to be too much to overcome at this stage of his career?
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: Getty Images
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