It won’t get any credit in North America, but the song ‘Wind of Change’ by the Scorpions could be among the most meaningful and impactful songs ever written. Recorded in 1990 for their album Crazy World, the Scorpions recorded the song with the backdrop of substantial political, economic, and social change taking place in Eastern Europe with the fall of communism and the hope of a better tomorrow. As a German metal band, the Scorpions were uniquely positioned to create a song that would resonate with people that felt that they were on the precipice of a dramatic shift.
After the conclusion of another season without a playoff appearance, fans of the Philadelphia Flyers were told of a new phase in the rebuild. A change from how the organization was behaving; and fans were eager to see if the changes promised would match the actions that would be taken. How and to what severity would the ‘Wind of Change’ blow in Philadelphia?
While some fans wanted more moves to be made, General Manager Daniel Briere was certainly more active than last offseason which resulted in the Flyers trading down to select Jett Luchanko; and sending their 32nd overall 1st Round pick to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for the Oilers 1st Round pick in 2025 which ended up being the 31st overall selection. The arrival of Matvei Michkov was certainly exciting and of interest, but the Flyers did little else other than re-signing Erik Johnson and Garnet Hathaway.
After the Flyers missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season in 2024-25, Briere talked up the end of roster subtractions and the beginning of a “new phase of the rebuild”. This new phase would look to bolster the roster by using additions especially to fill holes and needs throughout the roster (especially with glaring deficiencies in goal and on the powerplay). In his press conferences following both the trade deadline and locker clean out, Briere continued to regurgitate that the team would only add players “if it makes sense” and talked up the number of players making the jump to the professional level at Lehigh Valley to join the Phantoms including Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, and Carson Bjarnason. Without question, the players making the jump will benefit from gaining experience at the professional level and provide internal competition for roster spots in the upcoming years.
So how did this offseason turn out and how does it fit with the ‘next phase’ of the rebuild?
The Zegras Trade
The Flyers 2025 offseason started with the acquisition of forward Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ryan Poehling, a 2nd Round pick (#45 overall) in 2025, and 4th Round pick in 2026. In terms of value, the Zegras trade was a low-cost move that is banking on a talented player returning to form. Especially with the Flyers being so deficient at the Center position, Zegras would immediately be an immediate upgrade to both the roster and the powerplay.
While fans praised this move, it is important to note that Zegras is not a guaranteed sure-fire solution to all that ails the Flyers. Zegras was a two-time 60-point player in his first two full NHL seasons but has struggled with injuries as he has played a total of 88 games in the last two seasons. Also of note is the fact that the Ducks moved Zegras from Center to Left-Wing because he struggled with the defensive side of the game and was poor at winning face-offs. In addition, other young players like Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish (who play Center), made it a numbers game and needed to play in all game situations at the Center position.
Zegras became expendable with the Ducks, and as a result the Flyers pounced on the opportunity to acquire him for a low-cost. While we have to wait and see what Zegras can do in a Flyers uniform, the low-cost made it a good move that Briere just couldn’t pass up. While there are some questions about Zegras at Center, it was a swing that had to be taken from the Flyers perspective. Once Ducks GM Pat Verbeek initiated discussions with Briere and let it be known that the player needed to get moved, the price became very palatable. In other words, Briere was given an offer that he simply could not refuse and rightly capitalized.
GRADE: A-
The 2025 NHL Draft
Entering the 2025 NHL Draft, the Flyers had three 1st Round picks (#6, #22, and #31) and three 2nd Round picks (#36, #40, and #48). Following the Nashville selection of Brady Martin (C, Soo Greyhounds OHL) at #5, the Flyers had to pick between the consensus best player available at #6 between Porter Martone (RW, Brampton Steelheads OHL) and James Hagens (C, Boston College NCAA).
The Flyers ultimately opted on Martone and he instantly became a fan favorite with his reveal that he had a Claude Giroux poster up on his wall growing up. While Martone is likely to get some games in at the beginning of the season with the bicep injury to Tyson Foerster, the odds are that Martone will be given time to develop his game a bit more and is heavily rumoured to be looking at NCAA options for the coming season. Playing against older players in college would be preferred after having an outstanding season as Captain with the Brampton Steelheads. Martone put up an impressive 37 goals and 61 assists for 98 points in just 57 games. Other than going on a deep playoff run, Martone has little left to prove at the OHL level and should test himself against older and stronger players at the college level. While we wait to see what Martone decides, it is rumored that Penn State may be the destination of choice especially as it was recently announced that projected 2026 1st overall pick Gavin McKenna would be making the jump and may be an attractive landing spot for Martone to continue his development.
The real intrigue for the Flyers at the draft though took place later in the opening round after the Metropolitan Division Pittsburgh Penguins traded the 12th overall selection to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for picks #22 and #31. As fans were processing the trade and the resulting jump up the draft board, the Flyers shockingly selected Center Jack Nesbitt who was consistently ranked to get chosen in the bottom third of the opening round. This past season in the OHL, Nesbitt scored 25 goals and 39 assists for 64 points in 65 games with the Windsor Spitfires. While Nesbitt was essentially a point per game player in his second junior season, his size (6’5”), reach, and physical play were what attracted the Flyers scouting staff to the point that Briere felt that he had to make the trade in order to select the player.
Flyers fans though were initially stunned with the pick. While there is no doubt that Nesbitt is an impressive physical specimen, scouting reports immediately came out highlighting that Nesbitt’s biggest drawback was his skating ability. While this is a common critique for many prospects in their draft year, it becomes readily apparent that Nesbitt will need to pay focus on improving his skating over the next few seasons. As of writing, the expectation is that Nesbitt will return to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires for the upcoming 2025-26 season. While Nesbitt has the physical tools to play against older players, the skating really needs to be the focus in order to try to develop into a more complete and productive player once he hits the professional level.
Will it work? Only time will tell, but it is noteworthy that the Flyers really wanted to take this player and were willing to give up two 1st Round picks in order to do so. This was a gamble that has the potential to be seen as either a fantastic move, or a selection that was a reach that did not quite pan out. Safer selections could have been made based on the players that frequented the multitude of draft boards that were released before the draft itself, but the Flyers made an aggressive move to take a swing on a player. This type of aggressiveness is rare to see from the Flyers, so it is refreshing to see the team act in the way that it did. Still, the pick does seem to have a boom or bust quality to it that may pay huge dividends in the future or massively disappoint.
In the 2nd Round, the Flyers used their remaining selections on Defenseman Carter Amico (38th overall after trading the #36 selection along with a 3rd Round pick to the Seattle Kraken for #38 and #57), Forward Jack Murtagh (40th overall), and Winger Shane Vansaghi (48th overall). All three players played in the U.S. with either the USNTDP or the NCAA. Both Amico and Murtagh will he headed to Boston University for the upcoming season while Vansaghi will be playing at Michigan State. The consensus was that Brent Flahr and the scouting staff had a good 2nd Round with the overall theme being that the Flyers selected players with a competitive streak and some snarl that will be difficult for opposing players to play against.
GRADE: Undetermined
The 2025 Free Agency
With the start of Free Agency on July 1st, the Flyers made a few signings to fill some of the holes on the roster and provide some new faces heading into the 2025-26 season. The Flyers more notable additions included Center Christian Dvorak (1-year at $5.4 million), Goaltender Dan Vladar (2-years at a $3.35 million AAV), and Defenseman Noah Juulsen (1-year at $900K).
At face value, the key priority for Briere and Flyers was undoubtedly term. All the signings came in on short term deals that will continue to provide cap flexibility going forward with many young prospects making the jump to the AHL this upcoming season. From a roster management perspective as well as a development perspective, the Flyers are taking the slow but steady approach. While none of the signings are exciting, holes on the roster were filled with players that have a familiarity with new Head Coach Rick Tocchet. Juulsen played for Tocchet as a member of the Vancouver Canucks from 2022-23 to this past season while Dvorak played for him during his time with the Arizona Coyotes from the 2017-18 season to 2020-21.
While both Dvorak and Juulsen were signed to add depth and fill holes at the bottom of the lineup, the Vladar signing was unexpected and surprising. With the Flyers goaltending being such a major issue, rumors swirled throughout the offseason that the Flyers would significantly address the position that many point to as the singular reason why the postseason has been out of reach for the past few seasons. Of the goaltenders rumored to have piqued the Flyers interest, the list of names included Thatcher Demko, John Gibson, Jake Allen, Pyotr Kotchetkov among others.
One name that was not bandied about was Dan Vladar. Vladar spent last season with the Calgary Flames and posted a 12-11-6 record in 30 games with a .898 Save Percentage and a 2.80 Goals Against Average. The numbers are not anything spectacular to write home about. To be fair, the Flames were not playoff team last season and Vladar seemed to want more playing time after rookie sensation Dustin Wolf claimed the crease. Looking at a larger sample size of his work, Vladar has a career Save Percentage of .895 and has never looked like a goaltender that could compete for a starting role in the NHL.
With the league basement level of goaltending that the Flyers had last season, the Flyers projected that the goaltending would be addressed because the front office has an overall belief in the players that are currently on the roster. Addressing the goaltending was supposed to give this group the best possible shot at making the playoffs. It is hard to imagine that Vladar is the answer to the Flyers woes, especially since he was given a 2-year deal once all of the other goaltenders either re-signed with their current clubs or were acquired via trade thereby leaving Vladar as the seemingly last option available.
Briere was positive in his press availability after the conclusion of Free Agency, and even went so far as to claim that Vladar could be in the mix for the starting job going forward. Fans don’t realistically believe that. Samuel Ersson is the best goaltender under contract at the moment and Ivan Fedotov will likely by placed on waivers for the purpose of being reassigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With Alexei Kolosov’s status and happiness in limbo, it is clear that Vladar will be on the Flyers roster to complement Ersson as the backup.
It remains to be seen how Rick Tocchet will approach dividing up the starts between them, but it is far more likely that the team would like to avoid deteriorating play in the final third of the season from Ersson due to a heavy workload. While optimists will point out that the goaltending should be better this season, it is still unlikely that the position was addressed effectively enough to get this team to a Wildcard spot.
GRADE: C-
Cam York Re-Signed
On July 7th, the Flyers took care of their final remaining Restricted Free Agent (RFA) as they signed Cam York to a 5-year deal with an AAV of $5.15 million. After the player did not elect to take the Flyers to arbitration, word got around that there was likely very little separating the player and the club in the negotiation of a new deal and that it was likely to be resolved sooner rather than later. With the deal, the Flyers locked up York to a very favorable and manageable cap hit.
The term is the interesting aspect of this deal. Most fans believed that the Flyers would likely go shorter on the term based on the player having a disappointing season and having a major blowup with former Head Coach John Tortorella. Some segments of the fanbase have soured on York and believed that a trade was the likeliest course of action to be taken in order to continue remaking the roster. The 5-year deal sends the message that the organization still believes in York and that the best is yet to come. A clean slate with a new Head Coach could be the remedy to get York back on track and the longer term also helped lower the AAV. That combined with the fact that no trade protections were included in the deal should allow for York to be shopped via trade if he falls out of favor or continues to show inconsistency.
It is a very tradeable deal that could attract multiple suitors should he be made available, especially given that the salary cap is projected to continue increasing for the next two seasons. If York rebounds and shows improvement, then the terms of the deal look very team friendly and the Flyers have themselves a bargain. Either way, it was a low-risk, can’t miss proposition that was a very tidy piece of business.
GRADE: A
Conclusion
After a mainly uneventful offseason in 2024, the Flyers went into the 2025 offseason downplaying expectations but continuing to tout a new phase of the rebuilding process. All options were kept open with a myriad of draft capital, and changes (specifically at the Center and Goaltender positions) were promised. Throw in the surprise Zegras trade and overall there is a general sense of satisfaction that the Flyers at least made things more interesting this offseason.
While some change did occur, did the Flyers do enough this offseason? Was it realistic to expect the Flyers to do much more than they ultimately ended up doing? Should the team have made use of their trade chips to continue to remake the roster at the Draft? The team does look improved, but the timid and puzzling addressing of the goaltending still could very much hinder the amount of improvement that could have been made.
While there certainly were positive changes made with improvement to the roster, fans likely will have to wait one more year to be on the cusp of a real ‘Wind of Change’ to blow through this organization.
*****
Did I leave anyone out that you feel should be included? Any tinkering with the lineup that I selected? Feel free to leave a comment or leave a response via twitter.
Until next time from BrotherlyPuck.com,
I remain,
Manny Benevides
brotherlypuck.com 