The chaos of the 2025 NHL offseason is mostly over as July drags further on, which means it’s time to look ahead to the fall when we can get the 2025-26 season underway. So let’s make some way too early bold predictions about the new-look Philadelphia Flyers!
Number 5: Flyers Actually Make the Playoffs
Considering the team hasn’t made the postseason in five years and the main roster didn’t undergo a huge change during the offseason, it counts as a bold prediction to assume this is they year that streak comes to an end, right? It’ll be an uphill battle, and probably pretty, but they’ll return to playoff hockey… probably just to quickly get stomped in the first round, but that’s a different problem for a different day.
Number 4: Jamie Drysdale is a Top RHD
Drysdale has been a work in progress since he arrived in Philly, slowly but surely he has come into his own, albeit in a limited role. With Rasmus Ristolainen slated to start the season on IR, it leaves Drysdale as the only sure-fire main roster natural right-handed defenseman. With any luck they give him a chance to eat a lot of minutes, and with even more luck they’ll get a player who’s ready for the role.
Number 3: The Prospects Actually Get Ice Time
There’s going to be an influx of young players at the professional level in 2025-26, and a brand new coaching staff at both the NHL and AHL level to lead them. The Torts/Lappy regime did a miserable job integrating prospects into the NHL, but between the new bench bosses and the sheer quantity of players, some of the kids will actually succeed this time, right? There aren’t exactly many main roster spots to go around, but if someone steps up and earns it, hopefully they’re actually given a chance to prove themselves on the main roster, rather than being set up to fail like everyone that came before them.
Number 2: The Flyers Don’t Have The League Worst Average Save Percentage
The Philadelphia Flyers have had the worst save percentage in the NHL for two consecutive seasons thanks to the tandem of Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov stinkin’ up the joint. Considering they really didn’t so anything to truly improve the goaltending this summer, they’re more than likely not exiting the basement of the league standings in 2025-26, but Vladar may be juuuuuust good enough to make them second worst in league average goaltending. Baby steps!
Number 1: Michkov Breaks 100 Points
Michkov posted 26 goals and 63 points during his rookie season on an absolutely abysmal offense. While his surroundings may not change all that much, the addition of Trevor Zegras, the subtraction of John Tortorella, and with a year’s worth of NHL experience under his belt, Matvei Michkov will break the 100-point plateau in 2025-26. He’d be the first Flyer since Claude Giroux in 2017-18 to hit that mark.
honorable mentions
Zegras Isn’t a 1C
Zegras was the crown jewel of the Flyers’ 2025 offseason, and they’re sure putting a lot of eggs in the basket of him stepping into the team’s top center role. He’s coming off two injury-riddled seasons with lackluster production, but at one point he seemed like one of the brightest young up-and-coming human highlight reels in the league.
He’ll be flanked by significantly better players than he was in Anaheim, and as long as he stays healthy he’s likely to get back to his 65-point pace from his earlier career, but chances are the Flyers did not cure the center problem that has been ailing them for years, but they, at least hopefully, put a bandage on it for the time being.
Ristolainen Doesn’t Come Back
Rasmus Ristolainen underwent surgery in March to repair a ruptured triceps tendon, the exact same thing that kept him out of action late in the 2023-24 season as well. Repeated serious injuries are never great and the Flyers have a pretty rough track record when it comes to players overcoming catastrophic injuries. While he is only slated to miss six months, if something goes wrong in his rehab, it’s going to be a hard mountain to overcome. Even if he does dress for the Flyers again, what kind of condition he’ll be in is a more than fair question to ask.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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