Among the many problems facing the Philadelphia Flyers ahead of the 2026 offseason is the sheer amount of wingers on the main roster. With Porter Martone making the professional jump, and Tyson Foerster potentially getting cleared before the end of the season, and will definitely be ready fro next season regardless, Danny Briere has some house cleaning to do this summer, but making some tough decisions won’t be an easy task.
So which players are likely to stick around and which are likely to not be here next year? Let’s assess!
Travis Konecny
Konecny has been making a poo poo face all season after once again (likely) missing the playoffs, but he’s in year one of his eight-year contract extension with a full no-move clause. So unless he demands out of the deal he just committed to (knowing full well the Flyers were a never-ending dumpster fire), he’s not going anywhere.
To be fair to Konecny, he has done a decent job of putting the team on his back and trying his best. Despite some consistency issues with his point production, he’s still just shy of a point-per-game pace for a fourth consecutive season, which is a consolation prize for someone who has only ever cleared the PPG mark once.
It’d be quite the signal that things are about to change if he waived his NMC and the team actually managed to deal him away, and they could still get a decent return for the guy if they agreed to a trade… but it’s the Flyers, nothing ever changes.
This mess isn’t directly his fault, but he committed to it. Sorry Teeks.
Decision: Hopefully trade, but likely keep
Matvei Michkov
Michkov taught everyone first hand what the definition of a sophomore slump is during the 2025-26 season.
It certainly didn’t help that his head coach has been accosting him all season long for the shape he arrived at training camp in, so much so that Briere had to hold a media presser to apologize for his commetns, and has been placing his thumb on the scale to set him up for failure as well.
There’s a non-zero chance he gets moved, a minor upgrade from the absolute zero it was a few months ago, but it’s very, very unlikely the Flyers would take that risk to begin with. Other than Porter Martone, he’s the second most likely to stick around for the long haul.
Decision: Keep
Owen Tippett
Of this entire group, Tippett is the most polarizing when it comes to trade talk.
He’s the guy that brings something different to the lineup. He’s probably the best skater on the team, at least the fastest, and can flat out snipe when he want to. The problem is he’s frustratingly inconsistent and tends to disappear throughout the season. Despite his fourth consecutive 20-goal campaign, he’s actually only hit 50 points once in his career (he’ll probably hit it for the second time this season).
He also just turned 27, making him the third oldest winger behind Garnet Hathaway and Travis Konecny.
Plus, with six years remaining on a contract with a modified no-trade clause about to kick in once the new league year starts in July, it may not be the easiest trade to craft to move him painlessly.
A late-season resurgence has swayed fan opinion on Tippett heavily, going from universally disliked to beloved in just a few months. It’s a mystery wrapped in a conundrum, but at the end of the day, Tippett should still be atop the list when it comes to clearing out a spot on the wings. That’s not a criticism or chastising his play, somebody has to move and he’s got the most working against him.
Decision: Trade
Porter Martone
Unless the Flyers use Martone to acquire Connor McDavid, he isn’t going anywhere. Martone the guy they have to clear a space for.
If anything, his arrival late this season gives an early look into the game of hot potato roster juggling they’re going to have to do to accommodate him if they don’t move anyone.
Decision: Keep
Tyson Foerster
If the name of the game is opening a spot for Martone, interestingly, Foerster may be the most direct comparison to the new guy in terms of overall play style. But considering he just turned 24 and only has 187 games to his name thanks to a season-ending arm injury, he is one of the guys who presents the most difficult decision to give up on.
Do they trade Foerster and hope that Martone can not only fill his current shoes immediately, but be better in the long run before he barely gets his feet wet in the NHL? If they want to go shopping for a real top six center, Foerster may provide the most interesting return for teams looking for a younger, experienced player with upside.
It also seems like the front office really likes what Foerster can bring to the table. But he also got a bridge deal last summer instead of a usual Flyers long-term extension, so maybe they’re not as serious as they seem to be.
There’s a high likelihood that we haven’t seen the best Foerster has to offer, but given that he hasn’t been in the spotlight all year, he may be the easiest band-aid to peel off without the backlash. Out of sight, out of mind.
Decision: Should keep, be may be a surprise trade
Trevor Zegras
How about just playing Zegras at center regularly like they’re supposed to and he wouldn’t even have to be on this list? He’s likely sticking around on a long-term contract that’ll be coming within the next few months. He’s the most exciting player the Flyers have had in a long time, and if they could ever assemble a real top six, there may be more to come for Zegras in Philly.
Just play the guy at center all the time.
Decision: Keep
Alex Bump
The Flyers’ handling of Bump has been just questionable enough that his future with the organization is anything but certain. If they make a blockbuster trade for a center, Bump feels like a guy who could be a key piece going back the other way… but do the Flyers make that trade in the first place?
He and Denver Barkey represent the two easiest options to dismiss from the main roster if they choose to trade nobody by simply shipping them one-way back to Lehigh Valley thanks to the fact they’re still on entry-level contracts.
It’s the dumbest and most wasteful outcome, but it’s the Flyers, that route has to be not only considered, but expected.
Decision: Trade or demote… but should keep
Denver Barkey
The current kink of the Philadelphia Flyers’ front office appears to be big, tall players who can’t skate, which leaves 5’10, 170lb Denver Barkey out in the cold, despite the fact that he’s held his own surprisingly well in the NHL so far.
He kinda feels like the new Bobby Brink in a way, a perfectly fine pair of hands that just isn’t going to get used to his full potential in Philly. As noted, they could just ship him back to Lehigh Valley if the front office chooses to not directly address the mass of wingers, but that decision opens the team up to quite a bit of backlash if they demote both of their young wingers in favor of the stale core of vets.
Decision: Keep, but can’t rule out a trade
Garnet Hathaway
Hathaway was once one of the premier fourth liners in the league. Let alone the fact that that’s a bit of an oxymoron, Hathaway’s 2025-26 season was about as useless as humanly possible. He’s still got one more year on his contract at a $2.4 million cap hit.
They could trade him for nothing, or even buy him out relatively painlessly.
The problem is, ditching your fourth line winger doesn’t really address the overcrowding in their top nine, but it’s a start.
Decision: Trade or buy out
Nikita Grebenkin
Grebenkin is a pending restricted free agent, which makes him one of the more obvious candidates to part ways with simply because no qualifying is easy and painless. But much like Hathaway, doesn’t directly address any problems if they don’t qualify him.
Grebenkin also hasn’t been utilized in an overly meaningful way this season under Rick Tocchet, despite the fact that he has shown some potential when given the rare chance to do so. He’s probably nothing more than a third line net-front powerplay guy in the NHL, but if they deployed him in a slightly more favorable way, he could be one of the more sneaky players on the roster.
Decision: Keep
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
brotherlypuck.com 