Last Word on Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2024-25 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2024-25 Philadelphia Flyers.
2024-25 Philadelphia Flyers
2023-24 Season
The Flyers’ past season was a success and a sliver of hope for the entire fanbase. Philadelphia came into the season with low expectations. The media had predicted the Flyers would be included in the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes. Most saw them finish near the bottom of the league. However, Philadelphia found themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum, battling for a playoff spot all season. They held the final wildcard spot for most of the season before having a colossal meltdown during the final stretch. In this stretch, they dropped nine of their final eleven games, five of those losses coming from teams already eliminated from playoff contention.
However, the Flyers still finished with seven more wins and 12 total points more than the season prior. There were a lot of good things to take away from the past season as well. Joel Farabee, Tyson Foerster, Travis Konecny, and Owen Tippett reached their career highs in points, hoping to improve even more this upcoming season. In addition to this, the Flyers had one of the top penalty-killing units in the NHL. They finished fourth in the entire league percentage-wise, killing penalties at an 83.4% clip while leading the NHL in shorthanded goals with 16.
2024 Off-season
This off-season, the Flyers made a few big moves that have fans excited for the upcoming season. Early in the off-season, they said goodbye to veteran forward Cam Atkinson. Atkinson was released and eventually signed with Tampa Bay. However, the two biggest moves during the Flyers’ off-season were still yet to be seen. Top prospect and Russian sensation Matvei Michkov made his way over to the United States earlier than planned. The team drafted him expecting to not see him in uniform for at least two years however, he was bought out of his KHL contract and will be with Philadelphia for the 2024-25 season. Michkov is arguably the biggest prospect the Flyers have had since trading Eric Lindros at the 1992 draft.
Along with this, Philadelphia and forward Travis Konecny reached an agreement to keep him in Philly for eight more seasons. Konecny has signed an eight-year $70 million contract, with an AAV of $8.75 million.
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster – Ryan Poehling – Bobby Brink
Noah Cates – Soctt Laughton – Garnet Hathaway
Top Six
The top six gets a big shakeup this season with the addition of top prospect Michkov. Besides him, the Flyers are returning the other five of the top six back to the lineup this season. Farabee reached new career highs last season in points, goals, and assists, while Frost had a decent season himself. With the addition of Michkov, Flyers fans hope this first line can finally be a true NHL first line. Michkov adds a scoring element that could very possibly lend a hand to Farabee and Frost to produce new career highs. That true goal scorer is what the Flyers had been missing and now, they hope Michkov is going to fill those shoes.
The second line consists of all returning players, one being Konecny who just inked a massive deal to stay in Philly. Konecny led the NHL in shorthanded goals last season with six whilst being in the midst of his best season yet. He tallied 68 points last season (33 Goals, 35 Assists), reaching new career highs in all three categories. His partner on the other side, Owen Tippett, also had his best season statistically wise. He added new career highs in points with 53, goals with 33 and assists with 35. His speed and vision on the ice match well with Konecny’s skill set, giving them the potential to be a lethal wing pair. In the middle, they are centered by captain Sean Couturier. Couturier is regarded as one of the best defensive forwards in the league and has the ability to score on the offensive end. This line’s full 200-foot play from end-to-end will make them tough to play against and can give a team nightmares on any given night.
Bottom Six
The bottom six are going to be hit or miss. It’s hard to predict any team’s bottom six, especially the Flyers. Tyson Forester is a player to watch out of these six though. Forester played his first full season last year and turned some heads with his play. The youngster racked up 33 points last season (20 Goals, 13 Assists) and is expected to bring even more to the table this season.
Besides Forester, Scott Laughton is expected to bring some scoring to the bottom six. The last two seasons were his best offensive seasons. Laughton tallied 43 points in 2022-23 and 39 in the 2023-24 season. The rest of the bottom six produce a bit of scoring from time to time but are mostly known for their ability to do the little things. They are sound defensively, they block shots, and they are good at grinding the game down in the third period. This season I expect to see most of the same from them in all of these areas, if they can score a bit more that would be a huge bonus for the club.
Defence
Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen
Top Four
The Flyers’ defensive unit is led by two homegrown talents in Sanheim and York. Sanheim has been a force for this backend for a few years now, going into his eighth season with the club. While York is approaching his fourth full season with the club, his fifth overall with them. To complement the top pair is the pairing of Seeler and Drysdale. The 21-year-old Drysdale was shipped to Philadelphia last season for Cutter Gauthier and is expected to be a big part of this backend. Drysdale, like York and Sanheim, is a great defender with offensive ability that makes him a threat at both ends of the ice. To finish off the top four, the Flyers have Nick Seeler. With his six-foot-two frame, Seeler is not a guy opposing forwards like to go into the corners with. He throws his weight around well, knocking opposing players off the puck often. He also has some offensive ability, as he showed off his dazzling moves with a sweet goal against the Golden Knights last season.
Bottom Pair
The bottom pair consists of two skyscrapers that stand side-by-side. Zamula and Ristolainen are like any bottom pair in the league. The two are consistent with blocking shots and bringing physicality to the ice. However, they aren’t exactly the strongest defensively. They often found themselves struggling and scrambling in the defensive zone, letting up quite a few goals last season. This season they are going to be counted on to clean their mess up, which will strengthen this d-core.
Goalies
The Flyers goalie tandem is the same as the one they ended the season with. Last season, Carter Hart was the starter until running into some legal troubles. That is when Ersson stepped in and shined last season. He started the season with six straight wins, showing real promise as a starter in the NHL. He carried that momentum with him the rest of the year posting a 23-19 record. Although he had a losing record after starting so hot, he showed that he could be the Flyers number one. Backing him up is Fedotov, the tallest goalie in NHL history. Fedotov did well in his debut, picking up a win against the Islanders. However, he only appeared in two other games. Fedotov’s potential remains unknown, but if he can play to his best ability, the Flyers will be looking at a very promising tandem in net.
Players To Watch
Travis Konecny
Konecny is always a player to watch for Philadlphia, there will be a very close eye on him this season after his giant contract extension this offseason. Coming off back to back 30-goal seasons, while surpassing the 60 point mark twice, Konecny is looking to surpass those marks those season. With his great play in the offensive end, he also brings a defensive element to his game that makes his a threat on both ends of the ice.
Owen Tippett
Tippett has done nothing but improve since he put on a Flyers jersey. Last season he hit the 50 point mark for the first time in his career. Finishing with 53 points (28 Goals, 25 Assists), Tippett found himself among the top scorers on the team. His improvement was evident and he is expected to furthrt improve his game this season, and hopefully surpass that 53 point mark he reached last season.
Matvei Michkov
Michkov comes into this season with all the hype surrounding him. He is making his NHL debut this season with Philadelphia, and it is much earlier than fans expected. Michkov is one of the top prospects in the NHL, and one of the biggest prospects in Flyers history. With all that in mind, Michkov is a player every single Flyers fan will be looking out for, as well as most if not all NHL fans will be watching as he makes his debut this season.
Predictions for The 2024-25 Flyers
The Flyers 2024-25 season will be a success, I believe they continue to improve just as they did last season from the season prior. With Veteran coach John Tortarella, this young team has been guided in the right direction these past few seasons. The Flyers do everything with the team first in mind. They don’t quite have any top shelf talent, but a lot of players bought into the team system that makes up for it. Their scoring production team wise is sufficient enough for them to have a real chance at the Playoffs. Especially if Tippett and Konecny keep getting better every season. Also, the addition of Michkov has the potential to be a huge scoring lifeline which would be a blessing for this team. Seeing as they are pretty solid on the backend, and have only improved up front, I see this Flyers team taking one of those wildcard spots in the East.
Main Photo: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
