The Philadelphia Flyers look to bounce back from an underwhelming 2024 season after clearing house and hiring a new coaching staff. The addition of former Flyers winger Rick Tocchet behind the bench has fans hopeful that changes for the better are coming and that the playoffs will soon return to Broad Street.
Toward the end of last season, the Flyers made the surprising choice to fire John Tortorella and promote assistant coach Brad Shaw to interim head coach for the remaining nine games. They finished the season 5–3–1, leaving many fans optimistic heading into the offseason.
After Shaw was hired by the New Jersey Devils, the Flyers began searching for their next head coach. General Manager Danny Brière brought back Flyers legend and hard-nosed coach Rick Tocchet, who most recently coached in Vancouver and compiled a 108–65–27 record, making the postseason in 2024.
“I think that Tocchet will be a welcome change in Philadelphia,” senior hockey fan Sean McNamara said. “His coaching style is just different enough for the young players to embrace. While success somewhat eluded him in Vancouver, his ability to work with big personalities was evident.”
McNamara also noted that, even though some fans may worry Tocchet’s style is too similar to Tortorella’s, they should remember Tocchet’s experience as an NHL player. “Success may not come right away,” McNamara added, “but they will be a more consistently competitive team.”
Brière helped Tocchet acquire big personalities and offensive weapons this offseason. After signing center Trevor Zegras from Anaheim and center/winger Christian Dvorak from Montreal, many Flyers fans were happy to see the team address a longtime weakness at center.
The signing of Zegras raised expectations for the upcoming season. “I am expecting him to have a big year, especially reuniting with his former teammate Jamie [Drysdale],” Flyers fan John Daily said. “He is going to be great on the power play and should be a good leader out there now that power play coach Rocky Thompson is gone,” he added.
Daily also predicted another strong season from the Brink–Foerster–Cates line, calling it the team’s most consistent line last year. He predicts that Brink will record 50 points and that Cates will lead the line in scoring. He also noted that this is a big year for Owen Tippett, now entering year two of his contract with the Flyers. Daily hopes that Tippett and Travis Konecny will continue their consistency and each provide the Flyers with 70-plus points this season.
Philadelphia will once again enter the season with a very young core. Matvei Michkov, who is entering his second year in the NHL, remains the centerpiece of that group. After an outstanding rookie season—finishing with 63 points and leading all rookies in even-strength goals—Michkov is expected to see continued growth under the leadership of captain Sean Couturier, who was credited as a major influence in his development last year.
As the Flyers continue to grow offensively, many fans are worried about the other side of the ice. “The one thing that worries me this season is the defense and goaltending,” Daily said. McNamara shared similar concerns after attending a game. Both believe this will be a big year for defenseman Travis Sanheim, who showed promise in the preseason by tallying three goals in five games.
“If Sanheim, [Cam] York, and [Rasmus] Ristolainen can stay healthy, I think we should be solid on defense—but the goaltending really worries me,” Daily added.
The Flyers were also active in free agency, signing Dan Vladar from the Calgary Flames. Vladar was announced as the Game 1 starter against Florida over Sam Ersson, who struggled in the 2024–25 season with only a .883 save percentage. No goalie in the Flyers system posted a save percentage above .900, so the addition of Vladar was not a surprise.
The new additions from the bench to the ice have many Philadelphians believing in their hockey team again, and a sea of orange will soon flood Broad Street.