The Philadelphia Flyers haven't been contenders in months, but their trek to the postseason has ended. Following a loss against the Montreal Canadiens, the Flyers are officially eliminated from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoff race.
The Flyers have struggled for much of the 2024-2025 campaign, making their elimination from playoff contention unsurprising. The organization entered the year with higher expectations. It was the third season under former head coach John Tortorella, and despite missing the playoffs the previous two, they showed signs of progressing. They also brought over Russian rookie sensation Matvei Michkov, giving the team their first chance to see what the 20-year-old phenom can do in the NHL. Things were looking up and toward the postseason.
However, that wasn't the case, and the Flyers quickly fell behind in the race. Ultimately, the locker room began to tune out Tortorella, drama developed, and the organization parted with the veteran coach with little regular season schedule remaining.
Heading toward the offseason, the Flyers are trying to do everything they can to improve. The problem is that every position group needs to be upgraded. Their starting goalie, Sam Ersson, has been solid but failed to elevate into the upper echelon of starters behind the Flyers' defense. Their defensive corps has some talent, but lacks a top pair that can reliably play 20 or more minutes and control the possession and scoring chances.
The same thing can be said for their forward group. Michkov has certainly impressed with 24 goals and 58 points and veteran Travis Konecny is having a career-best offensive campaign. Michkov may develop into that MVP-level scorer, but they have a team of second and third liners waiting for the top option to arrive.
Luckily, the Flyers have tons of assets and opportunities ahead. They should net a high pick in the upcoming draft and have some salary cap flexibility that could come in handy. Hopefully, they can utilize those tools and bring themselves to playoff contention in 2025-2026.
