Flyers Goіng to Need Muсһ More from Dіsаррoіntіng Owen Tіррett

When the Philadelphia Flyers traded former captain Claude Giroux to the Florida Panthers for a package that included Owen Tippett, the hope was that Tippett, still a youngster, would blossom into a future cornerstone in Philadelphia.

Having scored no fewer than 27 goals and 49 points in each of the last two seasons, Tippett has continued to make progress. However, the former No. 10 overall pick is now 25 years old, will turn 26 in February, and has clearly regressed at both ends of the ice in the 2024-25 season.

Time is now of the essence.

Of all players in the NHL who have played at least 280 minutes at 5-on-5, Tippett is tied for the fifth-worst on-ice goal differential, sitting at minus-10, per MoneyPuck. Of the nine players tied with or worse than Tippett, only two (Jake Neighbours and Drew O’Connor) are forwards.

Among players who have played at least 280 minutes at 5-on-5, at the other end of the ice, Tippett is averaging 20.91 shot attempts per 60 minutes. That is second in the entire NHL behind only All-Star sniper Filip Forsberg.

Owen Tippett doing too much at once for the Flyers?

For all his shot attempts at 5-on-5, Tippett has only four goals. He has zero on the power play or in any other situation. Tippett also has yet to record even a single assist at 5-on-5 this season.

For further context, Tippett’s 5-on-5 expected goals is only 3.1, so he has actually scored almost an entire goal more than expected. That confirms the eye test observation of Tippett’s extremely poor shot selection, though he’ll score the odd stunner now and again. Tippett does have a good shot, but he tries to use it from anywhere and everywhere.

If the Flyers winger wants to take it to the next level, he needs to add more variance to his game.

With some of the spectacular things Tippett does or tries to do at times, you wonder a little bit if he’s trying to do too much for the Flyers all at once.

Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks was just the second time this season Tippett failed to record a shot on goal, and it was evident he wasn’t at his best.

The former Panthers prospect started the season with one point in his first six games, and Tippett currently has one point in his last seven games.

The major question facing the Flyers going forward is, is this who Tippett is as a player? Does he have another gear to unlock?

If what the Flyers have is a speedy, physical volume shooter without any other wrinkles to his game, Tippett is more likely to be a middle-six pace-setter, not a top-six sniper who will take the scoring burden off Matvei Michkov’s shoulders for years to come.

But what ultimately comes next is up to Tippett and Tippett only.