The 2024-25 season is getting long fast for Philadelphia Flyers winger Tyson Foerster. Head coach John Tortorella sees it, too, but even he does not have all the answers when it comes to Foerster’s struggles this year.
Foerster, 22, is one of five Flyers forwards with fewer than five points this season. The others are Anthony Richard, who’s played three games, Nick Deslauriers, who’s played seven games, Jett Luchanko, who’s played four games, and Noah Cates, who’s played 12 games. Foerster has played in 15.
The difference is that Foerster is coming off a 20-goal rookie season and has been regularly deployed in a top-six role, while the others have barely played when they are/were in the lineup.
It is entirely possible that the 2020 former first-round pick is indeed hitting the infamous proverbial sophomore slump. The way this would be happening, though, is different from how fans and Flyers coaches probably imagined it.
What do I mean by that?
Last season, Foerster endeared himself to Tortorella, the Flyers’ coaching staff, his Flyers teammates, and fans with his superb work without the puck. That entails winning puck battles, protecting the puck, and having a good defensive stick.
Tortorella hasn’t seen any of that out of his sophomore forward to start the 2024-25 season.
“He was one of our best players on the boards last year all year long,” Tortorella said of Foerster on Wednesday. “Just hasn’t been there this year.”
As a result, Foerster is averaging just 15:08 of ice time per game this year – down 2:08 from the 17:16 he averaged last season. The drop is in direct correlation with the drop in his level of play.
“It’s a concern,” Tortorella said. “I think the last game, San Jose, was one of his better games, as far as being hard on the puck and winning battles. That’s what kept Tyson, throughout last year, in the lineup and got himself going. It hasn’t been that way this year. It’s a little bit of a different season for him, and it’s a concern. I don’t know how else to put it.
“I felt better about his game after watching the San Jose game. . . I don’t know where it goes. He knows. We’ve had conversations about his game. It’s not like it is last year. There has to be more to it, or somewhere along the line, you make decisions on it.”
Foerster was already a healthy scratch once this season back on Oct. 22, an away game against the Washington Capitals that ended in a 4-1 loss.
Based on Tortorella’s last comment, Foerster must continue to pick up his game like he did against the San Jose Sharks to remain in the lineup, or the Flyers will give other players opportunities to prove themselves.
