The Flyers finished with a 38-33-11 record (87 points), three points ahead of Buffalo
The Buffalo Sabres took a step back after barely missing the playoffs in 2023, finishing seven points out of the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot with a 39-37-6 record (84 points). The regression cost head coach Don Granato his job and put more pressure on GM Kevyn Adams to snap the league’s longest playoff drought of 13 seasons.
Adams brought back veteran head coach Lindy Ruff to stress accountability and has made trades and free agent signings to remedy the Sabres depth and defensive issues, but the question now is whether they are as good or better than their competition in the Eastern Conference.
The Philadelphia Flyers were expected to be on a rebuild path last season, but someone forgot to tell head coach John Tortorella that, as he willed his club to a 38-33-11 record. The Flyers held onto a playoff spot into March and remained competitive till the end of the season, but faded in part because of injuries to key players like team captain Sean Couturier and Jamie Drysdale.
This summer, GM Danny Briere bought out veteran forward Cam Atkinson and has been unable to make any significant trades or free agent signings, but has been able to get prized 2023 top pick Matvei Michkov out of the KHL.
Forwards
Philadelphia scored 231 goals last season, with winger Travis Konecny leading the club with 33. The Flyers have a group of young emerging talent in Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Tyson Foerster, and along with Couturier have some quality veteran depth in Garnet Hathaway, Scott Laughton, and Ryan Poehling. The addition of the offensively gifted Michkov is the wild card, as he was described as the second-most dynamic scorer in the 2023 Draft behind Connor Bedard, but with the Sabres additions in the bottom six and their strength up the middle with Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens, Buffalo has a significant advantage up front.
Defense
The Flyers swapped prospect Cutter Gauthier for Drysdale and after scoring only five points in 24 games last season, they expect the 22-year-old to produce more offensively next season. Along with Cam York (who scored a career-high 30 points), Philadelphia has size on the blueline in Travis Sanheim, Egor Zamula, and former Sabre Erik Johnson, but the health status of another ex-Buffalo blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen is a big question mark.
While Philadelphia has some talent on defense, they do not have any that would play ahead of Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, or Bowen Byram, so Buffalo has a distinct edge on the blueline as well.
Goaltending
The loss of Carter Hart forced the Flyers to lean heavily on 24-year-old Samuel Ersson, who had a sub-.900 save percentage in 51 games. Ivan Fedotov struggled mightily after coming over from the KHL late last season, but that did not prevent Briere from signing the big Russian to a two-year, $6.55 million contract.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi give the Sabres potentially one of the better young tandems in the NHL, and they have less question marks than the Flyers between the pipes.
Outlook
Philadelphia exceeded all expectations last season and was in the mix for the playoffs, but short of Michkov becoming a superstar right away, it does not appear that will happen again. The Flyers are more likely to be in a battle with Columbus to stay out of the Metropolitan Division basement than be in a battle with the Sabres and that bubble group of five or six teams fighting for the Eastern Conference wild-card spots.
