Now that the Flyers 2024-25 season is officially in the books here’s a recap of where we’ve been, what we’ve seen, and where we may be headed. This past season was not easy on anyone. The pain and frustration was shared across the board by the players, the organization, and the ever faithful Flyers Fans.
We all know that this is a rebuild and this was never supposed to be the “fun part” but things seemed to take an unexpected step backwards this season. It could all be part of the wind up for the next big step forward, only time will tell.
The Good Stuff
Let’s start with some of the positives, and there were some real bright spots to take away from this otherwise disappointing season. The biggest up side? Matvei Michkov appears to be the real deal. The Russian rookie was permitted to leave the KHL and arrive in Philadelphia one year ahead of schedule and what a year it was. He really made the most of it.
Michkov was only 19 years of age when this season started. A young man in a new country learning a new language playing in the most elite ice hockey league on the planet. There were a lot of adjustments to be made. The NHL has a longer more demanding schedule than the KHL, everything about the lifestyle takes place under a much brighter spotlight. Add to that a demanding head coach and an entire fanbase hoping you have arrived to save their franchise. That’s a lot of pressure for a young man in a strange new world.
Michkov stepped up to the challenge and was everything the Flyers had hoped he would be. In his 80th and final game of the season he surpassed Macklin Celebrini to lead the league in goals by a rookie. He finished second among the Flyers in points with 26 goals and 37 assists. Can’t wait to see what next season has in store for the talented young Flyers forward.
Top Lines
The starting line in most games this season consisted of Noah Cates centering Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink. All three of these players play a strong two way game. The Flyers as frequent underdogs were always bracing themselves for what may be coming at them on any given night. This line was charged with going against the very best in the league. Every player on this line has taken a step forward this season.
Bobby Brink went from 11 goals 12 assists in 2023-24 to 12 goals 29 assists in 2024-25
Tyson Foerster 20 goals 13 assists in 2023-24 to 25 goals 18 assists in 2024-25
Noah Cates 6 goals 12 assists in 2023-24 to 16 goals 21 assists in 2024-25.
That’s a collective increase in points as a line from 74 to 121 over the course of a season where the team regressed overall. Tyson Foerster will be a restricted free agent this Summer. During his exit interview Tyson said “I’d love to be here forever”.
A line that solidified towards the later part of the season was Sean Couturier centering Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny. It only makes sense that this line is a strong one. Konecny was the Flyers point leader again this season, Michkov came in second. This combination seems to have really revitalize Flyers captain Sean Couturier. By the end of the season Coots was looking a whole lot more like his old self. He was definitely more energetic, creative, and prolific.
During his exit interview Couturier said “felt at times I was getting pushed aside”. It sounds like his relationship with head coach John Tortorella was not ideal. With many players heaping praise on Tortorella for his coaching ability a lack of communication also seems to be an underlying theme with some players.
To add a bit of perspective, Couturier missed Tortorella’s entire first year behind the Flyers bench recovering from surgery. Cam Atkinson who had a long and positive relationship with Tortorella going back to Columbus was in the same boat. Both Coots and Cam spent Tortorella’s second year working their way back into the line-up, trying to get their conditioning up to speed, and getting back into competing at the NHL level.
Atkinson never found his way back into a role with the Flyers and Couturier seemed to really only start coming around again during the second half of this season. So there are many different factors and moving parts that make up the “big picture”. Everyone’s perspective may vary a bit. Either way this line has looked great.
The Crown Jewel of 2024-25
Not since Claude Giroux’s final game as a Flyer has the Wells Fargo been home to such exuberance, such excitement, so much energy as the night that Cutter Gauthier came to Philly for the very first time.
The Flyers routed the Ducks 6-0 and it was a night that Flyer Fans will not soon forget. It gave everyone a chance to remember how things can be here. It was just a small taste of how intense this hockey town truly is. Hopefully it was a preview of the wonderful times that await us when the Flyers finally do return to post season play.
“Rock Bottom”
Last year it wasn’t until the final moments of game 82 that the Flyers were mathematically eliminated from a spot in the post-season. At training camp this Fall general manager Danny Briere said that this year had to be a step forward. Which could only mean one thing, right? A run at making the playoffs.
Before March that still seemed like a realistic possibility. But over the course of the season the approach seemed to be evolving. Two fan favorites Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost were traded to Calgary at the end of January.. Then at the trade deadline Scott Laughton was dealt to Toronto. Erik Johnson returned to Colorado. And Andrei Kuzmenko who had just gotten here was sent to the Kings.
None of these moves were for short term gain. The Flyers were adding draft picks and freeing up cap space to fortify the future. The Flyers seven game homestand in March was an absolute disaster and the team was foundering as their post-season hopes quickly vanished.
Torts
On March 25th after a 7-2 loss to the Leafs in Toronto John Tortorella gave an answer to a question that may have been one of the “last straws”. “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now“. I’m not trying to over sensationalize the moment, in fact I didn’t even interpret the statement the way many people did.
Tortorella was in a position where he was coaching a team that was trading away the present for returns in the future, their shortcomings were painfully obvious. And yet there he was answering questions about why things are going poorly night after night. Perhaps he no longer saw eye-to-eye with the organization on direction, or process, or whatever but things had gone sour around the trade deadline and came to a head that night in Toronto.
We would all love to know the specifics on the “disciplinary issue” and exactly what “crossed the line” at the end but we are not yet privy to all that. Someday maybe we’ll have a better understanding but for now we can only go on what we were told. The Flyers were very happy with the coach’s many contributions but decided it was time to move in a different direction.
Much had been rumored about a broken locker room but the players, including Michkov and York spoke highly of the coach and expressed gratitude for the valuable things that he had taught them. Tortorella did do a whole lot to shake up the organization, lay the new foundation, and revitalize the overall culture of the team. There was obviously communication problems at the end of his tenure. It’s ironic that a coach who is known for being so outspoken should meet his demise because of the things he chose not to say.
The Elephant
With all the issues the Flyers need to address there’s a glaring situation that doesn’t get a whole lot of talk time, or at least as much as it deserves. Anyone who has spent any time around the team can tell you what awesome dudes the Flyers goaltenders truly are. With the way things have been going for the team you hate to take it out on the netminders. When they have a great game or make the big save it stands out. The reality of the situation is this, the great games and big saves have been too few and far between.
A quick look at the big picture tells a story nobody wants to read. The Flyers, at a collective .872, have the lowest save percentage in the entire NHL. Dead last. In goaltender rankings Ersson is #28, Fedotov is #64, and Kolosov is #66. Something’s gotta give.
Crystal Ball
What the future holds for the Philadelphia Flyers is anybody’s guess. There are so many possibilities at this point that it’s an exercise in pure speculation to make any predictions at this point. This should prove to be a very busy off-season and nobody will know exactly where the team is headed until the pieces begin to fall into place.
Associate coach Bra Shaw was acting as interim coach for the final nine games of the season. Shaw would like to stay on as head coach or at least return as an assistant. Shaw did a fine job taking over behind the bench and the players really seemed to respond to the move. Danny Briere said that Shaw will be considered but that the process has not yet begun. This is another huge variable.
The Flyers are loaded for bear going into this year’s draft. They have the 4th best odds at landing the top pick going into the lottery. They have three picks in the 1st round, four in the 2nd, three in the 3rd, and two in the 4th. With such a stockpile at their disposal they may choose to move some of these picks leading up to the draft.
In addition the organization has been doing it’s due diligence over the past three seasons clearing cap space. Also the NHL is raising the cap for this coming season from the current 88 million to 95.5 million for 2025-26. Briere has signaled that they may not be ready to dip into that space just yet but he’s also said “nothing is off the table”. All that being said the possibilities for the Flyers this off-season are vastly beyond prediction. Wait and see, hope for the best.
Help is on the way
The Flyers pipeline of promising prospects have started pouring in, some of them have already reported to the Phantoms. As development camp rolls around we can look forward to the likes of Jet Luchanko, Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, Oliver Bonk, and goaltender Carson Bjarnason just to name a few.
The Flyers were going through a holding pattern at the end of this season. The subtractions had already been made while the additions were frozen in time somewhere in the near future. It could not have been a whole lot of fun for the players that were here holding down the fort. The odds were stacked against them almost every night, still they went out there and gave it their best shot. They did not lay down or turn against each other. They deserve a lot of credit for that.
“We wear our jersey with pride just as our fans do“. Garnet Hathaway
Extra Credit: Well that’s a wrap on the 2024-25 Flyers season. Thanks for your record setting readership at the Nitty Gritty this past year, it’s been a pleasure spending another season with you. And, of course, thanks to the Flyers organization for all the hospitality and access to the team.
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