Flyers Must Finally Build Off Playoff Momentum

Life in Philadelphia sports is rarely this good. The Phillies are playing in the postseason. The Eagles are still just two years removed from a Super Bowl and have a talented roster. And the 76ers are coming off perhaps their greatest offseason in franchise history after landing surefire Hall of Famer LeBron James and another potential one in Jaylen Brown.

The Flyers are in a good place, too. Last season was their first playoff appearance since 2019-20. They hadn’t hosted a playoff game since 2017-18 or a second-round game since 2011-12 before checking both boxes last season. Despite a quiet offseason in terms of successful moves, they are still a fairly young team and right in the thick of the playoff conversation as their season starts on Wednesday.

But when things have gone well for the Flyers over the last 15 years or so, they haven’t stayed that way for long. The Phillies and Eagles both have the second-longest active playoff streaks in their respective league. The 76ers have made the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons, playing the sixth-most playoff games in the NBA since 2018.

Whether at the end of the Paul Holmgren era, during Ron Hextall’s tenure, or the honeymoon phase under Chuck Fletcher, the Flyers have come out of the gate sluggish following a playoff run. In a deep Eastern Conference, conquering that is the next challenge for this Flyers group on the winding road toward contention.

The History

The 2012-13 team never gelled until it was too late, especially in a lockout-shortened 48-game season. After an unsuccessful offer sheet (where have you seen that again?) of Shea Weber and losing Matt Carle, an immobile defense and putrid goaltending led to three straight regulation losses to open the season and six in their first eight games. They failed to win more than two consecutive contests through their first 34 games, and a 10-5-0 finish couldn’t save them from their first playoff miss since 2006-07.

Similar issues plagued them two seasons later after a coaching change and a first-round exit in between. In fairness, this playoff miss was at least partially by design; Hextall had just taken over as general manager (GM) and was prioritizing the big picture. Still, a team returning 18 of 20 players from their Game 7 elimination the previous April probably could’ve done better than a 1-3-2 start. After a brief surge, defeats in 11 of 12 games from Nov. 14 to Dec. 3 put them behind the eight ball for good.

Most fans who remember the 2016-17 team first think of the 10-game winning streak they had fairly early in the season. But the Flyers were a 9-10-3 team before that run began, and their first 22 games ultimately reflected their talent level more accurately, as they finished near the bottom of the league in save and penalty-kill percentage. A rare Claude Giroux down season didn’t help, either.

The 2018-19 team not only lost too many games early, but many of them weren’t close. Their home opener was an embarrassing 8-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks, in which they fell behind 4-0 in the first period. They lost six of their first 11 games, each of them by three goals or more. A 6-0 loss the day after Thanksgiving to the Toronto Maple Leafs ended Hextall’s line; head coach Dave Hakstol was canned about a month later after a similarly dismal 5-1 defeat to the lowly Vancouver Canucks.

While the 2020-21 team began the 56-game season a strong 8-3-2, anyone who remembers those games would tell you they belong on this list. During those 12 games, the Flyers had a 45.44% expected goal share and a league-worst 44.55% Corsi for at 5-on-5. Those numbers were almost perfectly in line with the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings team, whose .275 points percentage is still the worst of any team in the cap era. It caught up to the Flyers, who lost four games by at least five goals in March and never got right.

Why It Matters Now

While the Flyers do have a lot of young talent on their roster, they’re no longer an inexperienced group. They’ve been on a playoff run that wasn’t long but wasn’t short. According to Elite Prospects, their average age of 27.13 ranks 12th in the NHL (although only three other teams finished last season with a lower number).

While Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov in particular could change this, Philadelphia’s current issue is a lack of elite talent. The Flyers are slowly working their way to becoming a destination marquee players will consider. Leo Carlsson signing his offer sheet with them over other suitors proves they’re making progress; Dylan Larkin’s refusal to consider a move there shows they aren’t at the top of the food chain yet.

The best way to change that? Keep winning. Brady Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers, who have been to three of the last four Stanley Cup Finals. The Carolina Hurricanes, last year’s champions, have been rumored in the Connor Hellebuyck sweepstakes. Larkin’s initial list featured Cup contenders in the Minnesota Wild (who just acquired Quinn Hughes, who didn’t have trade protection), Florida, and 2023 champions Vegas Golden Knights.

As LeBron’s latest (final?) decision showed, sometimes it’s fun for a generational player to go somewhere desperate for a winner and try to deliver (Cleveland Cavaliers fans certainly agree). But most want assurance that they’ll at least compete strongly for championships. The last thing the Flyers want is to give anyone a reason to think they don’t fit that description.

The Early Challenge

It won’t be easy for the Flyers to get off to a hot start. Six of their first seven games are against 2026 playoff teams, and the one exception is the New Jersey Devils, a team expected to push to return as well. A couple of easier games against the Seattle Kraken and Detroit Red Wings follow, but then it’s four more against defending playoff teams. The last three are against teams that at least reached the second round.

Four of the first six are on the road, too. The Flyers won’t leave the Eastern Time zone until the second week of November, but they do have to go up and down the eastern side of North America, from Tampa Bay to Ottawa. They also have three back-to-backs in their first month, all of which include travel.

Last year, the Flyers started 6-3-1 in October. It wasn’t the most daunting schedule; four games against would-be playoff teams, only two of which won a series (one was the Wild before trading for Hughes). The Flyers have believed that getting playoff experience for their core would aid their development. This season’s start should test that theory.