For each of the past three seasons, no team has once ranked below the Philadelphia Flyers in terms of power play percentage (PP%). But that unit for the Orange and Black finally seems to have light at the end of the tunnel—we could see vast improvement in 2024-25.
I’ll look at two huge additions for the Flyers and how they might be able to impact the man advantage. In addition, included will be a layout for their possible lines on the power play this upcoming season. Can the team finally see some growth?
Drysdale Was Quietly Elite on the Power Play in 2023-24
While not an offseason addition, Jamie Drysdale was acquired right around the midpoint of the Flyers’ 2023-24 campaign. Despite what his basic numbers might say, he was actually one of the best defensemen on the power play in the league. In just his age-21 season, he was up there with the big guns—expect the production to reflect that moving forward.
As a player, Drysdale is one of the most gifted skaters in the league and possesses a terrific hockey mind. There is limitless offensive upside with him if he finds his stride. He was suffering from a major injury through the entirety of last season, but he did the following regardless.
Related: More Philadelphia Flyers Season Preview Articles
In terms of relative expected goals for per 60 (xGF/60 Rel), Drysdale’s numbers were magnificent on the man advantage. Sitting at 2.78, his total ranked eighth out of the 84 defensemen with at least 50 minutes of ice time on the power play. He didn’t play as much as some of those other top contenders, which is important to consider, but he had a big enough sample size to make the statistic worthwhile.
To put this into context, there were 13 defensemen who had an xGF/60 Rel of at least 2.0. Those non-Drysdale defenders had an average of 28 points on the power play and 73 at all strengths per 82 games—these were all the best offensive generators from the blue line in the game.
Among this group, there was one key outlier who did not reach 50 total points: it was Drysdale. In 34 games with the Anaheim Ducks and Flyers combined, he had just two points on the man advantage. His health issues probably had something to do with that, but the key takeaway is just how poor his on-ice shooting percentage (oiSH%) was. Those other 12 defenders just mentioned had an average oiSH% of 14.9—one of every six to seven shots on goal was going in the net when they were on the ice. The 22-year-old sat at 6.4 percent—one of every 15 to 16 shots went in the net for him. That’s a monumental difference.
Drysdale can’t control how well the players around him are shooting, but he is gifted as an individual. That aside, the finishing around him is all but certain to get better just naturally and also because the team added a significant figure who does a lot of his damage on the power play. Let’s get to the first true addition to the roster.
Michkov’s Impact
The impact of 19-year-old Matvei Michkov cannot be understated. He is so crafty with the puck and is a step ahead of anyone else at all times in terms of processing plays—taking a skater off of the ice for the opposition only makes him more dangerous. Having this sort of unique threat on the power play is what the Flyers have lacked for a very long time. Finishing with the league’s worst PP% for the fourth season in a row is simply not on the table anymore.
The Flyers played a very basic style on the power play and never got many quality scoring chances. They emphasized low-danger shots and never really made opposing penalty kills sweat out their two-minute punishments. Having the worst team shooting percentage at just 8.4 didn’t help matters, either.
Michkov is the weapon that the Flyers desperately needed for both creativity and to keep teams honest. The Flyers had shooters and some talent but absolutely nobody to put it all together. The vision is that, despite his young age, Michkov can be this ray of sunshine. It might seem like a lot of pressure to put on a teenager, but it would just be a continuation of what he has already shown.
Flyers’ Potential Lines
Now, let’s get into projecting the Flyers’ lines on the man advantage—I’ll explain my rationale for each pick. Below is how that might look on most nights:
| Power-Play Unit | Net-Front | Bumper | Left Wall | Right Wall | Point |
| First Unit | Travis Konecny | Morgan Frost | Matvei Michkov | Owen Tippett | Jamie Drysdale |
| Second Unit | Sean Couturier | Joel Farabee | Tyson Foerster | Bobby Brink | Cam York |
I’ve personally watched back a ton of Travis Konecny’s goals throughout his career, and a major takeaway was that he can be pretty useful in a net-front role. He is at his best offensively on the puck, but he is probably the Flyers’ most useful net-front player—he just hasn’t had the talent around him to pivot to that since, by my analysis, 2019-20. Included is a breakdown of his work in that department.
Morgan Frost was the Flyers’ second-best forward in terms of xGF/60 Rel on the power play, so he should be on the first unit. He was a reliable zone entry player for the team and solid at creating chances. Neither the net front nor the wall makes sense for him considering what he’s going up against, so the bumper is his spot.
I have Michkov and Owen Tippett on the walls, which is somewhat obvious here. The former is the Flyers’ most important creator while the latter is a vital long-range shooter. With a player like Michkov next to him on the power play, we should start to see more open looks for Tippett and more goals as a result. He has the potential to be a very effective threat on the man advantage.
Getting to the forwards of the second unit, the net front for Sean Couturier is the logical choice. He was decent on the power play for the Flyers despite some of his offensive woes toward the end of the season, so he’s not a throw-in by any means. Joel Farabee might be in a sense due to his struggles on the power play, but he did improve toward the end of the season. He seems like more of a fit for a net-front role but he may not be the worst option for the bumper.
Tyson Foerster does his damage from long range (and especially from the left side) so he’s the clear candidate for the left wall, while Bobby Brink was also used along the wall. He wasn’t great on the power play but he’s also 23 years of age and still figuring things out.
Drysdale’s 2.85 xGF% Rel with the Flyers solely was easily the best on the team among defenders, so he’s the choice at the point on the top pair. Egor Zamula, Cam York, and Travis Sanheim were the other three most used defensemen but none of them were particularly great at generating scoring chances. The Flyers primarily used three defenders in 2023-24 which is one more than I project, but we can expect that number to dwindle down to two thanks to the addition of Michkov.
Over the last three seasons, only Drysdale and York have a positive xGF/60 Rel rating on the power play. The latter wasn’t terrific in 2023-24 but really improved toward the end of his campaign—his spot is safe. Because head coach John Tortorella routinely made an example out of Brink, he might be out of the lineup quite a bit in 2024-25. Sanheim or Zamula can battle for that spot if and when that time comes, but the young winger seems like the proper player to keep there for now.
I can’t put an exact number on the Flyers’ PP% in 2024-25, but we can be certain that it’ll be better than the 12.2 percent rate they had in their last showing—that was the worst mark of any team since 2020-21. A return to a league-average mark—which would be around 20 to 21 percent—would be a night-and-day difference for the Orange and Black. Perhaps that’s putting the expectations somewhat high, but the talent on these units is enough to ask for this.
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
