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[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers’ varied offensive approach against Kraken bodes well for future success

The Flyers’ win over the Kraken last night was, in a number of ways, a big one. It gave the team a nice little boost as it kept their momentum rolling with their second win in a row and pulled them up to even in wins and losses on the season, which is good news for their aspirations of climbing up the standings, but even more critically, it saw them manage their highest true scoring output of the season, to date.

Scoring five good goals over the course of the game — that is, five goals scored on a goaltender, setting this game apart from their home opener against the Panthers, wherein they scored five but had the final two come as empty netters — the Flyers were able to bring a level of pop and cohesiveness in their offensive game that we hadn’t yet seen from them this season. Indeed, the question loomed large over them heading into this game just when their offense would break out and begin to finally start piling up some goals, and the team did well in this game, their sixth of the season, to finally put it to rest.

Tippadelphia. #SEAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/wHAnUqogOZ

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 20, 2025​

The Flyers got this one rolling on a bit of a slapstick-style play, capitalizing on a misplay of the puck behind the net by Joey Daccord, and while there is a degree of the old “they don’t ask how, they ask how many” effect at play here, it’s also true that this goal wouldn’t have happened the way it did were it not for the strength of their forechecking game, the pressure Sean Couturier was able to create by following Daccord down below the goal line, Nick Seeler’s heads up play to jump into a soft area to receive the pass, and his decisiveness to get it over to an open Owen Tippett. Every chance isn’t a slow developing, intricately plotted play, and a willingness to break out of the game plan can mean a grade-A chance created off of breakdowns like this one, so long as the Flyers are able to keep their level of concentration up.

But while the breaking open of this game ended up being a little unconventional, once it was done, the Flyers’ offense really began to come to life, and it would be an effort that would prove difficult for the Kraken to slow down.

Tys in his veins.#SEAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/QLzaFWP1od

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 20, 2025​

The Flyers were able to double up on their scoring later in the first period, putting together an effort not dissimilar to the one that bought them their first goal of the night. That is, a bit of good work done along the boards — and a real willingness to go in for a battle therein by Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster — and a couple of short passes exchanged help to create a bit of in-zone pace for the Flyers on the power play, and as Brink was able to draw two Kraken penalty killers to him and still come up with the strength to come out with the puck, this left Foerster wide open in the left circle in a prime shooting position. And even with the beat taken — no panic in that shot creation — to dust off the puck after receiving the pass, Foerster was still well placed enough to beat Daccord cleanly with the strength of his shot.

No. for No. ! #SEAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/Ya0d2cVaG1

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 21, 2025​

It was a similar level of patience which allowed the Flyers to set up their third goal of the evening, as they get into the second period of the game, but this time, as a product of getting their transition game working for them. With the Flyers able to make a clean breakout from their own zone, and Matvei Michkov jumping on a loose puck in the neutral zone and skating it in over the blue line, the Flyers were able to get into the offensive zone with control, and get themselves to work. Michkov was able to thread a pass cross-ice to a trailing Egor Zamula, who, resisting the defenseman urge to fire the puck on net from the perimeter, instead held on to it for a few seconds longer, and instead used that time to maneuver a bit and get himself to a more dangerous area, and to a spot where a better passing lane had opened up to get the puck over to Travis Konecny in front.

The Power Play is COOKING. #SEAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/nVZ055Z90O

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 21, 2025​

On their fourth goal of the night, though, the Flyers found some success in a more traditional type of in-zone maneuvering. Back on the power play, the Flyers were able to get some crisp passing movement going around the perimeter while a pair of players — Foerster and Noah Cates — cycled down and got themselves parked in front of the net, in a perfect spot to go looking for a deflection in on net by the time Cam York’s shot from the point made its way to them. So perfectly placed in front of the net were both of them that the league scorers had a bit of trouble awarding the goal, it went back and forth a couple of times before they finally agreed that Cates had gotten the final touch. All the same, it’s a little trite, but it is true what they say — get to the front of the net, create a bit of traffic and havoc, and good things will happen.

The Red Lettuce is Red Hot. #SEAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/DUayIrt30x

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 21, 2025​

Their final goal of the evening, though, saw the Flyers getting back a bit more to their finesse game. After winning a sequence in the neutral zone and turning the Kraken’s would-be breakout around on them, the Flyers were direct in their attempt to bring that rush right to the net, and with a quick-up bank pass into the offensive zone and a bit of back and forth passing on the go from Tippet and Couturier, Tippett ultimately ended up with the puck back below the left circle, and was able to get another shot past Daccord from a sharp angle, capitalizing on both the quickness of his shot and the continuity of his momentum to keep the pressure on the Kraken, even as it felt pretty clear that the Flyers had this game under control by that time.

This was, all in all, one of their more complete showings of the season, and an encouraging waking up of their offensive game. When the Flyers have looked the most stifled in their offense is when they’ve at once looked like they were trying to do both too much and not enough, working hard but not necessarily smart. One of the major through lines in the team’s comments to the media last night is that how they’re approaching generating their offense is situational — this isn’t a case of them getting tunnel visioned to the net and skating themselves into trouble because they think that’s they only way they can get good chances, or leaning on low percentage plays and throwing every puck on net as soon as it touches their stick just to try to see if some chance, any chance will stick eventually. The Flyers played a well-rounded offensive game last night, leaning on the pillars of their system to boost them where possible, but also departing from it to capitalize on broken plays when the door opened for it, letting their offense come to them in a variety of ways, and looking all the more dynamic and dangerous for it.

The Flyers still have some ground to make up, as they’re sitting 14th in the league standings at 5-on-5 goals and 15th in goals scored across all situations (19th and 17th, respectively, when adjusted for games played), so their work is far from done, but last night’s showing was a promising preview of what this team is able to do when their offense is finally closer to finally going on all cylinders. After all, it’s still very early in the season, the team is still getting completely comfortable with the plan and expectations from their new coaching staff, while that coaching staff is still looking for the best arrangement of their forwards up front. It’s a work in progress all around, but the uptick in skill that the Flyers have been able to foster up front is beginning to become apparent. The next step is to figure out how to keep it rolling, now that they’re approaching that optimal arrangement.

All stats via Natural Stat Trick.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...against-kraken-bodes-well-for-future-success/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Emil Andrae defying Flyers’ concerns in AHL shorthanded role

Emil Andrae is back with the Phantoms, he’s been given a significant role to work with, and he’s taking it all in stride. From the get-go, Andrae was given the expected high volume of minutes at even strength, as well as deployment on their top power play unit, but along with that, as something of a newer development, he’s been getting some work on the penalty kill. A lot of work on the penalty kill.

There is the plain fact of that matter that, by virtue of the Phantoms continuing to take the staggering number of penalties as they have been to start the season — they’ve been shorthanded 25 times over four games, the most of any team in the league — there will be a lot of penalty kill minutes up for grabs, but more often than not Andrae has been the first one over the boards for the Phantoms when a shorthanded situation arises for them. Now, some of this is additionally contextual, as the Phantoms are currently without two of their would-be top penalty killers (with Adam Ginning up with the Flyers and Ethan Samson sidelined with injury), but given the Phantoms coaching staff’s already clear willingness to throw him out there in high-leverage situations at even strength, it doesn’t come as a terribly big surprise that Andrae would also be leaned upon here too, with all of these shorthanded minutes up for grabs. It’s a larger role than he’s used to, but it’s one that — in spite of some apparent concerns from the coaching staff up with the Flyers about his ability to be used in shorthanded situations — by and large, he’s excelling in.

In his last two games, Andrae was available for 11 shorthanded situations for the Phantoms — they were shorthanded 13 times in total but two of those were calls on him — during which he was given 14 shifts to work with (including two while down 3-on-5 and two 4-on-6), and those shifts tended to be neither low nor high event for the Monsters, and generally low danger. That is, with Andrae on the ice, the Monsters were able to put up 19 shot attempts, but they were overwhelmingly kept to the outside, creating just four scoring chances and one high danger chance (while also allowing one scoring chance on a controlled breakout).

The low point of this weekend’s showing came as Andrae was on the ice for the lone goal the Monsters were allowed to score on the power play (they went a quite impressive 12/13 on the weekend otherwise), but it’s hard to find anything one might have asked Andrae, or any of the Phantoms’ penalty killers to do better on that play — they had limited to Monsters to passing the puck back and forth along the blue line, and when they did finally put a shot in the direction of the net, it came from the point but managed to sneak perfectly through the handful of bodies making up the traffic in front of the net and past Carson Bjarnason cleanly. It was, all in all, more tough luck for the Phantoms than anything else.

But outside of this blip, Andrae was able to deliver some quite positive impacts — the stats tell this story, and they line up nicely with what the eye would tell us.

pic.twitter.com/t7im5hUKiU

— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 22, 2025​

The most notable takeaway from that dataset is how effectively the Phantoms were able to keep the Monsters to the outside with their offense, and this was without a doubt a strong collective effort, but Andrae was also taking a very active role in keeping those Cleveland players to the perimeter. It began with a ton set immediately on their zone entries, and Andrae stepped up nicely in his rush defense.

And this became something of a go-to play for the Phantoms and Andrae — there was less of an emphasis on trying to stand the Monsters up at the blueline and outright deny a zone entry, but rather in using their own downhill momentum against them, squeezing the puck carrier along the boards and giving him no choice but to get rid of the puck into space. Here, we see Andrae gapping up nicely, going first into the corner with the puck carrier and forcing him to make an area pass, and Helge Grans was able to step up in support, dropping behind the net to jump on that loose puck and send it out of the zone.

pic.twitter.com/oEhzemwF2U

— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 22, 2025​

And in more established cycle settings, too, this type of play was one the Phantoms were often employing. With the Monsters facing more active pressure at the points from the forwards on the Phantoms’ unit, they were left to dump the puck down into the corner to alleviate some of that pressure, and from there, Andrae was again the first one in, delivering a hit in the corner to loosen up the puck enough for it to skitter over to Grans, who again came up with it to clear it down the length of the ice.

pic.twitter.com/K9eDLBCmBl

— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 22, 2025​

But, of course, the Phantoms’ success on the weekend came from their ability to show some flexibility within their penalty killing scheme, in avoiding letting it become too rote and predictable. Equally, they saw their forwards stepping up in to loosen those pucks up along the boards and because they have a defenseman so mobile and confident as a breakout player, he could easily step in and carry the puck out of danger. In this case, Jacob Gaucher lined up for the hit along the boards to force the turnover, and Andrae jumped into the space opened up for it to grab the loose puck and skate it out for a more controlled breakout, and even took a hit at the redline for his troubles.

pic.twitter.com/hmltaBCId9

— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 22, 2025​

When the Monsters were allowed to get set up in the Phantoms’ zone, though, Andrae found his spot defending at the front of the net, and despite lacking some in the size department, he still did his share to ensure that any Cleveland player looking to set up there was going to have a difficult time with it. Like here, while waiting in space while his man hoped to receive a pass into the crease, Andrae was right on him, disrupting his stick to make any potential receptions less clean and delivering a crosscheck for good measure, asserting a bit in the way of physical presence while he was at it.

pic.twitter.com/sz91G07NVj

— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 22, 2025​

His stick work — noticeable across the full scope of these shifts — also served as an impactful tool for him in his penalty killing duties. It didn’t always make for the flashiest play, but he came up with a good handful of instances like these when he was able to use a bit of reach and get a stick into a passing lane to break up a first attempt, what would be the most dangerous option, and forcing the Monsters to regroup, or in this case, become scattered enough to outright allow for the Phantoms to jump on the loose puck and get themselves a breakout.

pic.twitter.com/JpIW80tDjW

— Madeline Campbell (@madelinecampbll) October 22, 2025​

And even when the execution wasn’t completely there for him, the idea was clear, and Andrae was still working nicely to try to make a positive impact. There’s a lot to like in this play, where, even though it still ends in the Monsters regaining possession and ultimately putting a shot attempt in the direction of the net, Andrae’s aggressive play to chip the puck off of the stick of the carrier right on the entry was a good one.

Across the board, though, Andrae was doing a lot to look the part of an effective penalty killer. On top of these plays, he was able to stay on top of the even more subtle, less clip-able plays — getting in front of shots with some good body positioning to take away lanes, showing flashes of nice mobility and jumping up from the net front position to challenge shooters more directly, but also using an active stick to disrupt passing or deflection attempts when this wasn’t possible. And along with that, he made a couple of nice additional breakout plays, one after jumping on the rebound of an initial blocked point shot, and another after breaking up an initial entry, but both ending in the puck sent the length of the ice to kill even more clock. It wasn’t all highlight reel stuff emerging from him, but it was all really nicely poised and solid.

Now, this is again just a two game sample that we’re working with here, and things could certainly change as an extended run of games in this role is put together, but the fact remains that these early returns really are quite promising. And this points to the broader takeaway that Andrae is putting in a lot of positive work to carve out a role for himself as a player who can truly be depended upon in any game situation. How this will all translate for him at the next level is yet to be seen — because doing all this as well as he is down in the AHL up at the NHL level is another challenge entirely — but if there are any question marks lingering for the Flyers’ front office about his dependability in particular areas of his game, it’s clear that he’s putting in all the work he has to eliminate the possibility of those lingering much longer.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/emil-andrae-defying-flyers-concerns-in-ahl-shorthanded-role/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Thursday Morning Fly By: Back at it

*The Flyers are back on the ice tonight to say “hey” to our old pal Claude up in Ottawa. At the time I am typing these words, we don’t know which goalie will be starting. But if it’s Dan Vladar… well that’s pretty interesting, isn’t it? [BSH]

*Travis Konecny not only got on the scoresheet last game, he also looked more like himself, and he’s happy to be able to get things going now that we’re all back in the swing. [Inquirer]

*Remember when Taco was like “oh we are taking Andrae out and sticking with Juulsen because we’ve been taking a lot of penalties and we need reliability on the penalty kill”. This is not a quote, it’s a paraphrase. Anyway, turns out Emil Andrae is good at killing penalties, too. [BSH]

*While we’re talking Phantoms, you can head on over to Charlie’s website to check out Maddie’s latest Phantoms Report. [PHLY]

*Back here on this website, because she saves the Good Stuff for us, we’ve got a full Prospect Report! Been a solid week for the college kids. [BSH]

*And finally, leave it to DGB to discover that there are precisely 24 Wikipedia pages dedicated to NHL rivalries. Naturally, he’s ranked them. Enjoy. [The Athletic]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/thursday-morning-fly-by-back-at-it/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers @ Senators: How to watch, lineups, and gamethread

After a run of a few games at home, the Flyers are breaking up their stretch of home games with a quick trip up north to face off with the Senators, and a few familiar faces in the process. They’ve picked up a nice bit of steam over these last couple of games, but the next challenge is ahead of them, as they look to keep that rolling on another team’s turf.

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: NBCSP
: 97.5 The Fanatic

Pregame reading​

• Even with a bit of time lost to injury, Cam York is off to a pretty stellar start to the season. [BSH]
• Speaking of defensemen, we got some — reportedly — bad news on a couple of the Flyers’ injured blueliners this afternoon. [BSH]

Pregame watching​

Projected lineups​

Philadelphia Flyers

Travis Konecny — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Matvei Michkov
Nikita Grebenkin — Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway

Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler — Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula — Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)

Ottawa Senators

Tim Stützle — Dylan Cozens — Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio — Shane Pinto — Claude Giroux
Nick Cousins — Ridly Greig — David Perron
Olle Lycksell — Lars Eller — Fabian Zetterlund

Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Nikolas Matinpalo

Linus Ulmark
(Leevi Merilainen)

Storylines to watch​

Heat check

The Flyers’ last game against the Kraken on Monday sure was an exciting one, and it saw some meaningful scoring punches put together up and down their lineup. Travis Konecny picked up his first goal of the season, and a few others extended some nice runs — Tyson Foerster put up his second in four games, Noah Cates got his second in as many games, and Owen Tippett’s two goals brought him up to five in his last five. It was an impressive effort for all parties, and that more or less puts all of us around here on streak watch. Will any of these players be able to keep their hot streak rolling? Time will tell.

Momentum building

Monday saw a productive evening for a few players on an individual level, but it also saw the Flyers’ offense breaking open in the most meaningful way as it has all season. With five goals (none empty netters), the Flyers hit their highest offensive output of the season, and saw their offense looking as dynamic as we’ve seen all season. It was nice, after a bit of a slow start, to see things finally break open for them, but now that the dam has burst, as it were, the next challenge is going to be keeping that momentum going in the right direction. Maybe we don’t need to see five goals from them every single night, but it will still be important for them to come out for this one and show a bit of jump, and to maintain their scoring game to at least a moderate level.

The goaltending battle gets interesting

Speaking of bits of continuity, the Flyers will be continuing to ride the hot hand as far as their goaltending is concerned, going with Dan Vladar for the third game in a row. And it’s a choice that does make some sense — Vladar has been little short of excellent over his last two starts, looking very solid in his form, bailing out his skaters when he’s had to, and playing a major part in guiding the team to these two wins in a row. But this is a new challenge ahead here, as the Flyers will get a chance to see what Vladar can do when he’s being leaned on for the lion’s share of work. The hope is that he can maintain his form, but if he begins to slip a bit under the weight of the workload, they will have learned something, which is equally valuable in this early part of the season.

Lineup tweaks

On the whole, the Flyers haven’t really made any major changes to their lineup, as they’re beginning to find the right mix at the top of their forward group, and the defense group seems to be what it is at this point (with Adam Ginning seemingly out of the rotation), so the regular group is more or less set, with one notable exception. After a quite solid showing on Monday — indeed, one of his better games so far this season — Jett Luchanko has come out of the lineup, and Rodrigo Abols coming in in his stead. And, in some ways, this isn’t a huge surprise, as one imagines that they were going to want to get Abols back in for a game to keep him fresh eventually, but it’s hard not to wonder if it also signals Luchanko’s time with the Flyers, for the time being, coming to an end. With no signs that his usage is going to increase in the near future, that might just be where we’re headed, but if Abols has a strong showing tonight, it could well punch Luchanko’s ticket back to Guelph for him.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-senators-how-to-watch-lineups-and-gamethread/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Friday Morning Fly By: Gotta score goals

*Well, that sure was a hockey game last night, huh? Something like that. RECAP!

*We got a little update from the org yesterday on the progress being made by Rasmus Risotlainen, who is a real person, and also Oliver Bonk. [BSH]

*Owen Tippett is having himself a great start to the season, which is cool, but apparently he is also the team DJ? Which is kind of even cooler?? [Inquirer]

*We were all a little worried about what kind of season Cam York might have after missing the first couple of games due to injury, but looks like those worries were a little silly. Because he looks real, real good so far. [BSH]

*If you’re a subscriber over at Charlie’s website you can check out our own Maddie Campbell’s very excellent feature on Samu Tuomaala, who really needs to have a break-out season up in Allentown if he wants to remain on the NHL track. [PHLY]

*It is no secret that Danny Briere might be looking to make a hockey trade or two this season and it turns out there are already some dudes whose names are kicking around the trade block already. [The Athletic]

*The folks over at The Failing New York Times asked NHL execs to rank the league’s 32 front offices and boy, the Flyers truly get zero respect around this league anymore, huh? [The Athletic]

*And finally, speaking of rankings, here’s some power rankings, in the form of the best young players on NHL rosters. [Sportsnet]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/friday-morning-fly-by-gotta-score-goals/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Porter Martone continues to shine with Michigan State

Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Porter Martone is really good at this whole hockey thing. Tonight, he and the newly no. 1 ranked team Michigan State Spartans opened their weekend series with the Northern Michigan Wildcats, and Martone made his mark early and often. Coming off of a strong showing against Boston University, the Flyers’ 6th overall pick stayed hot, cashing in himself and picking up another helper.

Just about midway through the first period, Martone was able to keep the puck in the offensive zone after a Wildcats defender attempted to kick the puck out past the blue line. After corralling the puck and considering his options, Martone kept it and ripped it far side to open the scoring and set the tone.

Porter Martone makes it 1-0 Spartans in the first! Spartans get back to even strength and take the lead just seconds later. pic.twitter.com/4xQTGYRc5K

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 24, 2025

It’s worth pointing out how refreshing it was to see a Flyers prospect not default to a pass up high to the point. It’s something that we’ve seen Jett Luchanko, in particular, do when the shooting lane is available to him. Martone has an easy pass option that he looks off and he gets rewarded for choosing to shoot in this instance. That’s not to say passing is the bad option all or even most of the time, but Luchanko (among others, this is not a Jett-only critique) could definitely look to be a little more selfish and shoot more. Confidence in your own release can be something that separates the good players from the great ones, so it’s nice to see the Flyers’ top prospect make this play in this spot.

The Spartans would increase their lead to two in the dying seconds of the opening frame, with Martone picking up the primary assist by creating the rebound chance that Charlie Stramel puts home. Martone tracks the puck well here, never losing sight of it through the bounces, and forces a quick save that’s not able to be controlled.

Charlie Stramel makes it 2-0 right before the end of the period! pic.twitter.com/dbt7Hr7K9v

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 24, 2025

Plays like this highlight how Martone’s hockey sense translates at higher levels, through anticipation and positioning. Combined with his size and puck skills, it’s a special combination. Martone’s line with Stramel and Daniel Russell really built on their momentum from last weekend, creating a number of scoring chances in this one The three forwards all finished the game with five-plus shot attempts each, with Russell leading the way with seven; five on-goal. As a team, the Spartans out-shot the Wildcats 40-25.

Beyond the goal and assist, Martone was called for two hooking minors in this one, and continued to involve himself physically. For a player who wasn’t known for being overly physical in the OHL with the Brampton Steelheads, Martone has definitely been more engaged in that side of the game through the early stages of the season. It’s also worth mentioning how Martone has looked without the puck beyond the hits. While his offensive instincts and production pop, his defensive awareness and positioning has been impressive as well. There was one play in particular that stood out effort-wise, chasing down an odd-man rush, where he might not have had the foot speed to get back all the way, he did force the carrier to make a quick decision that didn’t lead to much. While we’ll be more focused on his play with the puck, his play without is something that Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet will be keeping a close eye on if he were to sign and go pro next season. So while Tocchett might be taking issue with Matvei Michkov’s defensive habits, it’s hard to imagine a similar scenario with Martone.

Martone is now up to two goals and five assists through the first five games of the season, an exciting start to his first season of college hockey. It goes without saying that Martone is an extremely important part of the Flyers’ rebuild, and they have to be happy with his start. Fellow Flyers’ prospect Shane Vansaghi was held off of the scoresheet in this one, but was still engaged along the boards and on the forecheck as we’ve come to expect.

Gavin O’Connell would add a power play goal to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead in the middle frame, which marked the end of the scoring in this one until Tommi Männistö added a late empty-netter. Michigan State would take this one by a final score of 4-0. Goaltender Trey Augustine picks up his second shutout of the season, stopping all 25 Wildcat shots.

After dropping their season opener, Michigan State has won four in a row, and with their win tonight, improve to 4-1-0 on the season. The now-top ranked team in the country will look to continue their winning ways when these two teams meet again tomorrow night to conclude their two-game series.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/porter-martone-continues-to-shine-with-michigan-state/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

How Owen Tippett is fitting in Rick Tocchet’s Flyers system

Following the Philadelphia Flyers’ 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, head coach Rick Tocchet held a brief media availability where he boiled down the Flyers lack of offense to one issue: the lack of an interior game. He mentioned it three times in the two-and-a-half-minute availability, driving the point home repeatedly.

“We’ve got too many guys who are playing on the outside, and that’s why guys are struggling to score goals. The good goal-scorers, they go to the interior. We have to do it consistently” said Tocchet.

Tocchet has made it known since the summer that he wants the Flyers to improve their puck possession and offensive cycle game — something that was sorely lacking under John Tortorella’s rush-heavy style. The new Flyers coach will have to remain patient, as the team is only seven games into the 2025-26 season and it will undoubtedly take time for his systems to become second nature for his players.

But there is one player succeeding early who is a bit of a surprise: Owen Tippett. The surprise comes not from Tippett’s lack of offensive ability, but from the uncertainty of how the speedy winger would fit in a more possession-based system, if at all.

The Data​

Tippett has five goals in seven games, and his underlying metrics show solid early returns for creating offense from the middle of the ice. Looking at Natural Stat Trick’s data, Tippett ranks in the top three amongst Flyers skaters in both total and per-hour rate in high-danger shot attempts (iHDCF).

Player	iHDCF	iHDCF/60
Noah Cates	11	8.11
Christian Dvorak	8	5.51
Owen Tippett	7	4.70

(All stats 5v5. Minimum 20 min TOI.)

It’s worth noting that Tippett is keeping pace in terms of high-danger shot attempts with Christian Dvorak — a player who was coached by Tocchet in Arizona for 224 games. Sure, Dvorak doesn’t have the same offensive upside as Tippett, but he has a head start when it comes to Tocchet’s systems.

Looking at how he compares to his previous two seasons, he’s getting high-danger attempts at a rate more consistent with his 2023-24 season as opposed to his disappointing 2024-25 campaign.

Stat	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26
iHDCF/60	4.15	2.75	4.70

The rates are encouraging, both from a standpoint of Tippett gelling with what Tocchet wants from his players, and for fans who are looking for him to bounce back after last season. Tippett’s tenure in Philadelphia has been frustrating for fans, as they’ve seen him show flashes of a high-end goal-scoring power forward who can dominate a game. They’ve also seen stretches where he is tentative in using his size to get to the middle of the ice, seeing as he’s showcased he’s capable of it with numerous highlight goals.

It’s something Tocchet sees in him too. Back on October 6 he laid out his vision for Tippett, saying he could “be that big guy in front [who could] tip pucks [and] jump in on loose pucks. I think that’s the next level for him. Because he can score. Now it’s getting those other type of goals he has in him.”

Looking at the finishing heatmaps from HockeyViz.com for the past two seasons — a useful visual for seeing where players are making shot attempts and scoring goals on the ice relative to league average — it’s encouraging to see that Tippett’s finishing in the interior is “hotter” than last year.

Of course it’s a skewed comparison: a full season on the left, and seven games on the right. But thus far it does speak to the question at hand: Tippett is fitting well with Tocchet’s offensive schemes.

The Eye Test​

It’s not just the data that tells the story. It’s clear as day when you watch Tippett’s shifts so far this year: he’s going to the interior regularly.

The following clips highlight some things we’ve already seen from Tippett: his speed backs off defenders on zone entries, and the threat of his shot to lures them in. This combination of tools opens up space for his teammates to go to those interior spots on the ice.

The next set of clips highlights Tippett going to the middle of the ice, putting himself in good position for high-danger chances. He’s in position for screens, rebounds, deflections, back-door tap-ins, and he uses his size to stand his ground — an asset that’s been underused thus far in Tippett’s career.

And this final batch of clips is more of the same, though it’s not just good positioning. These clips show his high-danger chances, shots, and goals.

These are early returns in a long, grueling season. But signs of how Owen Tippett might fit on a Tocchet-coached team have started to emerge. We’ve known that Tippett’s speed and shot open up space in high-danger areas, but it’s encouraging to see him go to those areas consistently so far. Fans have been yearning for a 30-plus goal breakout year from Tippett. We know he can snipe and dazzle on the highlight reels, but now he’s putting himself in position for the greasy goal in his repertoire. After all, it’s not about the “how” — it’s “how many.”

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/how-owen-tippett-is-fitting-in-rick-tocchets-flyers-system/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers goalie Sam Ersson embracing competition with Dan Vladar

Following the Philadelphia Flyers’ 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders at Xfinity Mobile Arena Saturday afternoon, forward Trevor Zegras rightfully stood squarely in the spotlight after logging a pair of goals, an assist, and a shootout tally.

But goaltender Sam Ersson deserved some recognition as well, and Zegras wasted no time giving his goalie his flowers after the game.

“I mean, he made a couple crazy one-timer saves in overtime, and then obviously he finished it off in the shootout,” Zegras told Scott Hartnell on the bench after the game.

“We got two amazing goalies, and that was an awesome win for Erss.”

An awesome win indeed — and Ersson’s first of the season.

Ersson, after an atrocious 2024-25 campaign, entered the season battling with newcomer Dan Vladar for the starting role. But just a week into the season, it appeared he’d already been usurped by Vladar on the goalie depth chart. Vladar stood out in his first pair of starts with the Flyers, then proceeded to earn the starting nod in each of the club’s last three outings.

Well, Ersson finally got an opportunity to swing momentum back into his favor against the Islanders, and he made it count. He turned aside 23 of 26 Islanders shots on goal, and while his .885 save percentage may not jump off the page, his timely stops certainly did.

His biggest save of the day — one of the saves Zegras referred to — came just over a minute into overtime. Jonathan Drouin scooped up a loose puck near the Flyers blue line, skated past Cam York, and slid the rubber through the low slot to Bo Horvat for a dangerous one-timer opportunity. The whistle should have been blown the moment Drouin touched the puck due to a too-many-men penalty, but the officials opted to let play continue.

Good thing they did, because it gave Ersson an opportunity to pull off a highway robbery with his glove.

SAMMY SAVES. #NYIvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/svMfDTpoPM

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 25, 2025

Funny enough, Ersson also robbed Drouin on a similar play near the midway point of the third period.

Horvat, after getting away with a holding penalty on Owen Tippett in the neutral zone, set up Drouin with a perfect centering feed off his backhand, only for Ersson to make a lunging blocker save on Drouin to keep the score knotted up at three goals apiece.

It’s safe to say Horvat and Drouin will be seeing Ersson in their nightmares for a while.

ERSS SAYS NO. #NYIvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/nDnmskTyfP

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 25, 2025

And if that wasn’t enough, Ersson sealed the win for the Flyers with a massive stop on Islanders winger Anthony Duclair in the third round of the shootout, improving his all-time shootout record to 9-3.

It’s unclear if Ersson’s performance will influence how Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet will approach choosing his starting goalie in the coming days. Still, there’s no doubt that Tocchet came away quite impressed with the 26-year-old Swede’s resilience since giving up starts to Vladar over the last week.

“I’m just a big fan of when guys, whether they’re not playing or things don’t go their way, his attitude was unreal all week. Practicing hard, he’s with [goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh], and never complained,” Tocchet told the media after the game. “You’ve gotta give him credit. That was a hell of a save on Duclair at the end, so give him a lot of credit. Great attitude.”

With three games under his belt this season, Ersson has logged a 3.50 goals against average and a .861 save percentage — not exactly inspiring in comparison to Vladar’s stellar .932 save percentage and 1.81 GAA through five outings.

But even if Ersson may need to get comfortable in the backseat while Vladar takes the wheel, he’s taking it all in stride.

“I mean, he’s been playing unbelievable, obviously, so I think that’s what you want. You want to play the hottest guy, right? I think that’s the best thing for the team, and for me too. I think that kind of pushes me to try to get better every day,” Ersson told the media after the game.

“Obviously, I love competition, so it’s good.”

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...ersson-embracing-competition-with-dan-vladar/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Trevor Zegras makes well-earned breakout effort for Flyers against Islanders

Trevor Zegras is finally breaking out for the Flyers. After coming over in a blockbuster trade with Anaheim over the summer, looking to build up his game after a challenging couple of seasons with a struggling organization, Zegras has been nicely able to hit the ground running right from the jump, bringing some immediate pop in the preseason and working well to build up his game from there. All the same, though, while the Flyers have gotten some good work from him in the early goings, there was still the lingering feeling of waiting on a true statement game to be put together from him.

Yesterday afternoon, though, things changed for him. While the Flyers began this game looking a bit disconnected and a bit frustrated in turn against the Islanders, as they tried to find a way to get their offense going but struggled against the speed with which the Islanders were getting sticks on them and breaking up their chances. And as they settled into the season period, down two goals, they desperately needed something to break for them, and Zegras stepped up in a big way to facilitate that — with a huge effort to find Christian Dvorak crashing towards the net with a long pass, setting up their first goal of the night, the Flyers were able to find a bit of a jolt and get themselves back into the game. Zegras wasn’t done there either, and he was able to build on that effort in the third period, scoring early in the frame to tie things up for the Flyers, and then again on the power play on a nice — if chaotic — jam play to tie things up again after the Islanders’ response goal, and finally tallying one in the shootout to help secure the win.

“He’s been working at his game since training camp,” head coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “You know like I said, spending time in the video room, grabbing a coach here and there, watching the games, asking questions. And yeah, he delivered tonight, there’s some high-end… you know there’s moments in the game where, we have to get used to it, it’s going to be tight, and to have a guy like him who can, you know, make those big plays for us, which he did.”

The Flyers have been a bit short on game breakers in their lineup of late, and as the league seems to be getting tighter and tighter, that they’ve found someone who can step up into this role for them in Zegras is sure to be a big boost as the season goes on. It’s been a noticeable shift in Zegras, too, for those who knew him going back to his time in Anaheim, as he’s embracing the opportunity for a reset that this change of scenery has afforded him.

“You can tell he’s having fun,” Jamie Drysdale said after the game, “just has a smile, a lot of charisma, so he fits in great, he’s buzzing, he’s funny, he’s playing some great hockey all over the ice, so I know our team and myself are really happy to see that.

“I think he was overdue,” he added. “He’s been playing some great hockey, getting his looks, he’s been setting up and creating a lot for other people, so it was nice to see him get on the board tonight, [he] deserving, and he’s been great so far.”

Saturday saw him deliver a truly impressive singular effort, finally the extra bit of pop we’d been hoping to see from him eventually, and it’s a game that, all in all, has felt like it’s been a long time coming. There’s a lot that Zegras has been doing well in his game up to this point — he had an assist in five of their last six games, and came into this one as one of the team’s better play drivers, with a 52.27 CF% and 60.70 xGF% (top-five on the team in both metrics) at 5-on-5 — but that first goal of the season just proved a little extra elusive to him. That he finally got it in such a meaningful game — a big bounce back effort at home against a divisional rival — feels a nice reward for some work well done, and a positive moment overall for a player who’s so immediately endeared himself to his new teammates.

“He fit right in right away,” said Noah Cates, “so it’s awesome to see him, you know, happy, mix right in. You know, he was friends with some guys before but now he’s buddies with everyone, he’s messing with everyone, even with the coaches, he jokes around with them, so it’s a good presence, and awesome for him to have a huge game and get his confidence back, because he’s such a special player.”

Ever the team player, though, when asked for his thoughts on his individual performance, Zegras instead shifted the focus to the collective strength of the win, from his teammates up and down the lineup.

“It was nicer to get the win,” he said postgame. “I thought [Ersson] played great, [Hathaway] had a great fight to get us going, and then that whole line sitting in the box for us was pretty cool too. It was a big win for us back at home, and we want to be a tough team to play here so I was more fired up about that.”

Saturday saw Zegras bringing, in a number of areas, the very best of his game. Flexing a dynamic level of passing with an equally high-end and hard-working finishing skill along with a responsible game away from the puck, it’s clear that Zegras is both buying well into his new team’s new system, and getting comfortable enough to at last begin to take off running. There’s a lot to like in his game when he’s going on all cylinders, and as impressive as his effort was against the Islanders, in some ways, it feels like it’s him just scratching the surface.

“I would say [it was] vintage Z,” Drysdale went on, “but he’s always got tricks up his sleeve, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you see more and more throughout the year.”

All stats via Natural Stat Trick.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...breakout-effort-for-flyers-against-islanders/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Springsteen Double Review: “Nebraska ’82 (Expanded Edition)” and “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”

On Friday Bruce Springsteen released a long-awaited, highly-anticipated box set entitled Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition, a four-disc (five if you count the Blu-ray component) collection of Springsteen’s seminal album Nebraska. The same day Springsteen’s story regarding the album and that time in his life was released on the big screen entitled Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, based on the 2023 Warren Zanes book Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

One has been craved for decades, the other has been created over a period of a year and change and is a fine companion piece. But both releases revolve around the same time period in Bruce Springsteen’s illustrious career. After issuing the critically acclaimed double-album The River in 1980 and the marathon-length concerts comprising the tour in support of it, Springsteen found himself at a crossroads. Despite selling out arenas and venues behind his biggest-selling album of his career, he felt detached from his fans and audience.

Retreating to a home he bought in Colts Neck, New Jersey, Springsteen was inspired by classic films like The Grapes of Wrath and Badlands, as well as the works of Flannery O’Connor. There he recorded most of the material over a two-week period in late 1981, with just himself and a four-track recorder, state-of-the-art at the time but an extremely rudimentary way of recording songs. In late May 1982, one other song, “My Father’s House,” was recorded as part of that batch of material. After attempting to bring the songs to the E Street Band for a fleshed out group album, the plan dissolved, leaving Springsteen with these bare bones songs. Leaving the songs essentially the way he recorded them in his bedroom, Columbia released the material as Nebraska, a far different, darker, and barren effort than he had ever put out.

Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition​

Now, 43 years after the original album release, Springsteen has returned with this expanded edition: a disc of outtakes, the Electric Nebraska version diehards speculated about for decades (and Springsteen forgot he had), the remastered version of the original album, and a special Live Nebraska disc featuring Springsteen performing the tracks in order in an empty venue with sparse accompaniment. And from start to finish, it’s a keeper! The first disc is the outtakes, some of which would later appear on 1984’s Born In The USA landmark such as the title track, “Downbound Train” and “Working on the Highway.” But each of those tracks is vastly different than how they sound on Born In The USA. Rockabilly was what Springsteen was after in these tracks and nails it every time, with “Downbound Train” galloping along seamlessly. The quality of the material is top-notch with both “Losin’ Kind” and “Child Bride” more in line with the outsider theme found throughout Nebraska. But the highlight might be the closing and ominous “Gun in Every Home” which is both as timeless and timely now as it’s ever been. “From a world gone crazy now, from a world that’s gone all wrong / But I don’t know what to do, no, I don’t know what to do,” Springsteen sings.

Disc Two, Electric Nebraska, is probably the crown jewel of the set, with eight tracks Springsteen did with parts or most of his E Street Band. It’s not like each song on the original was given an electric version. Instead Springsteen went with the eight songs he thought worked best in this format. From the slow building of the opening title track which has almost a hymnal, spiritual quality, to the rabid rockabilly romp that is “Downbound Train,” the artist deftly reworks some of the material. These previously unheard versions don’t quite improve on the original but showcases them in a vastly different light. “Born In The USA” here sounds like a Bryan Adams tune with more of a groove and guitar work, not the anthem it became a short time later. And “Johnny 99” has an old-school rock feel resembling songs that might have come out of Sun Studios in the 1950s. Of the tracks here, “Atlantic City” is probably the star of a ridiculously rich octet of tunes, a riveting, fleshed out nugget that is on par with the original. A tall order indeed.

Without going into detail about the remastered Nebraska disc, which is essentially the original with minute differences diehards may pick up on, the third disc is also a weighty live recording. Springsteen, now 75 years young, revisits the album again. Performing alone in an empty New Jersey venue earlier this year, with sparse accompaniment from musicians Larry Campbell and Charlie Giordano, Springsteen sings the songs with a weight and poignancy that only comes with time, age, and wisdom. The gruff in his voice can be heard in “Nebraska” and “Mansion on the Hill” as well as “Highway Patrolman,” which has some similarities to the outtake “Child Bride.” His voice, an acoustic guitar and harmonica are more than enough to carry these 10 songs

As we all know, Springsteen’s subsequent album to Nebraska was a game-changer, even for someone who was as popular and famous as he was the last half of the ’70s. Yet he probably couldn’t have ascended to that level of stardom without this barren but brilliant collection that is Nebraska. This expanded edition is the best of both worlds, paying tribute to the original while also adding material that would’ve stood on its own equally well. A box set that has no padding is a rarity. It shouldn’t be surprising. After all, this slow year for Springsteen has seen seven albums of previously unreleased material in Tracks II: The Lost Albums and now this four-disc Nebraska collection only proving just how prolific he was in creating material that was often near-perfect.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere​

While creatively Springsteen found himself at a crossroads, he also seemed to be at a fork in the road both professionally and personally. Director Scott Cooper, using the engaging 2023 Warren Zanes book Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska as a blueprint, has crafted a thoughtful, poignant glimpse into the artist with this film that is as dark and brooding as the album turned out to be.

The main storyline, of course, deals with Springsteen trying to craft songs for what was supposed to be the next Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band studio album. However, with ghosts from his pasts, particularly an abusive father, never far from his thoughts, Springsteen began writing material that was culled partially from childhood experiences (“My Father’s House,” “Used Cars,” and “Mansion on the Hill”) alongside accounts of killing sprees (“Starkweather” which was later renamed “Nebraska.”) and people down on their luck.

Writing that material alone at a rather secluded home in Colts Neck, New Jersey, and using a four-track cassette recorder (ahead of its time despite the now archaic technology it possessed), Springsteen dove deep into the songs, feeling he captured something special. Transferring those songs into a band sound had some surefire hits (“Glory Days,” “Born In The USA,” “Darlington County”). Those renditions were the antithesis of what Springsteen heard on the sparse, static-riddled, distortion-soaked tape he recorded the so-called demos on. As a result, and as history shows, those surefire hits had to wait a few years before appearing on 1984’s Born In The USA.

The four track recorder used to tape the Nebraska album is part of the ‘Springsteen: His Hometown’ exhibit at the Monmouth County Historical Association.

Cooper has weaved these main storylines (including an almost obligatory romantic angle) remarkably well thanks in no small part to Jeremy Allen White. White, 34, and best known for his role in The Bear, embodies “The Boss” without going over-the-top. He captures Springsteen from his highs performing at a sold-out arena prior to starting work on Nebraska to the lows, including an almost suicidal frantic drive down a back road while the unnerving, depraved Suicide song “Frankie Teardrop” is heard in the background. The actor also does all his own singing in the film, portraying both the man and the artist ridiculously well.

White is front and center throughout most of the roughly two-hour film, but youngster Matthew Anthony Pellicano is fantastic as a young, impressionable and terrorized Bruce Springsteen in Freehold, New Jersey in the late ’50s. The childhood scenes, filmed in black and white, are sometimes hard to watch but required to tell the full story. Meanwhile Jeremy Strong (Succession) plays Jon Landau, Springsteen’s longtime manager and friend who has to deftly weave his way through Columbia Records wanting a commercially successful album and massive tour and Springsteen, who wants the warts-and-all cassette mastered as the album. No touring. No press. No radio singles. No photo of him on the album cover.

The film’s homestretch deals more with the immediate personal effect the album had on Springsteen, who relocates to California to get away from what he’s known all his life in New Jersey. But a series of mental health issues and near breakdowns have many, particularly Landau, fearing the worst possible outcome. In the end, Springsteen sought the professional help he needed, dealt with his past and his childhood, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Overall, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere isn’t a happy-go-lucky look at a legendary rock star. Instead it’s a vivid and often dark vignette of a man who, at the time, did what he had to do creatively and artistically in order to make sense of his surroundings and his past. And a revealing film that either a casual fan or diehard admirer would be wise to take in.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...-edition-springsteen-deliver-me-from-nowhere/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers GM Briere explains why he sent Luchanko back to OHL

The Philadelphia Flyers sent prospect Jett Luchanko back to the OHL’s Guelph Storm after over three weeks of trying him out in the NHL for the second season in a row. With the end result being the exact same, as the 19-year-old heads into his final year of junior hockey, Flyers general manager Danny Briere had some questions to answer.

Luchanko started with the Flyers last season largely because then head coach John Tortorella was infatuated with his speed and defensive work. That team had virtually no one stable enough to play down the middle and the former head coach wanted some energy at the center position — so much so that Sean Couturier was the fourth-line left wing and Noah Cates was a healthy scratch while Luchanko was in the lineup to open last season.

Fast forward to this year and the expectation, or hope, was that Luchanko would push for a full-time role in the NHL and we would see potential improvement from the young centerman. It was a significant time for him — Luchanko could only either play with the Flyers or go back down to the OHL. No college hockey due to him being under contract, and no AHL since he hasn’t turned 20 years old yet and the new ruling of 19-year-olds playing in that league isn’t taking place until next season.

It was a crucial call but on Monday morning and after four games played, the Flyers officially sent the center prospect back to the OHL.

Flyers just want Luchanko to play as much as possible​

While speaking with the media shortly after the team made the official announcement, Briere explained his initial thought process as to why he sent Luchanko back. It really came down to just opportunity.

“Very simple. We want him to play high minutes,” Briere told the media, via PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor. “We’ve liked what we’ve seen, he could have stayed here, he showed that he can play, but we want more than that for him in the long run. We felt at this point, it was time for him to start playing high minutes.”

It certainly is true that Luchanko did not look out of depth — it was the same scenario last season when he was just 18 years old. The London, Ont. native played a total of four games and while he didn’t do much to fill up the stat sheet when it comes to individual production — one single shot on goal and two shot attempt — visually, there were good things and some things he had to work on, like most players in the NHL and especially teenagers.

Now, the question has to be asked: Why not just give him more minutes in the NHL? Luchanko was averaging just 8:58 TOI. There’s a way you could have him playing much more like you want him to. Briere says it’s basically not that easy, and he had to earn those minutes.

“If (Jett) had come in and really forced our hand, forced us to find a way (to get him) in the top nine, it might be different. But we didn’t feel he was quite ready for that role,” he said.

As controversial as it can be, some teams, like the Flyers clearly, want their young players to show that they have earned their opportunity. In Luchanko, it felt impossible from our point-of-view for him to get more minutes than the centermen the Flyers have already.

Sean Couturier is off to a very good start, so he’s not playing above him. Christian Dvorak has been locked in as the “responsible forward” for Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov, so he’s above Luchanko. And Noah Cates has been one of the best two-way forwards in the entire league in the first weeks of the NHL season. You can even lump in the aforementioned Zegras as a center playing better than Luchanko was during his Flyers stint.

If the season started and one or more of those players were playing poorly, there would have been a scenario where Luchanko played higher up in the lineup and in that top nine. But amassing just two total shot attempts and not being extremely strong in possession of the puck, is not a way to do it.

Possible conditioning stint in the AHL?​

There was a path that the Flyers could have taken to get him more minutes with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a quasi loophole.

If the Flyers were to healthy scratch the 19-year-old for five consecutive games, they would be able to then send Luchanko on a two-week conditioning stint down with the Phantoms. It would be a way for him to at least do something while being able to keep him on the roster.

Briere said that the Flyers thought about it and it could have been an option, but it was just not the right call.

“Yeah, we looked into that,” Briere said. “But it was another week of him sitting around, not allowed to play him. And after that, you’re only allowed two weeks (in the AHL), & you’ve got to keep him on your (NHL) roster. … That complicates things. There’s all kinds of little things like that, that were coming into play that just made it difficult. So we figured it’s best just to send him back, have him go play heavy minutes and get ready for his junior year and hopefully the World Juniors.”

As Briere mentions, it’s a lot of moving parts for not a whole lot of results. Since Luchanko was already a healthy scratch for the Flyers’ last two games, he would need to sit out through November 1, when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Philadelphia. He would then be able to start his conditioning stint for the next Phantoms game on November 5 against the Bridgeport Islanders. Starting that two-week clock would take him through the November 16 matchup in Hershey for the Phantoms.

A total of five AHL games played. Five games and it would take Luchanko not being in an NHL game for almost an entire month. That’s no way to truly develop a player, especially when you think he just needs to play as much as he can.

So, the inevitable happened and now Luchanko is back to the OHL and is preparing for his final year of junior hockey. And, like Briere said, he can hopefully be ready to lace up for Team Canada at the World Juniors this year and play a more prominent role as the experienced 19-year-old version of himself.

In the end, yeah, it makes sense. Probably made sense to just do this last month, too.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-gm-briere-explains-why-he-sent-luchanko-back-to-ohl/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Tuesday Morning Fly By: So long for now, Jett

*We’ve got a busy week on deck around here, and the Flyers certainly opened it up with a bang. Not that we weren’t expecting it, but perhaps that we weren’t expecting it so soon, but this is how it’s playing out all the same — Jett Luchanko is on his way back to Guelph of the OHL. [BSH]

*It’s a situation that the Flyers, no doubt, have weighed and considered heavily before making it official. [BSH]

*Our pal Charlie also took some time to break down his read of and his thoughts on the whole situation with Luchanko. [PHLY]

*While Danny Briere was taking some time to speak with the media on the Luchanko news, he also provided some further updates on the statuses of the injured Rasmus Ristolainen and Oliver Bonk. [Inquirer]

*In equally important breaking news: one of the Flyers’ games in April has been bumped back from a 6:30 start to a 7:00 start. [DFO]

*And a bit more sincere news: the Flyers are bringing back their annual charity carnival, and the details are finally here. [Flyers]

*As we turn the page into a brand new week, let’s take a moment to put a bow on the last one, breaking down a few of the top individual performances from the last three games. [BSH]

*The Phantoms had themselves a pretty productive weekend, but even more importantly, they’re putting in some hard work in their underlying process, and learning how to win as a team. [BSH]

*And finally, lest we forget, it’s Halloween this week! We’re celebrating around here by recognizing some of the very best of the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror segments. [BSH]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/tuesday-morning-fly-by-so-long-for-now-jett/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers vs. Penguins: How to watch, lineups, and gamethread

The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming to town. Gross! Our Philadelphia Flyers will be hosting the other Pennsylvanian NHL team as they try to make their homestand full of wins and embarrass those Pens.

Puck drop: 6:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: ESPN
: 97.5 The Fanatic

Pregame reading​

• Emil Andrae is back! He most likely won’t be playing tonight but he’s officially on the roster and the reason why is basically head coach Rick Tocchet likes to have a certain number of defensemen — even if they’re in the middle of a homestand. [BSH]
• Jett Luchanko was sent back to the OHL yesterday and there’s some fallout. First, the Flyers basically mishandled or at least could have handled the start to his season better. [BSH]
• Second, how does Luchanko exiting Philadelphia affect the Flyers’ lineup? What does it mean for the fourth line that he was a part of? [BSH]
• Trick or Treat!? Looking at which players have been TRICKS and which have been TREATS to start the season. [BSH]

Pregame watching​

Projected lineups​

Philadelphia Flyers

Owen Tippett — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Matvei Michkov
Nic Deslauriers — Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway

Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler — Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula — Noah Juulsen

Sam Ersson
(Dan Vladar)

Pittsburgh Penguins

Filip Hallander — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha — Evgeni Malkin — Justin Brazeau
Tommy Nocak — Ben Kindel — Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar — Blake Lizoette — Noel Acciari

Parker Wotherspoon — Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea — Kris Letang
Owen Pickering — Matt Dumba

Arturs Silovs
(Tristan Jarry)

Storylines to watch​

Grebenkin sits, Deslauriers in

Nic Deslauriers is getting in the lineup and we have to assume it’s because Rick Tocchet is predicting that some gloves will be dropped and punches thrown. Even if Nikita Grebenkin can do that too — he will be coming out of the lineup — Deslauriers is one of the best in the world at it. So, we guess that’s why.

Sam Ersson back-to-back

Now it’s Ersson’s turn to potentially earn a continued run in the crease. After Dan Vladar seemed to have snatched the starting job early this season, Tocchet is giving Ersson a consecutive start for the first time this season and we’ll have to see what happens.

Penguins’ massive line

There is something that is going to make Tocchet drool over there on the visitors’ bench. The Penguins’ second line consists of Anthony Mantha (6-foot-5), Evgeni Malkin (6-foot-3), and Justin Brazeau (6-foot-6). That’s a trio of big boys and for some reason, it’s working. Brazeau, a player that was a depth player on the Boston Bruins last season and just three years ago was in the ECHL, has five goals and 11 points in 10 games. He’s on a heater and it’s going to be disheartening to see him continue that in Philadelphia.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-vs-penguins-how-to-watch-lineups-and-gamethread/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Ranking every horror movie I watched this Halloween season

It’s that time of year again where I (like many others) dedicated the month of October to watching scary movies. Why do we do this when we can choose to watch them all year-round? I’m not quite sure, but it has turned into a fun tradition, nonetheless.

Last year I was only able to watch 12 films, but this year I tackled 22! Not sure what this says about me and how I allot my free time, but an accomplishment I guess? Anyway, the same rules apply as any other year I’ve done this. I will only watch horror films I’ve never seen before, no repeats. So, if you don’t see your favorite film up here it doesn’t mean I haven’t seen it (I mean, there is a good chance I haven’t) but ranking films you’ve only seen for the first time makes for a more fun experiment. Here we go:

22. Malignant (2021) – 4/10​

I just did not like this film. I do not understand what it was going for. I do not understand how it has a 77% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.2 user score on Metacritic. Bad acting, bad script and bad directing. The pacing is grueling and makes this film 20-30 minutes unnecessarily long without giving any meat to the extra time. The premise of this one is a woman begins dreaming of people dying and then finding out they are dying in real life. The reveal was absolutely ridiculous, and nothing is truly explained in a way that made any sense. There is an action-sequence in a police station that will just have you laughing the entire time. This wasn’t a horror comedy. Again, this one just wasn’t for me.

21. Trick R Treat (2007) – 5/10​

This one came recommended and has developed some sort of cult following. The film is neither scary, nor very good. Trick R Treat is an anthology film with 4-5 stories that are loosely connected. It features decent performances from Dylan Baker and Brian Cox, but neither of them can save this overly corny slop. The “Principal” segment is the strongest, but the rest felt like a chore to get through.

20. Friday the 13th (2009) – 5/10​

Ah, a reboot to a franchise that despite its popularity may only have two or three decent films in its filmography. This one tries to reboot it but struggles to give it much of a new voice. The same lore is there with the previous “Jason” movies, so there isn’t much of a struggle to understand what is going on in this one. You go into slashers (especially Friday the 13th) with anticipation of new and inventive kills. This had neither, sadly. Oh! This also features a Jason Voorhees that can run, which goes against all that is holy in the franchise. It kills suspense and looks ridiculous. The only thing they brought back from the series is the gratuitous nudity, if you are into that sort of thing.

19. Wolfman (2005) – 5/10​

A horror film shouldn’t have you looking at your phone because you are bored. Somehow director Leigh Whannel (see: Saw franchise) does this. The film tries to blend supernatural and psychological horror, but it doesn’t land. There is some decent body-horror with one of the characters slowly changing into the aforementioned Wolfman, but that is one of the few positives about the movie. The male lead, Christopher Abbott (annoying boyfriend from HBO’s Girls) is a very bad actor and does the acting no favors. Julia Garner, who is a phenomenal actor, does what she can, but isn’t given much to work with.

18. Terrifier (2016) – 5/10​

I apologize to my coworker in advance who loves these movies and recommended it for me this month…but this one just wasn’t for me. The positives: Art the Clown is absolutely terrifying and I can see why he (it?) has entered the upper echelon of horror villains for folks. Maybe it was intended to be this way or the budget was really that low, but this was too B-movie with the acting. The kills are over-the-top and grotesque, so if you are into that you are in luck! The practical effects of the film are pretty great, so props to the special effects guru. Great practical effects and makeup can elevate any film.

17. Wrong Turn (2003) – 6/10​

There is something about 2000’s slasher flicks that I just love and find charming in some way. This isn’t a good film by any stretch, but it had great practical effects, features a terrifying “bad”, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. If you liked both the House of Wax and Hills Have Eyes reboots, you’ll love this.

16. 47 Meters Down (2017) – 6/10​

This is the part of the ranking where we enter the “good” territory for the first time. 47 Meters Down nails the terrifying with its premise: two scuba divers fall to the bottom of the ocean floor (47 meters!) in a shark cage, surrounded by sharks, and a limited amount of oxygen. There are attempts at some emotional journey/redemption for the main characters like films The Shallows or Crawl, but it can’t quite nail it. Perhaps it’s because the two leads are terrible actors in this (I’m sorry Mandy Moore). The movie does do a great job with the suspense and you often finding yourself holding your breath in certain situations. This film does a great job on preying on your fears of the ocean and sharks…like me.

15. Day Shift (2022) – 7/10​

I had low expectations for this one because it was a Netflix original and it was hard to see Jamie Foxx nailing horror comedy. However, it worked just enough to be an enjoyable flick, albeit a pretty dumb one. Foxx and Dave Franco carry the film as the story really is nothing new in the realm of vampire flicks. The action in this one is phenomenal, and some scenes remind you of a cross between peak Wesley Snipes Blade and John Wick. Snoop Dogg has an extended cameo role in the film, if you are into that. You will not be scared by this film, so only go for it if you want some cheesy action.

14. Don’t Move (2024) – 7/10​

Produced by horror master Sam Raimi, this is an interesting (and terrifying) concept for a film where a young woman on the verge of unaliving herself is literally talked off the edge by a stranger…only for said stranger to kidnap her. The stranger is a serial killer who on route to his destination, is distracted enough for the woman to free herself and purposefully crash the car and escape. The only problem is, while the woman was unconscious from her abduction, the stranger injected her with a drug that completely paralyzes her body after 20 minutes. The rest of the film plays to the horror of getting away before she is completely incapacitated. Both leads are very good in this.

13. Ginger Snaps (2002) – 7/10​

What could have been B-movie slop turns into quasi horror comedy with a heavy-handed allegory between puberty and werewolves. It still worked for me and the practical effects were great. Werewolf films are very hard to nail, but this one offered an interesting perspective. The film has a certain darkness to it and is directed in a way you’d think it could be a Tim Burton or Guillermo Del Toro movie. If that adds any incentive for you to check it out.

12. Final Destination Bloodlines (2025) – 7/10​

The first Final Destination was an amazing concept and the rest that followed have just been “alright” or “meh”. This latest film is in that “alright” realm. The story is good, deaths fun, and the opening scene are worthy of the franchise. I like the added new approach with family bloodlines and how Death stalks in a different way this go-around. The acting isn’t great, but produces some memorable characters. It was also bittersweet to see Tony Todd reprise his mortician role one final time before his untimely death last year.

11. The Invitation (2022) – 7.5/10​

I think I liked this film much more than the critics and audience. It has an interesting premise of a recently orphaned young woman who does a DNA test and finds a long-lost family that she never knew she had. She is flown out to a new cousin’s wedding and that is when things take a dark turn. The story and direction are great right up until the last 20 minutes where it devolves into a B-movie horror after what felt like an elevated story. You could see the twist coming but it didn’t prevent it from being boring.

10. Bring Her Back (2025) – 7.5/10​

If you enjoyed Talk To Me from a couple years ago, this is the second film from the Philippou Brothers. It is an enjoyable follow-up to that film, though not quite as good or scary. Makeup and gore were top notch though and it features a bonkers (see: amazing) performance from Sally Hawkins. Like Talk To Me this film deals with death, loss, and guilt.

9. Weapons (2025) – 8/10​

This is Zach Cregger’s second solo directorial effort after the amazing Barbarian from a few years ago. This film had gotten a lot of hype before I eventually viewed it this past week and I think that may have distorted my outlook on this. The positives: The acting (particularly Julia Garner and Josh Brolin) and cinematography is great. The built-up suspense and nonlinear storytelling are something horror needs more of. Being a father myself, I think it added another layer of terror. However the end of this gets a bit goofy and silly for me to elevate it to the “great” level. Very good film though.

8. Companion (2025) – 8/10​

Perhaps this one leans more into the sci-fi genre than horror, but I’m going to allow it. I won’t give too much away, but the twist was good (if you haven’t been spoiled or just see them coming from a mile away). This almost played out like an extended Black Mirror episode, and that isn’t a bad thing. Companion had great turns from Sophie Thatcher (more on her later) and Jack Quaid (and one bonkers from Rupert Friend). The film was simply very entertaining.

7. Smile 2 (2025) – 8/10​

A perfectly cromulent sequel that continues the tale of this “Smile Monster” (that’s what I’m going to call it okay). It sounds goofy, but it really is excellent horror. From the cold open (a direct continuation of the first film) to the endless torture of Skye, I really enjoyed it. I hear there is another sequel in the works and based on this ending…hoo boy am I ready.

6. Poltergeist (1982) – 8/10​

Yes, it has taken me 40 years to watch this iconic horror film that helped shape much of the supernatural horror subgenre. This film has been the inspiration and spoofed for decades now. Long-story short, a normal family household begins being haunted by largely unseen spiritual entities. At first it begins and playful, but then turns into full terrorizing. This includes kidnapping their youngest daughter — “They’re heeeerrrrre”. It’s a real rollercoaster of a film and has some genuine scares. You can also see that Spielberg flare even though he is only credited as a “producer”. The acting is great (Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams in particular) and affects have even aged nicely. I can see why it’s a “classic”.

5. Smile (2022) – 8.5/10​

Not going to lie, I avoided this film (despite positive reviews) simply because the movie posters looked dumb. I put those very real and legitimate concerns away and found a horror franchise I really enjoy. It has very similar vibes to The Ring and It Follows, but does the internalized trauma as the focal point. The film is very well done with some legitimate scares/effects without not feeling like a complete retread of the subgenre.

4. Blink Twice (2024) – 8.5/10​

A poignant twisted tale that unfolds in a natural way as the veil is lifted on both the women in the film and viewer. The pacing is great and it delivers a terrific payoff that I didn’t see coming. It was all very impressive for a first time director, Zoe Kravitz. Though afterwards you see all the subtle hints. Acting is spotty at times, but this is a great horror flick. Channing Tatum with one of his best performances of his career.

3. 28 Years Later (2025) – 8.5/10​

The original 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later are some of my favorite horror films ever, let alone zombie films. When I saw they were making a legacy sequel/reboot I was a bit scared. How would they recapture the magic/terror of these films, but also have some new to say? The key was obviously bringing back the original director (Danny Boyle) and screenwriter (Alex Garland). And boy did they work their magic with this one. The “infected” of the “28” series are some of the scariest in the genre because they feel the most plausible. They aren’t undead, they don’t have to be killed a certain way…they are just infected humans who have no urge other than to kill/mutilate anyone who isn’t infected. Leave it to Boyle/Garland to create a coming-of-age tale out of all this. The cold open is great (though not as good as ‘Weeks’. The performances from the four main leads (especially Ralph Fiennes) are excellent. I’m excited about the planned two upcoming sequels.

2. Heretic (2024) – 9/10​

Hugh Grant was a huge reason for me not wanting to see this film originally. I just don’t care for him as an actor/person. That was obviously a mistake because this is a near masterclass of horror. The psychological horror being tolled on both the Sisters and the viewer keep adding up that you feel the weight of their fear. It may have been heavy-handed for some, but I really enjoyed the thoughts and views presented on religion and control in relation to the story. The twists feel terrifying and real. Sophie Thatcher, who plays one of the sisters, is absolutely incredible and easily one of my favorite up-and-coming actresses working today.

1. It Comes At Night (2017) – 9/10​

The best kind of horror is the one that seems the most plausible to happen. In this film, the world has been overcome with a world-ending pandemic. People isolate themselves from this disease because contracting it means certain death. The story picks up with a family which has been living in isolation who just lost their grandfather to the disease. They then come upon a young family as they tried to break in their home one night looking for food. The families try and co-exist, but truths are revealed and trust is tested. This is psychological at some of its best as all layers of trust and civilized behavior has devolved for these brutal times. Included in all this is a coming-of-age story for a teenager who has lost some of his most formative years to this new world. Joel Edgerton who plays the father is a masterful actor. The direction is amazing and the ending of the film will have you reeling.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/ranking-every-horror-movie-i-watched-this-halloween-season/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers trade prospect Samu Tuomaala to Stars

The Philadelphia Flyers have made the first significant trade of the season and it involves a once highly thought of prospect going to the Dallas Stars organization.

Announced by the team on Thursday morning, the Flyers have traded 22-year-old winger Samu Tuomaala to the Stars in exchange for fellow-22-year-old defenseman Christian Kyrou. The deal is one for one.

TRADE ALERT: We’ve acquired defenseman Christian Kyrou from Dallas in exchange for forward Samu Tuomaala. https://t.co/89I4VOJ3xr

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 30, 2025

Tuomaala was a second-round pick of the Flyers in the 2021 NHL Draft at 46th overall and had a massive calling card of being a speedy winger that has the capability of putting his shot together at a high level. But gradually as the seasons progressed the hype has died down and ultimately slowed down to almost nothing at all.

The young Finnish winger was one of the first cuts the Flyers made at training camp last month and was sent down to the AHL before the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ training camp even started. The writing was on the wall that his future in Philadelphia was not going to last for much longer.

In the last two seasons with the Phantoms, Tuomaala scored 26 goals and 75 points in 117 games — a decent amount of production but the attention to detail and inability to not remain just on the perimeter of plays was a large issue for his projection to the NHL. This season, Tuomaala has played just three games for the Phantoms and was a healthy scratch on at least one occasion. Again, the writing was on the wall.

Flyers get offensive defenseman in Christian Kyrou​

In Christian Kyrou, the Flyers are getting an interesting player. The 5-foot-11, right-handed defenseman was also a second-round pick, but in the 2022 NHL Draft. His time spent developing in the OHL for both the Erie Otters and the Sarnia Sting, was highlighted by the fact that he was able to produce a whole lot of points.

During his draft year, Kyrou (yes, he’s Jordan Kyrou’s brother) scored 18 goals and 60 points in just 68 games. The following year, he was moved to the Sting halfway through the season to supercharge that team that was hopeful for OHL championship contention. That did not happen but Kyrou scored a combined 77 points in 64 games during that final year of junior hockey.

That level of production hasn’t necessarily translated into the professional level. Kyrou is now in his third AHL season and has scored 12 goals and 36 points in 97 combined games during that time. Not exactly lighting the world on fire but considering the Texas Stars has a very veteran-heavy blue line with the likes of Alex Petrovic, for example, the opportunity might not have been there.

Now, the Flyers are adding someone in a similar vein to Tuomaala but on the back end. Kyrou’s size and lack of true pop in the AHL puts him in a place where the likelihood that he makes the NHL is probably at the exact same level as the now former Flyers winger.

But, there is still some hope that maybe the Flyers’ development staff down in the minors can unlock something in Kyrou; to get some of that pre-Draft hype that existed. Specifically, there were some that could see a shifty blueliner in the NHL when it came to the newest member of the Flyers organization.

“The name of the game is manipulation with Kyrou. He’ll bait defenders one way and then slide right past them in the opposite direction untouched, leaving them behind the play and hopeless to recover. All the usual suspects are there — side steps, look-offs, shoulder feints, etc. — and the Otters defender has mastered them in the pursuit of clean zone exits and better looks in the offensive zone,” the Elite Prospects 2022 NHL Draft Guide read.

We will have to see what Kyrou’s opportunity is in Lehigh Valley. With Oliver Bonk’s injury lasting for potential months and Ethan Samson also currently out, that is two right-handed defensemen that were expected to be in the lineup every single game, now out for an extended period of time. And with Emil Andrae up with the Flyers, the Phantoms could certainly use an offensively minded player back there to replace his contributions.

It is an interesting move no matter what, as the Flyers move on from one prospect fans have slowly fallen out of love on.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-trade-prospect-samu-tuomaala-to-stars/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Takeaways: Flyers shake off scary first, beat Predators 4-1

The Flyers closed out the first month of the season in a positive way, with their third straight victory, this time over the Nashville Predators. A lousy opening period that saw the Flyers outshot 10-3 would turn out not to be a sign to things to come, with Trevor Zegras stepping up in a big way, scoring twice and assisting on another tally.

The Basics​

First period: No scoring
Second period: 12:45 – Trevor Zegras (Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett), 15:41 – Jamie Drysdale (Michkov, Zegras), 18:03 – Matthew Wood (Michael Bunting, Erik Haula)
Third period: 7:00 – Trevor Zegras (Cam York, Noah Cates) (PPG), 15:54 – Travis Konecny (Christian Dvorak) (EN)
SOG: 33 (NSH) – 18 (PHI)

Takeaways​

Zegras with a statement game​

After getting outshot 10-3 in the first period, the Flyers desperately needed somebody to step up in the second period, and Trevor Zegras answered the call. After pushing into the offensive zone, Matvei Michkov did some great work along the boards, winning battles and coming away with the puck. He found Zegras entering the zone and hit him with a pass. Zegras made a cut towards the middle of the ice and beat Saros clean.

ZEGRAS WHAT A SNIPE. 1-0 PHI. pic.twitter.com/6lK2nnj6XZ

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 31, 2025

Zegras has recorded a point in eight of his first ten games as a member of the Flyers, and is averaging over a point-per-game, with four goals and eight assists. It’s fair to say that Zegras has lived up to, even exceeded, expectations so far through the start of the season, and has been the Flyers’ most dangerous offensive weapon. We’ve been waiting to see more of the Michkov–Zegras chemistry, and tonight’s game could be the start of something great. But Zegras didn’t stop there. He’d beat Saros again, this time with a one-time blast at the start of a power play.

ANOTHER ZEGRAS SNIPE. MY GOD. 3-1 PHI. pic.twitter.com/W1q2rtwzzx

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 31, 2025

Zegras is hot right now, with four goals and three assists in his last three games. Zegras was brought to Philadelphia to be a difference-maker, and the Flyers need him to embrace that role. With his creativity, vision, he can change the momentum of a game in an instant, as he did tonight. For a team still shaping its offensive identity, with other top offensive forwards slumping, Zegras stepping up as “the guy” is just what the Flyers need from him.

Andrae’s return​

Emil Andrae made his return to the lineup tonight, replacing Egor Zamula on the third pair alongside Noah Juulsen. In just his second appearance of the early season, he once again showed that he belonged on the ice. There was a shift early in the game where he was at least partially (if not directly) responsible for three scoring chances, which were hard to come by for the Flyers in the opening frame. At five-on-five the Flyers out-attempted the Predators 15-8 with Andrae on the ice, and were out-attempted 48-24 with him on the bench, per Natural Stat Trick. While the Flyers’ top-four has been excellent this season, more often than not the third pair hasn’t been winning their shifts. In the two games that Andrae has played, they have.

It’s clear that Andrae is one of the six best defensemen on this roster, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stay in the lineup, or even stay on the NHL roster. Ahead of the game, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchett said he’s looking for one of the third-pair defensemen to become a lineup regular, and that Andrae does have a shot. Games like this should help his case.

Drysdale gets his first​

Zegras wasn’t the only former Duck that Michkov set up in this one, as a slick behind-the-net pass created Drysdale’s first of the season.

MICHKOV TO DRYSDALE. HE'S BACK. HE'S DOING MICHKOV THINGS. 2-0 PHI. pic.twitter.com/2Af4FsC1Ah

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 31, 2025

It’s great to see Drysdale rewarded for his strong start to the season. While the points aren’t there, there’s an argument to be made that Drysdale has been the Flyers’ best defenseman through the first ten games of the season. His play without the puck has been extremely impressive and it’s been reflected in his defensive shot impacts. It’s a bit of a surprising, but very welcome development from Drysdale, who has always been billed as more of an offense-first defenseman. If this is real, and Drysdale can be a modern day shutdown defenseman who can skate, move the puck, and factor in offensively? Well, that’s exactly what the Flyers need.

Drysdale, and really the entire defense, was noticeably active offensively tonight, joining the cycle and sneaking down low just as Drysdale does on the goal.

Vladar keeps impressing​

This game could’ve been out of reach after 20 minutes if not for Dan Vladar. The Predators were all over the Flyers in the opening frame, and Vladar kept the game scoreless. Goaltending was a concern heading into the season, but Vladar has been a pleasant surprise to this point. Despite finishing a season with a save percentage north of ninety percent just once, he’s stopped just under 94 percent of the shots he’s faced to start the season. Only time will tell if that will continue, but for now he’s been nothing short of remarkable. With Samuel Ersson placed on IR, the Flyers will likely be leaning heavily on Vladar during a very busy first week of November.

Friendly fire takes Couturier out​

One concerning thing from this game is that the Flyers lost their captain, Sean Couturier. In the middle of the first, Couturier got caught by a Noah Juulsen shot in the arm, around the elbow, and eventually left the game. While this was seemingly the cause, Couturier did take a few more shifts after this happened, so it could theoretically be another issue. In his absence, Zegras got in a few more reps at center, and was even out there to help kill a penalty while Cates was in the box.

It’s unfortunate enough without context, but it is extra disappointing to see Couturier go down in the midst of what has been a bit of a resurgence, with nine points in nine games. Tocchett did not have an update on Couturier after the game.

… Are the Flyers good?​

Look, it’s still so early. But they’re 6-3-1, positive in expected goals, and defense has been shutting team’s down nightly. The big x-factor here might be that they’re doing this without Michkov looking his best. Get him going, and maybe they’re ahead of expectations. Now, they’ve yet to win a road game, and it’s still hard to fully trust the goaltending, but this start is definitely turning heads.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...shake-off-scary-first-beat-the-predators-4-1/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers send Emil Andrae back down to AHL, again

The Philadelphia Flyers have made a roster move that not many fans will agree with and it involves young defenseman Emil Andrae.

Announced by the team on Friday afternoon, the Flyers have sent Andrae back down to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Andrae played just one game since his recall a few days ago, where he played over 15 minutes against the Nashville Predators in a fairly solid win for the team.

In addition to the Andrae news, the Flyers have recalled center Jacob Gaucher from the Phantoms.

Transaction: We have recalled forward Jacob Gaucher from the @LVPhantoms (AHL). Defenseman Emil Andrae has been loaned to Lehigh Valley. pic.twitter.com/8VBGlTakjn

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 31, 2025​

Andrae is now re-joining a Phantoms team that has a fairly busy schedule ahead of them. Lehigh Valley is in Hartford set to take on the Wolf Pack in a back-to-back series starting Friday night, and then will travel to face the Bridgeport Islanders next Wednesday, before traveling home to host the Toronto Marlies next weekend.

But like with any transaction that might displease a section of the fan base, the reasoning behind it is somewhat controversial but should be laid out anyways.

Why Flyers sent down Andrae once again​

Andrae played a decent game on Thursday night but it wasn’t a singular performance that should demand a spot on the Flyers roster — outside of being a much, much better option than Egor Zamula, Noah Juulsen, and Adam Ginning. But, they needed to make a corresponding move with captain Sean Couturier out.

There has been no official word on a timeline, since the Flyers are off on Friday and we won’t hear from anyone until morning skate on Saturday, but recalling a center in Gaucher should tell us that he is at least expected to miss the next game or two. There was a possibility that the Flyers didn’t need to recall anyone with Couturier out, and head coach Rick Tocchet could have just worked with what he was given to fill out the forward lines, but bringing up Gaucher signals that he still wants Trevor Zegras to remain on the wing and roll the centers as Noah Cates, Christian Dvorak, Rodrigo Abols, and Jacob Gaucher — if we are reading this right.

With Couturier needing a replacement, in their mind anyways, a move needed to be made. As PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor hypothesizes, sending Andrae down was just the path of least resistance. The young defenseman does not need to go through waivers to be sent down — the only other waiver-exempt players are Matvei Michkov and Nikita Grebenkin. Why did the Flyers not just place one of Zamula, Ginning, or Juulsen on waivers and send them down instead? It’s never great to potentially lose a player off your roster for nothing and considering that they are still here, they’re playing well enough in Tocchet’s eyes that they aren’t a detriment to this team winning hockey games.

That’s the formula that makes this equation make a bit of sense. Additionally, Charlie adds that he wouldn’t be surprised to see Andrae brought back up soon. It is just a bit of a numbers game and being extremely cautious to not lose one of the veteran players.

Soon enough, the team is going to have to figure out what is going on with their bottom pair. Neither of the three larger blueliners have been good enough to be guaranteed a spot — so when Rasmus Ristolainen returns from injury in a month or so, many will believe and the Flyers will probably be pushed on this, that the best course of action would be to bring Andrae up and have him next to Ristolainen for that third pair.

It’s annoying for now, as we just want to see this team be as good as it possibly can be and that most likely is with Andrae in the lineup, but in this early-season situation where things are still not as fluid and the team is winning hockey games, there’s a nugget of logic. Still, it’s slightly annoying.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-send-emil-andrae-back-down-to-ahl-again/