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[Philadelphia Flyers]

Some takeaways from Flyers’ 3-2 loss to Montreal

Brad Shaw suffered his first loss as the Flyers head coach and Philadelphia squandered a third period lead to lose 3-2 in regulation Saturday night in Montreal. The loss officially eliminated them from the playoffs but, with other teams behind them winning, dropped them further down the standings. And higher up in the draft lottery.

The basics

First period: 4:10- Ryan Poehling (Jakob Pelletier, Cam York)

Second period: No scoring

Third period: 1:24- Brendan Gallagher (Jake Evans, Christian Dvorak), 2:40- Lane Hutson (Nick Suzuki), 10:39- Nick Suzuki (Kaiden Guhle) (SHG), 19:21- Tyson Foerster (Travis Konecny, Ryan Poehling) (PPG)

SOG: 23 (PHI) – 27 (MON)

Some takeaways

Ersson good early, not so good late

Starter Sam Ersson wasn’t busy for most of the first, but stood tall in the latter half of the first when he bent but didn’t break during Montreal’s opening power play. In the second Ersson made his best save of the night when he stoned Christian Dvorak as the Canadiens came up ice on an odd-man break. Both Matvei Michkov and Jamie Drysdale were back but it was Ersson who came up with the glove save.

Left-handed larceny.#PHIvsMTL | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/XodWn0B42f

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 6, 2025

Late in the second, a nifty passing play had Nick Suzuki looking like he’d tied the game. But Ersson got his blocker on the shot which caused Suzuki to look perplexed it didn’t go in. The third period wasn’t kind to the Flyers or Ersson, as two goals in 76 seconds gave Montreal and their crowd a 2-1 lead. Lane Hutson’s shot was well-placed but it’s still one that looks ugly. Although he didn’t have much help most of the night, Ersson ended the evening with another game where his save percentage was under .900.

Poehling pretty, pretty goal

The Flyers made a great rush less than five minutes in. And Ryan Poehling made the most of it when Cam York fed the puck to Jakob Pelletier. Pelletier made a pretty pass to Poehling who backhanded the puck beyond Montreal keeper Sam Montembeault. The goal continues the maniacal streak Poehling has had, with eight goals since the trade deadline.

Philadelphia goal!

Scored by Ryan Poehling with 15:50 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Jakob Pelletier and Cam York.

Montreal: 0
Philadelphia: 1#PHIvsMTL #GoHabsGo #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/I7SDvduZ1m

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 5, 2025

Calder showdown

Michkov drew first blood in this contest. Not by scoring, but getting cut by a Alexandre Carrier high stick which clipped him in the nose. The double-minor power play began without Michkov but had Bobby Brink at the point. The Flyers had a good chance when Travis Konecny fed Sean Couturier in the slot but couldn’t score.

In the third Michkov was a few feet inside his own blueline and had a chance to make the clear. Unfortunately he didn’t. The same shift Montreal missed a few chances but Brendan Gallagher finally put one by Ersson to tie the game 1-1.

Make that 20 goals for Brendan Gallagher! He was ready for that one, haha,

Another huge goal, ties the game for the Habs. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/pI433m4qty

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 6, 2025

Meanwhile Montreal’s Lane Hutson fed some nice passes to Patrik Laine on the power play but Laine couldn’t finish. The Canadiens had a horde of bad turnovers and giveaways in the first, with 17 turnovers before the game was 25 minutes old. The Flyers were guilty of just five by comparison. Hutson’s go-ahead goal (and only his sixth of the seaon) shortly after Gallagher’s was a laser but a bad one to give up.

LANE HUTSON

The rookie sensation gives the @CanadiensMTL the lead!

: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/oDFv8A4J82

— NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2025

Karsen Dorwart’s good debut

Less than two minutes into the game, Karsen Dorwart took his first NHL shift, getting tossed out of the faceoff circle before play commenced. It was the fourth line which ended up causing some problems for Montreal when Nic Deslauriers was late on a line change but enabled the Cates line to have some pressure in the Canadiens’ end.

Flyers interim head coahc Brad Shaw wasn’t afraid to use Dorwart onn the power play either. Dorwart shut down a chance by Jake Evans, looking anything but a deer in the headlights to make the right play. And although he ended up on the wrong end of an extended shift, the Habs didn’t score to tie things up. But one noteworthy optic was seeing how much of a two-way game Dorwart plays. Rarely was he last in the defensive zone but at times feet from Ersson in front or near the crease. He finished the first period with 3:58 of ice time, more than Garnet Hathaway, Deslauriers, Owen Tippett, and Pelletier.

Drysdale avoids injury

Drysdale took an innocent looking hit in the corner late in the first period. Initially it looked like he had possibly hurt his left shoulder and seemed to be favoring it a little bit. Fortunately Drysdale was back on on his next shift and looked fine. The last thing the Flyers need at this point in the seasonn is some injury that would set back a player back next year, especially someone who has had injury problems like the young, developing blueliner.

Not a lot of whistles but not a lot of flow

With one team attempting to secure a tighter grip on a playoff spot, and the other on life support but the plug is pulled, the game didn’t have many whistles. But it wasn’t exciting despite the occasional buzz in the Bell Centre and chants urging the Canadiens on. The neutral zone was a war of attrition essentially with neither side mounting much speed or creativity to make a strong chance to score. In short, it was a perfect road game for Philadelphia after 40 minutes.

The Flyers threw a few good bodychecks in the second on the same shift. First Hathaway took care of Gallagher with a clean, hard, open-ice hit. Seconds later Tippett ran Emil Heineman hard (but clean) in Montreal’s defensive zone. But those hits were the only highlights for the Flyers the rest of the night as they mustered zero shots on goal for the first eight minutes of the third period, giving up three goals in the third.

The dagger was a short-handed goal by Nick Suzuki that was the death knell for the Flyers on this night and officially (mathematically, however you wish to describe it) put them out of the playoffs. A late Tyson Foerster power play goal made it close late. But too late. Flyers are done with five games left to go.

Tys keeps the fight going. #PHIvsMTL | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/0fDOOTk25t

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 6, 2025

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/some-takeaways-from-flyers-3-2-loss-to-montreal/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers @ Canadiens: Coverage, how to watch, lineups, and game thread

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: NBCSP, ESPN+
: 93.3 WMMR

Pregame reading

• The Flyers are set to have a new kid debut tonight! Here’s what we might expect to see from Karsen Dorwart.
• Elsewhere in the world of prospects, Alexis Gendron is doing pretty, pretty well.

Pregame watching

Projected Lineups

Philadelphia Flyers

Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Matvei Michkov — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny
Jakub Pelletier — Ryan Poehling — Owen Tippett
Nic Deslauriers — Karsen Dorwart — Garnet Hathaway

Nick Seeler — Travis Sanheim
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula — Emil Andrae

Sam Ersson
(Aleksei Kolosov)

Montreal Canadiens

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Emil Heineman — Alex Newhook — Patrik Laine
Josh Anderson — Christian Dvorak — Brendan Gallagher
Michael Pezzetta — Jake Evans — Joel Armia

Mike Matheson — Alexandre Carrier
Caiden Guhle — Lane Hutson
Jaden Struble — David Savard

Jakub Dobes
(Sam Montembault)

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...overage-how-to-watch-lineups-and-game-thread/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers head to Montreal for rematch with Canadiens

The Game: 7:00 PM, NBCSP, ESPN+, 93.3 WMMR

After a quick stop at home, the Flyers are on the road again, and they’re kicking off a two game trip (so spread out that it’s hard to call it that) up in Montreal this evening. It’s set to be an interesting rematch of a huge game which unfolded just over a week ago — the first Flyers game of the post-Tortorella era was against the Canadiens in Philly, and it saw the Flyers take off running, collect a huge 6-4 win, and not stop winning in the two games since.

On the flip side, it’s been a weird week and change for the Habs — after getting whacked by the Flyers in Philly, they then got whacked by the Hurricanes down in Raleigh, but then went on to beat the Panthers back to back in their home and home series, and then took down the Bruins 4-1 on Thursday. They’ve certainly rebounded after that tough start to this stretch, and are heading into this one with some real momentum. The Flyers ran right through them in their last meeting, but the Canadiens won’t be looking to let that happen again, so that will certainly make for an interesting rematch.

Storylines To Watch​

Dorwart’s debut

We’re at the point in the season when there isn’t too much going on in the way of new and exciting developments unfolding, but the Flyers will be seeing an exception to that made as newly signed college free agent Karsen Dorwart is set to make his NHL debut tonight in Montreal. He’ll certainly be looking to make an impression in his first taste of NHL action, but we’re also making sure to keep our expectations manageable for him — this is a big jump he’s making, after all, and what’s more, he’ll be easing into things with more limited minutes on the team’s fourth line. Still, this is an exciting moment, and a nice chance for fans to get a look at another new prospect (something which will be limited down this stretch, with the Flyers out of recalls from the Phantoms).

A change up

Dorwart made a nice point of saying after yesterday’s practice that he was excited to play between Nic Deslauruers and Garnet Hathaway in his debut, and that he felt that this would leave him protected in a way, playing with such tough customers. Whether this would play out as planned was called briefly into question this morning, when Deslauriers was notably absent from the morning skate, but worry not, Flyers interim head coach Brad Shaw confirmed that he will be good to go for the game.

So Dorwart will keep his insulation, and with Deslauriers coming in while Olle Lycksell comes out, that line is set to be quite the physical, tone setting presence, and certainly an interesting insight into how the team wants to match up against the bottom of Montreal’s lineup.

Momentum check

Ahead of Monday’s game against the Predators, we talked about the new coach boost and the little run that the Flyers had found themselves on, as well as the looming fear that surely the rug was yet to be pulled out from under them, right? This overall feeling hasn’t changed, but with their win on Monday, the Flyers have been able to really nicely keep their momentum rolling. Now, they’ll have a much more difficult task ahead of them tonight, looking to get the better of what’s sure to be a highly motivated Habs team, but it will be a good test of the trueness of their momentum. Maybe regression is coming, but maybe they can stave it off a little longer.

The Lineups​

Philadelphia Flyers

Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Matvei Michkov — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny
Jakub Pelletier — Ryan Poehling — Owen Tippett
Nic Deslauriers — Karsen Dorwart — Garnet Hathaway

Nick Seeler — Travis Sanheim
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula — Emil Andrae

Sam Ersson
(Aleksei Kolosov)

Montreal Canadiens

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Emil Heineman — Alex Newhook — Patrik Laine
Josh Anderson — Christian Dvorak — Brendan Gallagher
Michael Pezzetta — Jake Evans — Joel Armia

Mike Matheson — Alexandre Carrier
Caiden Guhle — Lane Hutson
Jaden Struble — David Savard

Jakub Dobes
(Sam Montembault)

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/flyers-head-to-montreal-for-rematch-with-canadiens/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers on pace for top-5 pick with 5 games remaining

The Philadelphia Flyers saw their three-game winning streak come to an end this weekend, much to the delight of Team Tank. A loss in Montreal on Saturday night, coupled with a few noteworthy results over the weekend, has put the Flyers in a pretty good position in terms of their NHL Draft Lottery odds.

Through play on Sunday, April 6, the Flyers have the fifth-fewest points in the league with 71 in 77 games. The Boston Bruins also have 71 points but in one more game, giving them the edge in lottery odds.

The Flyers may be at the fifth slot right now, and five games may not seem like a lot, but there is still some wiggle room for Philadelphia’s first round pick.

The dreams of the Flyers tanking all the way into a top-three pick are dead — unless they win a lottery for one of the top two picks. The San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks secured the two worst records quite some time ago.

The Nashville Predators have also come back down to Earth recently with their sixth straight loss on Sunday, so they’re pretty much locked into the third-worst record.

But the fourth slot and downward are still wide open.

Only three points separate the Bruins with the fourth-worst record and the Ducks with the ninth-worst. Sure, there are some games in hand in there, but nothing is guaranteed with these teams.

First, let’s take a look at where the Flyers stand and their remaining schedule.

Philadelphia Flyers – 71 points in 77 games​

If you’re reading this blog, you probably know how the Flyers have been playing. They had a long losing streak, fired John Tortorella, and won three of their next four under interim head coach Brad Shaw.

The Flyers have a few days off before a matchup against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden before hosting the New York Islanders on Saturday. They then head up to Ottawa, host Columbus, and finish the season in Buffalo.

The Rangers are still trying to keep their playoff hopes alive despite the Canadiens having a good grip on the second Wild Card spot. The Islanders and Blue Jackets are also still alive, but only barely. Beating a New York team is always nice, and the Flyers may pull out a win plus an overtime loss, but you can’t expect more than that.

Claude Giroux has the Senators ready for the playoffs and will be happy to take down the Orange and Black. The season finale in Buffalo could ultimately be huge for draft position, as the Sabres are currently three points ahead of the Flyers.

Conservatively, the Flyers should get at least two or three points in their final five games. Aggressively? Maybe four or five.

So, who do the Flyers have to be worried about the most?

Boston Bruins – 71 points in 78 games​

The Bruins fought for two wins after the trade deadline over the Lightning and Panthers before going on to lose their next 10 games, only earning a loser point in one of them. They got a surprising win against Carolina on Saturday before falling flat in Buffalo on Sunday.

Boston has just four games left. The Bs end their quick two-game road trip in New Jersey on Tuesday, then alternate home and road games against the Blackhawks, Penguins, and Devils.

The only game out of those four that the Bruins should win is at home against Chicago. The Penguins game is a toss-up, and the Devils are a playoff team on a three-game winning streak.

To project it out, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Bruins only earned two or three points in their final four games. Anything else would be gravy.

Seattle Kraken – 72 points in 77 games​

The Kraken are in the midst of a long road trip. They’ve already won in Vancouver and San Jose but finish out the trip in Los Angeles, Utah, and Vegas. Seattle then hosts the Blues and Kings to close out the season.

Seattle went 1-4-1 prior to those two wins, and none of its remaining games bode well for the Kraken. It doesn’t help that the games in LA and Utah are back to back.

The Kraken could very well go winless in their final five games. Maybe they get two points. And that’s not great for the Flyers’ draft position with Seattle just one point ahead of Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh Penguins – 74 points in 78 games​

You might have to hold your nose and root for the Penguins if you want the draft position to improve, Flyers fans. Pittsburgh lost in Chicago on Sunday and host the Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

The Pens then play in New Jersey before hosting the Bruins and Capitals to close out the season.

The only positive in that schedule is that the Bruins or Penguins are guaranteed to get two points out of that matchup. An overtime game would be fantastic.

But still, the Penguins are three points ahead of the Flyers, who may not earn that many the rest of the way.

Buffalo Sabres & Anaheim Ducks – 74 points in 77 games​

The Sabres and Ducks are also worth keeping an eye one.

Buffalo took down Boston on Sunday for its fourth straight win and is now 7-1-0 in its last eight games. The Sabres’ remaining schedule is tough with games against Carolina, Columbus, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Toronto before hosting the Flyers in that season finale.

Anaheim has now lost two straight games following a 3-1-0 stretch. The Ducks have six games remaining against five playoff teams (Edmonton, Los Angeles, Colorado, Minnesota, Winnipeg) and Calgary.

But once again, as stated above, the Flyers may only reach 74 points this season.

---

So, with the Flyers entering their final five games of the season, a top-five pick does seem very possible.

MoneyPuck has the Flyers projected to finish with 75.5 points for the fifth slot, with Boston (74.8) and Seattle (76.9) sandwiching them.

All in all, given how the top of the upcoming draft class looks, the Flyers should have a few skilled prospects to choose from with their first selection — if they don’t trade it, that is.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...n-pace-for-top-5-pick-with-5-games-remaining/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Brad Shaw wants to be Flyers head coach: ‘It’s the pinnacle’

Brad Shaw tasted defeat for the first time as Philadelphia Flyers interim head coach over the weekend in Montreal. It was the team’s first loss since firing John Tortorella as they swept their three-game homestand thereafter.

There are only five games remaining in the season, so Shaw will only have nine games of experience as the (interim) bench boss. But there is a chance that he’s one of the favorites in the running to become the Flyers head coach on a full-time basis next season.

Shaw spoke on how he feels since taking over behind the bench and what’s next for him after the team’s practice on Monday morning.

“It’s the best job in coaching. It’s the pinnacle. I think everybody that coaches probably aspires to it,” he said. “It’s been great. It’s been a great experience.

You kind of forget how all-encompassing it is compared to being an assistant coach, so from that respect it kind of helps you keep a perspective on how sometimes the coach might not be in a good mood. There’s so many other things going on in his day outside of the Xs and Os and the structure of what’s happening on the ice. For most of the assistants, you have interactions with other players, but certainly not to the depth and/or the breadth of how many people you talk to in a day as a head coach.”

Shaw explained that he was initially a bit overwhelmed in those first few days, which can be understandable given the fact that the Flyers played a game less than 12 hours after Tortorella was fired. He’s since handed off some duties to other coaches and is settling in behind the bench.

“It’s really helped settle things down. I also feel way more comfortable kind of interacting from a little bit different point of view,” he said. “I haven’t been really given a mandate, so I’m not really in that position to talk from that point of view as far as passed these last few games, but up until that point, I’d like to try and keep things as coordinated and on track as possible.”

Anyone can understand the challenges of being thrust into a new, unexpected role. Shaw is doing his best to keep the guys in line.

“I think one of the biggest challenges is it’s kind of the substitute teacher role. We all remember school when the teacher was there and there was some pretty good discipline in the room, and as soon as you had that substitute teacher, certain people took advantage of that said substitute teacher,” Shaw laughed. “I think I pretty much know which guys are going to try that here, so I’ve tried to pre-empt it maybe with some of them and try to maybe watch it a little closer. But it’s kind of where we’re at.

“I don’t think I really have any way to really be that heavy-handed guy. I don’t. So it’s kind of a tough thing because I do have expectations, and I do have a type of game that I think leads to consistent success and can help a team achieve what we didn’t achieve this year.”

The Flyers came out of the gate hot under Shaw with three straight wins, but that didn’t mean that they were great performances by the Orange and Black.

“Even when we were winning the first three, I didn’t necessarily like how we were playing. Goals were going in the net and we were outscoring our mistakes, but how we were playing, I think it’s hard to sustain,” Shaw continued. “I think there’s a smarter game and a more team-based game that I think the majority of the teams that are going to continue after the midpoint of April do it and do it on a consistent basis. I think that’s something we have to get better at here, obviously.”

Shaw is on a shortlist of potential head coaching candidates for the Flyers. We’ve discussed a few of them since Tortorella was fired, and there aren’t a ton of great options out there, so could they just remove the interim tag?

“It’s only been three years, but I’ve loved my time here. It’s a unique city. I love the inherent pressure the fans put on you,” Shaw said. “I’ve never been booed more in three years in my life. But I think it’s good. It’s an extra indicator of what the fans think. They’re not always 100% accurate. There’s a couple times we got booed that I wasn’t really in agreement with it, but for the most part, it keeps you in check. It makes sure you are doing the little things better. So from that point of view, I’ve loved working here and I don’t know if I have to really tell Danny that I would like the job, I think it’s probably expected.”

Of course, there is a chance that Shaw could ultimately stick around as an assistant if the Flyers bring in a new head coach, but that might not be up to anyone currently in the organization.

“That would really be up to the new coach,” Shaw shrugged, “so it’s really not something you decide anyway.”

But make no mistake about it, Shaw has gotten the taste of being a head coach and wants a chance at the full-time gig.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here. The one thing that does happen when you get a little taste of head coaching, I’d really like to try it and really have the team from mid-summer. Do development camp, from Day 1 in camp you’re implementing what you think should happen,” he concluded. “I would love to try that. If that’s not in the cards, then I have really enjoyed my time here, but again, it’s almost always up to the coach coming in to decide that.”

Shaw has done a great job of developing defensemen like Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale since joining the Flyers. He’s not a bad choice to remain behind the bench if the Flyers want to give him a short-term contract to prove himself, but the front office could also want to go in a different direction.

Only time will tell.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/brad-shaw-wants-to-be-flyers-head-coach-its-the-pinnacle/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Olle Lycksell loaned to Phantoms for Calder Cup playoff run

The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Tuesday afternoon that they loaned forward Olle Lycksell to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, presumably for the remainder of the season. Lycksell was placed on waivers on Monday in order to facilitate the move back down to the AHL and successfully cleared them Tuesday afternoon.

Transaction: Forward Olle Lycksell has cleared waivers and has been loaned to the @LVPhantoms (AHL).

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 8, 2025

Lycksell has been fine in his time with the Flyers. He’s shown flashes here and there when given chances, but ultimately put up just five assists in his 19 games. The winger has one NHL goal to his name along with 10 assists in 45 career games.

But Lycksell has been impressive with the Phantoms in his three seasons in North America. He’s put up 125 points (50 goals, 75 assists) in 131 games and has been a point-per-game player over the last two seasons. He was named to the AHL All-Star Classic as the Phantoms representative this season.

The Phantoms are getting their All-Star back for their playoff run, along with a few prospects that have already made their professional debuts.

All eyes have been on Jett Luchanko, and the 2024 first-round pick has put up two assists in his five games with the Phantoms. Alex Ciernik has also gotten into one game after signing an amateur try-out contract last month.

Of course, there is also Nikita Grebenkin. The Russian winger acquired in the Scott Laughton trade has five points (three goals, two assists) in eight games with the Phantoms.

All of this is to say that the Phantoms may be a fun team to watch in this year’s Calder Cup playoffs. They would face off against the Providence Bruins in a best-of-three series if the season ended today, but the Phantoms are tied with the Springfield Thunderbirds for fifth in the Atlantic Division.

The injection of youth will continue next season with some of the Flyers’ other top prospects like Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, and Carson Bjarnason slated to turn pro.

But back to Lycksell.

The 25-year-old winger is a pending Group 6 UFA this summer, and unless he wants to stick around to help the youth movement in Lehigh Valley, he will probably end up leaving the organization for a chance at an NHL job somewhere else. The Flyers have great depth at the wing position at the NHL level and Lycksell hasn’t done enough to prove that he should crack that.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...oaned-to-phantoms-for-calder-cup-playoff-run/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Tuesday Morning Fly By: Still waiting to return

*Alex Bump is one of the more interesting prospects for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Western Michigan winger is in the Frozen Four, gearing up to compete for the national championship this week, but will then quickly turn his sights on Philadelphia. The 21-year-old is set to sign with the Flyers however his tournament finishes. More on his tournament and what’s next for the Minnesotan. [The Athletic]

*Flyers interim head coach Brad Shaw was fairly blunt yesterday: He wants to be the head coach of the team next season. Which, of course he wants to stay employed, but he also dove deeper into the possibility of him returning as an assistant coach with a new head coach above him. [BSH]

*In some transaction news, the Flyers placed forward Olle Lycksell on waivers yesterday. We’ll see if another team puts in a claim, but he was really just the lowest on the chopping block. The Flyers have enough healthy forwards and newly signed Karsen Dorwart is a higher priority. [BSH]

*But there is still good news! It sure seems like the Flyers are on track to finish in the bottom five of the NHL’s overall standings, guaranteeing at the very worst a top-seven pick but most likely picking within the first five selections. [BSH]

*How Matvei Michkov embraced a “boring process” to become an even greater scorer. [NBCSP]

*It’s always a struggle to get American players overseas to play in the IIHF World Championships after their NHL season wraps up. The Canadians always get the stars (or at least very good players) of non-playoff teams — could Team USA finally do the same? [ESPN]

*With Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record to become the NHL’s all-time leader in goals scored, the question of who else could possibly do it naturally came up. Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is one of the players who could be on-pace to do it if he plays until he’s 40 years old. But, the Leafs captain doesn’t even want to be a part of the conversation. [TheScore]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...esday-morning-fly-by-still-waiting-to-return/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Flyers visit train station to face hockey team that plays there

The Game: 7:30 PM, TNT, 97.5 The Fanatic

The Philadelphia Flyers have taken the train up the coast to visit some other random NHL team that happens to play at the station where they get off. The entire roster doesn’t even need to step outside to then start playing in a game for the National Hockey League. On the other side, the tunnel rats also named the New York Rangers are going to be playing for absolutely nothing.

This is a game between two teams who have close to zero motivation. The Flyers have already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and the Rangers might as well be with their sad and elderly roster just trying to not embarrass themselves further than they already have this season.

It’s been a lovely miserable time for the Rangers. From threatening to trade the entire roster, to acquiring a problem player from Vancouver, and even more players showing their age as their window to win anything begins to rapidly close. And what they are experiencing right now might be their future for a while.

The Rangers are coming off of a 4-0 shutout loss to the Devils, a 5-1 disastrous loss to the Lightning, and then having to squeeze some points out of opponents like the Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks. Whenever they face a mediocre or bad team, they can earn a win; and when any team with Cup hopes faces the Rangers, they have the upper hand. Hopefully they stay mediocre for a very long time.

For the Flyers, this is another game where the entire fan base hopes for a loss in hopes of a high draft pick. Nothing to see here. Just five more to go.

Storylines to watch​

The young newcomers for the Rangers

We have to admit, the Rangers roster is not entirely made up of grumpy old veterans who just can’t wait to put their feet up for the next few months. Thanks to some seasons ending and some players excelling in the AHL, the Flyers’ opponent on Wednesday got an injection of youth.

Gabe Perrault the most obvious name but Brennan Othmann is another former first-round pick who has been scoring at a decent clip in the minors. Perrault has played three games with zero earned points, and Othmann has been up and down, totaling 19 games played with just two assists. Still, they’re players to look out for.

Perrault scoring his first NHL point against the Flyers’ terrible goaltending and against a team that passed over him in the first round, would be just so Philadelphia.

Matvei Michkov back on the scoring path

Matvei Michkov was on a scoring tear and with the John Tortorella firing happening in the middle of it, we all thought it would just be extended further and to the end of the season. Well, he has been producing a ton except for last Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Canadiens. It ended his point streak but facing countrymen Igor Shesterkin and Artemi Panarin tonight could spark a whole new streak.

Hell, and maybe the upcoming arrival of Ivan Demidov is pushing Michkov to force people to not pay attention to the shiny new Russian winger toy.

The impact of the York-Drysdale pairing

Brad Shaw putting Cam York and Jamie Drysdale together on a pairing is as interesting as a defensive pairing with two young players could be. Of course, York has turned his reputation from an uber-offensive blueliner to being someone who is just a steady hand defensively, and Drysdale wants to explode up the ice any chance he gets.

Through the 77ish minutes they have played next to each other this season at 5-on-5, the Flyers have 48.21 percent of the expected goals share, and just 46.32 percent of the shot attempt share, according to Evolving-Hockey. Plainly, the Flyers’ opponents have been on average better when these two are on the ice together — especially considering the Flyers have allowed seven goals and scored just three during those 77ish minutes. Not great!

But the dynamic of the two is still really intriguing. It is an early look into what could be a pairing for a long time, if both of these players solidify their roles.

Projected lineups​

Philadelphia Flyers

Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Travis Konecny — Sean Couturier — Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett — Ryan Poehling — Jakob Pelletier
Nic Deslauriers — Karsen Dorwart — Garnet Hathaway

Nick Seeler — Travis Sanheim
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula — Emil Andrae

Sam Ersson
(Ivan Fedotov)

New York Rangers

Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — J.T. Miller — Mika Zibanejad
Chris Kreider — Sam Carrick — Gabe Perrault
Brennan Othmann — Jonny Brodzinski — Matt Rempe

Carson Soucy — Adam Fox
Zac Jones — Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen — Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin
(Jonathan Quick)

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...station-to-face-hockey-team-that-plays-there/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Thursday Morning Fly By: That’s one way to do it

*The Flyers gave it their all but they simply couldn’t overcome the sheer level of Suck at which the Rangers are currently operating. TyFo hat trick though, pretty neat. RECAP!

*Big story yesterday was the announcement that the Flyers’ beat writers have nominated Ivan Fedotov for the Masterton Trophy. [BSH]

*His story certainly isn’t the “traditional” kind of story that accompanies this nomination, but it sure it’s a wild one. [NBC Sports Philly]

*It’s a story that, unlike something like a medical issue or maybe a struggle with addiction, that is hard to even understand. Because this isn’t the kind of thing that happens to many people on EARTH, let alone in the NHL. [Inquirer]

*Whatever happens to Fedotov this offseason, it was a long, hard road for him to get here, and this nomination serves to honor that. If nothing else. [PHLY]

*The latest 32 Thoughts, the bulk of which focus on the excitement of the upcoming playoffs and, as such, not on your Flyers. [Sportsnet]

*We learned yesterday that longtime NHL exec Ray Shero passed away. Terribly sad news; he was only 62 years old. [TSN]

*Back to those upcoming ‘yoffs… which team is under the MOST pressure to win this year? Hard to say. [ESPN+]

*And finally, the latest edition of the BSH Flyers Farm Stars! Some good stuff happening with some of The Kids right now. [BSH]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/thursday-morning-fly-by-thats-one-way-to-do-it/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

A guide to the 2025 Frozen Four for Flyers fans

It’s that time again, folks! The Frozen Four, the pinnacle of the college hockey season, is finally upon us, with the semifinal round set to begin this evening in St. Louis. It’s a big moment for college hockey watchers, and the Flyers will once again find themselves well represented at this point in the tournament.

The action will kick off this evening with the matchup between Denver and Western Michigan (with the Broncos featuring, of course, buzzy Flyers prospect Alex Bump), beginning at 5:00 PM ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+. And this is, it goes without saying, is a big one. Denver is coming in with some serious momentum, as the reigning national champion and having defeated the top-ranked team in the country in Boston College pretty handily in their regional final, and they’re coming in to face Western Michigan, making their first appearance in the Frozen Four in program history. But the Broncos aren’t going to make this easy on them — they’ve been competitive in tight games throughout the tournament, and for them, there will be no surprises about Denver’s game. With both playing in the NCHC, there’s a real familiarity there, and, also notably, Western Michigan’s had some success against this Denver team already this year, having split their regular season series with a win and an overtime loss, and beating them in the final of the Frozen Faceoff.

Following that, we’ll see Penn State and Boston University (with our pal Devin Kaplan) facing off at 8:30 (still on ESPN2 and ESPN+). This one, too, is going to be an interesting matchup — Penn State went into their regional as the four-seed, and managed to upset both Maine and UConn, though they did have some trouble in that second game, BU is a team that isn’t going to clog up the neutral zone in the same way that UConn did, and instead is one that’s going to be able to skate with them and trade chances. BU might be the favorite heading into it, given the strength of their roster and regular season, but this one feels like it really could go either way.

The winners of these games will face off on Saturday at 7:30, and a new (or perhaps not new) National Champion will be crowned. This is sure to be an exciting slate of action.

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/a-guide-to-the-2025-frozen-four-for-flyers-fans/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Friday Morning Fly By: The kids are rolling

*The Flyers are off again today but a few of the Flyers’ kids got going in the Frozen Four last night, and we’ve got a full guide to the tourney for you. [BSH]

*One of those kids, Devin Kaplan, is chasing the title with a guy From Here. [Inquirer]

*Anyway, the Flyers. In case you missed it, Chuck had some Thoughts about that Rangers game. [PHLY]

*Speaking of, Brad Shaw was pretty impressed by Tyson Foerster’s first career hatty. [BSH]

*You may have noticed, but the Flyers seem to once again have a goalie problem. So how are they going to fix it this time? [The Athletic]

*Free agency is obviously one place to look, but there aren’t really any sure things out there this summer. [Inquirer]

*And while we’re fixing problems, what if Danny Briere gets real crazy with the search for a couple of functional NHL centers? [BSH]

*The latest power rankings, in the form of each team’s Hart Trophy candidate. Oh boy wonder who will be chosen for the Flyers! [Sportsnet]

*And finally, on Alex Ovechkin’s road to the record. The breaking of which is cool as heck. [ESPN]

Source

Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/friday-morning-fly-by-the-kids-are-rolling/

 

[Philadelphia Flyers]

Where can Alex Bump fit on the Flyers this season?

Alex Bump has quickly worked his way to the front of every Flyers fan’s mind. The Western Michigan Bronco has been the driving force of his college club all season long and now, he is preparing to take on Boston University Saturday night for the NCAA national championship.

The 21-year-old left winger earned his way there through nine shots on goal — unfortunately zero points earned — Thursday night in the Frozen Four semifinal to beat down the reigning champions, David Carle’s Denver Pioneers. He covered every single inch of the ice surface playing well both offensively and defensively, just as he has been doing all season long.

Of course, this gets every single person that cares about the Philadelphia Flyers extremely excited about his potential in the NHL. A winger that has scored over a point per game in college but is also known for his defensive acumen as well is something that almost every single big-league organization covets. And as soon as Saturday night’s national championship game is done, with Bump being crowned a champion or a runner-up, he will surely be putting pen to paper as quickly as possible and making the leap to professional hockey.

There is still a question that we won’t know the answer to until he formally signs: Is Bump heading to the NHL right away, or will he be heading to Allentown and helping the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ playoff push? We do have to assume that there won’t be an amateur try-out and Bump will sign his full three-year, entry-level contract that starts this season, making him a restricted free agent in 2027. The try-out business is typically held out for players of lower caliber than someone who led his team to a national championship game and is highly regarded within the NHL organization.

If Bump heads to the Flyers as soon as possible, we can’t envision him making his NHL debut less than 24 hours after playing in the biggest game of his career so far, so that leaves next the penultimate and final game of the Flyers’ season next week as possibilities for him to play in. Two NHL games before he most likely heads to Allentown to go and play in the Phantoms’ top six to go help them out with a game or two before they go to the playoffs — that seems like the most realistic path considering how high internally the Flyers seem to be on Bump. One thing to note is that if Bump plays for the Flyers, he will be ineligible to play in the AHL playoffs.

So, if this whole scenario and Bump’s next couple of weeks pans out like this, when he’s with the Flyers, where could he realistically play? It will be up to interim head coach Brad Shaw to figure out how to put him in his lineup, but it could be fairly simple.

With the Flyers recently demoting Rodrigo Abols back down to the Phantoms, they have exactly 12 healthy forwards on the roster. That includes Nic Deslauriers, of course. The 34-year-old fourth liner is the obvious choice to be a healthy scratch as Bump comes in and barring some sort of French-Canadian blackmail, he will be up in the press box if the young winger comes to the NHL.

Now, what about the specific lines? This would of course be up to Shaw and his staff, and we can only ponder about some potential burgeoning chemistries forming in the final two games of the season between Bump and some hypothetical new linemates. But what are some options we have ahead of us?

The conservative placement​

With Deslauriers coming out, there is an opening on the fourth line next to newcomer Karsen Dorwart and Garnet Hathaway. Would a simple swap and keeping everything else the same be extremely boring and having Bump’s first two games in the NHL combine for under 20 minutes of ice time be disappointing? Yeah, certainly, but it could be the most realistic and easy to think about.

One step further into that is just a re-shuffle of the bottom six. The Flyers’ current third line is the trio of Jakob Pelletier, Ryan Poehling, and Owen Tippett. Three players that have certainly earned their placement together and deserve the opportunity they have. Pelletier has looked excellent since being removed from the fourth line and after John Tortorella’s firing. Ryan Poehling is suddenly the Flyers’ top offensive contributor with a million goals on this recent hot streak. Owen Tippett is only down on the third line because other wingers are playing better and deserve higher spots in the lineup, but he cannot go any lower.

If the Flyers want to give Bump more of a role than just as Deslauriers’s replacement on the fourth line, then he naturally would be bumping (sorry for the pun) Pelletier back down to the fourth line. It wouldn’t be the best thing to do to a player that probably deserves more than that treatment, but the Flyers kind of know already what Pelletier can be relied upon for. No questions about Bump’s readiness for the NHL would be fully answered to the best of their ability (since it is such a small sample size) with a freshly signed college free agent and fourth-line staple as his linemates.

Plus, Bump’s hypothetical steadiness on the wing could be very exciting with the speed of both Poehling and Tippett and it might be something to look out for next season.

But what if the Flyers want to just throw Bump in the deep end and see if he can swim?

Giving Bump the big opportunity​

Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Matvei Michkov have looked great together. It’s taking all the most talented players at their positions on the Flyers roster, and smashing them together in hopes that it works out; which it largely has. The smarts of Couturier, Konecny’s tenaciousness, and Michkov’s overall elite skill have worked wonderfully as a combination.

But if the Flyers want to find some things out, then maybe they need to give Bump the best opportunity to produce some points and shoot the puck as much as we know he can. And that would be with Couturier as his center and either Michkov or Konecny on the other side. It would certainly put more pressure on Bump to do something during these couple of games, but again, if he fell flat next to bottom-six forwards we still wouldn’t feel great, this gives him the chance to do more with more minutes and even potentially being on one of the power-play units.

Most fans would just want to see this to see this, but we also can’t see the Flyers just willingly handing over such an opportunity to a newcomer, over some of the other wingers on this team.

Moving from something concrete to experiment​

That leaves with one other line Bump could be added to. Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink on the wing and Noah Cates down the middle has been one of the Flyers’ most consistent lines ever since they have been put together. Through 530 minutes together, the Flyers have earned 57.89 percent of goals scored, 50.32 percent of the shots on goal, 50.32 percent of the shot attempts, and a remarkable 58.43 percent of the expected goals share, when that trio is on the ice. As a team preparing for the upcoming draft lottery, to have that sort of control coming from a group of three young players is impressive.

So, why not just break them up for a bit? We know that they work well together. It is an option that whoever the next head coach is, can return to whenever they want. They control play and make the Flyers a better team. With Bump’s addition, this is all about answering some questions and doing some experiments to prepare for next season.

Tyson Foerster’s recent hat trick could be a reason to just see how he can work with some more traditional talent. Why not, if they are doing a little bit of a shuffle to try out things, put Foerster up with Couturier and Michkov as some sort of reward? And then Bump just slides in next to Cates and Brink and creates a little bit of a possession-control line with three dudes who can more than handle their own in all three zones and can shoot the puck.

Would a more wholehearted re-shuffle that looks like this, be all that bad?

Tyson Foerster — Sean Couturier — Matvei Michkov
Alex Bump — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Owen Tippett — Ryan Poehling — Travis Konecny
Jakob Pelletier — Karsen Dorwart — Garnet Hathaway

It might be a little bit uncomfortable heading into the offseason, but it would at least be something new we could look forward to seeing as we all hope for the result to not go the Flyers’ way in the final games.

Now, we’re just left wondering what they will do. And after doing this little thought experiment, we just know that Bump will head down to the Phantoms and we’ll do the AHL version of this all over again.

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Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/p...-can-alex-bump-fit-on-the-flyers-this-season/