An 0-5-2 start has put the Philadelphia Flyers in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
With just eight goals scored in seven games and ranking dead last in expected goals percentage, there isn’t much positive (goaltending aside) for the orange and black.
So what’s the problem? On the one hand, the group of young forwards seemed unprepared after a shortened offseason and a small training camp without fitness tests. But there is something more to this; there are far too many passengers for there not to be any. All but five attackers chase their first goal.
The low-hanging fruit is to blame head coach Rick Tocchet, who has struggled to coach this team offensively. But no matter what you think of Tocchet as a coach, he objectively did a good job with the Flyers last season as a whole – especially defensively, where they were a top-five team analytically.
Although it is a coaching issue, team sources told the Daily Faceoff on Monday that there are no changes on the horizon. Could this differ if this disaster occurred during the winter months? It’s very possible, but for the moment, no changes are expected behind the bench.
So that leaves the list, which certainly leaves a lot to be desired. As MPO reported last week, the Flyers are looking for late-game help – particularly a big veteran. Sure, adding a veteran like Justin Faulk or Zach Whitecloud would certainly stabilize things, but it wouldn’t solve their offensive problems.
Among the forwards who struggled the most were Noah Cates, Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett. Together, they scored one goal and two assists in the first seven games. In Cates’ case, offense has never been his calling card, but his overall game has been a concern. He was relegated to the fourth line and spends just 12:18 on the ice per game, which ranks him 11th among the 15 forwards who have played this season.
Far more alarming were the struggles of Tippett and Zegras. The duo finished with 51 and 67 points respectively last season, which ranks among the top three players on the Flyers in points. The two also found chemistry last year and started the season together on the top line. Since then, the team has been broken as the coaching staff desperately juggled things to find a spark.
Since it’s mid-October and less than 10 games into the season, there’s not much going on in terms of big trades at the moment. With the NHL at par, very few teams are looking to make a splash this time of year. But if things continue to go off the rails for the Flyers this season, bigger options could come up during the winter months.
If they wanted to make a splash in terms of a hockey trade, it would start with forwards Tyson Foerster, Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov. Martone, the sixth overall pick in 2026, is about as untouchable as it gets. Foerster and Michkov, meanwhile, are still highly regarded internally, according to sources. It is very unlikely to move on from any of these players, especially mid-season.
Zegras could be an option, but the 25-year-old just signed a four-year, $36.5 million contract this summer and is coming off a career year in offensive production. The Flyers are unlikely to look to pull the plug and sell cheap.
This brings us to Cates and Tippett.
Cates, 27, has been one of the league’s best defensive forwards over the past few seasons and has been with the Flyers since 2022. Despite a poor start with zero points thus far, the 2017 fifth-round pick still brings value to a club’s bottom six. He’s under contract for three more seasons for a very digestible $4 million AAV with no trade protection.
The Flyers probably wouldn’t get a massive gain for Cates, but moving a core player like that would send a message to the group that things need to change. The Flyers also have several in-house players who could potentially take on Cates’ role, such as 2024 drafted centers Jack Berglund, Jett Luchanko and Heikki Ruohonen.
Tippett, 27, has always shown the potential to score 30 goals, but has struggled to officially overcome that hurdle. Cost controlled for six more seasons with an AAV of $6.2 million with limited trade protection, Tippett still has plenty of value even if he’s ultimately more of a 25-goal, 50-point player.
The Flyers had a lot of interest in Tippett over the past 12 months, but held out in the face of high demand for him. Given his team-friendly contract, getting a decent value for him could prove to be a difficult task. But if the Flyers really wanted to shake things up, taking a hit in terms of offensive upside in exchange for filling a need — say, moving Tippett plus an additional asset for a top-six center who doesn’t have the same pedigree — might be something general manager Danny Briere should consider.
Next we come to winger Travis Konecny, who is the longest-tenured forward on the team outside of captain Sean Couturier. The 29-year-old has led the Flyers in points in each of the last five seasons, recording 61 or more over the last four. Konecny missed the last two games due to injury, but he was struggling before that, recording just three assists in the first five games.
Speaking with sources on Monday, there is a growing sense of frustration within the Flyers organization with Konecny. According to a source, Konecny doesn’t have too much impact when he’s not scoring or upsetting the opposing team. The play often dies on his stick, making poor decisions with the puck that often lead to turnovers. As one source put it, the one constant on the Flyers’ struggling power play over the past few seasons has been Konecny – a pretty damning criticism.
After so many successful seasons under John Tortorella’s rush-based offensive system, there is an internal belief that Konecny’s game may not be particularly suited to Tocchet’s more regimented offensive style.
According to sources, contacting Konecny to waive his no-move clause could be an option if the Flyers continue to struggle. Konecny is only in the second year of an eight-year, $70 million contract he signed in the summer of 2024.
One team that could be a good fit for Konecny if the Flyers look to go that route is the Utah Mammoth, whose style under head coach André Tourigny could help elevate the 2015 first-round pick’s play. The Mammoth currently lead the Central Division with eight points, and general manager Bill Armstrong is in a position to add to his list of tradeable assets and cap space to absorb salary.
The Mammoth are a deep team in the middle, with Logan Cooley, Nick Schmaltz and Vincent Trocheck all locked in for at least three years on their respective contracts. Could this make center prospect Caleb Desnoyers replaceable?
Desnoyers, 19, was drafted fourth overall by the Mammoth in 2025 – two spots ahead of Martone. The Flyers liked Desnoyers in this draft, DFO was told, and they would be interested in him if the Mammoth were willing to move him in a deal for Konecny. Some may wonder about first-round forward Tij Iginla, selected in 2024, but he is not a player the Flyers are interested in, according to sources.
In the case of defenseman Travis Sanheim, it appears the Flyers will keep him to anchor the blue line and be a partner to young right-handed defensemen (like Oliver Bonk) over the next few seasons. He is also a candidate to become the team’s next captain when Couturier leaves. The two men have similar behaviors and leadership styles, according to sources.
If the Flyers ultimately look to make something happen on the trade front, they won’t be looking for a draft pick or a package focused on future assets. They will focus heavily on prospects on the cusp of making the NHL and ready-made players.
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