The Philadelphia Flyers have the potential to be a good team within the next two seasons; however, for the upcoming 2025-2026 season, it’s more realistic that the team will miss the playoffs again. The Flyers are not taking an aggressive approach in the offseason, as they have cap issues that will linger until next year.
While the Flyers hired Rick Tocchet, a coach who could work with rosters that were not as strong in the past, notably Arizona and Vancouver, the foundation in Philadelphia isn’t as strong as those teams in terms of talent.
Flyers make key decisions
The Flyers did make some big contractual decisions, however. They signed Noah Cates to a four-year $16 million dollar extension, Tyson Foerster to a two-year $7.5 million dollar extension, and Helge Grans to a two-year, two-way/one-way contract extension with an annual average (AAV) of $787,500.
With the extensions transpiring in the past week, it’s important to note who didn’t get an extension.
Cam York is an RFA. At the midway point of the season, I predicted that he would not start the 2025-2026 season as a Philadelphia Flyer. With the lack of production from York, it’s hard to justify signing a 24-year-old defenseman who hasn’t shown growth. It’s also hard to judge last season with the team not responding well to former head coach John Tortorella and, on top of that, losing his two best friends, Joel Farabee, and Morgan Frost, in a trade to the Calgary Flames. While this might seem like an excuse, there is a reality that this played a part in York’s less-than-impressive game.
The other setback for the Flyers is the goaltending issue. While Sam Ersson stepped up big time as the team’s starting goalie, he was put into a position that didn’t suit him best. Ersson is an excellent backup; he should’ve been this entire time. However, the Flyers will seemingly wait until next off-season to address the starting goalie problem.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
