Are The Flyers Close To Turning The Corner On Their Rebuild?

It feels like the Philadelphia Flyers have been in a perpetual rebuild for the last decade, but really, it’s been two separate attempts at a rebuild. This most recent edition essentially kicked off in March of 2023 when prior Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher was fired and replaced by current GM Daniel Briere.

Flyers fans might not have had much to cheer about the past ten years; however, that window of futility is beginning to close, and a new window, one of opportunity, is starting to open. The issue for the Flyers, and this could be one for their cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, is that they don’t have those high-impact top-end young assets, which will hurt their ability to build around their young pieces.

That’s not to say that the Flyers have failed their rebuild, but their prospect pool isn’t overly impressive for a team that has been in what feels like a forever rebuild and is currently ranked 18th overall by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, although that was before their 2025 draft haul. Some fans might have concerns about a repeat of the Flyers’ last rebuild that Ron Hextall oversaw, but Briere appears to be more assertive than Hextall and likely won’t be so passive when it comes to building the team he wants.

Now, in fairness to the Flyers’ prospect ranking, they have graduated a couple of terrific prospects to the NHL already, in Bobby Brink and Matvei Michkov, which lowers their ranking. They also had several players age out of Wheeler’s rankings, making it somewhat premature to say that the pool is devoid of future talent.

That being said, if you look down the Flyers’ NHL roster, there isn’t a lot of talent under the age of 25, and the rebuild seems to lack the cohesiveness that some of the better rebuilds and retools have shown. When a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins emerged from the basement of the NHL standings, they did so with two significant waves of talent entering the NHL full-time in back-to-back summers.

Sidney Crosby didn’t start his NHL career alone; he was joined by Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Whitney, and Maxime Talbot. The following season, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Kris Letang arrived, and the Penguins remained in the Stanley Cup picture for the next decade.

The Flyers don’t seem to have such waves of talent inflows in their rebuild, which is certainly not ideal. That isn’t to say that Philadelphia can’t or won’t go through a rebuild like that.

Still, it does seem like the waves of talent are becoming fewer and farther between, which could delay the process and lead to a few more years of struggles for the Flyers before they finally turn the corner. The 2025-26 season could get ugly in Philly, as they still lack solid goaltending and have gaps all over their roster.

There will, however, be signs of hope this season as Jett Luchanko, Oliver Bonk, Alex Bump, and Nikita Grebenkin will likely all compete for NHL roster spots, which should lead to some exciting competition. Speaking of fun, bringing in Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks was one of the most entertaining moves of the summer and could make for great theater if Zegras can get close to the form he showed a few years ago.

Injuries and inconsistency have lowered the 24-year-old’s trade value, and the Flyers managed to acquire him cheaply from the Ducks. If he can return to his 2021-22 level, the Flyers will have the chance to sign Zegras long-term and make him part of their future, or trade him for a better return than what they sent to Anaheim.

The trade was a smart move for Briere, who was aggressive in acquiring the talented forward. It’s possible that the deal doesn’t work out, but since Philadelphia gave up so little (Ryan Poehling, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick), it was worth the risk.

The other significant move the Flyers made this summer was hiring former Flyers player and Jack Adams Award winner Rick Tocchet as Philadelphia’s new bench boss. Tocchet, who has won two Stanley Cups as an assistant, should bring some structure and accountability to the Flyers, which was missing last season.

Tocchet’s relationship with Zegras will be interesting to watch develop, as he has a history of getting through to talented players who may not be interested in playing two-way hockey. In Pittsburgh, Tocchet was respected as Mike Sullivan’s go-between when it came to Phil Kessel, and those years in Pittsburgh were some of Kessel’s best NHL seasons, with likely some of the credit going to Tocchet.

Aside from those two major moves, the Flyers stayed quiet this summer. They made only depth signings with Christian Dvorak (one-year deal), Dan Vladar (two-year contract), Noah Juulsen (one-year deal), Dennis Gilbert (one-year deal), and Lane Pederson (one-year deal). These signings won’t propel the Flyers into the playoff race, but they will strengthen the team’s depth and give some of the younger prospects more time to develop in the pro ranks.

Despite all the changes, this season will probably still be a tough one for the Flyers since they lack enough young players to step up and compete in the Eastern Conference. And that’s okay; in fact, it could work out well for the Flyers if they start to rise while the New York Rangers and Islanders begin to leave their peak years.

The Flyers are in the later stages of their rebuild, but it’s still too early to call it the home stretch, as they await another wave or two of quality prospects that will form the next core.

Photo by Nick Wosika-Imagn Images