{"id":262929,"date":"2025-11-04T22:33:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T22:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/262929\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T22:33:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T22:33:06","slug":"are-owen-tippetts-days-numbered-with-the-flyers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/262929\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Owen Tippett\u2019s days numbered with the Flyers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tied for last in the Eastern Conference with 13 points, the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a> have seen their offense dry up over the past couple of games. They tallied just three goals total over the weekend in their contests versus the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> and league-worst Calgary Flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Speaking with team sources on Monday, the Flyers\u2019 offensive struggles are in large part due to the team not going to the dirty areas and getting to the front of the net. This is not a revolutionary observation, as PHLY\u2019s Charlie O\u2019Connor mentioned the same thing in his article<\/a> yesterday. Specifically versus the Maple Leafs\u2019 hulking blueline on Saturday, I noticed the Flyers\u2019 forwards having a particularly hard time penetrating the middle of the ice and spending far too much time on the perimeter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Flyers\u2019 forward group is arguably more balanced than we\u2019ve seen since pre-pandemic \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t mean that there still aren\u2019t flaws to it. Speaking with sources, the Flyers feel like they lack forwards willing to go to the front of the net and bang in the \u201cugly\u201d types of goals they used to get from the likes of Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds 10-plus years ago. Nikita Grebenkin has that skillset but, given his scarce use in the team\u2019s top nine to this point, he has not had a prominent enough role to be effective.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By and large, the Flyers are content with the likes of Grebenkin and their depth forwards, I\u2019m told. More so, the Flyers have been thrilled with the play of Trevor Zegras to this point; one person told me they would\u2019ve been in \u201cbig trouble\u201d already this season had it not been for the play of the 2019 Anaheim Ducks<\/a> first round selection. On the whole, the Flyers have not gotten consistent enough offense from most of their top nine forwards \u2013 many of which are not battling enough to go to the front of the net.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two forwards in particular whose games have come into question are alternate captain Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Konecny, 28, got off to an incredibly slow start this season but has registered three goals and one assist in his last four games; he has four goals and four assists total through 12 contests. Though Konecny has begun to turn things around, he hasn\u2019t been impressing the Flyers\u2019 brass with his overall play and effort, I\u2019ve heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Often compared to Montreal Canadiens<\/a> forward Brendan Gallagher, Konecny has found success in the past by going to the front of the net and chipping in ugly goals off rebounds and deflections. Konecny has not been doing that this season, spending far too much time on the outside and not making the extra effort to get to the middle of the ice. His effort level and overall play have left a lot to be desired, according to team sources.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is not to say that the Flyers are looking to jettison the 2015 first round pick \u2013 though that doesn\u2019t mean that teams haven\u2019t kept their eyes on Konecny from a far.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking with a source close to the situation in Minnesota yesterday, I was asked about Konecny\u2019s availability via trade. This should not come as a surprise, as I reported last week<\/a> the Minnesota Wild<\/a> are in the market to bolster their offense. Speaking with a Flyers source, the team would have to be \u201cblown away\u201d with an offer to even approach Konecny about waiving his no-movement clause, which kicked in this season in year one of his brand new, eight-year contract.<\/p>\n

Then we get to Tippett, who has quickly become a polarizing player for the Flyers. The 26-year-old got off to a torrid start and still leads the Flyers in goals with five; he has six points total this season. Despite the hot start, Tippett has cooled off tremendously and has just one assist in his last six games.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s always been a streaky player, and Tippett\u2019s peaks and valleys have become larger and larger going back to last season. While hot and cold stretches are to be expected of a shoot-first winger, the inconsistency in Tippett\u2019s game has started to become tiresome from those within the organization, based on conversations I\u2019ve had. The Flyers do like Tippett\u2019s game but feel like they may not have the right player(s) to properly complement his style.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The speedy Tippett would be best served playing with a playmaker who can slow the game down and spring him on stretch passes. Zegras is somewhat of that style of player, but unless he is playing center \u2013 and for what it\u2019s worth, there are those in the Flyers\u2019 front office that feel that Zegras has played better down the middle than on the wing, though his faceoff struggles have still caused head coach Rick Tocchet some reservations \u2013 the Flyers don\u2019t have many players who gel with Tippett. Speculatively speaking, Leafs forward William Nylander is the exact type of player that would make Tippett excel. Could he end up on Toronto\u2019s radar given its need for another top-six forward?<\/p>\n

According to team sources, there are some internal questions as to where Tippett will fit long term with the Flyers. This was even the case under former head coach John Tortorella, who I heard didn\u2019t know \u201chow to use\u201d Tippett last season, despite liking him as a player. It is no secret that the Flyers have an abundance of right-shooting wingers on their roster, so much so that both Tippett and Tyson Foerster have played almost exclusively on the left side. Tippett has arguably been a better player on the left wing, mind you, and has gotten consistent top power play time under Tocchet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tippett\u2019s name has been loosely involved in trade speculation this season, and while the Flyers are not actively shopping him, you have to wonder about his future with the team. Marc Bergevin of the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> front office has taken in several Flyers games recently, causing speculation on whether they could be looking at Tippett. While I have no doubt the Kings could be, they don\u2019t have many assets the Flyers like, I\u2019m told.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If (and it is very much still an if) the Flyers were to move a player like Konecny or Tippett in season, it would have to be centered around getting younger. The Flyers would consider draft picks but would ideally like NHL-ready players as the main focus of any trade as they begin to exit their rebuild.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Flyers are still above water in the parity-filled Eastern Conference, but their offensive struggles have begun to cause major issues. If things don\u2019t turn around fast and the team can\u2019t find a way to start registering more offense, we could see some changes down the line to the make-up for the forward group.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

Recently by Anthony Di Marco<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tied for last in the Eastern Conference with 13 points, the Philadelphia Flyers have seen their offense dry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-262929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}