The Philadelphia Flyers are officially 10 games into the 2025-26 campaign. For those who enjoy numbers, that means about 12.2% of the regular season is already in the rearview.<\/p>\n
With 10 games in the books, the Flyers have provided enough of a sample size for one to reasonably gauge what they are (and could become) as a hockey team.<\/p>\n
So far, there\u2019s good news and bad news. The bad news is the Flyers still have a ways to go before becoming a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. The good news? They\u2019re a young, fun team with several players more than exceeding expectations.<\/p>\n
Trevor Zegras looks like a star again<\/p>\n
When the Flyers acquired Trevor Zegras for Ryan Poehling and a pair of draft picks over the summer, their hope was that they\u2019d be getting the player who took the hockey world by storm during his earlier days with the Anaheim Ducks.<\/p>\n
It sure appears their wish is coming true.<\/p>\n
Zegras may not be pulling off lacrosse-style goals on a regular basis like he was in Anaheim, but there\u2019s no question that his dynamic offensive skill is still very much intact. In his first 10 games as a Flyer, Zegras leads the team with 12 points, including four goals and eight assists. He\u2019s logged three points in two of his last three outings and appears to be playing with a confidence the Flyers have desperately needed for some time.<\/p>\n
A lot can change over the Flyers\u2019 next 72 games, but right now, Zegras looks like a bona fide stud.<\/p>\n
Matvei Michkov is looking like himself again<\/p>\n
Following an outstanding rookie campaign, Matvei Michkov entered the season facing some lofty expectations. So far, he hasn\u2019t lived up to them.<\/p>\n
The Flyers\u2019 20-year-old franchise cornerstone has logged just one goal and five points through 10 games, and it\u2019s not just the numbers that have left fans disappointed. Michkov has also been benched multiple times, largely due to poor conditioning brought on by an offseason ankle injury that hindered his summer training regimen.<\/p>\n
MICHKOV TO DRYSDALE. HE’S BACK. HE’S DOING MICHKOV THINGS. 2-0 PHI. pic.twitter.com\/2Af4FsC1Ah<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 31, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Luckily, it seems the tides are starting to turn. After looking like a shell of himself in the first couple weeks of the season, Michkov is now beginning to look like the player who instilled hope into the Flyers\u2019 heavily traumatized fan base as a rookie. He\u2019s logged three points in as many games since October 25 and is coming off his first multi-point outing of the season \u2014 a two-assist performance against the Nashville Predators.<\/p>\n Michkov still has some work to do, but his play has improved significantly after an alarmingly slow start.<\/p>\n Owen Tippett is bouncing back<\/p>\n Tippett\u2019s 2024-25 season was nothing short of a complete disappointment. Though he did manage to score 20 goals (zero of which came on the power play), he was often invisible on the ice and rarely flashed the dazzling natural talent he regularly showed off in his first two seasons as a Flyer.<\/p>\n Well, he must be eating his Vegemite this season, because he looks like a completely different player. In a good way!<\/p>\n Tippett leads the Flyers with five goals on the season thus far, and he seems to make at least one or two standout plays on a nightly basis. He\u2019s also playing with a newfound snarl, leaning into the physical side of the game and utilizing his big body to dish out highlight-reel hits.<\/p>\n He\u2019s logged just one point over his last four games, but that\u2019s been due more to happenstance than poor play. Tippett\u2019s consistency will never be perfect, but it\u2019s encouraging to see him playing at such a high level to start the year.<\/p>\n Dan Vladar might be legitimately good<\/p>\n The Flyers had a laundry list of issues last season, and poor goaltending was the most glaring of the bunch. So to rectify the team\u2019s problems in net, Flyers general manager Daniel Briere decided to turn to\u2026 Dan Vladar?<\/p>\n That\u2019s right. And so far, Vladar has been an absolute game-changer.<\/p>\n Fans were underwhelmed with the offseason addition of Vladar, and rightfully so \u2014 his 2.80 goals against average and .898 save percentage in 30 games with the Calgary Flames last season didn\u2019t exactly inspire much confidence. Add in the fact that he became expendable after falling out of favor to a rookie goalie and it\u2019s easy to see why fans were left scratching their heads.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the guy who will change the Flyers\u2019 fortunes in net?\u201d<\/p>\n Apparently so. Vladar has started in six of the Flyers\u2019 10 games, and he\u2019s been spectacular, logging a 1.67 goals against average along with a .939 save percentage. He\u2019s been the most pleasant surprise of the season, and it\u2019s not particularly disputable.<\/p>\n Is this level of play sustainable over a full season? Probably not. But right now, it\u2019s a blast to watch.<\/p>\n Sam Ersson still can\u2019t stay on the ice<\/p>\n Speaking of goaltending, the Sam Ersson story has taken yet another unfortunate turn.<\/p>\n Ersson, now in his third season as a full-time NHLer, got off to a rocky start after giving up four goals in both of his first two outings of the season. Lately, though, he\u2019s been better. He guided the Flyers to a pair of shootout wins and put together his best performance of the season Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, turning aside 24 of the Penguins\u2019 26 shots and improving his career shootout record to 10-3.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s unknown when Ersson will even be suiting up again.<\/p>\n The Flyers placed Ersson on injured reserve Thursday. He will be out \u201cat least one week\u201d due to a lower-body injury, Briere revealed in the Flyers\u2019 official press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n It should be noted that Ersson has been plagued by groin injuries throughout his career. It\u2019s unclear if his latest injury is groin-related, but if it is, it\u2019s an unlucky turn for the 26-year-old who will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.<\/p>\n The FCB line remains spectacular<\/p>\n The trio of Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink has become a force to be reckoned with, and that line is showing no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n Through 10 games, the \u201cFCB\u201d line has been the Flyers\u2019 most consistently effective group of forwards at 5-on-5. Despite starting the majority of its 5-on-5 shifts outside of the offensive zone, the FCB line still boasts an impressive 75.00 Goals For percentage along with a stellar 52.05 Expected Goals For percentage. And with help from Zegras and Cam York, the line has even become a legitimate weapon on the power play.<\/p>\n Foerster, Cates, and Brink are all on pace to set new career highs in just about every major statistical category. And the best part? Cates is the oldest player on the line at just 26 years old.<\/p>\n The power play is still a work in progress (but it\u2019s getting better)<\/p>\n The Flyers\u2019 power play has famously been among the worst in the entire NHL for several years running. The last time the Flyers ranked higher than 30th in the league in power-play percentage? The 2020-21 season, when they ranked 18th with a power-play success rate of 19.2%.<\/p>\n There truly is nowhere to go but up for the Flyers\u2019 power play, and so far, it actually hasn\u2019t been that terrible to start the season!<\/p>\n Incredibly, the Flyers have converted on six of their 30 power-play opportunities through their first 10 games. That\u2019s a 20% success rate! Notably, though, it\u2019s the aforementioned FCB line unit (which features Zegras and York) that has done most of the heavy lifting in terms of converting on the man advantage. The only player to score a power-play goal not on that unit is Owen Tippett, who scored the Flyers\u2019 first power-play goal of the season.<\/p>\n If the Flyers can find a way to get their \u201ctop\u201d unit going, they could really have something here. But for now, it\u2019s the FCB unit that\u2019s carrying the load.<\/p>\n Jamie Drysdale is making strides<\/p>\n Acquired in the Cutter Gauthier trade in 2024, Jamie Drysdale\u2019s tenure with the Flyers has been a roller coaster, to say the least.<\/p>\n The 2024-25 season was Drysdale\u2019s first full campaign with the Flyers, and it wasn\u2019t exactly sunshine and rainbows. He registered just 20 points in 70 games, which was hugely disappointing for a player once lauded for his offensive potential. Pair that with his lackluster play away from the puck, and it\u2019s easy to understand fans\u2019 frustration with his game.<\/p>\n Jamie Drysdale said see ya \ud83d\udc4b#LetsGoFlyers<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AlfT9ZYY84<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) October 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n When Gauthier played his first game against the Flyers in Philadelphia last January, though, there was no questioning the fans\u2019 support for Drysdale. He was the rockstar of the night, and since then, his game has steadily improved.<\/p>\n That upward trend has carried over into the start of the 2025-26 season. Drysdale has logged one goal and four points through 10 games, and his 5-on-5 play-driving numbers aren\u2019t too bad either (54.71 Corsi For percentage, 57.91 Expected Goals For percentage). Drysdale looks visibly more comfortable and confident, both with and without the puck. Granted, he\u2019s still far from a \u201ccomplete\u201d NHL defenseman, but it\u2019s hard not to be thrilled with the version of Drysdale that\u2019s emerged in the season\u2019s early going.<\/p>\n Cam York is thriving<\/p>\n Maybe Cam York just needed a new coach after all?<\/p>\n York\u2019s 2024-25 season was both eventful and uneventful in all of the wrong ways. On the ice, he was quiet, logging just 17 points in 66 games. Off the ice, his very public spat with former Flyers head coach John Tortorella directly led to a swift change of the guard behind the bench.<\/p>\n Now, after missing the first three games of the season with a lower-body injury, York is playing some of the best hockey of his career. He\u2019s logged five points \u2014 all assists \u2014 in seven games and has taken on huge minutes while playing a well-rounded, 200-foot game alongside Travis Sanheim on the top defensive pair.<\/p>\n York is still very young at just 24 years old, and with a new voice behind the bench, he\u2019s finally playing with confidence. It\u2019s a welcome development for a team that\u2019s still quite thin on the blue line.<\/p>\n And speaking of the new voice behind the bench\u2026<\/p>\n Rick Tocchet has the Flyers looking fun again<\/p>\n It\u2019s only 10 games. The Flyers have been far from perfect, and there is plenty of room for improvement across the board. But it\u2019s hard not to be mostly content with Rick Tocchet\u2019s work since taking over as bench boss over the summer.<\/p>\n The Tocchet hiring was understandably met with some criticism. While he did win the Jack Adams Award for his work with the Vancouver Canucks during the 2023-24 season, his head coaching track record is mostly uninspiring \u2014 he\u2019s only taken a team to the playoffs once in a non-COVID-shortened campaign, and he was unable to manage the drama that divided the Canucks locker room throughout the 2024-25 season. And, of course, there\u2019s the fact that he is a former Flyer.<\/p>\n Was he truly the best candidate to be the Flyers\u2019 head coach? Or was he just hired because he\u2019s a familiar face?<\/p>\n It turns out that maybe both could be true.<\/p>\n Under Tocchet, several of the Flyers\u2019 young players are showing encouraging signs of development. Zegras\u2019 resurgence is the headliner, but the solid play of Foerster, Cates, Brink, York, and Drysdale can\u2019t be overlooked. Granted, Michkov is still finding his footing under Tocchet, but there are clear signs of improvement for the Russian phenom.<\/p>\n The Flyers are riding a three-game winning streak and boast a solid 6-3-1 record. Despite being one of the younger teams in the NHL, Tocchet has the Flyers playing competitive hockey. They\u2019ve performed admirably against some of the league\u2019s top teams, including the Carolina Hurricanes and, of course, the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n Tocchet\u2019s management of Michkov and sometimes questionable lineup decisions will leave fans confused every once in a while, but overall, this is a rather successful start to Tocchet\u2019s tenure in Philly.<\/p>\n All statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick<\/a> and NHL.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t