Two roads diverge in Philadelphia<\/p>\n
And, sorry, the Flyers<\/a> cannot travel both. <\/p>\n Looking down one, the Flyers are buyers, trying to make a playoff push beyond the NHL trade deadline on March 6. <\/p>\n The other road is more well-trodden by this organization: the one where they are sellers. In the distance, maybe one can make out a third road, the one general manager Danny Bri\u00e8re<\/a> has mentioned, that entails a quiet trade deadline.<\/p>\n But Flyers president Keith Jones<\/a> and Bri\u00e8re have long said \u201cthe players will decide\u201d which road the organization will take. It\u2019s hard to gauge where things are right now.<\/p>\n Standing pat doesn\u2019t make sense, but which direction are the Flyers heading? Are they the team from the beginning of the season or the team that has three wins in the past 15 games? And what about the future, with players like Porter Martone<\/a>, Alex Bump<\/a>, and Oliver Bonk waiting in the wings?<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Jamie Drysdale scores late to force overtime, but Flyers lose to Senators, 2-1<\/a><\/p>\n The Flyers closed out the unofficial first half of the season with a 2-1<\/a> overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Jamie Drysdale<\/a> scored late to tie the game after a master class by the Flyers\u2019 six-man unit before Tim St\u00fctzle dipped the puck around Dan Vlada\u0159 in overtime.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously a huge point for us,\u201d defenseman Nick Seeler said. \u201cBut, man, it would have been great to get that extra point. But you know what? I give our group a lot of credit. Fight till the very end.\u201d<\/p>\n The loss left the Flyers with a 25-20-11 record through the first 56 games, as the NHL is on a break for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics<\/a>. They sit eight points out of two different playoff spots \u2014 third place in the Metropolitan Division, behind the New York Islanders, and the Eastern Conference\u2019s second wild card, which the Boston Bruins occupy. The Flyers also have two games in hand on the Islanders and one on the Bruins.<\/p>\n \u201cSome good, some bad,\u201d coach Rick Tocchet<\/a> said when asked to assess the first 56 games.<\/p>\n It\u2019s fair for a team that at one point boasted one of the best penalty kills, conceded among the fewest goals, and, for once, has a power play that didn\u2019t completely stink. But after their massive January<\/a> slide<\/a>, the Flyers are tied for 16th on the penalty kill (79.1%), tied for 21st in goals allowed per game (3.16) \u2014 on Jan. 1, they were 10th (2.85) \u2014 and are ranked 28th on the power play (16.1%).<\/p>\n But like a famous ex-Phillies pitcher once said with another team that shall remain nameless, the Flyers are saying: \u201cYa gotta believe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe season\u2019s not over,\u201d captain Sean Couturier<\/a> told The Inquirer on Wednesday. \u201cPeople seem almost like we\u2019ve thrown in the towel, but we haven\u2019t. We still believe in our group, and it\u2019s really on us to just kind of step up and take our game to the next level. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still in the mix here. A little behind, but we still have [26] games left, so lots of hockey left. Anything can happen from now on, and we\u2019ll just control what we can control.\u201d<\/p>\n No, Couturier hasn\u2019t gone off the deep end. The Flyers may be a handful of points out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but they really do control their own destiny.<\/p>\n Of their remaining 26 games<\/a>, 18 are against Eastern Conference teams, with just three against the two teams below them in the conference, the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. After returning on Feb. 25, they have seven games against one of the 10 teams below them in the overall NHL standings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll need to get red-hot, I think that that\u2019s kind of it,\u201d Drysdale said. \u201cI think we\u2019re capable of it. Everyone, take this break and reset \u2014 good luck to [Travis Sanheim<\/a> and Vlada\u0159] and the guys who are playing in the Olympics \u2014 but we\u2019ve got to come out swinging right away, not waste a game.”<\/p>\n Time is definitely not a-wastin\u2019. It\u2019s a bit bonkers to think that the season has just 26 games remaining and will end in 67 days on April 14 against the Canadiens. Where the Flyers will be at that moment is the biggest question mark.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Unlocking Jamie Drysdale\u2019s offensive potential could go a long way toward improving the Flyers\u2019 power play<\/a><\/p>\n When the majority of the team reconvenes on Feb. 17 in Voorhees for practice, it will be the same squad. There is a leaguewide trade freeze until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 22. Across the 12 subsequent days \u2014 until 3 p.m. on March 6 \u2014 there\u2019s a good chance teams, including the Flyers, will start wheeling and dealing. <\/p>\n But sellers or buyers? The recent slide, and with how poorly the Flyers have played this month, are good indicators that the team isn\u2019t in a spot to add pieces; however, as expected, they certainly aren\u2019t giving up inside the room.<\/p>\n \u201cI think just everything we learned in this first half, kind of put it all together and go on a run,\u201d defenseman Cam York<\/a> told The Inquirer on Wednesday after the team\u2019s final practice. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re young, but we\u2019re an experienced group at the same time, I think, and I think we all want that pressure almost and we expect to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, teams can go on runs and make pushes. Heck, the St. Louis Blues were last in the NHL on Jan. 1, 2019, and then, after that fateful day in South Philly where they sang \u201cGloria\u201d at The Jacks NYB<\/a>, they went on a magical run ending with the team hoisting the Stanley Cup<\/p>\n Of course, we\u2019re not saying the Flyers are heading there, but the point is: As much as losing streaks can happen, so can winning ones. Can the Flyers dig themselves out of the hole they dug themselves and get back to who they were just a month ago?<\/p>\n And who will be there for that? <\/p>\n There is no denying that the Flyers need to make room for the future. So with a team that isn\u2019t far outside the playoff picture, do you upset the apple cart now or wait until, what most expect, the offseason? <\/p>\n Regardless, it\u2019s a tough call to make with the team kind of there but not fully there in the playoff race. While Jones and Bri\u00e8re have said the players will dictate how they go, right now, it\u2019s sell. Because while the message from the players is that they believe, the play on the ice right now is telling a different story.<\/p>\n So, two roads diverge in Philadelphia. Will they take the one less traveled? Or the one that they\u2019ve gone down before?<\/p>\n And, in the end, will it all make a difference?<\/p>\n