Fearless forecast for the Flyers' 2025-26 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Rick Tocchet era officially begins Thursday night for the Flyers down in Sunrise, Florida.
Tocchet takes over a rebuilding team that hasn’t made the playoffs in five straight seasons, matching the franchise’s longest drought. But the Flyers Hall of Famer isn’t setting the postseason as his expectations.
“It’s the development of players,” the head coach said Monday. “We call it maximizing the player. Are players improving? That’s a big part of it. If players are improving, you’ve got a better chance at winning hockey games.
“I understand people want to talk playoffs and all these variables. I don’t know. But for me and my staff, we’re going to be judged, for me, on we’ve got to get guys to maximize their talent. I think that’s really what it comes down to. We have guys that I really believe we can make them really good hockey players.”
Before the club opens the season against the Panthers (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP), let’s get into our Flyers Fearless Forecast, featuring projections for how the team will finish and a random assortment of bold predictions from NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall and Joe Fordyce.
Hall
Flyers prediction/Cup prediction
The Flyers have a reasonable chance at improving this season, especially when you consider just how poorly they finished last season. They dropped 15 of their final 21 games (6-13-2) to end the season tied with the Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s worst record (33-39-10).
The additions of Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak give the Flyers a good lift down the middle, an area in which they’ve needed help. Zegras provides a high-end skill level and Dvorak offers intriguing versatility.
But will the Flyers have enough depth on defense? And, more critically, will they get the all-important answers in net?
The new coaching staff wants to give the goaltenders a cleaner opportunity at seeing the puck, meaning fewer blocked shots. It also wants the Flyers to be a better possession team, potentially cutting down on the odd-man rushes the other way. It’ll be interesting to see if the Flyers can follow through on those changes.
“I expect the goaltending to be better, no doubt about it,” Danny Briere said last month. “I think also the system might protect them a little better, that Rick Tocchet and his staff are going to put forth.”
The Flyers had 76 points last season, so an eight-point jump to 84 seems realistic in Year 1 under Tocchet. We’ll go with a 38-36-8 finish, which won’t get the Flyers into the playoffs. But it could be a promising step heading into a big offseason.
As for the Stanley Cup Final, the Stars will benefit from a full season of Mikko Rantanen and take down the Lightning in six games.
Dvorak breaks out
The Flyers traded for Zegras and signed goaltender Dan Vladar, arguably the team’s two biggest offseason moves considering the positions. But, sneakily, Dvorak might be the Flyers’ most impactful acquisition.
The 29-year-old had his best NHL season under Tocchet with the Coyotes. The familiarity will pay off this season as he puts up 40 or more points for a new career high. And it’ll lead to the Flyers re-signing him.
Changing of the guard
The Flyers could look a lot different on defense when the season is all said and done. They just lack stability outside of their top three or four blueliners, which could lead to moving parts. Injuries could also factor into things.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Flyers are constantly looking at different options down at AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley or even pursue a trade now that they have some added cap space.
Fordyce
Flyers prediction/Cup prediction
It’s that time of year again, time for a fearless forecast of how this Flyers season will go. The way this has gone recently, however, I may be better off forecasting the weather.
I feel like this Flyers season, the first under Tocchet, will start slowly, but will pick up steam. In the end, I see the Flyers finishing with 83 points and just on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. With that said, I think the Flyers can capture one of the wild-card spots if they get better goaltending than expected.
Overall, I believe last season was the one to capitalize on — the Rangers had a down year and Jack Hughes missed a good portion of the season for the Devils with an injury. Those are not things that you can count on happening two straight seasons.
My Stanley Cup Final prediction is a heavyweight matchup between Craig Berube’s Maple Leafs and the Stars. Dallas has been a team flirting with a Stanley Cup ever since losing in the Final during COVID. I think this is the year the Stars get it done.
As I write this, I sit and wonder what would become of Toronto if it reaches the Final only to lose. Scary thought.
Power surge
As far as bold predictions for the Flyers, I see their offense being significantly better, and in particular on the power play. I predict the Flyers’ power play will finish right in the middle of the league, which might as well be the best PP in the league when you consider how bad it has been in recent years.
Konecny’s climb
My second bold prediction is that this is finally the year that Travis Konecny reaches the 40-goal mark. At different points during the last two seasons, Konecny has been on pace to reach that mark. But injuries and/or a slump have dashed those hopes. This year, he gets it done.