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It’s finally time. On Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers will take the ice in Voorhees, New Jersey to begin their 2025-26 training camp. The team begins the next stage of their “New Era of Orange”, with new head coach Rick Tocchet taking the helm. After three seasons under former head coach John Tortorella and Brad Shaw’s guidance, the club intends to turn the corner and begin the ascent towards contention.
While the team doesn’t necessary define progress as “playoffs or bust,” Flyers president Keith Jones and general manager Danny Briere expect the organizational compass to be pointing upwards by April 2026.
For that reason, Briere was fairly aggressive in making offseason acquisitions to augment the young core led by Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Cam York, and Noah Cates.
No move was more symbolic of that than the acquisition of forward Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks in late June. And Briere continued to add with the signings of center Christian Dvorak, goalie Daniel Vladar, along with defensemen Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert.
Even with the veterans peppering the lineup, the signal has been sent by Flyers management. They are ready for their youth to take the reins.
“There’s still going to be some interesting fights,” Briere said on Tuesday. “You asked me the question about the roster spots but I guess there’s going to some internal fighting for responsibilities. That’s what I’m excited about.”
So which fights might be the most interesting to watch over the next few weeks? Let’s look at a couple of them.
Who Fits Where Down The Middle?
Last season, the Flyers had numerous lineup weaknesses and one of their most prominent was their lack of center depth. Following the trades of Morgan Frost and Scott Laughton, the options down the middle became rather limited.
However, the emergence of Noah Cates into a legitimate NHL center was a bright spot from last season. With 16 goals and 37 points in 78 games played might seem like modest numbers. However, his overall defensive game and attention to detail work was something the team desperately needed.
At times, he was called upon to play top six minutes, especially following Frost’s trade to Calgary. And if he is able to find an additional offensive gear, he could figure in at second line center.
As the most reliable two way player in the lineup, Sean Couturier is the likely first line center. The Flyers captain seemed to emerge again as an offensive option following Tortorella’s exit. However, it’s fair to ask if he can keep up that kind of pace as he reaches his mid-thirties.
The wild card amongst all of Tocchet’s center options is Zegras. The best outcome is that he shows that he can handle the 200 foot responsibility expected of him, while maintaining his offensive creativity.
If that happens, he’s running as a first or second line center. But if the center experiment doesn’t work, he has a chance to maintain value as a winger. It’s not hard to imagine him and Cates working together in that kind of scenario.
Finally, there’s Dvorak. His two-way game can play anywhere between a second line role to a checking unit. He has a pedigree as a penalty killer and is strong on face-offs. Last season, he ranked third on the Canadiens in face-off wins with 591 (a 55.8% rate).
While his $5.4 million price tag has garnered criticism, Tocchet has him as a chess piece to improve any line he’s on.
So Tocchet has some mixing and matching to consider with his pivots.
Ersson Versus Vladar: Who’s Their #1 Goalie?
The Flyers dissatisfaction with their goaltending last season is well documented. And a big part of why was the juggling act they had to perform between Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov.
With Fedotov now a Columbus Blue Jacket, the battle for the Flyers net is now a straightforward one between Ersson and newcomer Vladar.
Ersson finished last season with a disapointing 3.14 goals against average and an .883 save percentage in 47 games played. It was his first season as the unquestioned starting goaltender for the Flyers. It was a substantial drop in performance from the 2023-24 season where he posted a 2.82 GAA along with a .890 save percentage in 51 games played.
His struggles in the role have led to Flyers general manager Daniel Briere to open the position to competition.
Enter Vladar.
The 27 year old Vladar signed a two-year contract with a $3.35 million AAV cap hit on July 1.
Vladar is an interesting choice for the Flyers. His career numbers (a 3.00 goals against average and .895 save percentage) are below NHL league averages, and especially struggled last season prior to the Four Nations Face-Off tournament. But his performance improved in relief of Calder Trophy candidate Dustin Wolf.
One of the biggest concerns with Vladar is workload as he has never played more than 30 games in an NHL season. Can he prove that he can handle a bigger workload if called upon?
Ersson would appear to have an early upper hand entering camp as team Jones stated in his preseason press conference. However, any perceived grip on the job is a tenuous one at best.
In reality, their battle is likely a toss-up and whoever gets an extended stretch of good play will get the chance to handle the responsibility.
