Flyers’ rebuild timeline remains unclear as team reaches mediocrity

With the Philadelphia Flyers in a precarious spot as January comes to a close, it’s time to take a step back and consider exactly where they are in the rebuild and when they truly think that this team will be competitive enough to be taken seriously.

Since taking over the Flyers in 2023, general manager Danny Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones have leaned heavily on one familiar phrase: “the players will decide how we move ahead in the future.” 

Over that time, the Flyers have had many ups and downs, including a coaching change, trades that included many long-time fan favorites, and a lack of consistency from the team overall. With the Flyers sitting just a handful of points outside of a wild-card spot as another trade deadline approaches, it is going to be interesting to see what types of moves Briere and Jones make.

A few short weeks ago, the Philadelphia Flyers were sitting in a playoff spot, re-signing 29-year-old center Christian Dvorak to a five-year, $25,750,000 contract extension, and coming off the high of beating their newfound rival, the Anaheim Ducks, at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Things were looking up in Flyersland, but since the Ducks game on January 6, the Flyers are 1-5-2 and are looking from the outside in at a playoff spot. In all five of those regulation losses, the Flyers lost by three or more goals and failed to score more than three goals in any of those contests. The roller coaster ride of the Flyers’ season had reached its lowest point.

Questionable decisions now stain the Flyers’ midseason mark

What was shaping up to be one of the Flyers’ best seasons of late has shifted towards one of concern and has led fans to have more questions than answers. One of the more interesting questions has been focused on the Flyers’ rebuild timeline, specifically sparked by the extension of Christian Dvorak, which was a polarizing move for Flyers fans across social media. The Flyers re-signed the 29-year-old forward on January 5, and the backlash of the move spread across social media.

Many online have questioned whether the Flyers rushed the decision, with the signing window for the impending UFA opening on January 1 and Dvorak being re-signed just a week later. Subsequently, the Flyers followed the signing with a six-game losing streak, falling out of the playoff picture in the process. With the trade deadline only weeks away and the Flyers slipping out of the playoff picture, many questioned whether Briere should have waited to see where the team stood before committing to the signing.

Christian Dvorak has undoubtedly been a positive addition to this Flyers team, which lacks center depth. The 29-year-old has 12 goals and 20 assists through 48 games and has found a real spark with forwards Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny. His play has been a positive for the Flyers this season, but now, with the team faltering as of late, the Flyers are in a weird position with the trade deadline looming.

Dvorak – who is having a career year – could have been a player the Flyers could have looked to move on from. Another player the Flyers might have been looking to move on from — Rasmus Ristolainen — has been sidelined again with an upper-body injury after missing the start of the season due to offseason surgery. Along with this, a large majority of their young, developing prospects are either in juniors or college, or are being plagued with injuries down in Lehigh Valley. There might not be a lot of moves in the cards for Briere as the 2026 trade deadline comes around.

What does the Flyers’ future look like?

The Flyers’ rebuild has reached a point where short-term choices may have long-term consequences. As prospects look to take the next step, the next two to three years are going to be important for the Flyers. There are only a handful of roster spots available at the NHL level, with several prospects pushing for those roles.

The Flyers now have several players locked into long-term, no-trade contracts through at least the 2030 season, including forwards Travis Konecny, captain Sean Couturier, Christian Dvorak, Owen Tippett, and defenseman Travis Sanheim. They also have defenseman Cam York locked up until the 2030 season; however, he does not have a no-trade clause in his contract, according to Puckpedia.com, nor does center Noah Cates, who is signed until the 2029 season.

The Flyers have seven roster spots locked up long-term. Along with this, the Flyers are likely to re-sign newly acquired center/wing hybrid Trevor Zegras, who is currently leading the Flyers in points, to a long-term deal. Matvei Michkov is also another untouchable, according to the Flyers, so he can be penciled into the future long-term as well. Along with Michkov, forward Tyson Foerster (24) is another player that the Flyers are not looking to move on from any time soon.

That leaves 13 remaining roster spots to be filled. Among them, you can suspect the Flyers would like to re-sign defenseman Jamie Drysdale, who is an impending restricted free agent at season’s end, to a contract extension.

Nick Seeler, who has been playing a majority of the season on the Flyers’ third defensive pair, is signed until the 2028 season. He could be a player the Flyers could look to move on from as their defensive prospects begin to take the next step. He has been a key shutdown defenseman for the Flyers over the last five seasons, but as he continues to age, he might be a trade candidate for the Flyers or could slot into the Flyers’ seventh defenseman role that Noah Juulsen has filling in this season.

Bobby Brink is another interesting player that the Flyers are undoubtedly having conversations about. Brink is an impending restricted free agent at the end of the season, same as Jamie Drysdale; however, I’m not sure how eager the Flyers are to re-sign the small 24-year-old winger. With the Flyers’ logjam at wing, Brink could be one of the odd men out as winger prospects Porter Martone and Alex Bump will be looking to make the jump in the coming years.

There is a plethora of other Flyers players that are currently filling a role that might not be here as the team takes the turn towards competing for a Stanley Cup. In particular, Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway are both role players who are nearing the end of their Flyers tenure. Rodrigo Abols has been filling the fourth-line center role this season before his injury against the New York Rangers. He is another player that the Flyers could be looking to replace.

The prospects that could be looking to take the next step, as mentioned before, could be Michigan State Spartan and Flyers 2025 first-round pick Porter Martone (19). Martone has 14 goals and 13 assists in just 20 games played this season. The Captain of Team Canada at the World Juniors will be looking to make the Flyers out of camp next season.

Along with Martone, Alex Bump could be a prospect to keep an eye on, making the team out of camp next season, if not getting a look this season. The young 22-year-old winger has 20 points in 27 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season before battling the injury bug. 

Jett Luchanko is another prospect who could make a strong push to make the team out of camp next season. The 19-year-old prospect made the Flyers out of camp the last two seasons before being loaned back to his junior team. Luchanko has largely struggled offensively, and if he were to make the team out of camp, his offensive game would need to improve.

Denver Barkey and Nikita Grebenkin are two Flyers prospects who have been given extended looks on the big club this season. Barkey has shone, given his short frame, amassing six points in 15 games, and his 200-foot game has impressed head coach Rick Tocchet. Given Barkey’s small size and forechecking game, he could be a guy that’s called upon to replace Bobby Brink should the Flyers look to move the 24-year-old winger. Nikita Grebenkin has spent the majority of the season on the third and fourth lines, but his physicality has stood out and could fill the role of Garnet Hathaway in the years to come.

There are ways that Danny Briere and Keith Jones can improve the team in a hurry – the trade for Trevor Zegras is one example of this – but there are also moves to be made internally that will need to help improve the team in the long term. Trades for young, impact players are not something that happens very often, so the Flyers are hoping that their prospects can step up and fill the roles of need.

With the trade deadline coming up, it’s going to be interesting to see which direction the Flyers brass takes: buyers or sellers? Could the Flyers technically be both? Absolutely. They could move on from guys who aren’t moving the needle while acquiring young, talented players that help them in the here and now. Only time will tell what the Flyers look to do, but one thing is for certain: these next few years are imperative for the Flyers’ rebuild to succeed, and every move counts.

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