The Philadelphia Flyers are going to need to have a few forwards hitting the ground running this season. Particularly if they want to avoid needing a sprint to the finish like last year to secure a playoff spot. While nobody is expected the club to have one guy dragging the club on his shoulders from September through to April (except maybe Dan Vladar), there are some players up front whose contributions would be quite welcome in the opening weeks of the 2026-27 campaign.
So, while it’s in no way a barometer of what’s to come in first two months of the season, there are a few players who seem to get off to great (or at least very good) starts. We take a look at three Flyers who have looked good out of the gate. (Note: the measuring stick was a player’s first 20 games over both 2024-25 and 2025-26. As some players were injured or missed time earlier in the year, their first 20 games seemed to level the playing field.)
Travis Konecny
If Konecny could finish a season as well as he begins them, then the 80-point season would be almost a guarantee. In 2024-25, Konecny was a man possessed in his first 20 games of the year, scoring 11 goals and adding 12 assists for 23 points. Of course, two of those games attributed for a huge chunk of that production. In a 7-5 win over Minnesota on Oct. 26 of that year — which saw Sean Couturier earn a hat trick — Konecny finished the contest with a goal and four assists. Then, in a 6-4 loss to Carolina in early November, Konecny had a pair of goals and two helpers for a four-point night. However, he routinely found himself on the scoresheet.
Last year, Konecny wasn’t as hot as his previous season in his opening 20 games, but he still made a good impression. He had five goals to go with 12 assists for 17 points, and only three of those on the power play. And unlike 2024-25, most of those 17 points were spread out rather nicely, with only a pair of two-point games in that span.
Ideally, Konecny’s first few months mirror the months of December, 2025 and January, 2026 where he had 33 points in that time. Sadly, in March and April he cooled off almost too much, with just 14 points after the Olympic break. However, when it comes to the start of the season, Konecny isn’t the type of player you have to light a fire under. He tends to do that all by himself.
Trevor Zegras
He hasn’t been gangbusters like Konecny, but Trevor Zegras is no wilting flower when it comes to decent starts. Although he only had eight points in his first 20 games with Anaheim in 2024-25, the season for Zegras was a sad conclusion to his time there. Whether it was not being on the same page with his coach, injured and missing 25 games, or just knowing his time there was coming to an end, Zegras didn’t really take off in his last year on the West Coast.
That wasn’t the case in 2025-26 with Philadelphia. Zegras was quiet in the season opener against Florida as he went without a point or a shot on goal. But after that opener, he was consistently producing, registering points in all but one other game in October (a 2-1 loss to Ottawa on Oct. 23). And in two of the last three games of the opening month, Zegras had three-point games against the Islanders and Nashville. He would have another three-point night in November against St. Louis, but routinely had a point in each game. It wasn’t until late November when he went consecutive games without getting a goal or an assist. The new Flyer finished his first 20 games with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points. It was a sign of things to come most of the season. Although Zegras never got the Flyers off the floor regarding the power play, he was a huge part of any semblance of effectiveness they had over the 82 games.
Matvei Michkov
Don’t let last year’s soap opera fool you. Although he only had 10 points in his first 20 games last season, Michkov is one of only three Flyers the last two seasons to have at least 17 points in roughly the first quarter of the season. In 2024-25, Michkov started strong and carried that through most of the year. He had eight goals and nine assists in his first 20 games in his rookie year. Five of those 20 games were two-point efforts, as he made a strong first impression.
With reports out of Russia indicating that he’s essentially down to the weight he was when he started his rookie year, and with Jamie Drysdale basically saying Michkov is ready to give the middle-finger salute to any and all naysayers, look for the Russian youngster to start the season on a mission. The Flyers are hoping for Michkov to have one of the better comeback seasons in recent memory. And knowing there is a pot of gold available to him with a very strong season, Michkov doesn’t need any more incentive than he has now to prove everyone wrong.
Honorable mentions
Owen Tippett
As streaky as Konecny (which can be a blessing or a curse), winger Owen Tippett is one of only four Flyers who have had 10 or more points in their first 20 games the last two seasons. Tippett had just one assist in his first six games of 2024-25. It wasn’t that he wasn’t shooting the puck, as he had 26 shots in October. The oddity was 17 of those shots took place in the first six games, where he had just one point. When he had fewer shots, he started earning more points. He ended up with four goals and 10 points in the opening 20 games.
Over the first 20 games last season, Tippett had six goals and seven helpers for 13 points. He had 30 shots in October of 2025, and ended up with five goals and an assist. The following month, Tippett had a reversal of sorts, with more assists than goals. Unfortunately, the first 20 games was highlighted by a six-game pointless streak to start November. But when he got hot, he got really hot. It’s crucial that Tippett (much like Konency) can be a bit more consistent to certainly avoid the valleys between productive peaks. We’ll see how things go for him early in 2026-27.
Sean Couturier
He might be relegated to fourth-line status this year, and might see his minutes substantially reduced so there’s more in the tank during crunch time, but Sean Couturier has produced early and often the last two years. Of course, Couturier had a memorable five-point game against Minnesota early in 2024-25, and many saw it as a strong response to then head coach John Tortorella. The hat trick in that game was just icing on the cake. Meanwhile, against Florida early last season, Couturier had a four-point game (two goals and two assists). He’s had one big game early, but he’s been rather consistent before and after that. As for his point total in 2024-25, it was the same as Tippett’s (four goals, six assists for 10 points). And regarding 2025-26, you guessed it, it was 13 points (two goals, 11 assists), equalling Tippett’s amount for last year.
If the Flyers captain can still produce close to that amount on the fourth line alongside Noel Acciari, then Philadelphia won’t have the problem it had last year with the dearth of offense on the bottom line for most of the season. Nobody is probably expecting big things from Couturier. But like he did the last two months of the season, he can still surprise people.
