There have been a few consistent issues for the Philadelphia Flyers for the last few years (or decades) no matter who is in charge. One of them is goaltending, which they may have solved with Dan Vladar and Joseph Woll, but the more pressing problem has been the power play.
After finishing dead last in the league with a 15.7% success rate last season, Rick Tocchet wanted his coaches to think outside the box to come up with ideas for the power play. It can’t get worse, right?
Tocchet may have given us a sneak peek at what the team’s top power-play unit could look like to start the season in practice on Tuesday.
PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor shared that the Flyers were trying out a power-play unit consisting of Trevor Zegras, Porter Martone, Tyson Foerster, Matvei Michkov, and Jamie Drysdale. They also cycled in Travis Sanheim for Drysdale at the point and Travis Konecny for Martone.
It’s worth noting that David Jiricek, whose big shot may give him a chance on the top power-play unit as well, was shipping up to Boston for Tuesday night’s preseason game during this practice. If he makes the team out of camp, which he should given his waiver status, he’ll most likely be on one of the two power-play units.
But let’s get back to what the Flyers put out there on the ice in practice.
Zegras and Michkov both on right side of power-play unit
The Flyers want to utilize Zegras and Michkov together on the top unit, which can be tough given their similar skill sets. They’re both left-hand shots who are most comfortable on the right side, especially on the man advantage.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Michkov and Zegras played 72:07 together on the man advantage last season. The Flyers scored 12 goals in that span, but also allowed two. That was a rate of 9.98 goals per 60 minutes, which is better than the 6.35 G/60 on the power play with just Zegras (170:01), and more than triple the 2.87 G/60 with just Michkov (104:34).
Even in a down sophomore season, Michkov managed to score 20 goals and record 51 points. Of course, Zegras had a resurgent season with a career-high 26 goals and 67 points.
While Zegras did some of that damage on the power play, with 10 goals and 13 assists on the man advantage, Michkov only scored four power-play goals with eight power-play assists.
If they’re going to be on the same unit, they’re going to have to try some different formations to get the most out of their skilled players. They tried one out on Tuesday.
What they're trying a lot today in this formation is Zegras on the right half-boards and Michkov also on the right side, but down near the far post. He's handled the puck a decent amount below the goal line as a distributor in this setup.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) September 22, 2026
Having Zegras on the half-wall and Michkov down toward the goal line is one that could create havoc for the opposition.
It opens up a few options for Michkov down low, including passing back to Zegras, taking it to the net himself, or passing it to the bumper for a one-time chance in the slot.
Now Michkov and Martone are working together with Yogi Svejkovský in what strikes as an extension of Michkov setting up in that spot. Michkov can try to turn and dangle in front for an in-close chance, or hit Martone in the bumper for a one-timer. pic.twitter.com/rYHhFr0seW
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) September 22, 2026
For this drill, it was Martone in the bumper, as his big body in front should help create space, but we’ve seen Konecny in that area as well.
Michkov has already been mighty impressive in training camp, and that’s without practicing the power play too much. If he’s able to distribute the puck from the goal line on the power play, it may be able to finally get the Flyers’ man advantage out of the basement.
What would power-play success mean for Flyers?
For a few years running the narrative was that the Flyers would’ve made the playoffs with just league-average goaltending and special teams. They got the goaltending last year, sneaking into the postseason by the skin of their teeth.
If the power play was league average as well, or just around 20th in the league at 20%, that would mean about four or five more goals per 100 chances, or 10 or so more goals in the Flyers’ 235 chances last season.
A few percentage points doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but it is. Those 10 goals could make the difference in any number of games, whether they help the Flyers build a lead, stage a comeback, or win a game.
On top of that, the power play had some key moments to change the game in the playoffs. There was one particular 5-on-3 opportunity in Game 3 against the Hurricanes in which Carolina came down the other end and scored a goal in a 1-1 game. If the Flyers were able to convert on that chance instead, perhaps they would have won that game and changed the series.
But the Flyers have to get there first, and an improved power play can do just that. The Metropolitan Division is going to be crowded, and every point will matter in this 84-game season.
