Flyers’ Biggest Storylines of 2023-24 Season

But Tortorella decided to one-up himself on the chaos meter on March 19. After consecutive disappointing losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins, Tortorella made the boldest possible decision — healthy scratching his captain, Sean Couturier. Couturier had a difficult second half, struggling to maintain the strong form he showed early in the season after returning from two back surgeries that had sidelined him since late 2021.

In the short term, the move paid off, with the Flyers winning that game and picking up three points in their next two games against the Carolina Hurricanes and Bruins (Couturier sat for the Carolina game as well). However, the move wasn’t appreciated by Couturier or his teammates, and there’s at least some plausibility to say it played a role in the eight-game winless streak that immediately followed.

There’s optimism that the relationship between Tortorella and Couturier isn’t completely fractured. And it’s worth remembering Tortorella recovered after dealing a similar blow to Travis Sanheim last season, not playing him against his hometown Calgary Flames before mending fences over the summer and then seeing Sanheim turn in a strong campaign. But it’s certainly a decision that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Goalie Chaos

It wouldn’t be a season of Flyers hockey without goaltending being a story. The Flyers finished the season with the worst save percentage in the NHL at .884. But the road they took to get there was hardly a normal one.

Early on, the team’s goaltending situation largely went as expected. Although the Flyers did weirdly carry three goalies for the first month of the season (although Felix Sandström never played before clearing waivers on Nov. 19), Carter Hart and Samuel Ersson largely provided strong play. Through the end of January, Hart had a .906 SV%, while Ersson had moved his number up to .898 after a brutal October. Ersson’s play improved so much that he worked his way into a timeshare, splitting the net with Hart through four months.

However, Hart’s season ended on Jan. 23 when he took an indefinite leave of absence before being one of five NHL players charged with sexual assault due to an incident that took place in conjunction with the 2018 Team Canada World Juniors team.

Suddenly, the net was largely Ersson’s. Cal Petersen got the first look to be the team’s backup, but wouldn’t play in the NHL again after allowing seven goals on 32 shots in a 7-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 25. Sandström was just as poor, posting an unplayable .823 SV% in five games.

With Ersson starting to wilt under the pressure of an excessive workload (only Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen and Charlie Lindgren played more games after Feb. 1), a complete wild card suddenly entered the picture. Nearly two years after he was originally planning on joining the Flyers, Ivan Fedotov joined the team out of nowhere in late March. Unfortunately, the 27-year-old and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) veteran couldn’t adjust to his new league, permitting eight goals on 61 shots (.811 SV%) in three games (two starts).

The Flyers expect more stability next season, with a soon-to-be extended Fedotov hopefully more ready to handle the NHL after a summer of preparation and provide a more manageable workload to Ersson, who showed promise when not overplayed. Even for the Flyers, though, this was a tumultuous season in the crease.

“That’s what we’re planning on, would be Ersson and Fedotov next season,” said general manager Danny Briere during exit interviews. “Something could change, especially with the history of this organization with goaltending. It seems there’s always some drama there. But it would be nice to get away from the drama.”

Midseason Extensions

Briere made his mark on the team’s future throughout the season as well. Trading Sean Walker to acquire a first-round pick from the Colorado Avalanche was expected even amidst the team’s unexpected resurgence. One could argue that was the most consequential move Briere made over the past six months.

However, the pair of extensions that became official on Jan. 26 shouldn’t go under the radar. The big one went to Owen Tippett, who has moved into the tier of a consistent 25-goal, 50-point scorer, while showing the potential to be something more. The Flyers are banking on Tippett reaching that next level, committing $49.6 million to him over eight years ($6.2 million average annual value), beginning next season. It’s easily the biggest contract Briere has signed so far (Nick Seeler’s four-year, $10.8 million deal is a distant second). He’s viewed as a piece of the team’s core going forward.

Ryan Poehling isn’t quite on that level. But after going unqualified as a restricted free agent in 2023 for the second time in his young career, there was an appetite from both sides to give Poehling some stability. His two-year, $3.8 million contract ($1.9 million AAV) does just that. While more ideal on the fourth line, Poehling provided quality play on the third line and penalty kill, even earning some power-play time as the season progressed. He’s someone that Tortorella clearly trusts.

Revamped Defense

Arguably no area of the Flyers’ roster has a different outlook now than before this season than the team’s backend. By far the biggest bombshell of the season came when they acquired Jamie Drysdale from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for disgruntled prospect Cutter Gauthier. A former top 10 pick, Drysdale has a special skillset, but not one that has been anywhere close to perfectly honed at the NHL level. Injuries prevented him from reaching his ceiling in his first few months in Philadelphia, both in terms of the shoulder injury that knocked him out of the lineup from Feb. 25 to April 1 and pre-existing ailments that limited his play even when on the ice. But the Flyers are still optimistic about his future.

Nick Seeler continued his ascent from an underwhelming depth piece in 2021-22 to a quality third-pair option in 2022-23 to a trusted top-four option in 2023-24. Instead of trading him like Walker or letting him hit unrestricted free agency in the summer, the Flyers signed Seeler to the aforementioned four-year pact. Rarely does a player who sat out an entire season (2020-21) sign an eight-figure contract just three years later, but that’s exactly what happened with Seeler.

Youngsters like Egor Zamula, Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning and Emil Andrae also got NHL looks this season. Zamula, the oldest of the group, was the most used of the three, playing in 66 games and averaging 16:03 of ice time. Overall, it was a good but not great season for Zamula, with a disappointing stretch run particularly standing out. The 24-year-old will likely be back next season, but if he’s not a full-time NHLer by the end of the year, his time in Philadelphia will likely be up.

Attard and Ginning got late-season opportunities, playing in 12 and nine games, respectively. Attard had strong underlying numbers (54.81% expected goals share, per Natural Stat Trick), although Ginning showed some defensive prowess as well. Andrae’s look was the shortest — four games, all early in the season after making the opening-night roster. However, just accomplishing that feat is a good sign for the 22-year-old, who scored 32 points in 61 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Expect him to be in the mix for a roster spot again in the fall.

What Could Be the Main Storylines in 2024-25?

Of course, it’s too early to tell. There’s an entire offseason that could answer some current questions and also create many new ones. That was certainly the case last summer, and while Briere may not be quite as active in 2024, the Flyers will at minimum have two first-round picks to operate with at the draft and some big free agency decisions to make.

That being said, there are some early things to look at. The goaltending tandem will again be front and center given Ersson and Fedotov have just 66 games of NHL experience between them. Travis Konecny, the team’s leading scorer two seasons running, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season. Young players like the above quarter of blueliners plus forwards Olle Lycksell, Elliot Desnoyers and Samu Tuomaala will push for NHL jobs. Cates and Joel Farabee need to bounce back from disappointing seasons to prove they are still part of the team’s future.

Oh, and Tortorella isn’t going anywhere. It’s all but a given he’ll make headlines again next season — the only question is how.