Flyers youth ‘hungry for more’ this season, GM says 

VOORHEES, N.J. -- The Philadelphia Flyers believe they are on the right path to ending their Stanley Cup Playoff drought as soon as this season.

They have failed to qualify for five straight seasons, matching a franchise record (1990-94).

But with training camp opening Thursday, general manager Daniel Briere believes the growth of some younger players, a few offseason additions and a strong base of prospects, has Philadelphia poised to become a consistent playoff contender.

"The goal is to build a team that's going to become a contender for years to come," Briere said Tuesday. "The goal is not just to make the playoffs one year, get knocked out, disappear for two years ... it's about building a team that eventually will have a shot at winning some rounds and winning a Stanley Cup for years to come and be there year after year."

Part of that foundation is the continued development of forwards Matvei Michkov and Tyson Foerster.

Michkov led the Flyers and NHL rookies last season with 26 goals and was second with 63 points in 80 games. The next step for the 20-year-old is finding consistency.

"Obviously we're all excited about what he's shown last year and what he can become, but the biggest thing for him is to keep improving on that (consistency) and to keep showing that game after game," Briere said. "I remember as a player that one of the toughest things is ... instead of having those big waves, is having those little bumps along the way. And that comes with experience. It comes with time. And that's what I want to see from him, is those downs, maybe they're not as dramatic and those bad games are not as bad. After a while it becomes, instead of one bad game, it becomes one bad period, and then eventually it's just one bad shift. That takes time."

Foerster was second on the Flyers last season with 25 goals in 81 games. The 23-year-old will start training camp wearing a noncontact jersey because of an elbow injury and subsequent infection sustained while playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship, but the expectation is Foerster will be fully cleared by the second week of camp.

The Flyers also added Trevor Zegras in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on June 23. The hope is the 24-year-old can return to being a full-time center after playing the wing the past two seasons.

"We're all kind of wondering where are things going to develop for him," Briere said. "He was a tremendous player for his first two years in Anaheim, and then he got hit into some injuries. Can he (regain) that form that he had a couple years ago?"

There's also the need for forwards Noah Cates and Bobby Brink to continue their ascension into core pieces, as well as Alex Bump, who helped Western Michigan win the NCAA championship last season and impressed during a short stint with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League during the Calder Cup Playoffs and then in rookie camp.

More competition will come from Jett Luchanko, who will be on the ice Thursday after the 19-year-old forward missed two games against the New York Rangers during rookie camp because of a lower-body injury, as well as prospects Jack Nesbitt, Nikita Grebenkin and Denver Barkey.

Rasmus Ristolainen will not be available when training camp opens; the defenseman had surgery to repair a ruptured right triceps tendon March 26 and could miss the first 1-2 months of the season.

His absence opens competition for a third-pair spot for free agent signees Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert, as well as prospects Helge Grans, Emil Andrae and Oliver Bonk, who is questionable for the start of camp because of an upper-body injury.

With Zegras and Christian Dvorak, who signed a one-year, $5.4 million contract July 1, the Flyers feel comfortable with their center depth. They also feel better in goal after signing Dan Vladar to a two-year, $6.7 million contract ($3.35 million average annual value) on July 1.

Philadelphia had an .890 5-on-5 save percentage last season, the worst in the NHL since the stat became official in 2009-10.

Vladar, who had an .898 save percentage in 30 games with the Calgary Flames last season, will compete for playing time with Samuel Ersson, who had an .883 save percentage in 47 games.

The Flyers traded goalie Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

"I expect the goaltending to be better, no doubt about it," Briere said. "I think Vladar will come in and probably be a little bit more support for Sam. But we do believe in Sam still; he's had some flashes. I think with Sam, having a guy there to protect him and not expecting him to play three games a week should probably help Sam in the long run."

One player who won't be part of the goalie rotation is Carter Hart, who played his first six NHL seasons (2018-24) with Philadelphia. The 27-year-old is one of five players eligible to sign with an NHL team no sooner than Oct. 15 after being found not guilty in July in the 2018 Canada World Junior team trial.

"His representative, Judd Moldaver, has reached out and kind of told us that in light of everything that happened in the last year and a half with Carter, they felt, and Carter felt, that it was better for them to look for a fresh start," Briere said. "So, that's where it's at, and it's the only comment I'm going to make on it."

Moving forward is something the Flyers are also ready to do, confident their hope of becoming a consistent playoff team is near fruition.

"Our young guys were starting to step up," Briere said. "Now we have more young guys that are pushing, and that, to me, is what is exciting. Nobody can be comfortable or happy with what they've done in the past; they’ve got to keep getting better and better, and that includes all our veterans, because our young guys are starting to push, and they want more, and they're hungry for more.

“And the following year, we're going to have more of these young guys that will be pushing -- guys like (forward prospect Porter) Martone, maybe (center prospect Jack) Berglund, maybe Nesbitt. So that's really where it's exciting for me. And we expect more of a fight internally, and we hope that it's going to make us better. It's going to hopefully make us more competitive throughout the season and maybe push to get closer to the playoffs."