Flyers' young core gaining valuable playoff experience

The Philadelphia Flyers have a level of maturity that belies their abundance of youth.

Which is why coach Rick Tocchet isn't concerned with how his players might respond against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC), despite trailing 2-0 in the best-of-7 series.

"Throughout the year, even when we called up (younger players), and just the team in general, very encouraged," Tocchet said Tuesday. "They've taken the information after a game that didn't go our way for whatever reason, and then applied it. That's maturity for me. I think this team has grown in those kind of aspects."

The Flyers' average age of 27 is tied with the Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabres for the second youngest among the 16 teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, just behind the Montreal Canadiens (26).

Among their key players are eight regulars age 25 or younger, a group keyed by rookie forwards Porter Martone (19), Denver Barkey (21) and Alex Bump (22).

None of them began the season in the NHL, but they formed one of the Flyers' top three lines in Game 2. Barkey, the "veteran" of the group with 43 games of regular-season NHL experience, started at center for the second time all season.

They were on the ice for Seth Jarvis' game-tying goal in the third period and Taylor Hall's overtime goal, but Tocchet said he won't hesitate to put them back into big spots.

"I know the kids were upset last game after the game," he said. "A couple of guys were upset because they were on the ice for the two, but they can't be upset because they're going to get another shot at it. They're going to go right back on the ice and they've got a lot of support from the organization and their teammates, so I think that's going to even help their development also."

The Flyers' 25-and-under group also includes forwards Matvei Michkov (21), Tyson Foerster (24) and Trevor Zegras (25), and defensemen Jamie Drysdale (24) and Emil Andrae (24).

Despite having so many young players in prominent roles, the Flyers have shown surprising resilience. They were 23-12-4 after a loss during the regular season, 7-1-0 after the break for the 2026 Winter Olympics. And they haven't lost more than two consecutive games since dropping four in a row (0-3-1) from Jan. 26-31.

"I think it's been a pretty consistent team, and it's no different in the playoffs, bouncing back after a tough game," Tocchet said.

And while the loss in Game 2 left them down in the series, Tocchet felt the way the players rebounded after a 3-0 loss in Game 1 was an example of how they have responded to adversity all season.

The Flyers better handled the Hurricanes' aggressive forecheck and took a 2-0 lead in the first period. Then after some rough patches during the second and third periods, they carried play in overtime before losing on Hall's goal with 1:06 remaining.

"I think from the first game to the second game, you saw improvement," Tocchet said. "... I think going into Game 3, I think you'll see more improvement. Our team improved from the first game to the second game. And I think the young guys were in that boat. So, yeah, really excited for those guys to play in this kind of atmosphere."

Regardless of whether the Flyers are able to rally and defeat the Hurricanes and reach the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2010, Tocchet believes the experience the younger players are gaining, both positive and negative, can only make them better, both now and in the future.

"You play at this kind of pace, you play at this kind of high stakes, it really is huge for the development of the guys," he said. "Just imagine if we didn't make the playoffs, and these guys never got the experience. This is just huge."