Flyers: Why the Team is Betting on Internal Growth

Make no mistake about it, the end result of the 2025-26 season was a surprise. Sure, maybe internally the Philadelphia Flyers always believed the playoffs were within reach, but winning the first round in six games and getting two games to overtime in the second round against the eventual Stanley Cup champions? That certainly wasn’t on the radar just yet.

As the 2026-27 season preparations get underway with rookie camp beginning this Friday, the expectations have certainly shifted. Once you’ve tasted the playoffs once, you want to taste it again, to get another chance at navigating the journey to 16 wins and the ultimate prize. And you certainly don’t want it to become a case of being in one year and out the next. The Flyers of 2013 to 2020 know that feeling all too well.

So in an offseason where the Flyers had cap space, and could be looking for improvements, they ultimately didn’t change the roster’s makeup that much. It wasn’t for a lack of trying.

If a player’s name was in the rumor mill – see Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski – the Flyers were almost certainly interested. They attempted to bring back former captain Claude Giroux, who would have assumed more of a depth role on a younger team. They were in on free-agent defenseman John Carlson. And, of course, there was the offer sheet to Leo Carlsson.

They made their attempts to improve externally, but after an offseason with a lot of noise and not many results, the Flyers will be betting on internal growth. And when you look at how the 2025-26 season ended, it makes a lot of sense to approach the upcoming season in this way.

Sure, every team wants the overnight improvement, the trade or signing that lands you a stud defenseman or cornerstone center. But the development of young players remains a priority, even as the expectations start to shift.

In the Flyers’ case, it’s best to work backwards: on both their offseason moves and the arrival of some of their youngest contributors.

When free agency opened, the Flyers didn’t sign many new faces, but placed their bets on the growth of Tyson Foerster and the continued success of Dan Vladar.

As the dog days of summer hit, new contracts for Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale were additional bets on internal advances.

Add in a full season of Porter Martone, Alex Bump, and Denver Barkey, the potential to see trade deadline acquisition David Jiricek or top defensive prospect Oliver Bonk in a regular role, and the hope of a resurgent season for Matvei Michkov, and you have essentially half the roster.

The Flyers, by now, know what to expect from the likes of Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Owen Tippett, guys who have been here for the long haul. What remains to be seen is how big a step the others can take to round the Flyers into a more complete team, a deep team that has more potential come playoff time.

It will be the youngest Flyers up first in an abbreviated training camp that starts less than three weeks from opening night. But you can already sense there is a determination for the many faces returning, getting another year of experience, another year of growth, another chance to experience what they did as they skated off the ice in May at the end of their playoff run.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.