Dec 30, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cam York (8) checks Vancouver Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk (74) in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Welcome to the dash.
Well, almost. after tonight, we're officially at the dash. And by that, I mean the little line in between 2025-26 when referring to a hockey season.
After the Flyers finish their game in Calgary tonight - and it will wrap right around the time the clock strikes midnight - we will be in that brief spot between the first half of the season and the second half, based solely on the calendar.
And wouldn't you know it, the Flyers, yes the Flyers, enter tonight's game with the fifth-best points percentage in the NHL and the seventh-best goal differential.
They beat Rick Tocchet's former team, the Vancouver Canucks, for the second time in eight days on Tuesday night by a score of 6-3. The game was much closer than that.
Were it not for Dan Vladar, especially in the first period, that score might be reversed.
It was also Matvei Michkov's best game of the season.
(Wait. Time out. Was that a positive sentence written about Michkov? That's not allowed by a reporter covering the team. What in tarnation is going on here?)
If you're a fan of Stranger Things and on edge for the finale to drop tonight before the Flyers play Calgary, we are in the Upside Down.
Which is exactly how I feel after compiling my first Flyers mailbag here at On Pattison.
Yes, I once again daringly waded into the murky waters of Flyers Twitter to ask fans to send me some Flyers-related questions.
With the Flyers out in Western Canada for the week, I figured now would be a good time for a Flyers mailbag.
Send me your questions and I’ll answer as many as I can and publish the story tomorrow for @OnPattison.
Fire away…
Now, I'm a believer in trying to get to every legitimate question. I tell my colleague Tim Kelly that when we do a Phillies mailbag. I don't want to just pick and choose the ones I want to answer. You have questions, I will try my best to answer as many as I can.
But I also understand that as a reader, you may not want to read through 50-plus questions and answers, so there has to be some editing. Therefore, if you don't see your legitimate question below consider it for one of two reasons:
So, without further ado. Buckle up:
(Note, all questions are copied directly from Twitter. Any typos or grammatical errors are theirs. If I have typos or grammatical errors in my responses, it's totally on me.)
Dutchyhoops (@Dutchyhoops):
Do you sense the locker room not happy with Mich not training in the offseason while they busted their butts? How does the front office let that happen not knowing if their superstar is training? Don’t they give all their players offseason programs? Heck even high school does
Of course we have to start off with a Michkov question. (Did you see his game last night?)
The 50th assist of Matvei Michkov’s career was a BEAUTY! #PHIvsVAN | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/lKEc2aKpy2
But I get it. Fans care about him more than anyone else. I helped promulgate the hype for him since the day they drafted him. I still believe there's an excellent player there who will be a crucial part of the team's future success.
But I can't say the first half of the season hasn't been a disappointment. It has. He's been slowly getting better lately and that culminated with the game in Vancouver, so there's hope, but you got to imagine that there was a tinge of "Come on, man" in the back of teammates minds when they saw how behind he was in camp.
They'd never say that publicly, and would probably decry me writing that if someone asked them about it today, tomorrow, or six weeks from now.
But it's human nature to react that way. He's a teammate, and they're going to support him and help him as much as possible in his development, but he also has to take ownership of his own preparation, and spending a summer gallivanting and vacationing and not putting in as much work as necessary, has to be annoying to those who sacrificed parts of their summer for the betterment of the team.
They won't hold it against him long-term, but he does have to earn some trust back. He certainly has the ability to do it - and from what I'm told, he already started his make good.
While the rest of the team was enjoying the holiday break, I'm told Michkov was both on the ice and in the training room. Maybe getting the results he got against Vancouver is a sign that he's understanding now the level of work he has to put in to be the player he wants to be.
Alex Turner (@AlexTurner2501):
Why haven’t they given Dvorak a chance to play on the power play? It’s clear he has chemistry with Zegras, he’s one of their best faceoff guys, and is their 3rd leading scorer at 24 P in 36 GP - all at 5 on 5. Makes no sense to me why they haven’t given him an opportunity.
He was there for the first time last night in Vancouver. They replaced Noah Cates and Bobby Brink on the top unit with Dvorak and Denver Barkey (Love the way that kid plays, by the way. He belongs at this level). They only had one power play opportunity, and it was muted quickly by a Jamie Drysdale penalty, so it's still a wait-and-see-if-it-works scenario.
The Hessian (@Asuspended2):
Who goes first, Tocc or Matvei?
That didn't take long. The team is 20-11-7, and we're asking about firing the coach or trading their most talked about player.
For now, I'm going to say neither. Because neither is happening any time soon.
But if I had to guess long-term, the odds are always on the coach leaving first because their tenures have shorter shelf lives. So, there you go.
Jake Haight (@Jake_Haight_):
If a team like Buffalo is stupid enough to trade Tage Thompson or Dalhin. What would that look like for the Flyers?
First of all, have you watched the Sabres lately? They've won nine straight and are one point out of a playoff spot. So, I don't think they're thinking about trading away anybody right now, least of all their top two players.
But in the world of hypotheticals, Dahlin is signed for seven more years at $11 million per and has a no movement clause in his contract. That's a lot to navigate. This isn't like Quinn Hughes where he was 18 months from free agency. Buffalo would need a haul.
Unless you're willing to start with names like Porter Martone and Michkov, this conversation isn't even getting off the ground. There'd have to be a lot more to it than that as well.
As for Thompson, He's signed for five more years at a $7.14 million AAV. He has a modified no trade clause as well. He wouldn't cost as much as Dahlin, but you're still looking at an ask that begins with Martone or Michkov.
Don't forget, most times in trades, you have to give to get. Not sure the Flyers are at the level to give enough to get players with that much term, money, and stature.
Andu (@Andu_Sprts21):
With a trade possible in the near future, how would you rank the Flyers three 1st Rd picks in '26 -'27 n terms of value?
PHI 26
TOR 27 (top 10 protected)
PHI 27
This is a really good question. I would say that the pick the Flyers are going to dangle because it has the most interest around the league is the Toronto pick.
Yes, it's top 10 protected, but if Toronto continues to struggle, they may choose to start a rebuild in the next two seasons. If it doesn't convey in 2027, it's completely unprotected in 2028. That's a very valuable pick.
After that, I'd argue the Flyers 2026 pick is more valuable than their 2027 pick just because you assume the team continues to improve from one year to the next.
But they'll likely only trade one of the three picks (unless they are getting a stud for the long-term) and that pick is most likely going to be the Toronto one.
Tom Craig (@PureBlarney):
Will they look for a #2 goalie before the trade deadline or are they going to stay with Errson?
The short answer to this is it's yet to be determined. Ersson will get a chance to redeem himself over the next month, and then the team will assess.
Erss isn’t giving out any gifts. 🙅♂️#PHIvsCHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/FaJ3NssNxi
(Note: What an unfortunate choice of words by the Flyers social media team when talking about Ersson.)
My opinion - they should look for an upgrade. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean a trade. They might want to give Aleksei Kolosov another look before the trade deadline to see if they have a better internal option. But the reality is, if you think you are a playoff team, with as tight as the race is in the East this year, you can't afford to give away points.
They're going to need their backup to make somewhere around 16-18 starts the rest of the way. They'll try to find the best matchups for him (like tonight in Calgary) but the reality is, those are important games. If he continues to be inconsistent, they owe it to themselves to find an upgrade and not settle. If that has to come via trade, so be it, but they'd prefer not to lose capital for that purpose, although they'll bite the bullet if they have to to improve the team.
Darren Brown (@Broadstreet16):
Jett Luchenko has not looked good so far at the World juniors. Every other Flyers draft pick has looked good to really good. Do you think there is any concern among the Flyers brass about Luchenko’s development? He looks like an at best 3rd line centre. (If he even makes NHL)
The hand-wringing here drives me nuts. Luchanko is 19-years-old. Darren is not alone in the camp of Luchanko being a bust. A lot of people, my podcast partner included, (and again ... and again) think he's going to suck.
Yet, here is a kid playing for Team Canada. He's one of 12 Canadian forwards on their World Junior team - for a second straight season.
There's obviously a lot of people - not just the Flyers - who feel he's a quality NHL player.
The mistake is thinking that every first round pick a team has needs to be a home run. Sorry to tell you, they aren't.
But that doesn't mean they can't develop into quality NHL players. The league is littered with them.
In the last 15 years, I've come up with eight centers drafted between slots 12 and 18 in the draft that have turned into higher end contributors in the league, although some of them took a lot more time to develop into that kind of player than others.
J.T. Miller had his first 50-point season at age 24 and then not again until he was 28, when he took off.
Dylan Larkin was 24, so was Martin Necas. Guys Nick Suzuki and Seth Jarvis were a little faster - they got there in their third NHL seasons.
Matthew Barzal had a monster rookie campaign, but then had a steady decline for several seasons before getting back to being a point per game player two years ago - his seventh full NHL season.
Frank Nazar in Chicago looks like a hit for the Blackhawks, but he only had 26 points as a rookie, so we'll see.
The point is, the odds of getting a superstar center at pick 13 are almost nonexistent. The odds of getting a very good NHL center there are about one every other year.
The rest, are either decent middle six forwards or misses, although the misses have been fewer and far between.
We have no idea what Luchanko is going to be and won't for at least another 3-4 years at least.
But there's every indication that he will be somewhere in the middle six of an NHL lineup. If he does, yeah, it might not be a home run, but a base hit is still productive. As long as it's not a strikeout, then criticism is fair. But it's much too early for that assessment to be made.
Andrew Jacobsen (@AndrewJ19312926):
When does this bubble burst? Does it?
As good as they are playing I can’t help but think the shoe will drop sooner or later.
I guess the question should be.. are they actually this good?
I have my own answer
I'm glad you have your own answer, which will probably be different from mine, so I fully expect a disagreement here.
But, the bubble doesn't burst until some time in the playoffs, in my mind, unless there are further injuries.
The Tyson Foerster injury hurt, a lot. They are somehow surviving that one, and that's a credit to them, because he was, in my mind, their most important forward this season.
But they can't afford to lose another top six forward and expect to compete. They can't afford for Vladar to go down with an injury. The Flyers weakness this year (besides the power play) is depth. They just don't have enough of it.
Credit to guys like Carl Grundstrom and Denver Barkey who have come in and not missed a beat or even improved the team, but there's just not much more available that could keep them afloat in a tight playoff race.
Is Carl Grundstrom the next Wayne Gretzky?
People are starting to ask the question 🤔 #Flyers pic.twitter.com/WZo45n9wPA
So, health is paramount. But assuming they can stay healthy, they are showing you their resilience is real. They have the best record in the NHL when trailing. They have the best record in the NHL after a loss. They keep coming. They are determined. They are tired of being on the outside looking in. That's not insignificant.
That will get them to the postseason. How far they go will depend on a lot of factors, but getting there is the goal, and I believe they'll accomplish that goal.
Jeff Kirsch (@jkirsch16):
What’s the organization’s take on attendance? I know you wrote about it was disappointing a few weeks ago, so any update on the numbers and their expectations for the rest of the year?
Also, can you and Bundy drop your incredibly annoying partner on the pod? I (mostly) kid….
They aren't thrilled by where they rank (29th in percentage of capacity; 18th in average attendance), because there was a time when they were top five in the NHL in both.
But they also know that they have a lot of work to do to repair fan confidence in the product that was destroyed by years of mismanagement, and they know what that long path looks like, and are remaining committed to it.
They should be happy with 19,996 showing up for the last game before Christmas. It was their largest crowd since April, 2018. I expect they'll get a big crowd for The Ducks and Cutter Gauthier next Tuesday.
However, only seven of the remaining 21 home games are on a weekend, so they are going to have to hope that those eight weeknight home games in March and April have meaning and momentum builds to see them make the push for the playoffs.
Then, they'll look at 2026-27 and have a better sense of where they'll be, likely moving up the rankings a little bit, assuming they make it to the playoffs.
As for Russ... Just imagine how bored we'd all be without him.
Ed Helinski (@MrEd315):
What letter grade do you give the Flyers as we reach the halfway point of the season? Base your answer on results and efforts so far this seat.
I think it's a solid B+ at this point. Hard to knock how they've played as a whole, and practically every roster move Danny Briere made this year has hit. Vladar, Trevor Zegras, Dvorak, Grundstom, Nikita Grebenkin, even a guy like Noah Juulsen did a fine job filling in on the third pair for a portion of the first half.
Yeah, the power play is still atrocious, yeah Michkov has underwhelmed and Ersson has been wildly inconsistent, yeah Owen Tippett is a bit of an enigma, but no season is perfect in sports.
For the Flyers to be where they are is impressive - and there's still room for improvement.
Jake Roseboro (@Roseboro_jake):
Do you still see foerster as an important piece of the top six moving forward?
Very much so. I called him their most important forward earlier in this post, and that wasn't a shot at Michkov or turning a blind eye to what Zegras is doing.
Foerster is the most complete forward on the team - and he's only going to get better. Health is the lone question mark about him, but the way he plays the game is top notch.
He should be a part of the core for several years.
Alexander Smith (@AlexanderS40925):
With the world juniors rolling around, and we are able to watch guys like McKenna, Stenberg, and Verhoeff, do you see a world where the flyers try and tank this season for a high draft pick? Still seeing a lack of high-skill.
No. Not happening. Plain and simple, the Flyers don't believe in tanking. Nor do I. We can have a much longer conversation about this at another time, but it wears me out. Seriously. There's nothing worse in the world of sports than being intentionally uncompetitive.
It's a flat out scourge.
Matt P (@TheMatMan31):
What have KJ and DB done so far that should make me believe they know what they're doing?
They announced the team was in a rebuild. They traded away players to stockpile assets. They drafted a ton of young players, restocking the system. They have additional assets to come.
Now, in their third year, they're pivoting from wholesale rebuild to starting to try to be competitive. Every 2025 move they've made has been a plus for the team and the organization. They're in the thick of the playoff race. And they've done it without depleting their pool of prospects and while setting themselves up to be in a good cap position.
Not sure what more you could have asked of them to this point.
Do they need to keep moving forward and not take steps back? Yes. And that's the trickiest part - to get from here to being a perennial contender - and they will ultimately be judged based on that. But so far, so good.
Franko65 (@RaiderFrank65):
Does Maria make homemade lasagna for the holidays?
Maria is an Italian mother, what do you think?
Ron Hevener (@RHev19):
When do you think Yegor Zavragin will come over ? KHL contract, does he have to serve his military or do you think they’ll waive it, timeline, do you think someone’s already working on getting him here ASAP.
This is a great question. I think if you asked the Flyers they would have given you a different answer six months ago than they would right now.
The way Vladar has played could have them willing to be a little more patient. I think they want to give Kolosov and Carson Bjarnason a chance to shine as well.
As such, they may just let him finish out his KHL contract (which expires after next season) before bringing him over. Unless they want to protect him form flying objects (see below:)
Yegor Zavragin (Flyers Prospect) got absolutely destroyed on the bench today. pic.twitter.com/ixkyoGHQHJ
Stagger Lee (@OCStagger)
Given the drop off in scoring from the defense compared to the tortorella years, does Tocchet acknowledge and if so, is the staff ok with it? Although I did see sanhiem step up into the attack the last few games.
The difference is the Flyers are getting balanced scoring from their forwards this year, which they weren't getting under Torts, necessitating the defense be much more active.
The Flyers are one of only two teams with six players to have 10 goals or more (Montreal is the other). Dvorak's next goal will make that seven.
That's pretty impressive to have seven guys on pace to score 20-plus goals. As such, the defense can focus on the defensive structure that has the Flyers ranked sixth in the league in fewest goals allowed.
Anthony DiGrazio (@flyersant):
Are they 2 years away or 3 years away? In all seriousness, what is their next move?
Hope a situation unfolds where a team is forced to make a move? Free agency signings won't be difference makers.
The talent/needs will have to come via trade.
The next move is going to be to look to upgrade at center. This is assuming they are still in the thick of it as we approach the deadline in two months.
They may not get a No. 1 center. But, they would love to get a top nine guy somewhere. And it might be a veteran with a year or two left on a deal and not necessarily just an UFA.
I'm pretty confident that will be the target. Remember, always trust an Anthony.
Gregory Cellini (@Ozzzmoses):
What is this team doing with Hathaway and Nick D? They both clearly do not fit the mold and while Hathaway has been serviceable because he kills penalties, he seems to really have fallen off a cliff. Like the way the 4th line is constructed at the moment.
For now, they are just extra forwards. Both are great culture guys and locker room leadership types. But they are clearly the 13th and 14th forwards.
There's always going to be injuries, so I don't think you've seen the last of them, but there could come a point down the line where either they want to give Alex Bump a look, they trade for a forward, or Martone's college season ends and they'll have to make room.
But you can kick the can down the road to see what your roster looks like at the time, and if you are squeezed, then you make a call like waivers.
But for now, it's fine to have them where they are.
Tim Tobin (@Tob_Nator)
Do you think a potential Dvorak extension is similar to how he signed during summer, i.e he gets an overpay for shorter term or does he gets similar AAV and additional year ?
I think the discussion here is term - three or four years. I don't think money is going to be an issue. I think it's going to be in the $5.5-$5.7 range AAV.
I expect this to get done relatively soon, too. Maybe before the Anaheim game next week.
CHRISTIAN DVORAK. WHAT A SHIFT. WHAT AN EFFORT.
(and a nice assist from Zegras) pic.twitter.com/vizXPIZvXH
Philly Sports "Experts" (@PSE1433)
Ant, have you have had a conversation with flyers FO about the Seravalli comments? Would love to hear their take on that
I have not directly spoken to them about Frank's comments on our show. But what do you expect them to say?
These are NHL front office people. Frank's a member of the media. Just because he has an opinion that some fans subscribe to doesn't mean the Flyers are suddenly going to do things differently.
If I share my opinion with members of the front office, they are going to respond the same way. I have said I would have signed Zegras to an extension. I have said I would have replaced Ersson by now. I would have made changes to the fourth line a month before they did.
They are going to do it the way they believe is right. Plain and simple. Time will tell if they were right or not. The declaration that they are wrong before given a chance to prove themselves is the part that drives me mad.
I used to say the same thing with Chuck Fletcher after the Ron Hextall mess. After it got to a point, it was obvious he couldn't do what he set out to do, and I was happy to criticize him then.
It's not about being right by predicting failure in sports. That's the easy part. Most teams ultimately fail because only one team can win - so it's easy to say "see, I was right" about predicting failure.
The hard part is giving the benefit of the doubt and then finding out you wasted your time doing that. Nobody likes doing that. I don't like doing that.
But it's the fair thing to do for everyone.
JC (@JCHockey_)
I don’t get the sense that their prospect pool is as stacked as others make it out to be. What is your feeling regarding the prospect pool? Any favorites? Disappointments?
I guess the question is, what is your definition of stacked? If it's top end talent, then no. It's not stacked. You're looking at Martone and possibly Zavragin in that vein, and that's it.
But if you're talking NHL quality players, well, then, yeah. It's pretty stacked.
They drafted six guys in the first 57 spots last year who profile as NHL players somewhere in a lineup and a seventh, in Max Westergard, who is opening some eyes at World Juniors.
Add in Luchanko, Jack Berglund, Spencer Gil, Heikki Ruohonen, Oliver Bonk, Bump, and Bjarnason, and it's a deep pool.
And don't forget Barkey, who has made one hell of a first impression.
Now, they won't all hit. But if half or more become NHL regulars, that's a good crop, even if it's not stock full of Grade A blue chippers.
Michael Reaves (@icehockeymike37):
Michkov ended last season as a -18; this season he is currently a -2, suggesting progress has been made. How has Michkov improved his game this season, and what should he be focusing on for the 2nd half of the season?
Well, plus/minus is more of a group stat than an individual one, so I wouldn't use that as the measure for improvement.
The difference though is this year, the Flyers are teaching him to be a more responsible player. It's intentional and it's starting to bear fruit.
What he needs to focus on though is his conditioning. That has to be his primary responsibility. His game will come, as long as he puts in the work between games.
Ultimately, Michkov will be fine, even if, on the whole, his sophomore season is just meh.
Amedeo Grassia (@AmadeoGrassia98):
Has their "plan" been pushed back in any way shape or form cause they banked on 2026 FA?
How will they acquire said 1C/1D when drafting high isn't an option and FA is non existent?
Even our video guy at Snow The Goalie has questions, when he knows he can simply text me. And I'm, pretty sure he's cut clips of me responding to this very question. But Flyers Twitter does something to people and often makes them lose their minds, so in that case...
No their plan has not changed (and yes, I noticed you put the word plan in quotes indicating that you don't believe one exists. Sigh). There are always going to be players changing teams.
It's not like the league says, "That's a wrap," and you are stuck with the same players for the next five years.
Who had Quinn Hughes to the Wild on their bingo card six months ago?
This is purely reckless speculation, but what if, all the sudden, Toronto decides to go into a rebuild in the summer and trades Auston Matthews? What if after another missed opportunity to even make the playoffs, Columbus decides to shake it up (again) and decides to trade Zach Werenski?
The point is, players suddenly become available all the time. Every season. The same thing happens. Just because most of the free agents for next season suddenly re-signed with their current teams, doesn't mean no player will ever be available again.
It cracks me up - people like Amadeo (and Russ) wanted the Flyers to tank for years, cross their fingers and hope to get a star player so that maybe they can win a championship 10 years from now, but now that they're getting better in a different way, they are impatient when waiting for access to an established player.
Why does one timeline work, but the same timeline (although I firmly believe it can be faster) does not?
Romeo Blues MBA (@hip_bro):
Barkey is already here, Foerster will be back (hopefully end of this year), Martone is on the way, and maybe some others too (Bump, Luchanko). When is Danny going to move out some players to accommodate these guys and which players do you think will be traded?
First off, I doubt Foerster is back before the playoffs, if at all. If he is, that's one hell of a speedy recovery.
But I assume Martone will play as soon as Michigan State is done. Might only be a couple games, but it'll be worth it to add him, even if it's just for the playoffs.
Luchanko needs to go to the AHL first. I don't think he's in the mix right away. Bump, they can be more patient with.
So, Danny doesn't necessarily have to move someone out before the deadline, although it is possible.
The team has a glut of wingers. I would think the two names that come to the top of my mind are Bobby Brink and Tippett.
That said, they may have the rest of this season to prove they should stick. The Flyers lack depth in the moment, so trading away NHL caliber assets just because you have someone coming six weeks down the line is not smart.
If they did move a Brink or a Tippett, unless it's a hockey trade to bring in something better for right now, the Flyers probably wait until the offseason to make room for the younger players.
Hunter Brody (@Brodes81):
Who does Couturier give the cup to first?
Brodes!
Since it can't be you (although that would be a visual), it has to be TK, who he's been riding and dying with for a decade.
That's if they're both still here in 2030.
