Through nine games, the Flyers have been buried by the same problems over and over: too few goals, too many shots against, and a record that sits at 0-6-3 as of October 15-16, 2026. But even in the middle of that mess, there are four players who have managed to look like real positives.
Matvei Michkov has been the clearest offensive bright spot. The right wing leads the Flyers with three goals in nine games, and he’s done it while scoring in multiple contests, including the most recent 2-1 loss at Detroit. His line so far reads 3 goals, 0 assists, 3 points and a minus-7, with a high shooting percentage and regular middle-six and power-play usage helping fuel the early output.
Denver Barkey has also given the Flyers useful minutes after coming back from a lower-body injury early in the season. In six games, the center has posted 2 assists and 2 points with a minus-1, while averaging around 14 minutes a night and seeing some power-play time. For a club trying to find any kind of balance, that’s been a steady depth contribution.
On the blue line, Oliver Bonk has jumped in quickly after being recalled. He has played three games, picked up one assist, and has been paired right away with Travis Sanheim on the top unit.
Bonk’s first outing was a rough one, finishing minus-3 against Carolina, but he answered back against Seattle with an assist on a strong individual rush. Coach Rick Tocchet praised his composure and his ability to move on from mistakes.
He’s been averaging more than 18 minutes per game.
Sanheim, meanwhile, has been carrying a heavy load at the top of the defense. He has nine games under his belt, with 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points, and he’s logging massive minutes - often more than 25 a night, among the NHL’s highest workloads. Even with the team struggling badly in goal differential, he’s giving them structure, leadership and some production from the back end.
Those four stand out because the rest of the picture has been so bleak. The Flyers are averaging just 1.2 goals per game and have been outshot heavily, which makes every point, every shift and every bit of reliable ice time stand out all the more. Barkey and Bonk, especially, have been useful young pieces in the midst of a franchise-record-tying early losing streak.
The Flyers’ next chance to change the mood comes at home against Ottawa on October 17.
In Other News...
Flyers Young Core Is Raising An Early Concern Philadelphia Can't Ignore
Early-season growing pains have shown up quickly for Philadelphia, with young players such as Porter Martone, Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk all trying to find their footing at the NHL level. For a group that figures to matter to the Flyers future, the first few weeks have been a reminder that development does not always move in a straight line, especially when the pace ramps up right away and the margin for error gets thin.
A shorter preseason appears to have left less time for those players to get comfortable before the games started counting, and that has become part of the conversation around the clubs uneven start. Still, the Flyers issues are not limited to the rookies and second-year types, and simply adding more exhibition games would not have guaranteed a cleaner opening stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Fans Finally Have A Date To Watch For The New Jerseys
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The debut is set for the first time the Flyers host Minnesota, and the jersey will show up often enough afterward to feel like more than a one-off marketing exercise. The team has said it will use the alternates 13 times this season, with most of those games coming at Xfinity Mobile Arena, though the full design has still not been formally unveiled after a possible version surfaced back in June. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Fans Should Be Watching Mikhail Gulyayevs Start Closely
The early KHL season has offered a useful snapshot of how several NHL prospects are faring overseas, and one of the names worth keeping on the radar from a Flyers perspective is Yegor Zavragin. The young goalie has been getting regular starts, and his team situation has given him a chance to show whether last seasons promise can carry over into a bigger workload.
For Flyers fans, the appeal is obvious: Philadelphia has been tracking goaltending depth closely, and Zavragin remains one of the more interesting long-term pieces in that conversation. His recent run has been strong enough to keep him in the spotlight, even as the wider group of drafted prospects in the KHL continues to shift with injuries, ice time and roster decisions that will shape the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]