The early numbers don’t do the Flyers any favors.
A projection of the 2027 NHL Draft order from Tankathon has Philadelphia sitting 14th in the first round, which is the kind of placement that points away from a playoff berth in 2026-27. After the Flyers took a big step last season, going from a rebuild to a second-round postseason run, that’s a pretty sharp turn in the forecast.
The main reason behind the gloomy outlook appears to be how the Metro Division could shake out. The New Jersey Devils are expected to improve, the Carolina Hurricanes are projected to be the class of the division, and the Washington Capitals are getting the edge for what looks like the final playoff spot in the group. If that’s how it plays out, Philadelphia would be pushed into the wild-card chase.
And that’s not exactly a friendly path, either.
The early projections have the Atlantic Division producing five playoff teams, with the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Buffalo Sabres taking the top three spots and both wild-card positions. In that scenario, the Flyers would be fighting uphill just to stay in the conversation.
Still, there’s a huge caveat here: these are projections built on offseason moves, last season’s results, and assumptions about future performance. That leaves plenty of room for the Flyers to blow up the script.
Philadelphia has the chance to get on the ice and prove the models wrong. The analysts can talk about expectations and draft slots all they want, but until the 2026-27 season actually starts, none of it is set in stone.
In Other News...
Flyers Fans Just Got Another Painful Draft Reminder
Another former Flyers second-round pick is taking the overseas route, as Samu Tuomaala continues his career in Sweden after injuries slowed his climb through the organization. Philadelphia drafted the winger in 2021, and he never really got the kind of runway teams hope for from a prospect taken that high, with his development interrupted early and his North American pro track never fully finding traction.
After a limited stretch in the AHL and a later move into the Dallas organization, Tuomaala has now landed with Linkoping HC in the SHL, where the clubs general manager is already talking up what he might bring. For Flyers fans, it is another reminder of how quickly draft value can slip away when injuries get in the way, especially when the names taken around a player start to look a lot more familiar in the NHL. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Fans Wont Love How Much Spotlight The Capitals Are Getting
The leagues spotlight is leaning hard toward Washington again in 2026-27, with the Capitals landing 17 nationally televised games across TNT, ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+. A big share of that attention comes from familiar marquee matchups, including the kind of rivalry dates the NHL knows it can sell on name recognition alone, and the broadcast slate even has a heavy dose of Pittsburgh built in with every meeting against the Penguins set for national air.
For the Flyers, the part that stings a little more is how one of those nationally featured dates falls on April 10 in Philadelphia, a game being framed as a possible farewell stage for Alex Ovechkin. Between the Ovechkin angle and the broader industry obsession with Washingtons biggest stars, the Flyers keep finding themselves on the edge of someone elses celebration, and this one could carry a little extra weight in a building that has seen plenty of those nights already. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Re-Draft Twist Shows What This Young Core Might Be Missing
A fresh look back at the 2022 NHL Draft offers an interesting reminder of how quickly the Flyers young core could have been reshaped. In the kind of hindsight exercise that always sparks debate, Philadelphias re-do path points away from the original choice and toward a winger whose game has already started to translate from college to the NHL. For a roster still trying to sort out its long-term answers on the wing, it is the sort of alternate-history discussion that naturally circles back to what the Flyers have and what they still need.
The intrigue goes beyond one pick because the Flyers have already lived through the ripple effects of the Cutter Gauthier situation and the Jamie Drysdale trade, both of which helped change the shape of the clubs future. Snuggeruds emergence only sharpens the contrast, since his recent scoring run and early pro promise highlight the type of skill Philadelphia could use more of in its forward group. It does not rewrite what happened, but it does leave a lingering question about whether the Flyers may still be missing a cleaner fit for the core they are building. [Read more 🡒]