The Flyers got one Monday night, and that may be the only clean thing about the whole situation.
Their win over the Canucks at least gave Rick Tocchet a brief reprieve, though the bigger question hanging over it is whether it changed anything at all. Tocchet was coaching like a man with his job on the line, and the timing made it sting a little more: it came against the same Vancouver team he left to come to Philadelphia. Even with the result in hand, the feeling around it is that the victory may have only delayed what was already coming.
That’s where this season has landed - in the kind of territory where even a win feels more like a pause than a turning point. And if you’re trying to find a silver lining, there is this: the Flyers did beat a Canucks team that has been struggling. That counts for something, even if it doesn’t count for much.
The larger picture is uglier. The worst season in franchise history came in 2006-07, and now there’s a real argument that this version of the Flyers could be even worse. That’s not the kind of comparison anyone wants to be making in November, but here we are.
There has, at least, been one small source of encouraging play. The fourth line has again become a spot where the Flyers are driving things in a positive direction.
It used to be Garnet Hathaway and Luke Glendening working that role with Sean Couturier. Now it’s Noel Acciari and rookie Denver Barkey, and the line has been pressing, steady, and impactful enough to handle more than its usual share of responsibility.
Matvei Michkov’s ice time has become its own storyline, and it’s easy to see why. The minutes are limited, and that has led to plenty of debate.
But the issue isn’t just about handing him more time because he’s a talent. There are reasons a coach would watch what he’s doing across all three zones and decide he still has work to do before getting 20 minutes a night.
He can be better at influencing the game overall, and that’s part of the calculation.
Elsewhere around the league, the Devils managed to make a mess of their own situation. Outside Philadelphia, they were described as a little soft, and they do not want Connor Hellebuyck in net for his return to Winnipeg when they visit the Jets tonight.
It was, in the view being laid out, about the worst way they could have handled it. Even if the math says they may have a lower win probability in future games if they play Hellebuyck, they still could have planned it better.
In Other News...
Flyers Frustrations Are Starting To Force Bigger Roster Questions
The Flyers latest stretch has only sharpened the sense that the roster is still searching for the right mix. A road loss to the Rangers was followed by an overtime defeat against the Flames after Philadelphia let three leads slip away, a frustrating sequence that has put discipline and chemistry under the microscope. The coaching staff has already started shuffling lines in an effort to settle things down, while Matvei Michkov remains a central figure in the noise around the club.
Even with some encouraging signs from Jamie Drysdale and Denver Barkey, the bigger question is whether the current group is enough to steady the season. Around the team, there is already speculation about potential roster movement as the Flyers try to find a cleaner fit and more stability up the middle, and the recent results have only added urgency to those conversations. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Still Have One Problem Threatening This Early-Season Slide
Through the first 19 games of the 2026-27 season, the Flyers have been trying to find any kind of rhythm at both ends of the ice. The offense has been too inconsistent, the defensive group has been stretched thin, and a 4-10-5 start has left little margin for error in a Metropolitan Division that rarely gives teams much breathing room. Even with Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett back in the lineup after injury absences, Philadelphia still has not found the steadier version of itself coach Rick Tocchet needs.
One lingering issue is the blue line, where the Flyers have had to keep adjusting their mix while waiting for more stability. Rasmus Ristolainen is still on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and his absence has only added to the challenge of building depth on defense. The Flyers are working to correct the slide as the schedule moves on, but until that side of the roster settles in, the pressure on the rest of the group will keep growing. [Read more 🡒]
Cutter Gauthier Is Making The Ducks Rebuild Look Way Ahead Of Schedule
Cutter Gauthier keeps turning Anaheims rebuild into something much more immediate. He scored another hat trick in the Ducks win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping stretch the clubs winning streak to five games and further validating the kind of long-term bet Anaheim made when it committed major money to its young core. Leo Carlsson is also off to a strong start, and together the two have given the Ducks a much faster timeline than many expected.
Gauthiers production has been the loudest part of it, with the winger sitting at the top of the league scoring race and piling up milestones at a pace that is starting to feel historic. For Flyers fans still watching the other side of that trade, it is hard not to notice how quickly Anaheim is building around him, and how much more dangerous the Ducks look when their young stars are driving results instead of just projecting them. [Read more 🡒]