Owen Tippett has already settled into a clear identity with the Flyers: elite speed, a heavy shot and enough finish to land at least 20 goals in four straight seasons. Now, with the roster around him getting younger and more dangerous, the question is whether he can push past being a reliable scorer and become the kind of weapon who threatens 35 goals.
That’s the ceiling the Flyers are chasing. Tippett led the team and tied his career high with 28 goals in 81 games last season, a strong year by any measure. But the sense around him is that there’s still another level available, especially now that Rick Tocchet wants more of what he called for in camp ahead of the 2025-26 season: more of Tippett’s upside.
The biggest reason for optimism is the fit with Trevor Zegras. Tocchet has liked that pairing going back to last season, and it’s easy to see why.
The two fueled the Flyers’ late push for the playoffs, with Zegras’ playmaking setting up Tippett’s finish again and again. Zegras assisted on eight of Tippett’s 28 goals, the most of any Flyer, and the chemistry has carried over into this season, with the duo opening on one of the top lines.
Still, a better linemate alone won’t get Tippett to 35. The real issue has been consistency.
He’s been labeled a streaky player, and that’s the part that has probably kept him from already joining the 30-goal club. If he’s going to make the jump, the hot stretches have to last longer.
That’s where the Flyers’ new emphasis comes in. Porter Martone’s arrival in March made an impression because he didn’t just have skill and a shot - he kept firing. He gave Tocchet exactly the kind of shoot-first edge the coach has been looking for, and Tippett can follow that blueprint if he leans into it more often.
The numbers back up the opportunity. Tippett finished tied for 34th in the NHL with 220 shots last season, a drop from 289 in 2023-24.
That’s a steep decline of 69 shots, even though his goal total stayed the same. If he gets back to that higher volume, the goals should follow.
That matters for the Flyers beyond Tippett himself. Danny Briere has been open about how young this group is and has said the team could take a “little bit of a step back this year.” If that happens, some of the younger players could regress offensively, including Matvei Michkov, whose first two seasons are worth keeping in mind.
In that kind of scenario, steady production from Tippett would be more than helpful. It would help keep the offense afloat while also showing that the Flyers’ talent base is still moving forward. Last season already brought career years from Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, Dan Vladar and Noah Cates, all part of the club’s progress in 2025-26.
Tippett has gone scoreless through two games this season, but he still has plenty of runway. With the NHL’s expanded 84-game schedule, he has an 82-game stretch ahead of him, which is familiar territory for a player this established.
If he can pair the Zegras connection with a more aggressive shot total, the 35-goal conversation won’t sound so far-fetched. He gets a chance to start building toward it Saturday, when the Flyers host the defending champion Hurricanes at Xfinity Mobile Arena at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSP.
In Other News...
Flyers Let Season Opener Slip Away In Brutal Late Collapse
The Flyers season opener had all the ingredients of a statement win for a team trying to set a tone early, and for most of the night they looked ready to leave New Jersey with exactly that. Philadelphia built a lead and leaned on Joseph Woll, who handled a heavy workload as the Devils kept coming. Jake Allen was steady enough at the other end, but the Flyers still had the game in their control until the final push.
New Jersey found answers from Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes to drag things into overtime, turning a game Philadelphia had spent so much of the night managing into a sudden-death scramble. Jack Hughes then finished it off for the Devils, sending the Flyers home with a loss that will linger because of how close they were to opening the season with a road win. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Just Got Pulled Into A Wild Auston Matthews Debate
A speculative Auston Matthews discussion has somehow pulled the Flyers into the spotlight, and it is the kind of thought experiment that tends to follow a team with real offensive upside. Matt Larkin floated a scenario that would send the Maple Leafs center to Philadelphia during 2027 NHL Draft week, a piece of chatter built more on long-range possibility than any confirmed movement. Matthews is under contract through the 2027-28 season, so any real path to a deal would require a major shift in Torontos plans.
For Flyers fans, the hook is obvious because Matthews would be the sort of star who changes the conversation immediately, while the idea of a deal also touches on the young talent Philly would presumably have to put in play. The article treats it as a hot take, not a rumor, and makes clear that plenty would have to break right before Toronto even considered moving him. Still, once a name like Matthews gets dragged into the discussion, the league starts wondering who would be bold enough to join the bidding. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Earned A Point But This Bigger Problem Should Worry Fans
The Flyers left Newark with a point after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Devils at the Prudential Center, and there was at least one encouraging sign early on. Philadelphia opened the scoring and got goals from Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim, but New Jersey controlled much of the game and kept pushing until it could turn the night around.
For a club trying to find some footing, the concern is less the standings point than how the game unfolded once the lead was in hand. The Flyers could not hold off a Devils team that kept coming from behind, and the margin for error was small enough that an extra shift, a cleaner exit or a better finish might have changed the result. [Read more 🡒]