Owen Tippett’s road back from injury may not be a straight line, even if the calendar says he’s on track for Training Camp in September.
Tippett had sports hernia/core surgery in mid-to-late May 2026, after dealing with a pair of issues during the 2025-26 playoffs. He played through the sports hernia in the first round against Pittsburgh, a series the Flyers won in six games, before a separate internal bleeding problem knocked him out of the entire second-round matchup with Carolina. He was able to skate at times, but he was never cleared to play.
The internal bleeding has since resolved, and the surgery came about two weeks before the early June updates from General Manager Daniel Briere. On paper, Tippett should be healthy enough to report for camp and start the season.
The bigger question is how long it takes him to feel like himself again.
Reports suggest that even if Tippett is physically cleared, it could take until later in the 2026-27 season - roughly December or January, and possibly even into early 2027 - before he fully regains the explosiveness, confidence in core movements and cutting ability that make him such an effective player. That kind of recovery pattern is common with core injuries, where the body is ready before the game-speed version of a player comes all the way back.
That matters because Tippett was coming off a strong regular season, finishing with 28 goals and 51 points in 81 games. It also matters because he had a shortened offseason training window after the surgery, with the possibility of clean-outs also hanging over the recovery picture.
The Flyers have seen similar procedures affect players well beyond the initial return date, including Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jamie Drysdale, Kevin Hayes and Brian Elliott. The lesson here is simple: Tippett may be back, but the best version of Tippett could take a little longer to show up.
In Other News...
Flyers May Have A Buy Low Center Option Worth Watching
The Flyers search for a top-six center is already shaping up to be one of the bigger roster questions heading into the 2026-27 season, and it has opened the door to some buy-low possibilities around the league. One name worth keeping in the conversation is Connor Zary, a young center in Calgary whose profile fits the kind of swing Philadelphia could explore if it wants to add upside without paying full price.
Zary has shown enough in his past work to suggest there could still be another level to unlock, which is exactly why he is drawing trade buzz. For a Flyers team trying to map out its future down the middle, a player like that makes sense as a candidate to watch, even if the fit and the cost end up determining whether the idea goes any further. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers 2020 Draft Class Says Plenty About How That Era Went
The 2020 NHL Draft was supposed to be a meaningful pivot point for the Flyers, a chance to restock the pipeline and give the organization a cleaner future. Instead, looking back at that class now says a lot about how uneven that era turned out to be. Philadelphia made five selections, and while Tyson Foerster has grown into a notable contributor at the NHL level, the rest of the group has mostly taken a more complicated path through pro hockey.
Emil Andrae did reach the NHL before eventually being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the other picks have spent their time largely in the AHL and ECHL, with some no longer in the Flyers organization at all. It is the kind of draft haul that reflects both the hope teams attach to that weekend and the long, often messy reality that follows, especially for a club still sorting through the legacy of those years. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Still Have One Intriguing Young Center Trade Option
The Flyers still have work to do if they want to add more young center depth, and the search does not have to stop with free agency or the draft. Philadelphia can still poke around the trade market, where age and upside matter just as much as immediate help, and that keeps a few intriguing names in play for a club trying to build a deeper middle down the line.
One possible path runs through San Jose, where a promising young center has started to turn a strong AHL season into real attention around the league. For the Flyers, the appeal is obvious: a player with size, skill and room to grow could fit the kind of long-term roster puzzle they are trying to solve. The harder part is getting him out of an organization that has every reason to value what he brings, which is why this remains more of an idea than a completed move for now. [Read more 🡒]