The Flyers don’t need a reminder that the power play has been a problem. They’ve lived with it long enough to know the numbers by heart.
Last season, Philadelphia finished at a league-low 15.7% on the man advantage. That was actually better than the year before, when the team sat at 15%, and better still than the 12.2% mark from the season prior. Since the 2021-22 campaign, the Flyers have posted two of the three worst single-season power-play rates in the NHL - 12.2% in 2023-24 and 12.6% in ’21-22 - and five of the bottom 15 overall.
Rick Tocchet said during his spot on the Anthony Gargano Show this week that he wants his coaching staff to think outside the box this summer. He also pointed to the Flyers’ failed 5-on-3 against the Hurricanes in Game 3 as a moment that could have swung the game and the series.
So if the Flyers are going to try something different, there are a few obvious places to start.
One option is to lean all the way into a five-forward setup. That wrinkle has become more common around the NHL, and the Flyers even gave it a look late in the 2024-25 season.
They have the kind of forward talent to make it work, too. Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster and Porter Martone all have a case to be part of the top unit.
Christian Dvorak or Sean Couturier could handle faceoffs before rotating off, in the mold of Jordan Staal with the Carolina Hurricanes. Alex Bump’s shot also gives the group another weapon.
The biggest question in that look is who holds the point. Teams usually want a defenseman there for security if the puck gets turned over.
Tippett’s speed could help him recover, while Foerster’s defensive game could make him a fit in that spot. If the Flyers want a more aggressive setup, Zegras or Michkov could run things from the top and use their vision to create chances.
Michkov has already shown flashes of surveying the ice from the top of the slot to either shoot through traffic or find a teammate. A unit built around Martone at the netfront, Zegras and Michkov as playmakers, and Foerster and Tippett as shooters could be one way to go, with Konecny sliding in for Michkov if the Flyers want a more responsible option.
Another path is to strip things back and use two defensemen at the point. Most teams have moved away from that and toward four forwards, but the Flyers have struggled enough that a return to basics might make sense. They seem to be at their best when they’re cycling in the offensive zone and letting their defensemen jump in at the blue line, so there’s a case for carrying that identity onto the power play.
Jamie Drysdale and David Jiricek look like the leading candidates to run that unit next season. The Flyers might hesitate to use two right-handed shots together, but it’s still a workable idea.
Travis Sanheim and Cam York also have power-play experience, and York in particular came through as an offensive defenseman after producing 65 points in 63 games with the U.S. National U18 Team in his draft year and 20 points in 24 games in his second and final year at Michigan.
The drawback is obvious: Philadelphia has plenty of forwards who deserve power-play time. But sometimes the simplest setup is the one that makes the most sense.
A third idea is to work more from the goal line. Passes from behind the net to the slot can be brutal for a goalie to handle, because the puck is moving from behind or beside him into the danger area out front. That gives the attacking team a clean advantage in how the play develops.
Zegras and Michkov are both candidates to handle that job for the Flyers, and they could even split the responsibility with one on each side. The Flyers haven’t gotten much from plays that start at the point and move down low, and while an entire power play built from behind the goal line would be a lot, it’s a look they should use more often in Philadelphia and around the league.
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