The NHL Network’s latest ranking of the league’s top 20 defensemen came and went on Sunday, and somehow the Flyers were shut out entirely.
That omission stands out even more because Philadelphia’s blue line was one of the biggest reasons behind the fairytale 2025-26 Flyers. Yet when the network laid out its list of the best defensemen “right now,” no Flyers player made the cut - and the biggest miss was Travis Sanheim.
The top of the ranking looked familiar enough, with names like Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Lane Hutson, Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Dahlin and Zach Werenski filling the list. But Sanheim, the Flyers’ clear No. 1 defenseman, was left off altogether for a second straight year.
That’s a tough sell given what Sanheim just put on the ice. The 30-year-old helped lead the Flyers to their first playoff berth in six years, finishing with a career-high 11 goals and 37 points while averaging 24:13 per game. He also posted a career-best plus-12 and a career-low 20 penalty minutes, all while logging heavy minutes at both ends of the ice.
His workload backed up how central he was to the team. Sanheim’s 24:13 of ice time ranked 16th in the league among qualifying defensemen, and he played in every regular-season game except the meaningless finale after Philadelphia had already locked up its playoff spot.
He also carried that season into international play, suiting up for Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Sanheim finished with one assist in five games and earned a Silver Medal after Canada fell to the United States in the Gold-Medal Game.
There’s room to debate how Sanheim stacks up against the NHL’s most established stars and most productive puck-movers. But leaving him off the top 20 entirely makes the list feel hard to defend.
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Briere has been more than a symbolic figurehead, too. His roster-building has shown real intent, especially with the 2025 acquisition of Trevor Zegras, a move aimed at giving the Flyers more skill and pace in the lineup. The results have already pushed Philadelphia back into the fight, even if the run ended in the second round against Carolina, and the next question is how far Briere can keep pressing this rebuild before it turns into something even more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
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Flyers Fans Can Already See The Debate Around This Scoring Gamble
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For Flyers fans, the appeal is easy to understand and the debate is just as easy to picture. Laine still carries the kind of scoring upside that can change the mood around an offense, but his injury history also makes him the sort of player teams have to approach carefully. Philadelphia is one of the clubs weighing whether that upside is worth the risk, and the conversation around him is already starting to feel like one of those front-office calls that can split a fan base before anything is even finalized. [Read more 🡒]