Here's what the Flyers should keep in mind as they build their core group

New York Times

7 hours ago

The old guys can still get it done this time of year.
One of the primary takeaways from this year's Stanley Cup Final — other than how enjoyable it's been to watch the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers ferociously go at one another — is that veterans thought to be past their primes can still contribute to championship-level teams when the stakes are highest. The Panthers' Brad Marchand and Oilers' Corey Perry, ages 37 and 40, respectively, have been vital cogs on their clubs for the past two months. Neither team would be where it is without them.
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It reminds me of another team, and player, I covered nearly a decade ago. When the San Jose Sharks made their run to the final in 2016, they were led by a then 36-year old Joe Thornton. It was one of the more remarkable seasons of Thornton's legendary career. After Christmas, Thornton was second in the league in scoring behind only Sidney Crosby, who was then at the height of his powers. He kept it up in the playoffs, too, with 21 points in 24 games during that run.
So what's this have to do with the Flyers?
Let's first mention that at the conclusion of this past season, Elite Prospects had the Flyers with the youngest roster in the NHL, at just a hair over 26 years old on average. Part of that is because of guys such as Emil Andrae (23), Karsen Dorwart (22) and Devin Kaplan (21) ended the season with the big club, but, regardless, this is one of the youngest teams in the league and it still will be when the 2025-26 season begins.
That's encouraging for the future, of course, particularly when you consider the Flyers have some young prospects who will turn pro next season, along with an abundance of picks in the upcoming draft. In another couple weeks, they should have a nice stable of prospects in their system, to go along with that fresh-faced NHL group, which is a solid foundation off which to build.
But we also know that the club would like to start being more competitive beginning in 2025-26. And there's little doubt, either, that by 2026-27, the playoffs will be the primary objective. It's an ambitious goal, to be sure, but general manager Daniel Briere has left little ambiguity about his aims.
And no team makes the playoffs these days without a healthy sprinkling of veterans who will be counted on to contribute both on and off the ice. In fact, Elite Prospects shows the Oilers with the league's oldest roster (30.07 years), and the Panthers with the fifth-oldest (29.28 years).
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To be clear, Briere's biggest challenge from now until the start of that 2026-27 season remains finding enough talent to make the Flyers a legitimate threat. That can't be glossed over.
But just as important is deciding which players already here should remain for the long haul, with age not always the most important factor. And in that sense, what Briere envisions as the Flyers' core group is beginning to congeal.
In fact, I don't believe it's all that difficult a task to break down the roster into a few distinct categories.
First, there's the group that management envisions will eventually be a part of a winning team: Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Matvei Michkov, Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster — the latter two of whom recently were signed to reasonable contract extensions, Cates for four years at a $4 million AAV, and Foerster for two years at a $3.75 million AAV (and after which he will still be under team control).
Michkov isn't going anywhere, of course, but frankly I can't envision a reasonable scenario in which the Flyers part with any of those other four players anytime soon. It's already been well-established that Konecny and Sanheim are perceived as veteran on and off-ice leaders; Cates is at least a solid third-line center and was also brought into the leadership group late in the season, further reflecting how they view him; and the 23-year-old Foerster seems to be developing into an elite two-way winger who should be able to regularly eclipse 30 goals in his prime.
Then, there's a secondary group — the players who probably are part of the core, but aren't there quite yet: Owen Tippett, who has a lengthy contract but also a no-trade clause that doesn't kick in for another year, and Cam York, still a restricted free agent without a new deal, who is coming off of a strange season. Both still have plenty of runway to get better.
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Then, there are the players still trying to prove they'll be part of the solution: Jamie Drysdale, Bobby Brink and Ryan Poehling, who all of whom took steps this season — but I'd argue still need to show more — and Samuel Ersson, who management believes is a better goaltender than his numbers reflect.
And then there are the older guys, who, yes, could still be around for 2026-27: Sean Couturier, Nick Seeler and Garnet Hathaway.
Couturier's future is difficult to predict with his injury history, but it was encouraging that his 2024-25 season was better than his 2023-24 campaign, and he looked rejuvenated after John Tortorella was fired. While it's difficult to predict where Couturier might fit on the club in two years, his $7.75 AAV contract through 2029-30 probably keeps him here for the foreseeable future. His is still the only truly concerning contract on the books.
As for the 32-year-old Seeler and 33-year-old Hathaway, a big part of the reason Briere signed both of them to extensions — Seeler through 2027-28, and Hathaway through 2026-27 — was because of how much he values the way they approach the game. Neither would look out of place on a team that plays and competes like the Panthers do. How effective they'd both be in 2026-27 is hard to say, but simply assuming they're going to be gone by the start of the that season would be foolish.
There were some eyebrows raised last week when the Anaheim Ducks, who seem to have a promising young core in place, traded for 34-year-old declining veteran winger Chris Kreider, who is signed for two more seasons at a $6.5 million AAV. Kreider joins his former Rangers teammate, Jacob Trouba, who has also slowed down in recent years, with the Ducks, who acquired Trouba in December.
Anaheim wants to push for the playoffs next season. And Trouba and Kreider, who have ample league and playoff experience, are going to be counted on to help get them there — and, if they get there, well, Trouba and Kreider strike me as the kind of hard-nosed guys who could help give a playoff team some added juice, just like guys such as Marchand and Perry have given their clubs.
Briere, conversely, seems to be trying to avoid having to search for that kind of veteran moxie. Preferably, the Flyers will build that internally — otherwise, guys such as Seeler, Hathaway and maybe even Konecny and Sanheim would be playing elsewhere by now.
Will it work? Who knows? But the Flyers' blueprint has at least come into focus over the past two years. Recent happenings around the league suggest the plan has some merit.
(Photo of Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)