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New York Times

Flyers fan survey results: Solid support for Briere, Tocchet; Michkov will be a star

Many thanks to the more than 2,000 of you who took time to fill out a survey about a hockey team in late July. Let's get right to the results, with some brief analysis. These results should delight the people in charge of the organization. Briere earned high marks for the job he's done so far, with approximately 85 percent of respondents giving him an A or a B, while a vast majority of fans seem to trust him to see the rebuild through. I imagine Briere's strong offseason factored heavily in these results. He earned universal praise for prying Trevor Zegras out of Anaheim for a minimal return, oversaw a draft that earned solid grades from the people who judge those sorts of things, and seemingly improved the Flyers' roster with some depth moves while maintaining flexibility for the 2026 offseason. Fan sentiment seems to be much more positive now than it was at the conclusion of the disappointing 2024-25 season. Advertisement Briere has been up-front and honest about his plan from the start, too, which I'm guessing is something fans appreciate. That all said, the 2025-26 season will finally start to reveal whether Briere's plan is working. The Flyers are attempting to move forward on the rebuild for the first time since he took over. If that doesn't happen… well, we'll see what these results look like a year from now. Frankly, I thought the results would be much more pro-Torts. I know he is a polarizing figure, but I always got the sense Flyers fans thought much more positively about him than these results suggest. At the same time, there's probably been enough information that's come out since Tortorella was fired on March 27 to suggest it was time for the club to move on. Further, if the Flyers take another step under Rick Tocchet and meaningfully improve in 2025-26, Tortorella will be seen as having played an important role in establishing the foundation. Put another way, Tortorella's Flyers legacy has yet to be fully written. Admittedly, I thought this would be closer to 50-50, but the fact that this skews so much in Tocchet's favor strongly suggests (to me, anyway) that those who didn't want the club to hire him were much more vocal on social media than those that agreed with the move. Tocchet's many media appearances and his ability to communicate in front of a camera, coupled with the Flyers' marketing department deftly playing up his history with the team has a player, have probably helped his cause, too. This seems about right, and would probably be my answer, too. It's still a bit too ambitious to expect the Flyers to make the playoffs this season, but as long as they take another step, they'll be in a good position to make some major moves one year from now with their ample salary cap space and a cupboard full of prospects that could be dangled if there are any top players available on the trade market. Advertisement No surprises here. After Michkov led all NHL rookies in goals with 26, fans seem to believe the sky is the limit for the 20-year-old winger. Michkov will likely get more ice time under Tocchet this season than he did under Tortorella, and if the Flyers can somehow improve their power play, he could be primed for a true breakout campaign. Foerster has shown steady improvement in his two full seasons in the league, both offensively and defensively, establishing himself as a key part of the future. The others on this list have shown promise, but haven't been nearly as consistent. More than three-quarters of respondents gave the Flyers an A or a B here (I gave them a B+ when asked a few weeks ago). Obviously, this will be much easier to judge after we see how guys such as Zegras, Dan Vladar and Christian Dvorak perform in their new environs. These results seem about right. Vladar hasn't done enough in his career yet to consider him the antidote for the Flyers' persistent goaltending problems, but he's still a much better option than Ivan Fedotov or Aleksei Kolosov. Vladar posted an .898 save percentage last season, and if he's simply able to replicate that this season, it would be a tremendous boost for the club. Konecny's eight-year contract extension begins this season (and his full no-movement clause for the first six years of that deal has already kicked in). He led the Flyers in scoring again last season with a career-high 76 points, and although he suffered through a brutal late-season slump, he's still the heartbeat of the team. At 28 years old, Konecny is in the prime of his career and should still be an effective top-six winger for the next several seasons, at least. Advertisement Yeah, I'd lean Michkov here myself because I do think he could already be a point-per-game player, particularly if the power play improves. I kind of figured Jett Luchanko would get a few more votes, but really, this chart suggests to me that you all are paying attention. There's no question the organization loves Alex Bump, and he could very well start the season on the NHL roster. Egor Zavragin has impressed in the KHL, too, and even though he's still got two years left on his contract over there, he could be the goalie of the future if he continues to develop. Congrats, Gritty. You appear to be safe. For now. (Photo of Rick Tocchet: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)