The National Hockey League playoffs are in full swing and once again the Philadelphia Flyers will not be taking part. This marks the fifth straight year the Flyers have missed out on postseason play and it has now been seven years since local fans have been able to experience a live home game at South Philly’s Wells Fargo Center.
The last time the Flyers qualified for the postseason was in 2020 and the playoff games were held in Canada due to the ongoing pandemic.
No Flyers to root for this year? Think again. There are plenty of former Flyers and local connections to keep your interest into June. This might help because there are no Rangers, Islanders, Bruins or Penguins to root against this year, either.
Here’s a team-by-team look in alphabetical order.
Carolina Hurricanes: There’s lots to like with this Hurricanes team, starting at the top with coach Rod Brind’Amour. Hot Rod scored 601 points in Philly during his 20-year career that included a Cup in Carolina. On the roster, Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker are patrolling the blue line for the Hurricanes. Local guy Eric Robinson, a Gloucester Catholic High School alum, is having a career year with 14 goals as bottom-six forward. Wouldn’t it be cool to see Robinson bring the Cup home to South Jersey?
Colorado Avalanche: Flyers General Manager Danny Briere did Erik Johnson a solid by sending him back to Colorado where he had a great career and won a Stanley Cup in 2022. Could be the end of the road for the former first-overall pick. For a local rooting interest, Ross Colton, who scored the Stanley Cup game-winning goal for Tampa Bay in 2021, is now on the Avalanche. He was born in Robbinsville, New Jersey, just outside of Trenton.
Dallas Stars: Former goaltending coach Jeff Reese is doing that same gig out in Dallas. Aside from that, there’s not much to pursue a Philadelphia fan to root for a team from Dallas.
Edmonton Oilers: Calvin Pickard. Remember him? He played 11 games in net for the Flyers in 2019, posting an .863 save percentage. He’s on to better things in Alberta as he came within one game of winning the Stanley Cup last year as a backup. Will this be the year?
Florida Panthers: If he’s not destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame already, Sergei Bobrovsky could cement his place with a second Stanley Cup this postseason. The former Flyers netminder already has two Vezina trophies from his time in Columbus and more than 400 wins on his resume. Bobrovsky’s departure from Philly remains one of the most regrettable trades in Flyers history.
Los Angeles Kings: The Kings used to be known as “Flyers West,” as Los Angeles gathered a bunch of former Flyers and won a couple Stanley Cups a decade ago. It’s not the case anymore. However, L.A. did pick up Andrei Kuzmenko at the trade deadline and they look pretty smart for doing it. After posting five points in seven games here, Kuzmenko has recorded 16 points in 19 games in SoCal, becoming a major factor on the powerplay.
Minnesota Wild: Ryan Hartman wasn’t here long as he played just 19 games in the 2018-19 season. He’s found a home as a key component in Minnesota over the last six years, which included a 34-goal season. He was a rookie with the 2015 Chicago Blackhawks championship team but didn’t play enough games to have his name engraved on the Cup.
Montreal Canadiens: He was never a Flyer, but he darn well should have been. In the 2019 entry draft, the Flyers had not one, but two chances to draft highly-touted but undersized goal scorer Cole Caufield. Philly had the 11th pick, but traded down to 14 where they drafted Cam York. Caufield went next to the Habs at 15 and has posted 218 points in 286 games. Caufield remains one of the biggest “what-ifs?” in recent memory.
New Jersey Devils: The Flyers and Devils typically don’t share a lot of players, so we dug deep to find former Flyer Ryan McGill is an assistant coach in New Jersey. The defenseman played 134 of his 151 career games with Philadelphia. You don’t want to root for those guys anyway.
Ottawa Senators: Longtime Flyers captain Claude Giroux will have a chance to seek glory in front of his hometown fans as the Senators are back in the playoffs after an eight-year absence. Giroux scored 900 points as a Flyer, which is second in franchise history only to Bobby Clarke. For a little added Flyers spice, journeyman Nick Cousins has reunited with Giroux in Ottawa. The pair played three seasons together in Philly.
St. Louis Blues: Brayden Schenn has already won a Stanley Cup with St. Louis. He’ll be looking to add a second championship to tie his brother Luke thanks to a recent 12-game winning streak.
Tampa Bay Lightning: There’s not much in terms of current players, but Rob Zettler is one of the Lightning’s assistant coaches. Zettler played two seasons with the Flyers in the early Eric Lindros era. More importantly, he’s just one of 13 players in franchise history whose last name begins with a ‘Z’.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Toronto is now loaded with former Flyers after the trade-deadline acquisition of Scott Laughton. He joins likely starting goalie Anthony Stolarz and depth defenseman Philppe Myers. The Maple Leafs are in their first year under head coach and former Flyers enforcer Craig Berube, who coached the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019.
Vegas Golden Knights: Can you believe Vegas has been in the NHL for eight years already? It’s also crazy to think the Golden Knights have been in four conference finals already. There’s a couple of Flyers nuggets on the coaching staff as former head coach John Stevens is an assistant and Sean Burke is director of goaltending.
Washington Capitals: Relatively speaking is only real connection for the Flyers and Caps. Jakob Chychrun is the son of former Flyer Jeff Chychrun and Trevor van Riemsdyk is the brother of longtime former Flyer James van Riemsdyk.
Winnipeg Jets: Luke Schenn has appeared on this list in previous years and was the big winner. Schenn was acquired at the trade deadline by the eventual Presidents Trophy-winning Jets. He’s played more than 1,000 games and won a pair of Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. It’s been quite a career for the former fifth-overall draft pick who spent parts of four years in Philly.
