Flyers’ Identity Is Finally Showing, and That’s Why Deadline Moves Could Be a Mistake
Owen Tippett #74 of the Philadelphia Flyers looks on against the Carolina Hurricanes during their game at the Lenovo Center on December 14, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
The Philadelphia Flyers’ latest road trip was a roller coaster, and it culminated with a huge 7-3 win over the team with the best record in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche. While some who haven’t watched this team all season saw a fluke, I saw something different. I saw the Flyers play to their potential, and while they saw a one-off, I saw a warning to the rest of the league.
Several factors led to this big win, and that is what is encouraging for the Flyers — it wasn’t just a breakout game from Owen Tippett that got the win, though that was a huge part of it; Rick Tocchet shuffled the defensive pairings before the game, and though that looked like a mistake early on, with the Avalanche having a 14-2 shots advantage at one point in the first, the Flyers defense bent but didn’t break. Once the pairings settled in together, they clamped down and held them to 35 for the game. Another very encouraging sign was that Dallas Barkey had a goal, and Matvei Michkov had 2 very pretty goals.
What changed was that the Flyers played another team with elite speed, and they changed up the way that they handled them, and it worked out. When they played the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo in the middle of their six-game slide, they were not at all prepared for the absolute track meet that they were up against. When they went to Denver, the new pairings weren’t perfect, but what they did do was that they cut off angles and didn’t allow breakaway chances. Every chance that Colorado had was rushed, and though they had shots on net, none were in places that Samuel Ersson couldn’t handle. This was a huge change to the way that they played in the third period in Utah.
While we don’t want to put too much stock in a mid-January win over the best team in the league, it definitely meant more to the team than just the points. This was proof to them that they can do it on the biggest stage, and the confidence gained from this win can be a building block to taking the next step. The team keeps telling us that this is a brick-by-brick rebuild, and they have been living up to that moniker, and this win was a cornerstone brick for rebuilding the Flyers. The fact that they made a statement that they not only can beat the best team, but can do so late and convincingly has to be confidence-building, and they proved it to themselves, which is entirely more important than proving it to the outside world. They played together and looked like a complete unit.
That’s why moving Tippett or Rasmus Ristolainen as a headline deadline play feels like confusing optionality with necessity, because what Tippett did in that building is the kind of thing teams spend years trying to draft and develop, and it happened in a game where the Flyers didn’t need him to play reckless hockey to change the outcome. Tippett scored a hat trick and added an assist, including the go-ahead goal early in the third and a short-handed goal that capped the night. Those plays weren’t a random hot streak; they came from building pressure and being in the right places when the game finally broke open.
Though the trade deadline is about 6 weeks away, the trade rumor mill is in full spin already, and there are many mock trades already taking shape for the Flyers, ranging from Elias Pettersson, David Kampf, and Drew O’Connor from the Vancouver Canucks. Part of that is that the Canucks have been largely disappointing this season, and look to be heading into full rebuild mode, and partly that they have familiarity with Tocchet. It appears that I am in the minority here, but I think that while these moves individually make sense on paper, in practice, they are a terrible idea.
The Flyers are one of the youngest teams in the league, and have largely played far above expectations this season. Bringing in veteran players will undoubtedly affect the growth of the young players who are starting to grow into themselves, and that is a short-sighted move on the part of management. Daniel Brierre has shown that he is committed to this core and is supplementing as needed, so while the rest of the hockey world is buzzing about bringing in reinforcements from Tocchet’s former team, I would venture a bet to say that the Flyers will ride with who we have.
There are two huge considerations here; the first is the most important, messing with team chemistry. This group is fun to watch because they are having fun. They are playing hard for each other, and it shows not only their effort on the ice but also in the way that they have evolved all season. Even in the midst of that horrible six-game losing streak, they never lost who they are, and it has paid off. That team chemistry was evident from the moment Trevor Zegras entered the building, and it has only grown as the season has churned on. The other key element in trading for established veterans is that the Flyers will have to give up assets to get them, and Tippett, who has been the center of trade talks for weeks, proved that he not only has a place on this team, but is gearing up for a late-season push. The other is the currently injured Ristolainen, though he has been the odd man out seemingly in the Flyers’ pairings rotations. I genuinely think moving him would be a mistake; having that veteran presence out there is huge.
The only area I can see a need to improve is in the goalie room. Though Ersson has shown flashes of brilliance filling in for the injured Daniel Vladar, he has also looked completely out of sorts at times as well. This inconsistency is something that the young Flyers team can’t have, and moving forward in the latter part of the season. It’s my contention that it may be time to cut ties with Ersson, and I know that is hard to say after he played so well in Denver, but we have to look at the totality of his season, not just one game. What we have seen hasn’t been good. With this aside, I think making a knee-jerk trade is a bad idea and could disrupt what has been building all season. But with that said, we still have time. The picture will become clearer as the deadline marches closer.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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