A Playoff Heartbreak Can’t Hide What the Flyers Became This Season: ‘Obviously, We’re Not Done’

When the Flyers limped into the Olympic break, the expected storyline was how friendly the draft lottery would be to the Flyers. Instead, the Flyers went on an unforgettable run, and though they were only given a 3.8% chance of making the playoffs, they showed grit and pushed into the playoffs, clinching the team’s first playoff birth in six years. What stands out the most is that the roster has only a few players with any playoff experience at all, with captain Sean Couturier being the one with the most experience on the team.

The young Flyers came up and consistently produced all postseason, and it showed how much belief both Daniel Briere and Rick Tocchet have in this young core moving forward. The team made huge strides while learning on the fly under the most pressure-packed situations. Outside of Couturier, the only player with any notable playoff experience in Philadelphia as a Flyer was Travis Konecny, who was on the Flyers the last time they made the playoffs in the bubble season, but gaining experience in the playoffs was important for him as a player as well.

“Yeah, it’s great,” Konecny said after Game 4’s overtime loss. “I mean, heading into next year, we know what the goal is again, it’s to get in, and we experienced a lot. We got some great experience here. Again, it’s frustrating. It’s fresh, but there’s some stuff to take from it for sure.”

While it’s important to gain experience, this run signals a huge shift in how the organization looks at young players and how important they are to the future stability of the team. It’s no secret that Briere prefers players with playoff pedigree, evident by bringing in Luke Glendening at the trade deadline, but the balance in how much trust both he and Tocchet had in placing young, untested players into the sprint to the playoffs should be given the attention it deserves. Tocchet was criticized for how he handled Matvei Michkov, and with the talent pipeline filled with highly talented prospects, there was a fear that the Michkov situation was a prelude to how he’d mold the plethora of young talent the Flyers had coming up behind him. This postseason should have calmed those concerns. It’s not a stretch to say Tocchet grew as a coach this season as much as his players did.

Part of what made them successful this season is that having players like Trevor Zegras, who is still young, but this season, he showed an innate leadership that created an atmosphere that made every young player who was called up feel welcomed and supported. Every time a new player was called up, they all talked about how supported they felt by the entire locker room.

“I think every guy on the team was good about making sure I know that they have my back,” Oliver Bonk said Saturday. “So, I’d say everyone was very calming and kind of just let me know that they have me if I mess anything up, and it’s a good feeling.”

This type of leadership is something that can’t be taught. That thought should soothe the heartbreak of a tough loss to end a series a bit. What has been missing in the Flyers’ locker room since the last playoff series is direction, belief, and buy-in. Rookies now feel safe that they’re able to make mistakes, even on the NHL’s biggest stage, and the team will be behind them, creating a sense of brotherhood among all players.

“They’re some of my best buddies now. It’s been super cool,” Alex Bump said. “Me and [Denver Barkey] were talking about it on the ice when we’re getting that standing ovation. Just how much it means to the fans and just how much is more it’s going to make us work harder to try and do something for the fans. Obviously, we’re not done, I don’t think, and we’re just going to get tighter.”

This season was truly the best-case scenario for the Flyers. They are one season removed from having a lottery pick and looking down the barrel of a sixth season without playoff action, and they willed themselves to a playoff and a first-round series win. The Flyers were playing with house money this season, with one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, a new coach, and so many question marks coming into the season. If the Flyers didn’t make the playoffs this season, it wouldn’t have been optimal, but most in the hockey world would have understood, as they didn’t really give the Flyers a chance to do anything of note this season.

Instead, the fans were treated to a team that believed in each other, a team that gelled, and came together when everything was all but done for the Flyers’ season. Watching this team mature in that last playoff sprint, going from the team given a 3.8% chance of making the playoffs to giving the best team in the Eastern Conference a run for their money in the second round, is more than encouraging for the future. While this series ended in heartbreak, this is a gritty team that Philadelphia can get behind and be proud of.

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