Flyers Will Only Go as Far as Their Young Core Will Take Them
Apr 14, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Porter Martone (94) celebrates his goal with right wing Matvei Michkov (39) against the Montréal Canadiens during the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
The 2025-26 Flyers put the team back on the map in the hockey world. Coming into that season, the Flyers were ranked 22nd best in the NHL. This is to be expected for a team that is in the middle of a rebuild. There were several reasons to feel optimistic about the Flyers, like the emergence of Matvei Michkov and bringing in a talented player in Trevor Zegras. There was a buzz about the Flyers, but nobody was prepared for what was to come.
This offseason has not been one that has been marked by a huge trade; it’s one of keeping the core of the team together and building on the success that got them into the playoffs for the first time in six seasons. This training camp, there isn’t just one exciting young player to look for to take the next step; there are actually four new names to add to Michkov — Porter Martone, Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, and Alex Bump.
While the preseason rankings have the Flyers at 14th, and the case can be made that they should be higher, there is one fact that is indisputable: the Flyers will only go as far as how well this “Fab Five” takes that next step.
It’s unfair to place too much on the shoulders of one young player, as many did last season with Michkov, but this season there are more young players looking to leap to the next level.
“It’s not like we have a lot of holes like we had the last few years,” general manager Daniel Briere said during his end-of-year press conference. “Coming down the stretch, you look at adding three players in Bump, Barkey, and Martone that didn’t start the year with us. I have a hard time imagining our lineup without them.”
While Michkov struggled to find his footing last season and pick up where he left off in his sophomore season, four other young players were taking their own path to get onto the Flyers roster and write their stories. All four of them showed promise, highlighted by Martone and his heroics late in the season and in the playoffs. He proved that the spotlight was never too bright for him. Each of the others had moments to shine and get a taste of the speed of the NHL game and the grit it takes to excel at the highest level of hockey.
Barkey and Bump were both players that were on the surface supposed to be brief call-ups from Lehigh Valley; both fought hard to stay on the roster once they got a taste of NHL action. While Bonk hasn’t had an extended taste of action at this level, nothing about his development and game suggests that he will shrink when the spotlight is at its brightest.
We enter this season with a different version of the same question: What can we expect from Michkov? The difference is this season he is coming in focused and sharp instead of taking the mental break like he did last season. In the early days of the NHL, you could use training camp to get into playing shape, but in the modern NHL, you have to come into camp in peak physical shape and use the time to work on the finer parts of the game. This offseason has been a vastly different one than last year. Rick Tocchet has described this offseason as Michkov’s revenge tour, and given the way that Tocchet coaches and played the game, that’s high praise and should result in a better camp for Michkov and give him a chance to gel with his young teammates.
While one can only daydream about the creativity that having Martone, Michkov, and Barkey on the ice together will bring and the chaos it will cause, this training camp may give us a chance to see this in action. With three weeks until the puck drops for the first preseason game against the Washington Capitals, the young core can prepare to lift this team into the stratosphere together. Until then, we have to wait and see how well this Flyers Fab Five can grow together during camp.
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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