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3 Struggling Flyers with Most to Prove Amid Bad Start
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- 3 Struggling Flyers with Most to Prove Amid Bad Start
An 0-3-2 start to the season is far from what the Philadelphia Flyers expected from themselves after such a promising 2025-26 campaign, but with so few offseason additions, they have only each other to turn to in order to turn the tide.
Despite his best efforts and playing like a savant, Joseph Woll remains winless, and without the newcomer, the Flyers might be 0-5-0 with no points in the bank at all.
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"Goals for Woll" may become a trend in the near future, as the Flyers are tied for last in the NHL with just four goals at 5-on-5 through five games.
Overall, the Flyers have scored just six times in total, with only Calgary and New Jersey keeping them company while having played fewer games - four and three, respetively.
Defensively, the Flyers rank 28th in the NHL with 19 goals allowed in five games, though this number is buoyed in large part by the 7-0 onslaught suffered at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the season opener.
But, this is all to say that, outside of Woll and Dan Vladar, every Flyers player can improve.
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Three, in particular, need to step their games up multiple notches if the team is to right the ship and insert themselves back into the playoff conversation.
Trevor Zegras
In five games this season, Trevor Zegras has managed to produce just two assists, one of which came on the power play thanks to a heads-up play by Matvei Michkov in the crease against Ottawa on Thursday night, sweeping a loose puck over the goal line while the whistle was being blown.
Already, Zegras has ceded his center-ice duties to Christian Dvorak, and the Flyers now have Matvei Michkov taking faceoffs on the first power play unit barely two weeks into the season.
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After signing a four-year, $36.5 million ($9.125 million AAV) extension with the Flyers, expectations for Zegras were raised heading into the season. He and his camp won both ends of the negotiation, pulling in an elevated salary while keeping the contract at a short length.
Now, it's time for Zegras to hold up his end of the bargain. The 25-year-old has hardly looked like the ice-tilting offensive dynamo he was last season, though the Flyers' struggles offensively aren't solely on his shoulders.
Still, Zegras has the talent to be that guy for the Flyers, as he was last year, and while I have little doubt he will eventually turn it around and get going in the right direction, the Flyers don't have time to spare. They've already lost five straight games, including three to Metropolitan Division rivals.
The only way to win hockey games is by scoring more goals than the other team, and the Flyers are depending on Zegras to lead the charge.
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Cam York
Analytically, Cam York has been one of the worst defensemen in the NHL this season. (Photo: Kyle Ross, Imagn Images)
For the last several seasons, Cam York has been a staple in the Flyers' top-four on defense, though he has badly struggled to keep pace this season.
The 25-year-old has often looked a step or two behind and has shown little urgency with the puck. Offensively, much is still to be desired, even with an added opportunity quarterbacking the second power play that has now been lost to David Jiricek and Jamie Drysdale.
Among NHL defensemen with at least four games played this season, only Nashville's Roman Josi has a worse share of scoring chances (13-44, 22.81%) than York (20-53, 27.4%) at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick .
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Like Zegras, it isn't all on York with four other players sharing the ice at 5-on-5 at any given moment, but both Drysdale and Travis Sanheim have much better looking underlying stats without York on the ice compared to with him.
York has no points in five games this season and will need to improve dramatically to retain his hold on a featured spot in the lineup.
Otherwise, the Flyers may be left to seriously consider alternative options on defense, such as Simon Edvinsson or Alex Nikishin.
Tyson Foerster
In reality, Tyson Foerster has played mostly well, but the end product in his game has been completely absent, and it's been absent for some time.
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Foerster, 24, has just two goals, his only two points in his last 15 games played, including the playoffs.
Of course, Foerster dealt with injury woes at the start and end of last season, and upon his second return to the lineup on April 2, Foerster scored three times in his first four games back.
Since his two-goal game against New Jersey on April 7, Foerster has just two goals and three points in 19 games, including the postseason.
The Flyers, like many fans, are enamored with Foerster's potential as a two-way winger given his shooting ability, 6-foot-2 size, and defensive prowess, but the former first-round pick is due to remind the organization and fans of that potential.
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That inconsistency and drop-off is a bit worrisome, considering Foerster, like Zegras, signed a big-money extension this offseason, inking a eight-year, $56.8 million ($7.1 million AAV) deal to remain in Philadelphia for the long haul.
The Flyers have invested heavily in each of the three young players on this list, and in a time of great need, with heightened expectations, Zegras, York, and Foerster need to come through for the team and get the Flyers back on track in a hurry.
