Flyers Can Build a Championship Roster Without a Top Draft Pick – The Hockey Writers Philadelphia Flyers Latest News, Analysis & More

After starting off their 2024-25 season with a 4-8-1 record that placed them last in the NHL on Nov. 5, the Philadelphia Flyers have turned it around. Winners in four of their last five contests, the team is nearing the exact area that was more or less expected of them—the middle of the league’s standings.

Although the potential face of the franchise, Matvei Michkov, is playing as advertised in his rookie campaign, the Flyers are still in a position where they need more talent. The roster has regressed offensively to this point, with only Travis Konecny, Michkov, and Travis Sanheim sitting on more than 10 points. If the team really has rebounded record-wise, the problem is that the 2025 NHL Draft may not offer them a sure-fire solution on this front.

While the consensus is that center James Hagens will be selected first overall in the summer, he’s far from a lock to go in that spot. In fact, there are about three other players who have a legitimate case. Finishing with a bad record would have theoretically solved much of the Flyers’ talent woes, but these athletes will be unattainable if the team continues to be competitive. Where they could be picking with their three first-round picks—the middle of the first round and later—appears reminiscent of the 2024 NHL Draft. That is, the number of projectable star players falls off quite fast. The cookie jar might just be empty by the time the Orange and Black finally get to reach their hand in it.

This isn’t to say the Flyers won’t be able to draft a star, but that game-changing sidekick for Michkov probably won’t be there. The team selected Jett Luchanko at 13th overall in their last draft, and though he’s far from a complete product, we can safely assume that he won’t be topping the league’s scoring charts at any point in his career. That’s simply not a reasonable expectation.

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It’s far from a guarantee, but this season seems like the team’s last chance at a get-out-of-jail-free card, of sorts. Acquiring superstar talent will be fairly challenging, if not logistically impossible if they don’t get a top-end pick for this class. Is this bad? Is the rebuild doomed? What are some alternatives?

The Flyers Don’t Need Another Superstar

Yes, I said “another” superstar. In the 83rd percentile for points per game (0.882), Michkov aligns with players like Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, and Matthew Tkachuk when they were his age. So far, he is everything the Flyers could have ever dreamed of.

Stanley Cup contenders don’t even require one superstar, much less two of them. The Flyers struck gold in Michkov and should operate with that knowledge. All of their focus should be on making him better—maybe losing a bunch of games doesn’t do that.

At the end of the day, landing a top-notch player in the 2025 draft class doesn’t make the Stanley Cup Broad Street-bound. There would still be a lot of work to do. The Flyers’ future may look better on paper with a talented center like Hagens or Michael Misa, but that’s not a necessity to win.

Flyers Must Draft and Trade Effectively

There are very few cases of teams in recent memory hitting on superstars without a top draft pick. It happens occasionally, but it’s pretty rare and not something to make your rebuild depend on. So, we’ll make the assumption that the Flyers don’t get another one. If they don’t, it’s not the end of the world.

To build a winner, the Flyers need to hit on their early draft picks. They had some trouble with this throughout the 2010s, putting them in the situation they are now. The Winnipeg Jets, who inherited an Atlanta Thrashers roster that won zero playoff games in its history, drafted tremendously throughout the 2010s but had just one top-five pick. Would it shock you that the Jets have the league’s best record in 2024-25?

Aside from goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, there isn’t a single player in Winnipeg who could confidently be called a superstar. They’re still winning a ton of hockey games. Sometimes, a collective of drafted stars and a good system can create a contender. While they haven’t had a ton of playoff success, you don’t need a Stanley Cup under your belt to have a process that other teams should emulate.

If the Flyers can hit on their first-round picks and turn a few of them into stars, they could have the pieces to contend. It can really be that simple. Luchanko, for example, could be one of them.

Similarly, trading can be a path to glory. This would take a bit more boldness from general manager (GM) Daniel Brière and his staff, but it’s totally feasible. The Flyers’ lack of centers has reached a breaking point with Morgan Frost being repeatedly scratched for performance-related concerns. The 2025 free agent will almost certainly be on another team next season. Philadelphia will want to address this in the offseason, potentially through trading.

If the Flyers indeed finish in the middle of the standings for a second straight season, they’ll want to upgrade their roster in the offseason. That’s primarily because they haven’t altered their team much at all since Brière took over. The day prior to the firing of former GM Chuck Fletcher on March 10, 2023, this is the lineup the team rolled out:

Lines and pairs:

Farabee – Frost – Tippett
Laughton – Cates – Foerster
JvR – Desnoyers – Hayes
Deslauriers – Laczynski – Bellows

Provorov – York
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Seeler – Braun

— Charlie O’Connor (@charlieo_conn) March 9, 2023

Isolating the top-six forwards and top-four defensemen, only one member of that group (Ivan Provorov) is not on the team presently. With both Konecny and Sean Couturier injured at that time, two more members will be long-term fixtures of the Orange and Black. Almost zero changes have been made since Brière took over—it can’t continue to be that way. Trades will be made, and perhaps some aggressive ones.

The Flyers have plenty of ammo if they want to trade their way out of their center conundrum specifically. They have plenty of roster players who can serve as intriguing value for another club and double as freeing cap space. With six draft selections in the first two rounds for the 2025 class, that part won’t be much of a problem. If a team is willing to sell a center (or a star in general), the Flyers can be all over it. They’ve been unusually passive in the trade department for a while now—is the 2025 offseason where that comes to an end?

Trades can address issues that the draft cannot. If the Flyers want a swift but effective solution to their dearth down the middle (or other areas of the roster), Brière should ask around. They can start getting results out of this team if they do. This, while simultaneously making good choices in the draft—not a bad plan, right? The Washington Capitals, who don’t have a prospect of Michkov’s caliber, have been following this plan and have a 13-4-1 record to show for it.

Flyers’ Contracts Are a Key to Success

On top of being smart in draft and trade scenarios, the Flyers must remember that they aren’t a charity. In a world with a tight (but rising) salary cap, money is hard to come by. Teams that can’t find value in their contracts don’t win—it’s a challenge that doesn’t get talked about enough.

Let’s think about it. If every player is making their market value or above it, winning a Stanley Cup will be a challenge. The Florida Panthers got brilliant value on a lot of their contracts to pave the way for their championship in 2024, and it’s not just because they play in a tax-free state. While their foe, the Edmonton Oilers, were spending millions of dollars on players who were contributing little or no value to their lineup, the Panthers were cruising with their bargain deals. The Flyers don’t want to be the Oilers.

There will be players who the fans love that the Flyers have to trade. Sometimes, it has to be done for the good of the team. However, Philadelphia has largely avoided this over the past decade-plus. They’ve been one of the league’s most generous teams since the introduction of the salary cap, which is another reason why the Flyers’ identity has gone from regularly in the playoffs to perpetually in the middle. Every single player can’t be paid the big bucks—a shift in this philosophy has to take place.

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However it needs to happen, the Flyers must get some value on their contracts. Financial efficiency will take them a long way.

The Flyers could be headed to the middle of the standings again. Whether or not that means a playoff berth in an Eastern Conference that has just seven teams above .500, the Orange and Black need to be thinking about the future. How will they improve their roster to be able to seriously compete for a championship? Contrary to what some may believe, a Stanley Cup is still achievable without a top draft pick. It’ll take some work, but it’s doable.