The Flyers almost made the playoffs in 2024, it took a borderline historical collapse for them to accomplish this feat but that is reality. The other reality is that the Flyers are in a hockey "no man's land," they are not bad enough to accumulate top-tier prospects, but also not a serious contender for the playoffs.
The Flyers are lucky they have Matvei Michkov because, outside of him, the Flyers' prospect pool is not strong. Let's also be fair, the Flyers do have some very promising young pieces locked up long term, such as Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett.
The Flyers also have three first-round picks this year and have $26 million in cap space. They also have a new coach in Rick Tocchet. Will the Flyers try and leverage some of that draft capital to take a step forward?
I think the Flyers will not want to tank again. Many of their younger players, like Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster, have yet to take a massive step forward in their development. I think the Flyers will look to be semi-aggressive this offseason and give Tocchet a competitive team.
Trade
I have not been bashful in my recent posts about my desire to trade Rickard Rakell. His trade value is high, and we need to exploit it to build our blueline or acquire high draft picks. The Flyers need a center in the worst way, and Rakell filled in the 2C role when Crosby was hurt and played well. The Penguins desperately need young, talented defenders so this trade would benefit both sides.