The Philadelphia Flyers have been in a major rebuild for quite some time, but this past season, they took a notable step forward, finishing third in the Metropolitan Division and winning one Stanley Cup playoff round, beating their arch-rival Pittsburgh Penguins before being swept by the Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes.

The Flyers followed that up by attempting to make the biggest roster move of any team in the NHL this summer, tendering Anaheim Ducks star center Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $18-million-per-season offer sheet. But now that the Ducks have matched the offer sheet, what are the realistic expectations for a “serious” Flyers team in 2026-27?

Certainly, the Flyers’ offer sheet to Carlsson is a shot across the bow of the rest of the teams in the league. Flyers GM Daniel Briere made it clear to The Athletic he intends to weaponize the $13.9 million he’s built in salary cap space.

“It’s nice to have that luxury,” Briere said of his cap space. “You use it in certain cases like we did on the offer sheet. It gives you the option to do that if there’s something that makes sense that in the future can really help this team take the next step.”

Briere made some targeted moves this summer, picking up veteran goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit from the Toronto Maple Leafs, then signing depth forwards Carl Grundstrom and Noel Acciari to bolster their forward group.

Finally, Briere signed a pair of trade acquisitions from the Ducks, including last summer’s big acquisition, star center Trevor Zegras, to a four-year, $9.12-million-per-season contract, 24-year-old defenseman Jamie Drysdale to a four-year, $6.5 million AAV extension, as well as young forward Tyson Foerster to an eight-year extension worth $7.1 million per season. And they locked up breakout goalie Dan Vladar to a five-year extension worth $5.5 million per season.

Ultimately, Briere has put together a team that, on paper, is definitely better than the Flyers team that finished the 2026 playoffs. In Woll and Vladar, Briere has his goaltending signed for a combined price tag of $7 million this season and $9.1 million for the 2027-28 campaign. Some teams are paying eight figures for one goalie, so that’s a big win for Briere.

There’s also going to be ongoing speculation about the future of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who is entering the final season of his contract before he becomes a UFA next summer. Meanwhile, up front, Philadelphia is deeper with the addition of Acciari, a good footsoldier wherever he’s played. They’ll also have rookie Porter Martone for a full 84-game season after joining the Flyers at the end of the 2025-26 season.

The Flyers have one prominent RFA in left winger Nikita Grebenkin, but he isn’t expected to take much of that cap space in his next contract.

So, while there’s improvement for the Flyers in net and at forward, this is still a Philadelphia team that needs internal improvement if they’re to go further in the playoffs next year.

Flyers coach Rick Tocchet – one of the game’s best bench bosses – hasn’t been afraid to take a tough tact with young stars like Matvei Michkov, and time will tell whether that was the right approach. But Philly’s core of younger talent must own their role as the team elevates its game and ratchets up their game as individuals. That’s what Briere & Co. is counting on.

In a comparatively weak Metro Division, the Flyers have every opportunity to climb higher in the standings. Remember, this Philly team finished tied for second place with the Penguins this past season. The Pens had the tie-breaker, so they got home-ice advantage. But in the end, the Flyers defeated Pittsburgh – and the two Pennsylvania teams could just as easily face off in the opening round of the 2027 post-season. 

Of course, we all know by now progress isn’t always linear. Briere is doing his part to raise the stakes with moves like the offer sheet to Carlsson. The Flyers are still trying to develop their identity, but in some ways, they’re turning out to be the Vegas Golden Knights of the Eastern Conference – an organization unafraid to ruffle feathers as they pursue a championship.

The Carlsson offer sheet didn’t pan out for the Flyers. But they’ve served notice to the rest of the league that they’re done playing nice in an old boy’s club.

There’s now every reason for teams to make aggressive player moves. If Philadelphia has an opportunity to stick it to another franchise by raiding them for talent, they’re absolutely going to do so. And Flyers fans should be stoked about that.

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