Will the Flyers make the playoffs for a second year in a row?
Despite the smashing success that was the 2025-26 season, the Philadelphia Flyers are not favored to repeat as a playoff team heading into 2026-27.
Popular NHL analytics site MoneyPuck released its first predictions of the 2026-27 season, outlining each NHL team's chance to make the playoffs, reach the Stanley Cup Final, win their division, the number of points they are expected to reach, and more.
For now, the Flyers are starting off in the bottom half of the NHL with their 43.1% chance of making the playoffs, which notably ranks below teams like the Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, and Utah Mammoth.
Those odds put the Flyers in the same tier as teams like the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets, who have 42.2% and 41.9% chances of making the playoffs, respectively.
MoneyPuck also projects the Flyers to have a 20.1% chance of reaching the second round of the playoffs, as they did last year; a 9.2% chance of reaching the third round; a 4.3% chance of reaching the Stanley Cup Final; a 2% chance of winning the Cup, and 6% chance of winning the Metropolitan Division.
As for points, MoneyPuck has the Flyers sitting at 93.4 points, which would be a five-point regression from the 98 they amassed last season.
Should the Flyers be underdogs?
At first glance, it does make some sense that the Flyers are not exactly expected to repeat as a playoff team for the second year in a row.
Goalie Joseph Woll was the Flyers' biggest addition this offseason. (Photo: Kyle Ross, Imagn Images)Outside of the addition of backup goalie Joseph Woll and the attempt to bring in superstar center Leo Carlsson on an offer sheet, the Flyers bumbled through a mostly nondescript offseason where their only other noteworthy addition was veteran center Noel Acciari, who came over from the slightly more favored Pittsburgh.
Plus, teams that missed the playoffs last season, like Washington and New Jersey, made considerable upgrades in contrast, adding players like Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, Boone Jenner, Luke Evangelista, Anthony Mantha, and Evan Rodrigues.
The Flyers can look at full seasons of Porter Martone and Tyson Foerster as new additions of their own, while David Jiricek and Simon Benoit should be able to contribute more than Emil Andrae and Noah Juulsen did last year.
Woll, too, is a considerable upgrade on the departed Sam Ersson, who went 14-11-5 with a .870 save percentage in his final season with the Flyers last year.
Comparatively, Pittsburgh's best players aren't getting any younger, and they'll be rocking an unproven tandem in goal with Sergei Murashov and Arturs Silovs.
Columbus has dealt with some major distractions between Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli, and now Kirill Marchenko, and defenseman Dante Fabbro will begin the year on injured reserve.
With a fast start, the Flyers should quickly overtake some of their peers in the eyes of the public.
