Flyers Signing Michael Bunting Is Admission of Cracks in the Armor

Four games, and four losses, into the 2026-27 season, the Philadelphia Flyers have pulled the first lever available to them in an effort to right the ship, signing veteran forward Michael Bunting to a one-year contract.

On paper, Bunting, 31, is an experienced middle-six upgrade for the Flyers, depending on the fit and role they have envisioned for him.

The 6-foot energy winger scored a career-high 63 points with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021-22 as a complement to Auston Matthews, and Bunting also scored 19 goals and 55 points in the 2023-24 season.

Recent seasons have been less productive for Bunting with stints on average Pittsburgh and Nashville teams, and he ended last season with just two points in 13 games for a powerhouse Dallas squad.

That sluggish end to the season left Bunting unsigned through the start of this season, until the Flyers signed him on Tuesday.

By adding a 31-year-old veteran like Bunting, the Flyers have recognized the cracks in their armor amid a woeful 0-2-2 start that is worse, statistically, than the winless record indicates.

This is the Flyers' not-so-subtle way of sending a message, that this self immolation at the start of the season is not acceptable.

With a glut of wingers already at their disposal, Bunting's addition almost certainly means one or both of Denver Barkey and Alex Bump will be seeing AHL time, with Bump serving as a healthy scratch in Monday night's 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

That is the current path of least resistance with Nikita Grebenkin on injured reserve; the Russian winger has gone nearly seven full months since his last NHL regular season game.

The next lever the Flyers can, and have shown willing to, pull is a trade.

By now, we all know that Simon Edvinsson and Alex Nikishin would be huge upgrades on defense for the Flyers, and the Flyers would have to meaningfully give in order to get for either player.

Signing Bunting and trading one of the team's established wingers would send a strong message to the rest of the locker room if deemed necessary.

As for the future outlook, if the Flyers continue to struggle, the front office can always flip Bunting, if he has a decent enough showing wearing the Orange and Black, for assets at the NHL trade deadline.

But this is the Flyers' first outward admission that things aren't working, and it's now more than something as simple as "well, we're only four games into the season."

Having earned just two of a possible eight points against Eastern Conference foes, the Flyers are understandably running out of patience.