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Broad Street Hockey

A Lehigh Valley Phantoms blog. We talk about the AHL. That's it.

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2025-26 Player Grades: Alex Bump made a big first impression for Flyers

This season was an exiting one for the Flyers. The late surge into a meaningful playoff appearance did a lot of good to rebuild the excitement around the team, and make clear that, while the approach may not have always been the most conventional, their rebuild is moving in the right direction. It was a positive to see so many players up and down the lineup stepping up in big ways for the Flyers throughout this season, but the arrival of so many of their highly touted prospects headlined ...

Tuesday Morning Fly By: The stages are set

*After last night’s Game 7, the Conference Finals are set and one of these matchups was a lot more predictable than the other, wouldn’t you say? Anyway Go Canes Go. [ AP ] *Anyhoo, the Flyers! Porter Martone continues to look like an absolute freak (complimentary) at Worlds. [ BSH ] *Hey, has anyone told you yet that this is a big summer for Danny Briere and the Flyers organization as a whole? That choices will need to be made? Feels like a good time to start speculating about who wi...

Should the Flyers regret passing on Konsta Helenius already?

Maybe the most annoying and somewhat pointless exercise that so many fans do multiple times a season is look at who their team could’ve drafted instead of the one they did, because of how those players’ careers turned out and how different their team would look if they just made that decision on the draft floor differently. It often gets fairly old — such as the Cam York over Cole Caufield decision that so many Philadelphia Flyers fans bring up — or just becomes yelling about something th...

John Carlson could be the Flyers’ perfect offseason signing

The Philadelphia Flyers have had a few clear problems — and needs — in recent years. The most important need is a top-line center, but those aren’t exactly easy to come by. A top-of-the-line defenseman would be nice as well. Travis Sanheim has proven to be a legitimate top-pair defenseman in recent years, but he’s never going to win a Norris Trophy. Dan Vladar helped solve the Flyers’ goaltending problem, at least for now, as the veteran had a career year in his first season in Orang...

2025-26 Player Grades: Luke Glendening hilariously saved the Flyers’ season

Luke Glendening was not here for a long time, but was certainly here for a good time. When the Philadelphia Flyers claimed the veteran center off of waivers on March 6, the same day as the trade deadline as rumors were swirling and some deals were being made around the league, it was expected for him to just be the replacement for Nic Deslauriers, who was traded to the Hurricanes earlier in the day. But for some reason, things just clicked on the ice. It was almost immediate — as soo...

What will next contracts for Flyers’ Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras look like?

The Philadelphia Flyers are entering another important offseason, but perhaps the most pressing things on Danny Briere’s to-do list are in-house. The Flyers have a pair of key restricted free agents this summer in Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras. Drysdale has become a key cog on the Flyers’ blue line after being acquired in the Cutter Gauthier trade in 2024. He’s made massive improvements over the last few years on both ends of the ice and is only going to get better. Zegras ha...

Porter Martone keeps turning heads for Canada at Worlds

After earning three assists in his first two games for Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships in Switzerland, Philadelphia Flyers winger Porter Martone continued showing his flashes of brilliance Monday against Denmark in round-robin play. Martone scored the game’s opening goal early in the third period to break the scoreless tie. He then added an assist as Canada defeated Denmark 5-1 thanks to a four-assist game from Sidney Crosby. On the opening goal, Denmark looked to clear the ...

BSH 2026 Community Draft Board, No. 1: Gavin McKenna is a star in the making

The votes are in, and the people have spoken: taking the top spot in this year’s Community Draft Board is Penn State winger Gavin McKenna. Touted as a sure-thing top prospect for years coming into this draft, McKenna has some impressive pedigree behind him — a near-100 point season in his draft-2 year, followed up by a 129-point campaign last season to close out his career in the WHL, before shifting his sights to the NCAA for his draft year, joining a Penn State program on the rise as he...

NHL

Should the Flyers’ awful power play put assistant coaches on the hot seat?

When Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet was brought on board on May 14, 2025, it was totally reasonable to believe he would hire his own assistants. At the time, there was speculation the team’s interim head coach, Brad Shaw, might stick around to be one of the assistants. But just under two weeks later, Shaw joined New Jersey as an assistant coach. On June 5, 2025, the Flyers announced that both Jay Varady, and Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovsky would join the staff. Fifteen days later, the ...

Monday Morning Fly By: Officially off

*Well folks, with the exit interviews in the rear view we are officially into the offseason, time to do some offseason things! Like, perhaps, sign one of your RFAs to a contract extension! [ BSH ] *We’ve been saying — and will probably continue to say — that this is a big, big offseason for Danny Briere, because what comes with a little bit of success? Expectations, that’s what. [ Inquirer ] *One thing that might help GMDB with his efforts to improve this team is the fact that the Fl...

Welcome to the 2026 BSH Community Draft Board

It’s that time of year again, folks! The Flyers punctuated something of a wild season with an impressive playoff push, all things considered, even if it did come to a close a little sooner than they would have liked. All the same, they did a lot of good work with that appearance to boost the standing of the team in the city, and build up the optimism surrounding their trajectory again. Now, with the 2025-26 season in the rearview, we’re shifting our focus again to the future, and how they’ll c...

Danny Briere weighs in on Matvei Michkov playing right or left wing

One of the main sticking points for those critical of Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet’s use and deployment of young winger Matvei Michkov, is keeping him on the side of the ice that he has grown up playing and has the most experience with. As a left-handed player, Michkov still played on the right side while developing his game in Russia, and barely ever touched the “strong” side of the ice that matched up with his handedness. But Tocchet decided that when Michkov was struggli...

Porter Martone set up Macklin Celebrini with ridiculous assist at Worlds

After earning two assists on Friday during Team Canada’s 5-3 victory over Sweden at the World Hockey Championships in Switzerland, Flyers winger (and Team Canada member) Porter Martone proved that the two assists weren’t a fluke. In fact, the third assist of the tournament for the 19-year-old might have been the best we’ve seen from the youngster in a few months. And, considering just how remarkable some of the assists have been, that’s saying something. With Canada leading 2-0 late in th...

Two Flyers prospects made a big impression at Worlds opener

The season may be over for the Philadelphia Flyers — and most teams across the NHL, for that matter — but the action is just getting started at the 2026 World Championships in Switzerland. After a few pre-tournament games earlier this week, the tournament officially opened on Friday with a handful of games, including one featuring two prominent Flyers prospects. The Flyers have three players in total playing at the World Championships. Porter Martone is once again joining Team Canada...

Flyers sign Aleksei Kolosov to one-year contract

The Philadelphia Flyers have made their first transaction of the summer. People in the streets holding hands and joining in chorus because we have something so wonderful as a hockey transaction to talk about as we head into the offseason. Announced by the team on Friday morning, the Flyers have signed goaltender Aleksei Kolosov to a one-year contract with an $850,000 AAV. It’s certainly a signing. OFFICIAL: We have signed goaltender Aleksei Kolosov to a one-year contract worth an a...

Way-too-early predictions for the Flyers’ 2026-27 lineup

The Philadelphia Flyers season has come and gone. It was a memorable one — full of hills and valleys, upsets and major wins, and just a whole lot of finding out what this team can do under pressure. Now that we have tasted what playoff hockey tastes like in this era of Flyers Hockey, we look forward to the future. The body of this team is still warm, but let’s just kick it to the curb and dream up what we might just see on the ice in orange and black when the puck drops for the 2026-27 ca...

Friday Morning Fly By: That’s a wrap on break-ups

*Yesterday it was Danny Briere’s turn to get in behind the microphone and face the questions posed by the intrepid professionals on the Flyers beat. Naturally, there was much to be said about Matvei Michkov. [ BSH ] *The Edmonton Oilers got busy and fired head coach Kris Knoblauch as some sort of shield and to blame someone else for constructing that team so poorly. [ Sportsnet ] *That wasn’t all, of course. He also talked a bit about the offseason and the Flyers’ long and short term...

Sam Ersson may have saved his Flyers future as free agency looms

For the first time in three seasons, the Philadelphia Flyers had a goaltender other than Samuel Ersson start the bulk of the games. That honor went to Dan Vladar, who saw an opportunity with the Flyers and grabbed the bull by the horns in the 2025-26 season. Vladar was inarguably the Flyers’ most valuable player this season. He started 51 games, going 29-14-7 with a .906 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average. The Czech goaltender was a rock between the pipes, even though he may h...

Everything Danny Briere said at Flyers’ season-ending press conference

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere had his year-end interview on Thursday. He had a lot to say about a variety of topics. Here’s what he offered up on those, ranging from re-signing current restricted free agents to the goaltending situation, to how the young crop of players helped the team down the stretch. Note: the following doesn’t cover anything with Matvei Michkov as you can find that news here . On whether achieving a first-round playoff victory over Pittsburgh a...

Danny Briere addresses Matvei Michkov’s future with the Flyers, dispels rumors

There has been so much noise around Matvei Michkov after his disappointing sophomore season and the resulting scratches in the playoffs. But thankfully, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere is here to clear the air as he took the stand for his exit interview Thursday. It is no secret — as Briere will mention multiple times — that Michkov did not have a good second year in the NHL. After his stellar 63-point rookie campaign that had Flyers fans dreaming of what new heights he c...

Flyers’ playoff injury list is brutal — here’s who was hurt

The Philadelphia Flyers are finally able to participate in the time-honored tradition of a playoff team unveiling an impossibly long list of injuries that they suffered during their playoff run. Finally, they’re part of the club. On Wednesday morning, an hour or so before general manager Danny Briere is scheduled to speak with the media and talk all about the objectively successful season that the Flyers were able to have, the Flyers were able to release the full list of injuries and it’s...

Flyers’ Denver Barkey wants to be known for one thing

The Philadelphia Flyers had more than a few young guys take steps forward this season. One of the players who perhaps surprised the most was Denver Barkey. Barkey was making the transition to the professional level after a few successful seasons with the London Knights in the OHL. Everyone knew that Barkey had the drive and hockey smarts to compete at the next level, but his smaller stature sparked plenty of question marks about his ability to hold his own in the AHL, let alone in the NHL...

Thursday Morning Fly By: More things were said

*Yesterday it was Rick Tocchet’s turn to face the media for the exit interviews, and we definitely learned some things. Like, for example, what he plans to do to try and fix the Flyers’ offensive problems. Goals would be good! [ BSH ] *Tocchet also said quite a lot about Matvei Michov — what he expects from him, why he scratched him, etc. [ BSH ] *Anyway it was quite a lot of chatting and quite a lot of insight from the coach. We love to see it. Hear it, rather. [ Inquirer ] *In...