Well, the Flyers did it: they took a swing on a potential elite talent in Matvei Michkov. It’s the first time in ages the Flyers have taken a risk like this, and it was about time. There’s one little problem, though: Michkov has a KHL contract through the 2025-26 season. That means, barring an early arrival, his first season with the Flyers will be 2026-27.
A lot will change for the Flyers in that time.
Perhaps the biggest change will be in coaching, as 2025-26 is the last season of John Tortorella’s four-year contract. Michkov may never play under Torts, but the coach’s impact will felt on the roster for quite some time.
Speaking of the roster, it’s gonna be way different from now: what players could still be there, and which will have moved on? Where might some of the Flyers’ draft picks slot in, if they crack the NHL? I’ve conducted a similar experiment before, projecting the Flyers’ lineup in 2028-29, but with Michkov’s arrival acting as a sort of target date to end the rebuild, I want to consider what players the Flyers will ice when he’s expected to join the team in the 2026-27 season. I already got something wrong in that initial projection (the Flyers didn’t use their 1st round pick on a top-line center), but it still serves as a useful blueprint, and today’s exercise represents a midpoint between now and the original five year prediction.
Forwards
I’ve argued in other articles that, with one or two high-end talents, the Flyers’ forward corps is pretty close to a Cup contender’s. There’s going to be some significant turnover by 2026 though, and this exercise assumes Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton do not re-sign with the Flyers:
Joel Farabee–Cutter Gauthier–Matvei Michkov
(Future draft pick)–Sean Couturier–Owen Tippett
Noah Cates–Morgan Frost–Tyson Foerster
(Reader’s choice fourth liner)–Elliot Desnoyers–Wade Allison
As is, this isn’t quite a championship forward group, but man is it close. Maybe Farabee doesn’t turn into a top line player and ends up on the second line, with the Flyers drafting or acquiring a top-line left wing–or allowing “future draft pick” to develop on the second before bumping him up to the first line. Coots as a 2C in 2026 seems reasonable, but it may be his last season in that role: Noah Cates and Morgan Frost could move up to the second line, and Couturier moves into a total shutdown role (similar to Jordan Staal with the Canes) on the third. Cates and Couturier provide sound defensive play on their respective lines, while Foerster, Frost, and Tippett create offense and score goals.
Another option? The Flyers draft a premium center prospect in 2024 (not out of the realm of possibility that they’re bad enough to be in that draft position), and Gauthier shifts over to left wing–then your top line is something like Gauthier, (top 2024 prospect) Macklin Celebrini, and Michkov. Now that would be a championship top line, with Gauthier’s ability to play center or wing providing significant flexibility in the top six. More goal scoring depth? Move Gauthier down the lineup. Need a blistering top line to overwhelm other teams? Keep them together on the first. Imagine the options for the powerplay units, too!
The Flyers actually have a lot of young(ish) talent at forward–particularly right wing. With a little luck in drafting and development, this team has a lot of offense to be excited about.
Defense
The defense, on the other hand, is not quite as promising as forward–it’s not bad, but it needs work, and I’m going to assume Travis Sanheim waives his NTC and ends up traded at some point:
Cam York–(2024 1st rounder)
Emil Andrae–Oliver Bonk/Helge Grans
Egor Zamula–Ronnie Attard/Rasmus Ristolainen*
Risto gets an asterisk, as this is the final year of his contract; perhaps he’s been long traded, perhaps he’s been bought out, or perhaps he’s a healthy scratch 7th/8th defenseman. He won’t be a part of the next contending Flyers team.
The intrigue is the top pair. The Flyers selected Oliver Bonk with the 22nd overall pick, and he looks like a very solid right-shot defenseman–nothing flashy, but no red flags, either; he’s been likened to a right-handed, peak-form Travis Sanheim. There’s a chance he turns into a top pair guy, but it’s not a definite trajectory.
If the Flyers aren’t in a position to draft a premium center prospect at the 2024 draft, I fully expect them to target an RHD with true No. 1 upside. That one player suddenly cements a solid blueline, with some flexibility in the bottom-four depending on which players/prospects impress. There’s a lot of time between now and then for changes and, more than the forward group, the Flyers’ defenders are harder to project–at least there’s a lot to like.
Goalies
Ah, the nemesis of Flyers’ past: goaltenders. The Flyers finally have a franchise guy in Carter Hart–except he might not fit the timeline, and there are extenuating circumstances (Hockey Canada) that might keep him out of the league entirely. Sam Ersson looks good, but may not be a starter; Alexei Kolosov has been performing well in the KHL; in the 2023 draft the Flyers selected two goalies (Carson Bjarnason and Egor Zavragin), both with some serious upside.
These moves show the Flyers are prioritizing goaltending depth in their system: the more options they have, the better. It may be recency bias, but Adin Hill’s success in the playoffs for the Vegas Golden Knights has shown teams that hey, maybe they don’t need that bonafide workhorse starting goaltender to win a Stanley Cup–all you need is someone who’s good enough.
Personally, I don’t think Carter Hart will be the Flyers goaltender in 2026, but it really is a tossup. If he’s gone, I imagine the Flyers are running some sort of tandem at that point–Ersson and Kolosov, maybe, or one of the prospects they drafted this week. It might not be enough for a Cup, but it could suffice for some solid playoff odds–and you couldn’t ask for much more in Michkov’s first year as a Flyer.
Where do you see players slotting into the lineup when Michkov joins the team in a few years? Are there any prospects I left out that could fill some gaps? Let me know in the comments!
