Fearless forecast for the Flyers’ 2024-25 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
There are plenty of compelling components to the Flyers’ 2024-25 season, which kicks off Friday night in Vancouver, British Columbia.
It’s Year 3 of the John Tortorella era and Year 1 of the Matvei Michkov era. Does that translate into a four-year playoff drought coming to an end? Or are the Flyers still deeper in their rebuild?
“I think we have plenty of things to do as we continue to build,” Tortorella said last week. “We are still building. I just don’t get that far ahead. It’s just hockey speak, right? ‘Yeah, we’re here to win a Stanley Cup.’ I don’t believe in that. We have so much s— to do with our team before we even start talking about that stuff.”
Before the club opens the season against the Canucks (10 p.m. ET/NBCSP), let’s get into our Flyers Fearless Forecast, featuring projections for how the team will finish and a random assortment of bold predictions from NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Brooke Destra, Joe Fordyce and Jordan Hall.
Destra
Flyers prediction/Cup prediction
Ready or not, playoff hockey makes its return to South Philly for the first time since April 2018. Yes, the Flyers made the postseason in the 2020 bubble — but it wasn’t the same. The drought will come to an end and this new era of orange will see what it’s like to play in front of a thunderous sold-out crowd.
Even with the late falloff last season, the Flyers still ended the year with 87 points (38-33-11). This year, they’ll break the 90-point barrier for the first time since 2017-18 with 93 and secure a wild-card spot.
Once they’re in? Who knows. Anything is possible — but certainly don’t chalk them up as a first-round exit.
Is this the season Connor McDavid can finally check Stanley Cup champion off his to-do list? He finally had a taste of playing for the Cup in the Final last season and 2024-25 is the year he finally leads the Oilers to the promised land.
In a six-game series, Edmonton will knock off the Rangers to hoist the Cup for the first time since 1990.
New hardware in Philly
It’s hard to believe that through the 56 years of this organization, not a single player has taken home the Calder Memorial Trophy. That changes in 2024-25.
The biggest storyline of the season is no secret — Michkov. The 19-year-old’s first season in the NHL is coming years before anyone had ever anticipated. There have been many instances over the past decade-plus for this Flyers club where…