Flyers

The NHL Should Do the Right Thing, Which is Removing the Pacific Division from the Playoffs and Giving a Spot to the Philadelphia Flyers

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 23rd, 2026 · 9:42 AM EDT

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One storyline that’s been interesting to follow is the crappiness of the NHL’s Pacific Division, exemplified by the Flyers’ three-game road sweep of Anaheim, LA, and San Jose.

With 13 games to play, Philly is now on 80 points with 34 wins, 23 losses, and 12 overtime losses. They’re five points behind the blue Jackets and Islanders for the final two playoff spots in the East.

Sadly, if they were playing in the West, they’d be in the playoffs at this very moment. That’s because West is top heavy with Colorado and Dallas on 102 and 97 points, respectively, followed by Minnesota, Anaheim, and Utah with 92, 82, and 80.

The Flyers are 11th in the East but would be tied for 5th in the West.

Note that:

• The Flyers have essentially the same numbers at the Ducks, who are on 82 points after 70 games. Anaheim has a -7 goal differential and the Flyers are -9. Ducks fans point out that their team has 39 wins, but they also have 27 losses, and while they’ve scored 235 goals, they’ve also conceded 242, which is worse than everybody in the East not named Toronto. The Flyers haven’t scored as many goals, but they also haven’t conceded nearly as many, so Anaheim/Philly comes down to whatever narrative you want to push.
• The Flyers have more points than the Golden Knights, who are in playoff position and have played two more games. Vegas is 32-25-14 with 14 OTL.
• The Flyers have more points than the Edmonton Oilers, who are also in playoff position and have also played two more games. Edmonton is 34-38-9 with 9 OTL.
• The Flyers have five more points than the Predators, who are occupying the final Wild Card spot. They’ve played 70 games and have 33 wins and a -23 goal differential.

Of course, Rick Tocchet’s squad is not some juggernaut out there. They are 15th out of 32 NHL teams if you combine the two conferences into one, a beautiful portrait of hockey purgatory. But it’s undeniable that the East has much more depth than the West, and the Flyers are stuck battling teams like Columbus and the Islanders, Red Wings, Senators, and Capitals for a spot.

This isn’t dissimilar to watching the Carolina Panthers come out of the NFC South at 8-9 to host a postseason game while the 12-5 Niners have to cross the country to play the Birds in the first round.

Plus, nobody cares about the Anaheim Ducks. That team plays in a half-empty barn on a nightly basis and last week Quitter Gauthier was booed in his own house by expat Flyers fans. There’s no juice for the Ducks in the playoffs. What kind of ratings is Ducks/Mammoth getting anyway? A 0.1 share? Nielsen hashmarks? If the NHL wants ratings, put the Flyers in there. This city is HUNGRY for playoff hockey and we’re gonna tune in.

I think we all agree that the NHL should do the right thing here, and remove the Pacific Division from the playoffs. One of those spots should go to Philadelphia. Let’s get Flyered the fuck up!