Flyers

The Flyers Are Worse Than You Think

By Nick Piccone

Published: Oct 12th, 2026 · 9:13 AM EDT

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Seven games. Seven losses. Two points. The Philadelphia Flyers have already cemented the start of their 2026-27 campaign as their worst start to a season ever.

They have quickly joined the “Unbelievably Hard to Watch” list with the Eagles and Phillies. It’s a pretty big bummer since most of us were excited to see how the Flyers could build off of a thrilling ride they took us on last spring. In the offseason, general manager Daniel Briere took a big swing at signing Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million offer sheet – ultimately striking out. But it seemed like a precedent was set that the Flyers were turning a corner, and – due to their unexpected playoff run – becoming a destination once again in the National Hockey League.

It took about three games into the regular season for all of that to disappear. Getting destroyed by the Penguins at home in the season opener could have been quickly forgotten if they didn’t continue to just get dominated each game. In seven games, they’ve scored eight goals. They’ve taken the Devils and Hurricanes to overtime, but were outplayed in both those games pretty handily. They’ve scored four goals in their last four games. They lost 2-1 against the Ottawa Senators, which might have been their best game played from beginning to end. Aftter that game, there was a thought that maybe they were turning a corner.

But they ran right into a brick wall. Again.

They were outshot 32-15 Saturday against the Bruins in a 5-1 loss, and outshot 30-19 against the Hurricanes Sunday night at home, losing 4-1 and capping a truly horrendous stretch for Philly sports:

We've won more games in Philly in the last nine days than the Flyers, Eagles, and Phillies combined this month.

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 12, 2026

Obviously, their schedule to start the season has not been easy. But they’re getting manhandled every night. It’s bad. Odd-man rushes completely evaporate before they can even get into the offensive zone because they are skating in quicksand. I don’t understand it. It’s been this way for two decades. Feels like every single team has 20 skaters that are a lot faster than anyone who suits up for the Flyers. Obviously we see their bad power play. Misplays. Missed passes. Having no idea where their teammates are on the ice and just sending the puck to where either nobody is or an opponent is. It’s infuriating.

I don’t even know who to blame at this point. Everyone is bad. Briere had no backup plan to his Carlsson swing-and-miss. Rick Tocchet blamed the players right away after a slow start, before finally publicly taking on some blame himself. The players look completely lost on the ice. Clearly they didn’t get themselves ready in the offseason. There is no player that makes you want to go down to the Xfinity Mobile Arena to watch play hockey. Matvei Michkov isn’t that. Porter Martone isn’t that. And hell, they wouldn’t get enough ice time, anyway. If you took a concession or bathroom break in the middle of a period, you’d miss 50% of their shifts.

I think we all know they overshot themselves at the end of last season, but the leveling out wasn’t supposed to be this bad. And the worst part is, there’s still no light at the end of the tunnel. We thought maybe Martone coming in and rejuvenating the team at the end of last season would lead to a culture shift, but that hasn’t happened. He’s just another guy now. The team’s two best players are their starting and back-up goaltenders. The power play is still in shambles. Their hockey IQ is invisible. There’s virtually nothing redeeming about this team right now.

Imagine having to watch the end of that Eagles/Jaguars game and then wait all day just to see the Flyers play hockey. Wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. Pretty soon, we’re going to have to shift to wanting them to tank the season.

But, hey, at least we have the Union.