A PGP Guide to: The Philadelphia Flyers

A PGP Guide to: The Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers aesthetic is orange and black, Broad Street Bullies mythology, Gritty committing crimes in public, extremely passionate sports fans, goalies living under impossible expectations, Pennsylvania hatred, old school hockey, playoff chaos and a franchise that has spent basically its entire existence insisting that being difficult to play against is a personality trait.

The Flyers are one of the NHL’s most recognizable non Original Six franchises. They entered the league during the massive 1967 expansion and needed only seven seasons to become the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, then they won it again the following year. Those 1974 and 1975 championships remain the only Stanley Cups in franchise history, but Philadelphia has reached the Final six more times and produced multiple generations of genuinely iconic hockey players. The Flyers haven't won a Cup in more than 50 years now, which would probably be easier for the fanbase to tolerate if they hadn’t come painfully close so many times.

The Basics

Team: Philadelphia Flyers

Conference: Eastern Conference

Division: Metropolitan Division

Home Arena: Xfinity Mobile Arena

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Franchise Founded: 1967

Team Colors: Orange, black and white

Stanley Cups: 2 – 1974, 1975

Biggest Rivals: Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins

The Flyers currently play at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the building previously known as Wells Fargo Center, in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex alongside the 76ers, Eagles and Phillies facilities. They won’t be there forever as the Flyers and 76ers unveiled plans in September 2026 for a new shared arena on the former Spectrum grounds, currently scheduled to open in 2030.  The 2026-27 season is also Philadelphia’s 60th anniversary season!

The Origin Story

The Flyers exist because the NHL doubled in size in 1967. Philadelphia was awarded one of the six new franchises alongside Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Minnesota, Los Angeles and California. The ownership group was led by Ed Snider, who would eventually become one of the most important figures in Philadelphia sports history. The franchise was formally approved in February 1966, and Snider played a major role in making sure the team and its new arena actually survived financially before they ever played a game.

The team's name came almost by accident. During a trip home from a Broadway show in New York, Snider’s sister Phyllis Foreman suggested “Flyers” because it sounded fast and worked well with Philadelphia. The organization later held a public naming contest, and 96 people submitted either Flyers or Fliers. 9 year old Alec Stockard was randomly selected as the grand prize winner and received season tickets plus a 21 inch color television.

Philadelphia began playing in 1967-68 at the newly built Spectrum and actually finished first in the expansion only West Division during its inaugural season, but there was an obvious problem. The new expansion teams could compete with each other, the established Original Six teams could still push them around, and Ed Snider reportedly decided he never wanted to watch his team get physically intimidated again. So Philadelphia got tougher…. much tougher. Maybe a little too tough, but within a few years, the Broad Street Bullies were born.

Side note, but the “Broad Street Bullies” is by far, my favorite, nickname for ANYTHING in the NHL. There’s something so satisfying about it, I don’t know.

The Vibe Check

The Flyers may be the most Philadelphia hockey team imaginable. This franchise genuinely believes that toughness is part of its DNA, not necessarily fighting in the 1970s sense anymore, but effort, physicality, attitude and refusing to be easy to play against and the city responds to that. Philadelphia sports fans have a reputation, sometimes deserved and sometimes exaggerated, for being loud, demanding and willing to tell their own team exactly what they think. Flyers fans are no exception. They adore players who work hard, especially players who work hard while making somebody on Pittsburgh miserable.

The colors help too, that orange and black is definitely not subtle, but neither is their  mascot that looks like a sleep paralysis demon. They also have one of the most recognizable logos in hockey!

The History You Need to Know

The Flyers became contenders incredibly quickly. By the early 1970s, Philadelphia had assembled a core featuring Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, Bill Barber, Rick MacLeish, Dave Schultz, Barry Ashbee and others under head coach Fred Shero. They were skilled, defensively excellent, and they were extremely physical. The press eventually gave them the nickname Broad Street Bullies, a reference to both their aggressive style and the Spectrum’s location on Broad Street. Philadelphia regularly led the NHL in penalty minutes, Dave “The Hammer” Schultz became one of hockey's most infamous enforcers, and opposing teams absolutely hated playing them. Bobby Clarke was one of the best two-way centers in hockey, Bill Barber could score, Rick MacLeish scored 50 goals, and Bernie Parent became essentially unbeatable in net.

In 1974, Philadelphia reached the Stanley Cup Final against Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and the heavily favored Boston Bruins and the Flyers won in six games. Bernie Parent shut Boston out in Game 6, Rick MacLeish scored the only goal, and Philadelphia became the first team from the 1967 expansion to win the Stanley Cup. Before that deciding game, Fred Shero famously wrote on the dressing-room chalkboard: “Win today and we walk together forever.” He was correct!

Then Philadelphia did it again! The Flyers returned to the Final in 1975 and defeated Buffalo in six games. Parent won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for the second consecutive year, becoming the first player ever to do so. They reached the Final again in 1976 but ran into the beginning of Montreal’s late-1970s dynasty. That season still produced another legendary moment…

On January 11, 1976, the two-time defending champion Flyers faced CSKA Moscow, the Soviet Red Army team, at the Spectrum. The Soviet club had already beaten the Rangers and Bruins and tied Montreal during its North American tour. Philadelphia beat them 4-1, becoming the only NHL team to defeat CSKA on the tour. Basically, for a brief moment in the mid-1970s, Flyers fans could reasonably argue their team was the most intimidating hockey club on Earth. The Cup dynasty didn't continue, but Philadelphia remained extremely competitive.

The 1979-80 Flyers went 35 consecutive games without losing, going 25-0-10 from October through January. That remains the longest undefeated streak in the history of major North American professional team sports. They reached the Stanley Cup Final that spring but lost to the New York Islanders, whose victory began their own four Cup dynasty.

Then came another strong era in the 1980s when the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1985 and again in 1987, running into Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers both times. The 1987 team came especially close. Rookie goalie Ron Hextall helped Philadelphia push Edmonton all the way to Game 7. The Flyers lost, but Hextall was so good that he won the Conn Smythe Trophy despite playing for the losing team.

Then came Eric Lindros. Philadelphia acquired Lindros in 1992 after one of the most complicated trade sagas in NHL history. He became the centerpiece of the franchise and eventually formed the famous Legion of Doom line with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg. Lindros was enormous, skilled, physical, and, when healthy, one of the most dominant players in hockey. He won the Hart Trophy in 1995 and led Philadelphia back to the Stanley Cup Final in 1997 where Detroit swept them. Worse, repeated concussions eventually changed the trajectory of Lindros’ career and his relationship with the organization became increasingly messy. Still, he remains one of the most important talents the franchise has ever had.

Then came the 2010 run. Philadelphia barely made the playoffs, literally clinching its spot by beating the Rangers in a shootout on the final day of the regular season. Then the Flyers eliminated New Jersey, fell behind Boston 3-0 in the second round, won Game 4, Game 5, and Game 6, went into Boston for Game 7 and promptly fell behind 3-0 in the game. Naturally, Philadelphia came back again and won 4-3. The Flyers became only the third team in NHL history at the time to overcome a 3-0 series deficit. They beat Montreal in the conference final and reached the Stanley Cup Final against Chicago. Game 6 went to overtime, Patrick Kane scored, and for several seconds, almost nobody except Kane realized the puck had gone in. Then Chicago celebrated the Stanley Cup on Philadelphia ice, and that remains the Flyers’ most recent Stanley Cup Final appearance.

The Icons

Bobby Clarke

Bobby Clarke is the defining player of Philadelphia Flyers history. He was the captain of both Stanley Cup teams, won the Hart Trophy three times, was one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards and basically embodied everything Philadelphia wanted its hockey team to be. Clarke was undersized and lived with Type 1 diabetes at a time when that made NHL teams hesitant to draft him, yet he became one of the greatest players of his generation. After retiring, he also spent years running the organization as general manager.

Bernie Parent

Bernie Parent’s peak is absurd! In both 1973-74 and 1974-75, he won the Vezina Trophy and the Stanley Cup… and the Conn Smythe Trophy. Two straight years. He recorded 47 wins and 12 shutouts during the 1973-74 regular season, then shut out Boston in the game that clinched Philadelphia's first Cup. Parent passed away in September 2025 at age 80, and the organization spent much of the following season celebrating his legacy. 

Bill Barber

Bill Barber spent his entire NHL career with Philadelphia and played a huge role on both Stanley Cup teams. He scored 420 goals, still the most in Flyers history, and combined scoring ability with exactly the kind of two way commitment those 1970s teams valued.

Eric Lindros

At his best, Eric Lindros was terrifying. He was 6 '4'’, incredibly skilled, physically overwhelming and capable of taking over games in ways very few players could. He won the Hart Trophy in 1995 and led Philadelphia to the 1997 Stanley Cup Final, but concussions became a major part of his story, and the relationship between Lindros, his family and the Flyers organization deteriorated badly. Years later, the relationship healed and Lindros entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016.

Ron Hextall

Ron Hextall didn’t simply play goaltender, he participated in the entire hockey game, sometimes too enthusiastically. He won the Vezina Trophy as a rookie in 1987 and then won the Conn Smythe while Philadelphia lost the Stanley Cup Final. He also became the first goalie in NHL history to intentionally shoot the puck into the opposing net for a goal, and he was more than willing to fight people. Such a Flyers goalie.

Mark Howe

One of the greatest defensemen ever to play for Philadelphia who combined elite skating, offense and defensive play during the 1980s and was a major part of the Flyers teams that repeatedly challenged Edmonton.

Claude Giroux

Claude Giroux never won a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia, but he spent more than a decade carrying the franchise through several different versions of itself. He became captain in 2013, played 1,000 games as a Flyer, and ranks near the top of practically every major franchise offensive category. His “Shift” in Game 6 against Pittsburgh during the 2012 playoffs, starting with a huge hit on Sidney Crosby and immediately followed by a goal, is still one of the defining moments of his Flyers career. When Philadelphia finally committed to changing direction in 2022, Giroux was traded to Florida after reaching exactly 1,000 games with the franchise.

The Current Era

For several years, Philadelphia refused to use the word rebuild while very obviously needing one, then the organization changed when Daniel Briere became general manager. Keith Jones became president of hockey operations and the Flyers began talking about building a team capable of sustainable contention instead of desperately trying to sneak into the playoffs every year. They drafted Matvei Michkov seventh overall in 2023, despite uncertainty about when the highly regarded Russian forward would be able to come to North America and he arrived much earlier than expected.

Then Philadelphia selected Porter Martone sixth overall in 2025. Young forwards like Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates and Alex Bump developed. The organization additionally accumulated prospects including Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk. In May 2025, Philadelphia hired former Flyers player Rick Tocchet as head coach which made last year’s expectations on the more developmental end, but when the season actually began, the Flyers got good!

Last season, they went 43-27-12 for 98 points, finished third in the Metropolitan Division and returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their first opponent was Pittsburgh and Philadelphia beat the Penguins in six games, with Cam York scoring the overtime winner in a 1-0 Game 6 victory to clinch the series. Then reality arrived as Carolina swept Philadelphia in the second round, although Games 2 and 4 required overtime. Still, that season changed the conversation around the Flyers.

General manager Daniel Briere said a few weeks ago that Philadelphia can no longer surprise teams or be treated like an easy “trap game” and the offseason definitely reflected that. Philadelphia traded Samuel Ersson and Emil Andrae to Toronto for Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit, giving the Flyers a new goaltending option behind Dan Vladar. They signed veteran checker Noel Acciari, who had literally just played against them with Pittsburgh in the playoffs. Things are getting good in Philly!

The Players You Need to Know

Matvei Michkov

The most important skill player in the rebuild.

Matvei Michkov wasn’t sure how quickly he would leave Russia, but the Flyers were willing to wait. Not much long after, Michkov arrived in North America in 2024 and immediately showed why he had once been discussed as one of the most talented players in his draft class behind Connor Bedard. His second season was uneven, but he finished 2025-26 with 20 goals and 51 points in 81 games and caught fire after the Olympic break, recording 22 points in his final 26 games. He's creative, confident and occasionally tries things that make coaches experience heart palpitations.

Porter Martone

The enormous young winger who arrived immediately.

Philadelphia drafted Porter Martone sixth overall in 2025. He's 6 '3’, over 210 pounds, skilled, physical and basically built like the kind of forward Flyers fans would create in a laboratory. After one college season at Michigan State, Martone signed with Philadelphia in March 2026 and immediately recorded 10 points in his first nine NHL regular-season games. Martone scored the game winning goal in both Games 1 and 2 against Pittsburgh last season and finished the postseason with five points in ten games. He's expected to play a major top six role in his first full NHL season.

.

Travis Konecny

The emotional heartbeat.

Travis Konecny has survived several different versions of the Flyers and somehow feels increasingly Philadelphia every year. He's talented,competitive, constantly talking, extremely willing to irritate opponents, and good enough offensively that the chirping actually matters. Konecny led Philadelphia with 68 points in 77 games in 2025-26, scoring 27 goals and adding 41 assists. He's no longer the young guy, he’s now one of the established veterans helping bridge the old roster into the Michkov/Martone era.

Trevor Zegras

The skill gamble that worked.

Philadelphia acquired Trevor Zegras from Anaheim in June 2025 after his relationship with the Ducks had clearly run its course. His first Flyers season went pretty well as he set career highs with 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games and finished only one point behind Konecny for the team scoring lead. More importantly, he became Philadelphia's primary center late in the season and entered the playoffs in the number one role. The Flyers needed more high-end creativity and in Zegras, they found some.

Tyson Foerster

The young goal scorer who had terrible injury timing.

Tyson Foerster has become one of Philadelphia's most promising homegrown forwards. He has size, a legitimately dangerous shot and a better defensive game than you might expect from someone primarily known for scoring. The problem last season was health. Foerster played only 29 games, but scored 13 goals, which is a pretty absurd pace. He returned from arm surgery in April when he originally wasn't expected back during the regular season and immediately helped Philadelphia clinch a playoff spot. 

Owen Tippett

The speed and shooting guy.

Owen Tippett came to Philadelphia from Florida in the Claude Giroux trade. At the time, he felt like part of the return for the face of the franchise, now he's an established Flyer in his own right. Tippett led Philadelphia with 28 goals in 2025-26, tying his career high, and was one of only four NHL players that season with at least 25 goals and 150 hits. He shoots constantly, skates extremely well, and has enough physicality that he fits the team without needing to cosplay as a 1970s Broad Street Bully.

Travis Sanheim

The guy playing approximately half the game.

Travis Sanheim is Philadelphia's top defenseman. He led Flyers defensemen with 37 points in 2025-26, scored a career high 11 goals and averaged 24:13 per game, most on the team for the third consecutive season which earned him his 4th Barry Ashbee Trophy as Philadelphia's top defenseman. The Flyers' blue line is still evolving and Sanheim is the person holding it together while that happens.

Sean Couturier

The captain in a changing role.

Sean Couturier has been a Flyer since 2011 and became captain in February 2024. At his peak, he was one of the best defensive centers in hockey and won the Selke Trophy in 2020, but age and injuries have changed his role. He finished 2025-26 with 36 points in 78 games, and during the playoffs Rick Tocchet asked him to accept more defensive, lower line responsibilities rather than treating him as a traditional top line captain, so Couturier did. The Flyers are becoming the kids’ team and Couturier is one of the veterans helping them get there.

Dan Vladar

The goalie who unexpectedly stabilized everything.

Philadelphia entered last season with a lot of uncertainty in net, but Dan Vladar helped calm that down. He appeared in 52 regular-season games and posted a 2.42 goals-against average, third best among NHL goalies who played at least 30 games. During the playoffs, his .937 5-on-5 save percentage tied for the best in the league. This summer Philadelphia added Joseph Woll from Toronto, so the Flyers now enter the season with a Vladar/Woll tandem. Considering how much Philadelphia history involves emotionally depending on goalies, good luck to both of them.

Jamie Drysdale

The defensive defenseman.

Jamie is a true modern defenseman who uses his skilled skating to shut down opposing teams. Originally drafted by Anaheim, he was traded in 2024 to the Flyers along with a 2nd round pick in the 2025 draft. His arrival was rocky, to say the least, but every game he played with the team just made him better. Last season, he posted 31 points with 8 goals in 78 games, but Philly doesn't need him to score, they need him to shut it down.

The Rivalries

Pittsburgh Penguins

Flyers/Penguins is the Battle of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia vs Pittsburgh, Eastern Pennsylvania vs Western Pennsylvania, Orange vs black and gold… Unlike some rivalries that are mostly based on geography, this one has had extremely real hockey hatred behind it. The rivalry existed before Sidney Crosby, but Crosby's arrival in Pittsburgh basically poured gasoline on everything. The teams met in the playoffs in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2018, with the series becoming increasingly chaotic. Nothing tops 2012… that first round series was basically six games of goals, fighting, trash talk, suspensions, bad blood and complete emotional instability. Philadelphia won in six, there were 56 goals scored in the series and Sidney Crosby publicly said he didn't like anyone on the Flyers. Claude Giroux opened Game 6 by leveling Crosby and then scoring 32 seconds later. Right… now the rivalry has another chapter! In 2026, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh met in the postseason for the eighth time overall. The Flyers beat the Penguins in six games, ending the series on Cam York's overtime goal.

New York Rangers

Flyers/Rangers is basically two loud northeastern fanbases that have spent decades sharing divisions and finding reasons to hate one another. The history goes back to Philadelphia’s early years, and one of the most important chapters came during the 1974 playoffs. Before Philadelphia could become the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, it had to beat the Rangers in a seven game semifinal. It was the first time a 1967 expansion team ever eliminated an Original Six franchise in the playoffs. The teams have met repeatedly since. The Rangers eliminated Philadelphia in the 1986 and 1987 eras before the Flyers got through them, Philadelphia beat New York in the 1997 Eastern Conference Final on the way to the Stanley Cup Final, the Rangers eliminated Philadelphia in a seven-game first round in 2014, and technically, the Flyers’ entire 2010 Stanley Cup Final run only happened because they beat the Rangers in a shootout on the final day of the regular season just to qualify for the playoffs. 

New Jersey Devils

This rivalry is sometimes called the Battle of the Turnpike, and it became especially vicious during the 1990s and early 2000s. The teams have shared a division every season since the Devils arrived in New Jersey in 1982. Their shared playoff history is just brutal for both sides. New Jersey eliminated Philadelphia in the 1995 Eastern Conference Final on the way to its first Stanley Cup. In 2000, the Flyers led the Eastern Conference Final 3-1, the Devils won three straight games, and New Jersey won Game 7 in Philadelphia after Scott Stevens delivered the infamous hit on Eric Lindros, and the Devils eventually won the Stanley Cup. Philadelphia got revenge by eliminating New Jersey in 2004 and 2010, then New Jersey knocked Philadelphia out again in 2012. There are easier neighboring relationships.

Boston Bruins

This is more historical than Philadelphia/Pittsburgh today, but the Flyers and Bruins have produced some of the most important series in Philadelphia history. Obviously, Boston was the opponent when Philadelphia won its first Stanley Cup in 1974. The Bruins had Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, 2 recent championships, and were heavily favored, but Philadelphia beat them anyway. Then there was 2010 when Boston went up 3-0 in the second-round series, Philadelphia came back to force Game 7, Boston then went up 3-0 in Game 7, Philadelphia came back again, and the Flyers won 4-3, completing one of the greatest comebacks in NHL playoff history. Boston swept Philadelphia the very next postseason and went on to win the Stanley Cup…

The Fanbase

Flyers fans are exactly what you'd expect from Philadelphia hockey fans. They're loud, care a lot, remember everything, and are absolutely willing to boo their own team if they think the effort is bad. The relationship is demanding rather than blindly supportive, which is part of why certain players become so beloved. If you work hard, defend your teammates, play through pain and genuinely seem like you care, Philadelphia will adore you. If you look uninterested, well, good luck Charlie.

The team also has arguably the most famous mascot in hockey. Gritty debuted in September 2018 as a seven-foot orange creature with googly eyes, an unkempt beard and an official personality best described as probably shouldn't be left unsupervised. People initially hated him, but when the internet discovered him, Philadelphia decided that only they’re allowed to insult him. He became a cultural phenomenon almost immediately.

The Flyers also historically had one of hockey's most famous pregame traditions involving Kate Smith's recording of “God Bless America,” particularly during the 1970s. She performed it live before the 1974 Stanley Cup clinching Game 6. The organization discontinued using Smith's recording in 2019 after learning about racist material in other songs she had performed, so it is an important part of Flyers history rather than a current game tradition.

Playoff Philly… that’s a different image. Orange everywhere, people yelling, south Philly getting increasingly unhinged, everything that makes hockey hockey. A game in Philly, especially a playoff one, is high on my wishlist.

The Retired Numbers

The Flyers have officially retired 6 player numbers.

No. 1 — Bernie Parent

The goalie behind both Stanley Cups, back-to-back Vezinas, back-to-back Conn Smythes, and one of the greatest two year goaltending peaks in NHL history.

No. 2 — Mark Howe

The Hall of Fame defenseman who anchored Philadelphia's blue line through much of the 1980s and helped the Flyers reach multiple Stanley Cup Finals.

No. 4 — Barry Ashbee

A defenseman on the first championship team whose career ended after a severe eye injury during the 1974 playoffs. Ashbee later became an assistant coach before dying of leukemia at only 37. The Flyers still present the Barry Ashbee Trophy annually to their best defenseman. 

No. 7 — Bill Barber

The franchise's all-time leading goal scorer and one of the essential players from both championship teams.

No. 16 — Bobby Clarke

The captain with three Hart Trophies, and two Stanley Cups. Basically Philadelphia Flyers hockey in human form.

No. 88 — Eric Lindros

The franchise's most overwhelming individual talent of the 1990s and the face of the Legion of Doom era.

There is also one number worth mentioning even though it isn't officially retired!

No. 31 — Pelle Lindbergh.

Lindbergh won the Vezina Trophy in 1985 and looked like Philadelphia's next great franchise goalie before he died in a car crash later that year at just 26 years old. The number has rarely been worn by Flyers players since, and the organization annually presents the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy to its most improved player.

The Team Identity

The Flyers spent decades defining themselves through toughness. The Broad Street Bullies established an expectation that Philadelphia teams were supposed to be physical, difficult, competitive, and emotionally invested. For better or worse, nearly every Flyers era since has been compared back to that. The current organization is trying to keep the useful part of that identity without pretending hockey is still being played in 1975. The current young core fits Philadelphia surprisingly well. Porter Martone is huge, skilled and physical, Matvei Michkov has swagger, Travis Konecny annoys everyone, Tyson Foerster scores and defends, Owen Tippett skates fast and hits people, Noah Cates does the responsible work, and Rick Tocchet played more than 600 games as a Flyer, so he understands exactly what the fanbase thinks Flyers hockey is supposed to look like.

The bigger difference is that Philadelphia is finally trying to combine that identity with genuine high end skill. For years, Flyers rosters had useful players without enough actual star upside, now they have Michkov, Martone, Zegras, prospects including Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk, and a playoff appearance that arrived earlier than many expected. The rebuild—or whatever terminology Philadelphia prefers—is entering a different stage. Last season, simply making the playoffs and beating Pittsburgh felt like progress, but the expectations have changed.

Briere said it himself heading into camp: other teams know Philadelphia is good enough to punish them now.

Why You Should Watch Them

You should watch the Philadelphia Flyers because few franchises have this much personality… seriously.  You get the Broad Street Bullies, Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, back-to-back Stanley Cups, the first expansion championship in NHL history, the Red Army game. This is a team with a 35-game undefeated streak that still hasn't been matched by another major North American professional sports team. Philly had Ron Hextall fighting people while technically employed as a goalie, Eric Lindros, the Legion of Doom, Claude Giroux, the 2010 reverse sweep, Patrick Kane somehow scoring a Cup winning goal that half the building didn't initially realize had gone in. They hate Pittsburgh, they hate New York, even New Jersey and they’re starting to hate the Ducks too!

Gritty himself is enough of a reason to watch this team.

Seriously though, there’s finally a Flyers team that feels like it's building toward something instead of simply talking about it. Matvei Michkov has legitimate star talent, Porter Martone looks like he was genetically engineered to become popular in Philadelphia, Trevor Zegras found his game again, Travis Konecny remains deeply irritating, Tyson Foerster could break out if he stays healthy, Dan Vladar gave them stability in net, and the Flyers just went from missing the playoffs to winning a playoff round in one season.

Most importantly, the timeline finally makes sense. The best young players are actually young, the organization is developing around them, and the veterans don't have to pretend they're carrying a ready made Stanley Cup contender. Philadelphia spent years in the NHL's least exciting place where you’re not good enough to win, but not bad enough to truly start over. They finally chose a direction and last season suggested it might actually be working. Now we find out how quickly the kids can turn a promising Flyers team into a dangerous one.