It is day one of the Olympic break, and there is not a whole lot of Philadelphia Flyers news going on. So, that makes Friday a great opportunity to take a step back and reflect on the first half of the 2025-26 season, or 56 games.

Aleksei Kolosov is headed back to the AHL. This is not really a shock. Sam Ersson likely could have played before the break. He will definitely be healthy afterwards.

Sending Kolosov back to the AHL will get him back in action as well.

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Olympic break reflections

With Friday being the first day of the Olympic break, I figured it was a good time to share some thoughts about the first 56 games so far this season. Now, this won’t be a full, in-depth review. We’ll dive into some of that throughout the break. Instead, I will just be sharing some of my thoughts from the season so far.

First things first, this team misses Tyson Foerster. It was harder to see his importance to the team while he was playing. Without him, the Flyers have clearly lacked that consistent goal-scorer and power-play threat. More than that, he was a reliable two-way player as well, and a strong penalty-killer.

Now, one player who, in my mind, has stepped up is Owen Tippett. I’d still like to see some more consistency on the scoresheet from him. That has not changed. However, last season, it felt like the only games you noticed him were when he was scoring. This year, Tippett has popped in almost every game since Jan. 1, even when he’s not scoring. If he keeps playing this way, I am confident the points will come.

Denver Barkey has been a very pleasant surprise. I don’t think I would have ever expected him to be an NHLer this season, but here we are. Watching a TV broadcast, I heard Brian Boucher say that Barkey is someone who is, and always was, in the right places on the ice. In the NHL game, you play with more players who have the skills to get you the puck in those areas, and that is why he has been able to translate more easily. After hearing that, I can’t help but see it when I watch him play. Denver Barkey will be a really good player.

Flyers’ offseason paying off

I feel like this has been an underrated storyline this season.

Danny Briere’s offseason was very, very good. His three main acquisitions from the summer have been at the core of what success the team has had this season. Without those players, you have to wonder where the Flyers may be this season.

Dan Vladar is the team MVP through 56 games. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Goaltending was a major weakness for the Flyers in 2024-25. It needed to be addressed in the offseason. Granted, it was expected to be a bridge move, just until one of Kolosov, Bjarnason, or Zavragin is ready to take over. Vladar may have been an under-the-radar option, but looking back on it, it was a home run.

The same concept goes for Christian Dvorak. Never in a million years would I have thought Christian Dvorak’s one-year prove-it deal would result in a five-year extension in Philadelphia. While he is in a slump right now, Dvorak will play out of it. I am a big fan of his contributions this season, and I remain a fan of the extension. I wrote about why right after.

Then, there is Trevor Zegras. It was a steal of a trade to begin with, but now it is really paying off. The Flyers made the trade at the lowest trade value for Zegras, hoping to see him return close to his 2021-23 form. Well, through 56 games, Zegras has 49 points. He is on pace for a career-high 71 points, and is pacing 29 goals, which would crush his career high. With 26 games to go, Zegras is just 3 goals away from his career best, 13 away from his career high in assists, and 16 points away from his best in that regard.

What an offseason from Briere.

Again, these are some preliminary thoughts, looking more at the good. We will dive into the rest of the good, the bad, and the ugly as the break goes on.

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