Welcome to the Philadelphia Flyers Top 25 Under 25 ranking, Winter 2026 edition. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be putting out our ranking of the, well, top 25 players in the Flyers organization who are under 25 years old. A total of 13 writers at Broad Street Hockey submitted ballots and here is the consensus ranking.

We’re not getting to the fun section of the Top 25 Under 25 ranking quite yet but we’re kicking it off by going over some players who might have a future with the team in a depth role, and maybe some long-shot talents we really have dreams of reaching their potential.

Let’s get started.

T-25: Hunter McDonald, LD

Primary Team: Lehigh Valley Phantoms, AHL
2025-26 Stats: 0 G, 5 Pts in 38 GP
Rank in Summer 25 Under 25: 25
Age: 23
Acquired: 6th-round pick (165th overall) in 2022 NHL Draft

Brad (Unranked): McDonald is in an interesting spot where, after seemingly being highly regarded internally, now appears to be stuck behind Ty Murchison on the depth chart. I’ll let Maddie handle the Phantoms specifics, but the general idea that I’ve gotten is that his progression has stalled a bit in what is now his second full pro season. Given his style of play and the organization’s view of him, McDonald will still likely get his chance, maybe even before the end of this season, but his long-term fit here has become a little bit harder to see than it was just a few months ago. It feels likely that he’ll see more NHL action than a few players ranked higher than him in this exercise, but the upside is just not there for me.

Maddie (Ranked #25): I will give McDonald some credit here because, after a pretty rough rookie year where he both struggled from a discipline standpoint as well as within the defensive zone structure (or, at times it felt, lack thereof) that the previous coaching staff was running, he’s gotten things on track nicely. It’s still been a little up and down for him, and I think that’s contributed to, as Brad said, Murchison jumping him on the depth chart, but McDonald’s seemed really committed to working out his game at this level, and this season I’ve found him to be a lot less noticeable, but in a good way. His long-term fit is still a bit of a question mark for me as well, but I’m not ready to write him off entirely. 

Thomas (Unranked): Hunter McDonald to me is a guy where the innate hope is that he can be an NHL player and that’s it. Someone who is basically a controllable version of a defenseman that most teams just pay too much for in free agency to solidify their bottom pairing. And that’s why he doesn’t really move the needle for me in my Top 25 Under 25 ranking. I would much rather throw a vote to a player who I think can truly be something more impactful at the NHL level, than someone who is just a nice in-house option and is already approaching being too old for this list. Maddie certainly knows more having watched every game of his since joining the Phantoms, so maybe a vote was needed in the end.

T25: Max Westergard, LW/RW

Primary Team: Frolunda U20, U20 Nationell
2025-26 Stats: 4 G, 21 Pts in 12 GP
Rank in Summer 25 Under 25: N/A
Age: 18
Acquired: 5th-round pick (132nd overall) in 2025 NHL Draft

Maddie (unranked) : Westergard was one of the last players who dropped off my list, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that I don’t super know what to do with him yet. I’m a fan of the player, to be sure, and that profile of a speedy, skilled, undersized player is one that I’m definitely predisposed towards, but with how he’s bounced around between levels this year, it’s been a little hard to get a read on just where he’s at. I’m really excited to see what he’s able to do when he gets to either the Allsvenskan or SHL and actually sticks there, but until he shows a little more at either of those levels, he’s staying a little lower on my personal ranking. But there’s a lot of upward movement potential here!

Brad (Ranked #21): I’ll be transparent here: this ranking is almost entirely based on what he showed at the World Junior Championship. It’s important to not let one tournament change your opinion of a player too much, however, that tournament is what put him on the map for me. Westergard showed above average speed, good puck skills, and is really young for his draft year. He’s in a bit of a weird situation where, based on his offensive production, he’s well ahead of the level of play in the Swedish junior league (J20), but struggles to find ice time in the SHL. He had been loaned to the second highest league in Sweden, Allsvenskan, but after playing just five games, he’s been called back up to Frolunda. It’ll be tough to get a great read on him until he carves out a role in either league, but what he showed for Team Finland was very encouraging.

Thomas (Ranked #19): I’m just such a big fan of Westergard. As Brad mentioned, he really popped off for me at the World Juniors and that put him in my head as someone to truly watch out for. I went back and watched some of his tape from this season and it’s the same stuff we saw on the international stage: Relentless pressure, skillful skating, being able to read plays. And doing all of that as someone who has a decent frame but needs to put on mass to really carve out his complete game. He was one of the youngest players in his draft class and won’t be turning 19 years old until September. He dominated the junior level so much that he was given a role on Frolunda’s SHL squad but wasn’t handed a whole lot of minutes. Now with IF Bjorkloven in the Allsvenskan, it feels more like he’s where he should be and at 18 years old to be in the pros is already impressive. I feel like there is a fairly decent chance we’re going to be extremely excited when Westergard decides to make the leap to North America.

24: Christian Kyrou, RD

Primary Team: Lehigh Valley Phantoms, AHL
2025-26 Stats: 7 G, 25 Pts in 36 GP
Rank in Summer 25 Under 25: N/A
Age: 22
Acquired: Trade with Dallas Stars

Maddie (Ranked #22) : It’s been a weird season for Kyrou – he was red-hot immediately after getting traded to the Phantoms, and then he went ice cold for the next 10 games or so, but now he’s beginning to pick up steam pretty significantly again. When it’s all averaged out, it still gets him to his most productive season in the AHL, to date, even if the way he’s arrived at it is a little strange. All the same though, Kyrou has a fan in me. There are definitely questions here about where he fits in the organization – the Flyers are already kind of maxed out on undersized defenders – but he’s been so good for the Phantoms overall (and truly a revelation as a power play quarterback for them), and this change of scenery really has breathed new life into his game, and I think there’s a lot to like in that. 

Brad (Unranked): Right after the trade, Kyrou burst onto the scene with the Phantoms and was putting up ridiculous numbers. His point pace has since cooled some, and while that was almost always going to be the case, a bigger question for me when it comes to projecting Kyrou is the Flyers’ view on third pair defensemen. I’d like Kyrou to get a chance, but with Oliver Bonk on the way and plenty of depth defensemen in the organization who play a more physical style, it’s hard for me to see a path here.

Thomas (Ranked #21): I truly had no idea where to place Kyrou but I think he deserved a ranking. If it was someone who the Flyers developed after being a draft pick and at 22 years old, is small-but-scoring blueliner down in the AHL, he would probably be in more conversations amongst fans. There is a limiting ceiling because despite scoring tons in the AHL, he probably won’t be getting an NHL opportunity anytime soon because he is a Small Guy. But, there is more skill there than any other defender at this level so he’s worth it.

23: Helge Grans, RD

Primary Team: Lehigh Valley Phantoms, AHL
2025-26 Stats: 3 G, 9 Pts in 38 GP
Rank in Summer 25 Under 25: 21
Age: 23
Acquired: Trade with Los Angeles Kings

Maddie (Ranked #16) : It looks like I was one of the highest on Grans of our rankers, and now looking back, I’m wondering if I might have ranked him a little too high. But here’s where I’m at: Grans didn’t totally blow the doors off in his time with the Flyers last year, but he showed as a perfectly cromulent NHLer, and that seemed valuable. Because of that, it was tough to see how poorly the preseason went for him, when it looked like he had the inside track on an NHL job when Ristolainen wasn’t ready to start the season. And he’s been largely quite solid for the Phantoms this season, but he had a truly horrendous game last month when Brent Flahr was in the house presumably evaluating options for recalls while Ristolainen was out (again), and McDonald got the nod instead, and one wonders if that was the door on another stint with the Flyers closing. I still think there’s value in Grans as an NHL option, but increasingly it’s looking like that next opportunity won’t be here. 

Brad (Unranked): I was really encouraged by his short stint with the Flyers, however, like McDonald, the more time that passes, the more I struggle to see a fit here. Grans also seems to have been passed by Murchison on the depth chart, and for an organization that really emphasizes handedness on the back end, Grans being the right-shot defenseman on the Phantoms who is most often tasked with playing the left side does not bode well for his future in Philadelphia, in my view. I still think that Grans has the tools to be a third pair guy in the league, but the lack of immediate opportunity combined with a lower ceiling led to me leaving him off of my ballot.

Thomas (Unranked): Yeah, I’m just going to end up echoing Brad here but I view him in the same camp as McDonald. There’s limited upside to begin with and while he showed that he might be capable of having bottom-pairing minutes briefly with the Flyers, he hasn’t done anything else to raise his stock (and might have only lowered it after having a poor training camp). He’s just in a big puddle of tall defensemen who are not going to be anything more than the Flyers’ No. 5 defender and that’s not someone I would want to put on a ballot.

Stay tuned as we continue our ranking over the next couple of weeks!