October 29, 2026
Geoff Burke/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Flyers got pushed around – again – Wednesday night against the Capitals.
It took 1:50 for the Flyers to fall behind in D.C., and from there you just knew how the rest of Wednesday night was going to go.
Yeah, they tied it for a bit in the second period – from Nick Seeler just tossing one on for Sean Couturier to deflect in – but the Capitals were pushing them around. It wasn't going to last. It didn't.
The Flyers lost 5-2, for their third straight defeat, a sweep across a back-to-back, and to drop to an Eastern Conference-worst 3-8-4 record that there probably isn't any coming back from now – not with how punchless they've fallen back into playing.
And afterward, Couturier, as the captain, and Seeler, as a fed-up veteran who built his reputation on making every last check and blocking every last shot, just said what it was: soft, selfish, and unacceptable.
"At times this year, we're soft, I would say," Couturier said. "Not hard on battles, and lose battles easily. It's one thing to make mistakes and not win a battle, but if you're in there trying hard and stuff, that's different. But yeah, we definitely need to pick up our physicality and our – I mean, it goes into competing as well, I think."
"Well, we certainly had some discussions in the room, especially with our starts," added Seeler. "And after the first, I mean, it's just focus levels, and compete levels, and playing for the crest. I mean, that's what it's all about. It's not about getting points. It's not about 'me, me, me.' It's about the team, and playing for each other, and sacrificing for each other, and it's really not that difficult to understand. I just...you play for the guy next to you. That's what Flyers hockey is all about.
"When we can start figuring that out – at the start, puck drop – we will be a better hockey team."
But that the Flyers' issues have spiraled to this point, where veteran leadership is now publicly calling them out like this, is a damning sign that they're not going to, that a switch isn't suddenly going to flip.
Nick Seeler, postgame, was aggravated with how the Flyers keep getting constantly outmuscled.
It's 15 games and a month into the season. A wakeup call after two or three rusty losses at the start is one thing. Numerous after repeated failures to get started on time, to play connected hockey, and to just get so easily knocked off the puck is another.
At a certain point, the 2026-27 Flyers stop being a team that needs time to find a groove, and just becomes a flat-out bad and disinterested one.
And they might be there now, probably even well past it.
"I just don't think we're defending hard enough," said head coach Rick Tocchet, trying to nail down the cause for another loss. "I really don't. I think last year, we had a bit of an identity. We were a pretty good defending team. This year, not so much. I know we got some veterans out and stuff, but I don't think we're defending hard enough. I don't think we value the defending part of the game.
"Is that a concern? Yeah, it's always a concern because you want your team to defend hard, and that gives you a chance every night."
But last year, and its rush of a breakthrough into the playoffs, is only getting further and further in the rearview with each passing and listless effort that this year's group turns in.
It only gets more damning, too.
"It's in the room," Tocchet added. "It's us here. There's no help. We gotta go in there every day, and just keep pounding the defending part, the battle levels, things like that. You just gotta keep pounding away."
But now the "soft" label is in the room, and publicly out there.
At a certain point, the message just isn't getting through, and seats might be getting hot.
The Flyers might be there now, past it even.
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