March 11, 2026
Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images
Denver Barkey and Matvei Michkov could become a key wing duo for the Flyers.
The Flyers' outside hopes of getting back into the playoff race only seem to be fading faster, especially after Monday night's 6-2 faceplant off a loss to the Eastern Conference-worst New York Rangers.
And that's a tough pill to swallow, regardless of how you might see the Flyers' current trajectory.
They're staring down Year 6 of no playoff hockey, barring some kind of miracle; they've gotten better in some respects, but you can still see where they're sorely lacking talent, especially when it comes to a true top center; and when it comes to the offseason on the horizon, the free-agent class is looking thin, and the Flyers as they are still might be a bit too good to end up with the best possible draft lottery chances.
Even so, the summer ahead is still expected to be a pivotal one for where the Flyers are headed long-term.
But until then, they still have 19 more games to play, meaningful or not, starting with Wednesday night's home matchup against the Capitals.
Here are a few loose thoughts on the team ahead of it...
Bobby Brink's deadline trade to Minnesota created an immediate opening in the lineup for forward prospect Alex Bump to get called up.
It also created a path for Matvei Michkov to slide back over to his natural position at right wing.
Michkov has since been skating right on a line with Denver Barkey as the left wing and Noah Cates as the center, and so far, there might be some chemistry developing there.
In Saturday's 4-3 shootout win at Pittsburgh, and all starting with an offensive zone takeaway made by defenseman Jamie Drysdale, the trio turned the puck back toward the Penguins' net. Michkov took the puck in by the right wall, and in one fluid sequence, fed a heads-up pass back inside to Barkey, who had already made the read to crash in toward the net.
Michkov's pass was right on the tape, and with a step ahead of his defender, Barkey made a quick move to his backhand to flip the puck in for the tying goal that would go on to get the Flyers into the shootout.
"I think Barkey's a really smart hockey player, and he's kinda feeding off Michkov," head coach Rick Tocchet said the day after, when the team returned home and to practice in Voorhees. "I mean, you saw that goal. Mich waited the whole way, and he knew Barkey was gonna take off inside. It was a hell of a pass, but it was also Barkey reading the play. So hopefully those guys can develop."
The kids are alright!#PHIvsPIT | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/9Nak1e2ku1
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 8, 2026
They would be a nice young duo for the future, after all, as Michkov is a key piece with a star ceiling at age 21, and Barkey is a talented prospect who climbed up to the NHL much sooner than anticipated at age 20.
Now, they didn't look particularly great during Monday night's debacle against the Rangers, but then again, no one in an orange sweater really did.
Still, Barkey and Michkov might be a duo worth giving extended time to the rest of the way, especially if it means Michkov gets minutes at his original position at right wing, and even more so if he ends up more productive in that spot.
Before the deadline, Tocchet had been rolling Michkov out as a left winger since he's a left-handed shot, but that's been to mixed reactions, and even though it might not be the lone cause, results.
"Well, Bobby leaving, and Mich wants to try it," Tocchet said Sunday of Michkov's move back to right wing. "We'll see. I got my thoughts on that, but we'll see how it goes."
It seems like a spot to change the coach's mind.
Tyson Foerster went down the tunnel clutching his arm during an early December loss to Pittsburgh and hasn't been back since.
An ensuing surgery for an upper-body injury all but officially ended his season, unless the Flyers were to somehow make their way into the playoffs and push a bit of a way into it.
That'd be a nice scenario, general manager Danny Brière acknowledged of Foerster's status when he spoke to the press in Voorhees after Friday's trade deadline, but as for Foerster's rehab in general, Brière said he's doing well.
"He's starting to skate and shoot pucks, so he's trending in the right direction," Brière said. "And I know he's gonna start knocking on my door soon to get back in the lineup earlier, he's just that type of person. He's gonna push to get back earlier, so we'll see what happens, but it's exciting."
It's probably not a total coincidence that things gradually got rockier for the Flyers after they lost Foerster from the lineup.
Through 21 games, he was already at 10 goals and a plus-7 rating, and was easily their most complete and willing-to-shoot skater on the ice whenever he was out there.
If he doesn't go down, the conversation around him is probably about his breakout into a 35-goal level scorer and the 24-year-old winger's important standing as one of the Flyers' core young stars.
The team just has to hope that when Foerster does eventually return to game action, he'll still have that consistent play he really started to tap into.
Alex Bump's first NHL goal went in on a shot he lined through traffic from in tight during his Flyers debut Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Monday back at home against the Rangers, he led the Flyers' forwards in shots with four on the night.
The 22-year-old wing is willing, and looking, to shoot. That's big because the Flyers do have a long-standing tendency to always be looking to pass, only to leave themselves making one pass too many.
But the other, and a bit lower-key part to Bump's game so far is that his shot can be deceptive.
He seems to be able to pull the puck in close to his body and yet still get it to the corner he picks out, which is brutal for goalies to read head-on, much less trying to do it when bodies are stacked up in front, but with the puck still on its way.
It's a promising trait, and one that keeps a player in the NHL for the long haul if Bump can keep refining it.
Welcome to the show, Alex Bump! #PHIvsPIT | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/ub5L3F0Ace
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 7, 2026
The Capitals' visit to Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday night will be their last of the regular season, which might just mean it's Alex Ovechkin's last time playing in Philadelphia.
The NHL's all-time leading goal scorer is 40 now, his contract will be up after this season, and in the past few years, the subject of retirement hasn't been a discussion he's tried to avoid.
So there's a real chance this could be it.
Ovechkin is one of the two top skaters of his era between himself and longtime Penguin Sidney Crosby. He's one of the greatest players ever, and with 921 career goals that surpassed even Wayne Gretzky, he's undisputably the all-time greatest shooter.
You can take that type of once-in-a-lifetime talent for granted when you're watching the games or the highlights from night to night for years on end.
It happens in basketball with Michael Jordan and now LeBron James; in football with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady; in baseball with guys like Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, and David Ortiz; and then to hockey with Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, maybe Ovechkin now, and soon enough, Crosby, too.
But those kinds of stars don't come around often. An Alex Ovechkin never will again.
Appreciate it all while it's still there.
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