I hate to get so negative just one week into the season, but the Philadelphia Flyers have forced my hand. After a magical run to the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Flyers have fallen on their face through four games. Philadelphia opened the season with a 7-0 loss to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, and coach Rick Tocchet described his team's play as "disturbing." There was only one way for the season to go after that, right?
The Flyers are off to an 0-2-2 start, and the underlying numbers aren't pretty. Per Natural Stat Trick, they have a five-on-five expected goals share of 26.0%, which ranks last in the NHL. Their 4.57 xGA/60 also ranks last.
Tocchet's bunch entered the season with a lot of well-earned optimism. Even with subpar play from Matvei Michkov last season, the Flyers managed to reach the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Rookie Porter Martone asserted himself as a budding star with six goals and nine assists in 19 games between the regular season and playoffs.
There's still plenty of time -- 80 games exactly -- for the Flyers to get back on track and restore that optimism, but to say this has been a discouraging start would be an understatement. All expected goals and goals saved above average data courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
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