Kevin Durso

It took all of 30 minutes following the end of the roster freeze for the other 31 teams in the NHL for Chuck Fletcher to make another trade. This one served a key purpose for the Flyers, because without it, not only were they limited in what they could continue to do with the roster ahead of the coming season, but they also wouldn’t even be able to fill all of the roster spots necessary.

The Flyers will open the 2021-22 season on Oct. 15 by hosting the Vancouver Canucks. They will play their second game of the season on Monday, Oct. 18, against the Seattle Kraken, marking their first meeting against the NHL’s newest team.

The Flyers have traded defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, plus a 2022 second-round pick and 2022 seventh-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes. While Arizona sent nothing in return to the Flyers in terms of a player or pick, they did absorb all of Gostisbehere’s $4.5 million cap hit.

On the Flyers end, the selection by the Seattle Kraken was rather surprising. While many focused on names like Jake Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Braun and Robert Hagg, who were left unprotected, the Kraken selected forward Carsen Twarynski as their pick from Philadelphia.

Who will it be? Will Seattle simply select a player or is there a side deal that could be in place? There are three potential outcomes for the Flyers in Wednesday night’s expansion draft, and we’ll detail each possibility and how it could impact the Flyers offseason plans.

When Saturday afternoon’s trade went down and sent Ryan Ellis to the Flyers for Phil Myers and Nolan Patrick, it came as a surprise to the veteran defenseman. That said, it also marks the beginning of a new chapter for Ellis.

The Flyers announced the new addition on Monday, naming Darryl Williams to the team’s coaching staff alongside head coach Alain Vigneault and assistants Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo.

The Flyers have protected forwards Claude Giroux, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Oskar Lindblom, Scott Laughton and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. They have also protected defensemen Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim and the newly-acquired Ryan Ellis, as well as goalie Carter Hart in the upcoming Expansion Draft.

The Flyers completed a trade with the Nashville Predators, adding defenseman Ryan Ellis in exchange or defenseman Phil Myers and forward Nolan Patrick. Patrick was sent to the Vegas Golden Knights in a separate deal involving the Predators and New York Rangers.

As GM Chuck Fletcher and assistant GM Brent Flahr met with the media on Tuesday morning, it marked the beginning of what should be a busy few weeks for the team. They need to get better. They know it. And they know time is of the essence.

A year ago, Lindblom was a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, an award presented to a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. In 2021, Lindblom takes home the hardware, officially winning the award in an announcement made on Tuesday night.

The Flyers announced on Sunday evening that Ian Laperriere has been named the head coach of the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Following the NHL Draft Lottery on Wednesday night, the Flyers will have the 13th overall pick at the NHL Draft on July 23.

The Flyers announced on Tuesday that they have mutually agreed to part ways with Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon. In addition, Phantoms assistant coach Kerry Huffman stepped down from his position.

As Flyers management – head coach Alain Vigneault and GM Chuck Fletcher and chairman Dave Scott – met the media on Tuesday, the trio rested on excuses for most of their comments, sounding more optimistic in hopes of a normal season than the work that may need to be done to a roster filled with holes.

From a mid-January start with some early positive results to one final win/loss to the New Jersey Devils in mid-May to conclude the 56-game campaign, here are five takeaways from the season.

Joel Farabee not only finished the season as the Flyers leading scorer, but also capped off his season with a pair of goals to reach the 20-goal mark in just his second NHL season. His two goals helped pave the way for a 4-2 Flyers win over the Devils to close out the 2020-21 season on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.

All that is left now for the Flyers is one more match with the New Jersey Devils to close out the 2020-21 season. 

Lars Eller scored with 39.8 seconds left in the third period, then Conor Sheary got the game-winner with a minute left in overtime to hand the Flyers a 2-1 loss on Saturday night.

The Capitals chances at the division title took a hit in that loss, one they will be looking to avenge in the final meeting of the season against the Flyers on Saturday night.

Joel Farabee scored his team-leading 18th goal of the season and Wade Allison scored a pair of goals as the Flyers defeated the Capitals, 4-2, on Friday night.

The Capitals have a lot to play for, looking to claim an edge in the East Division race. Just like earlier this week against Pittsburgh, the Flyers look to play spoiler, starting with Friday night’s opener.

The Penguins put the finishing touches on the season series with the Flyers with a four-goal third period in a 7-3 decision at Wells Fargo Center.

Tuesday night marks the final meeting of the season between the Flyers and Penguins, the very matchup that opened the 2020-21 season for the NHL nearly four months earlier. One team is headed for the playoffs in another three games, seeding to be determined. The other has a critical offseason ahead, but before that begins, four more games remain. 

The Flyers picked up a 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The final week of the season begins with a back-to-back against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It starts on Monday night at 7 p.m.

In Saturday’s series finale, the Devils finished off the series win, cruising to a 4-1 win over the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.

The games continue for the Flyers with the final game of a four-game series with the New Jersey Devils. The series closes on Saturday night in Philadelphia.

After giving up two power-play goals in the first and two more in the third period, the Flyers playoff hopes are officially gone. A 5-3 loss to the Devils coupled with a 5-2 win by the Bruins eliminated the Flyers on Thursday night.