Jan 6, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Trevor Zegras (46) reacts after scoring goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA -- Cutter Gauthier may not have wanted to play in Philadelphia, but Trevor Zegras sure does.
And if his two goals in an emphatic 5-2 win over Gauthier and the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday wasn't evidence enough, then his interview after the game on NBC Sports Philly with former Flyer Scott Hartnell should tell you all you need to know:
TREVOR ZEGRAS WITH AN ALL-TIME INTERVIEW.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/e7QeSfHQxz
F-ing amazing. Twice. Put it on a t-shirt.
Zegras played with a lot of emotion against his former team. The celebration he talked about after his first goal was a direct shot at Ducks management. He said when they traded him to the Flyers it was a very brief phone call. He wanted to remind them of that.
Trevor Zegras says his celebration was a reenactment of how fast Anaheim hung up after telling him he was traded 😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/G0VkOdQOaW
The kid has some panache. Some flair. Some chutzpah. And he's been the heartbeat of a Flyers team that reached the halfway point with their best record since 2011-12.
The Flyers are on a 102-point pace. That seems unfathomable, but it's true.
Zegras has been a big part of it, but not the only part.
Normally at this point of the season, scribes like to give out grades. I remember doing this once way back in 2003-04. I don't remember what grade I gave any other player, but I remember my Snow The Goalie co-host Chris Therien giving me a hard time in the locker room the day after the grades came out for giving him a C.
He made a fair point. I was probably a little harsh (he wanted a B, I settled on modifying it to a C+). I told him I could be a reasonable professor. He told me where I could put my grade.
Twenty-two years later, we're good friends hosting a show together. Funny how things work sometimes.
That said, I don't want to go to the game against Toronto on Thursday and have a player yell at me about their grade. Not only that, I feel like the old fashioned report card is a tired formula that we use to fill a story once a year.
So instead, I decided to go a slightly different route this year. And if someone gets mad, well, it won't be the first time. And it probably won't be the last.
The following individuals have moved to the front of the class for their first-half performance:
Zegras is a point-per-game player for the Flyers (17-24-41) and leads them in scoring, but as I mentioned, his energy is infectious. It's dynamic. What he's brought to the Flyers locker room is rocket fuel for what was once moving at the pace of a motorized scooter. Zegras feels like he has something to prove and is doing it, to the betterment of the organization.
Having something to prove also fits well with both Vladar and Dvorak. Dvorak has been not much more than a role player in the past and was miscast in his role in Montreal. Since coming to the Flyers and again playing for Tocchet, with whom he had his most success previously when the two were together in Phoenix with the Coyotes, he's been a bit of a godsend. The Flyers needed someone, anyone to fill the role of top line center, and Dvorak has filled the role in spades, centering Zegras and Travis Konecny, and is on pace for a 52-point season, which would be a career high.
Dvorak has become tight with Zegras, and others, in the locker room and wants to stay in Philadelphia, which is why he signed a five-year extension on Monday night.
Vladar has been biding his time in the NHL as a backup, waiting for the opportunity to be a No. 1 goalie, and signed with the Flyers because the opportunity was there. He's been the Flyers MVP to this point. Hands down. He's fourth in the NHL in goals against average among goalies with at least 20 starts. He's headed to the Olympics and it wouldn't surprise if he's the No. 1 goalie for Team Czechia.
Both Dvorak and Vladar have bet on themselves. And both seem to have made a good bet.
York has quietly become the most steady Eddie defensemen on the team. Travis Sanheim eats the most minutes and is still the most dynamic guy on the back end, but York seems to always be in the right place at the right time. He's an all situations defenseman, and frankly, is their best power play point guy (which isn't saying much for the Flyers power play), but the PP's mediocrity isn't on York. He's been so much more consistent this season under Tocchet than he ever was under John Tortorella.
Trevor Zegras finds Cam York with a disgusting pass for Yorky’s 1st of the season. pic.twitter.com/nl7aUW1wQF
Tocchet has installed a system that works with this group and they are buying in. They limit chances by the opposition, have a hard forecheck, and attack the middle of the ice. The team isn't perfect, but Tocchet doesn't expect or demand perfection. He believes in steady growth and always having something to work on to improve and get better. He believes in communication, transparency, and collaboration, and the Flyers have bought into it.
It's been a pretty strong start for Tocchet and his coaching staff.
Briere flies under the radar a bit, but practically every move he's made in the last 12 months has paid off. Whether it was dumping salary like Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, or trading Ryan Ellis' contract, or getting great value for Scott Laughton, or trading for Zegras, or adding contributors like Nikita Grebenkin and Carl Grundstrom via trade or the signings of Dvorak and Vladar - Briere has done meritorious work as an executive.
His most challenging feats lie ahead, and his managerial career will be measured in how he handles that, but for this season so far, he's the valedictorian.
I want to talk about Drysdale first, because he was the closest of this group to being on the dean's list. His improvement at 5-on-5 has been one of the most pleasant surprises for the Flyers. There was a time last year where there was a thought he might never figure it out, and then, seemingly overnight, he's become a very consistent and responsible defensive player. Believe me when I tell you, that the Flyers are thrilled with this. He has had the biggest season-over-season improvement over anyone who was on the team a season ago. The only thing that held him back from being with the first group of guys was his struggles on the point on the power play. He seemed like he should be a natural fit there, and it just hasn't worked out to this point. I'm sure he'll get another crack at it, and if he breaks through there, then he turns this home run season into a grand slam.
Sanheim was named to the Canadian Olympic team, and deservedly so. He may be the No. 7 guy on that team, but he's the No. 1 on the Flyers for a reason. So steady. So reliable. So durable. And he's an alternate captain for a reason - he's a well-liked and respected team leader. I never thought of him as a No. 1 defenseman as his career was progressing. I always felt he was more of a middle pair guy, for me. But the last two seasons he's convinced me he could play on a top pair for a playoff team. I wish he would provide a little more offensively, and he had a spate of turnovers last month that led to opposition goals, but he seems to have cleaned that up. Those are the only things that prevented him from being a spot higher for me on this report card.
Cates is quietly having another really strong season as a two-way center. I don't think he ever gets enough credit for the way he plays. You can feel comfortable with Cates on the ice against anyone. He's going to be a responsible center, who forechecks like the devil, defends well, is seemingly always in position, and once again should get some down-ballot votes for the Selke Award for his consistently strong defense. His line looked disjointed for a few games after the Tyson Foerster injury, but it has bounced back nicely, especially lately, with Bobby Brink and Matvei Michkov, and maybe playing more with Michkov he'll see his offensive production improve, and he can get over that 50-point plateau. Either way, he should end up with career-best production this season.
🚨 TRAVIS KONECNY TO NOAH CATES pic.twitter.com/DxrkAedLbE
Konecny is the guy most fans are going to disagree with, but I think Konecny is such a vital part to the team's success. Yes, he can driver fans (and coaches) crazy when he tries to force a play that results in a turnover - which he does do a little too frequently - but that is offset by the play driving and offense generating that he provides. Since being paired with Zegras, Konecny has taken off offensively. He had a three-game stretch around Thanksgiving where he didn't hit the scoresheet (his longest drought this season) but in the 18 games since he has 20 points (8G, 12A). If both Konecny and Zegras can maintain being point-per-game scorers, the Flyers will be more than fine. They'll be dangerous.
I always hated when teacher's used to put that phrase on my kids' report cards. I thought it was a lazy option. I would hope all the kids are a pleasure to have in class, and if not, I would have hoped to hear about it before the report card came home, and if I hadn't, I would question whether the teacher was doing their job well.
"A pleasure to have in class" reeked to me of something that teachers would say just because they didn't have a superlative to bestow upon your kid but also didn't have anything bad to say about them either. If that were the case, I'd rather no comment be listed. It meant they were doing fine, and keep plugging along. For the Flyers, that's these guys.
Brink was the closest to being the next level up. I think there's more offense in his game, and it shows some nights, but not others. Still, he's a quality player and fits really well with Cates. Grundstrom could have been higher, too, if he was here all season. Seven goals in just 16 games, mostly playing on the fourth line is excellent. I just didn't want to elevate it to high, too quickly. Maybe by the end of the season, if he plays the rest of the year, and is able to give the Flyers another 10 goals or so, he'd make honor role.
CARL GRUNDSTROM!!!! WHAT A FINISH!!!! GREAT PLAY BY GREBBY AT THE BLUE LINE. 7 GOALS IN 12 GAMES. 2-1!!!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/KDOLq9k9FE
Seeler is the poster image of a third pair defenseman in the NHL. Trustworthy. Fearless. Does all the dirty work. Blocks shots. Plays physical. He's not flashy. He's just steady. Andrae has been up and down with his play. He's had more up than down, which is good, but he needs to show more consistency to be elevated to a higher level on the grading scale. Juulsen was brought here to be the No. 7 defenseman, and he's played the role well. When he's in the lineup, he's not killing the Flyers and provides good depth at the position, something the Flyers haven't had in a while. Deslauriers knows his role, and when he's asked to fill it, it usually ends with gloves dropped, and crowds roaring. He should have been in the lineup against Anaheim on Tuesday, considering how dirty the Ducks played. It wouldn't surprise me if he is when the teams meet again in Southern California in March.
This was always the saying that teachers would use when the kid failed a test early in the term, or didn't turn in a homework assignment or two, but then rallied to be more consistent with their work near the end of the term.
All four of these guys have played better hockey of late. Michkov got off to a terrible start because of his subpar offseason conditioning. He's made a commitment to working out and skating harder to get better, and it's starting to pay off. He has seven points in his last 10 games, although he missed the last game after taking a shot off the foot. He had a long, on-ice workout on Tuesday and is expected back tonight. He also stuck around for the holidays and I was told he was both in the gym and on the ice on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There's an expectation that he'll be following a strict workout regiment during the Olympic break next month. He needs to score more goals, but I expect we'll see a different player in the second half than much of the first.
Briere may ultimately look to upgrade from Abols at the trade deadline, but since the fourth line was modified to include Grundstrom and Grebenkin, Abols has looked much better, as Grundstrom and Grebenkin are better skaters than Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway. Speaking of Grbenkin, he's still learning to be more consistent, and may still be in and out of the lineup, but when he plays the way Tocchet wants him to play - like he did against Anaheim on Tuesday - he's a difference maker.
Couturier is what he is at this point, and is probably still playing too high up the lineup, but he's not embarrassing himself on the ice. He still takes every important faceoff, and wins a majority of them. He's chipping in with points more akin to a bottom six forward, and still, with a little more in the second half could also be a 50-point player. He's a step slower than he used to be, but he's still responsible and trusted on the ice and he's respected as the team leader. He's been a huge help for Denver Barkey since his arrival, and that line, along with Owen Tippett, has been mostly solid since it was put together. The Flyers are 5-2-1 in that time and Couturier has five assists.
Each guy is for different reasons. Tippett isn't failing, but he's maddening. You can see the talent, the skill, and the ability. You know there's an honor roll guy in there somewhere and you want to pull it out of him. I'm sure the coaches have tried. It's hard to complain about a guy on pace for 26 goals and 50 points, but the reality is, his skill level should be leading to more than that. For some, that's a good season. For Tippett, that seems too light. His target should be 30 goals and 65 points. If he gets there this season, then the Flyers had a strong second half.
Hathaway was arguably the most underwhelming player on the roster the first half of the season. He still hasn't registered a point in 35 games played, which is really hard to do. He was pulled from the lineup and was a healthy scratch for six games before getting back in the last two. And the way he played the last two games are the way Garnet Hathaway needs to play. He had great energy. He skated hard and played physical. He laid a couple of big hits and got into a fight. Play like that, and he's a valuable player on the fourth line. Play like he did the first 33 games, and he should be a scratch. That's the line he has to walk.
GARNET HATHAWAY IS A ONE MAN WRECKING CREW TONIGHT!!!#Flyers pic.twitter.com/NTrh4uTg3V
Ersson hasn't been good enough. Period. Here's the thing - he needs to be. The backup goalie is going to play somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-17 games in the second half of the season. Those are important points for the Flyers in the incredibly tight Eastern Conference. He needs to give them a chance to win those games. If not, the Flyers should think about making a switch. He needs to be put on notice for that.
Barkey has had a very impressive first eight games with the Flyers. He plays like he belongs in the NHL. His hockey I.Q. is off the charts for such a young player. He may be small, but he's fearless. Tocchet compared him to Vancouver forward Conor Garland (Barkey's even smaller than Garland) and if Barkey becomes that, the Flyers will have unearthed a real gem late in the third round of the draft.
DENVER BARKEY FIRST NHL GOAL!!!#ProKnights | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/PrhzdKmWZm
Ristolainen has been solid so far, but it's only been 10 games. His name has started to pop up in trade rumors, but I was told the Flyers would have to be wowed by an offer to trade Ristolainen in-season. If he's moved, it's more likely in the summer. Ginning and Murchison are No. 8 and No. 9 on the Flyers defensive depth chart. Murchison played well in his short stint filling in and has been a little bit of a pleasant surprise with the Phantoms. Gaucher is simply a depth center.
The Foerster injury is the most disappointing thing of the Flyers season so far. He's arguably their most important forward. Foerster desperately wants to get back in time for the playoffs, but the Flyers won't rush him. They've done surprisingly well without him (8-4-4), but his loss will be felt more once the games get harder after the Olympic break.
Luchanko was never going to be part of the team all season. The Flyers really wished they could have him play a season in the AHL. Because of the rules, he had to go back to juniors. He was traded in the OHL to a better team, which should help, but he didn't play particularly well in the World Junior Championships for the bronze medal-winning Team Canada. He likely needs a full season at the AHL before he's ready to come up.
Zamula was traded to Pittsburgh for a useful depth piece (Philip Tomasino) and then didn't report to the Penguins, who terminated his contract. He landed in Columbus on a new deal, so the Flyers got a free player for him after he fell out favor and was passed on the depth chart by four Flyers defensemen in a three-month stretch.
