Leaning yes
Nick Seeler: The Flyers value Seeler’s presence off the ice as much as on it, as evidenced by the four-year extension they gave him in March. The team is still going to need some seasoned veterans around in a few years, and Seeler, while 31 years old, still has less wear and tear on his body than most NHLers his age after taking a full year off. That said, his full no-trade clause only lasts until the 2026 offseason. The Flyers left themselves some wiggle room to potentially move him at that point.
Sam Ersson: The Flyers love Ersson’s mental makeup, and his struggles in March and early April were due mainly to his getting overworked as the team didn’t have a reliable backup. Even if Ersson isn’t the No. 1 goalie in a few years, he should at least be good enough to be a solid No. 2 if he keeps taking steps.
Ryan Poehling: It’s easy to forget Poehling is still just 25 years old; the Flyers are his third NHL team. He should still be an effective player when his recent contract extension expires in two years. It’s not difficult to envision Poehling staying for longer, as solid depth players on the third and fourth lines will still be necessary in a couple years.
Could still go either way
Morgan Frost: The jury is still out as to whether Frost can be a top-two center on a contending team. As long as he’s still here in September, this season could be make or break for him in terms of his Flyers career, particularly after he sat on the bench for the final half of the regular-season finale — reminding everyone that coach John Tortorella still doesn’t fully trust him yet.
Noah Cates: Cates, like Frost, will enter the final season of his current contract after which he will be a restricted free agent. He could still be a valuable piece for the future as someone who can play up and down the lineup and not hurt you, but he’s going to have to do more.
Ivan Fedotov: We just don’t know enough about Fedotov yet, but he’ll get his chance as he’s likely to start the season as the No. 2 to Ersson in net.
Egor Zamula: Credit to Zamula for taking major steps this past season, something that could very well continue. But he’s still a defenseman with limited offensive ability who, for a big guy, doesn’t exactly play a physical game.
Bobby Brink: He had some ups and downs in his rookie season, and should get more of a chance next season. The challenge for Brink will be to get stronger and have a more consistent impact offensively. It feels like there’s a wide range of outcomes here for the young winger.
Leaning no
Joel Farabee: It’s not that Farabee can’t be a productive player in a few years, it’s that it’s difficult to envision him playing in a top-six role considering the Flyers have Tippett, Foerster, Konecny and likely Matvei Michkov taking up the top two lines. They would probably be better off with a younger — and cheaper — player in that spot in 2026-27. It’s why Farabee’s name will likely be among trade speculation this summer and moving forward.
Garnet Hathaway: For the time being, Hathaway is a valuable player who proved to be a nice free-agent addition. But he has just one year left on his contract and will be a UFA next summer. If the Flyers aren’t in the playoff chase in March, Hathaway could potentially be moved to a contender before the trade deadline, like he has been previously in his career due to his toughness and grit.
Scott Laughton: At some point, Briere may not be able to resist the temptation of dealing Laughton for future assets. Keeping him around to help reset the team’s culture this season paid dividends, but Laughton will be a 32-year-old unrestricted free agent in 2026 when the Flyers may be looking to spend big money on a top free-agent forward.
Gone by 2026-27
Rasmus Ristolainen: The defenseman will still have one season left on his contract in 2026-27 at $5.1 million. That’s just too much money for a player the team is likely open to moving as soon as it can. Further, highly regarded prospect Oliver Bonk, also a right-shot defenseman, could be ready for the NHL by then.
Nic Deslauriers: Another player whose contract expires in the 2026 offseason, the Flyers won’t want to tie up money in a player like Deslauriers when they’ll potentially need that cap space.
Cam Atkinson: The better question is whether Atkinson is here in September for training camp after his significant struggles in the second half of 2023-24.
Erik Johnson: The Flyers seem to be leaning toward bringing the veteran defenseman back, but it wouldn’t be for longer than the 2024-25 season.
Ryan Johansen: Yeah, he’s still on the roster. No, he won’t ever play a game for the Flyers.
It’s a popular exercise this time of year for some of my colleagues here at The Athletic to drop “stay or go” pieces, examining their respective teams’ rosters and the changes that could occur over the next few weeks.
The Philadelphia Flyers roster doesn’t quite lend itself to that kind of format. At this point, the players that could potentially be moved — Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Scott Laughton and Rasmus Ristolainen, especially— have been mentioned in trade speculation for long enough that no one would be overly shocked if general manager Daniel Briere involved them in a hockey trade or deal for future assets.
The better question, particularly after Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones’ comments on Wednesday, is: Which of the players on the current NHL roster are likely to be a part of the team when it plans on competing for a Stanley Cup again — likely to be 2026-27, at the earliest? That’s when most of the dead money they are currently carrying will be off the books, and it also gives their prospects — those in the system now, and yet to be drafted — more time to develop. And the salary cap could be as high as $97 million by then.
“If you’re looking further down the line, that is where we’re going to start to have some real key decisions to make,” Jones said last week. “We have to get them right.”
So with that particular season still more than two years away in mind, let’s take a look at the current Flyers roster and examine who should still be a part of the team then, and who is likely to be elsewhere.
Safely among the core
Owen Tippett: No one on the roster has more job security right now than Tippett, whose eight-year, $49.6 million contract begins next season.
Cam York: There’s little doubt the Flyers will try and lock up York to a long-term extension at some point. But there’s no rush, as York has one year left on his deal before he would become a restricted free agent. Regardless, you can probably pencil York into the Flyers lineup for the next decade or so.
Tyson Foerster: Foerster was one of the league’s top rookies in 2023-24 even after it took a little while for his goal scoring to come around. Like York, he has one year left on his contract, and there’s surely a healthy bridge deal or maybe even a long-term extension in his future.
Travis Sanheim: Sanheim had a strong bounce-back season and has a full no-trade clause through the next three seasons. He looks like he can be a top-four defenseman on a good club and a veteran leader for the young players.
Probably among the core
Travis Konecny: The Flyers are still hoping to sign Konecny to a long-term extension, something Briere reiterated to NHL.com in an interview at the scouting combine in Buffalo last week. “If there’s something, we would like to make it happen to keep him a Flyer for the rest of his career,” Briere said. “We’d be excited with that.” As long as Konecny’s camp isn’t dead set on an outrageous number for the winger, it’s much more likely than not that this deal gets done before the start of next season, which is the Flyers’ desire.
Jamie Drysdale: The defenseman has two more seasons to show he can be in an NHL lineup on a nightly basis after his latest surgery to his lower-body/core area. He’s still just 22 years old and has a ton of potential, as long as he can stay healthy. He’ll need a new contract as an RFA in that 2026 offseason.
Sean Couturier: At age 31 and considering his injury history and uneven 2023-24 season, it’s nearly impossible to predict where Couturier’s career goes from here. But he has six seasons left at a $7.75 million cap hit, so it’s difficult to imagine the newly minted captain playing anywhere other than Philadelphia for at least the next few years.
The Flyers hope to sign Konecny to a long-term extension before the beginning of next season. (Eric Bolte / USA Today)
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