With the 2025-26 NHL trade deadline looming at 3 o'clock p.m. eastern time on Friday afternoon, the Flyers players, coaches and management will play out a scene that takes place each year in every organization. The players will try their best to focus on business as usual but will be checking their phones and the television at the training facility. Players will try to keep each other loose.
Meanwhile, general manager Daniel Briere will be on and off the phone all day, circling back with other teams. His staff has prepared a packet of information -- contract details, internal reports, etc. -- that will be at his fingertips if and when it's needed to consummate potential deals. It's also hardly uncommon for pre-deadline discussions to be picked up again after the season is over.
Once the trade deadline is passed, the NHL's regular season stretch drive officially begins. Thursday night's slate of games around the NHL brought mixed news to the Flyers.
The good news: Philly didn't lose ground in their uphill battle to challenge for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, despite a 3-0 home loss to the Utah Mammoth. The Boston Bruins (6-3 road loss in Nashville), New York Islanders (5-3 road defeat vs. the LA Kings), and Pittsburgh Penguins (5-1 home loss against the Buffalo Sabres) all lost in regulation on Thursday, too.
The bad news: The Flyers missed out on an opportunity to gain ground on these teams above the playoff cutoff line. Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets skated to a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers.
With 21 games remaining in their schedule, the Flyers are seven points out of a wildcard spot in the East: six standings points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage (26 regulation wins to 19) with Boston for a wildcard playoff spot. Philly needs to make up nine points -- eight standings points plus an extra point to negate tiebreaker disadvantages with Pittsburgh and the Islanders.
In terms of the remaining schedule, here's the breakdown for the Flyers starting with Saturday afternoon's game in Pittsburgh. Note: in a scheduling quirk, the Flyers still have their entire three-game season series with the Detroit Red Wings on the docket.
Road games: 11 (Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Detroit, Washington, Islanders, New Jersey, return game to Detroit, Winnipeg).
Home games: 10 (New York Rangers, Washington, Columbus on March 14 and March 24, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Carolina. Montreal).
Back-to-Backs: 4 (vs. Capitals/at Wild, at Ducks/at Kings, vs. Red Wings/ @ Islanders, vs. Hurricanes/ vs. Canadiens). All four B2Bs are part of gauntlets of three games in four night runs.
Flyers Sign Phantoms captain Wilson
On Thursday, the Flyers signed Lehigh Valley Phantoms captain Garrrett Wilson to a two-way contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. The player's AHL-only contract was converted to a two-way NHL deal, making him eligible for a callup. By rule he has to clear waivers first for purposes of being assigned to the Lehigh Valley roster.
The rugged 34-year-old winger has spent six seasons with the Phantoms. He's the team's most respected figure in the dressing room among veterans and young players alike; a true professional in terms of preparation, work habits and commitment to his teammates. In his six seasons with the Phantoms, Wilson has 148 points ( 62 goals, 86 assists) and 787 penalty minutes. In 51 games this season, he has 16 points (4g, 12a) and 99 penalty minutes. Wilson will turn 35 on March 16.
Originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round (107th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft, the left winger became a solid power forward at the junior hockey level. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound native of Barrie, Ontario, enjoyed a 40-goal regular season for the Ontario Hockey League championship winning Barrie Colts in 2010-11. He turned pro the next year.
At the professional level, Wilson has been an old-school style enforcer with enough prowess in the trenches to periodically move up in the lineup and play netfront. He has topped out at 23 goals in an American Hockey League season (San Antonio Rampage in 2014-15). He hit a single-season penalty minute high with the Phantoms in 2023-24 (216 PIM). Win or lose, Wilson has never been shy about standing up to defend a teammate or trying to infuse energy and emotion into a game.
Wilson has dressed in 84 career National Hockey League games -- most recently in 2018-19 -- between the Panthers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. He spent the majority of the 2018-19 campaign at the NHL level with Pittsburgh. In 2021, Wilson made a serious bid for a Flyers contract and a NHL roster spot out of training camp. He was among the final two cuts in camp. When the Flyers claimed winger Zack MacEwen off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks on October 13, 2021, Wilson was cut from the camp roster.
Meet Daniel Bove
On March 5, the Flyers formally announced the hiring of Daniel Bove as the organization's Vice President of Athlete Performance and Wellness. In his new role, Bove will collaborate across multiple departments, including analytics, to develop individualized, comprehensive performance, health, and wellness plans while working closely with the team's doctors and medical staff at Penn Medicine.
On Thursday's edition of the Flyers Daily podcast, host Brian Smith (subbing for Jason Myretetus) interviewed Delaware Valley native Bove about his career journey back home and his role in the Flyers organization.
