Flyers believe making the playoffs this year was just the beginning: ‘I feel like we’re on the right path’

Last year, Travis Konecny sat in the same seat in the press room in Voorhees after a disappointing Flyers season ended and said he felt that it was realistic to think the Flyers could make the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Then he said he felt the team was two years away from being a consistent contender.

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Does he still see that as an accurate statement?

“That’s the next step, right? You get in, and now you look to next year already, and you’ve got to raise the bar again. So that would be getting in again and making another run,” he said on Tuesday at locker cleanout day. “I feel like we’re on the right path. I feel like the players who are helping us [and] coming in are really elevating our team and helping us.

“So, yeah, I’m really excited to see what happens here moving forward.”

Moving forward.

That was the consensus on Tuesday. But unlike last year, it wasn’t about moving forward from bad vibes. It was, as Jamie Drysdale said, about “looking forward to more times like these and continually getting more successful.”

The day did feel a little like that Foo Fighters’ song.

“It’s times like these you learn to live again.”

Cam York said he told president Keith Jones that this season was the most fun he’s had since turning pro. Trevor Zegras said he felt like he “had lost a little bit of that drive and passion to win” and felt it was a rejuvenating season for himself.

“It’s times like these you give and give again.”

The injuries that piled up, some quite serious.

“It’s times like these you learn to love again.”

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Confidence was a big word on Tuesday, when captain Sean Couturier said that after the Olympic break, he “found that swagger back a little bit.” Travis Sanheim mentioned that playing at the Olympics, a year after playing at the 4 Nations Face-Off, gave him confidence in his game. And Drysdale, saying the biggest step he took this year was “just coming to the rink and believing that I was a good player and could make an impact.”

“It’s times like these, time and time again.”

Now the Flyers want to do these times, again and again and less than 72 hours after their season ended, they’re already raring to go.

“To see the growth that this team has made over the years ... it’s an exciting place to be right now,” said forward Garnet Hathaway. “So, yeah, I’ve got a lot of work to do this summer. I’m excited about it. I’m happy about that. Other than the family, that’s why I wake up in the morning, right? I can’t wait to do it. So to answer your question, yeah, I’m hungry.”

Here are some other news and notes from the Flyers’ locker cleanout day.

There’s a lot of love in the Flyers’ room, but management will have some choices ahead of them as several players are due for new contracts. All of the players said they have not thought too much about their contract situation — that’s why they have agents, they said — but want to stick around.

The top restricted free agents, Zegras and Drysdale, are expected to be re-signed in the near future.

“Personally, I would love that,” Zegras said of staying in Philly. “I would love to be here for a long time. And I hope that would happen over the next couple of months, or whatever the timeframe will be, but I love playing here. I love the fans. I love the group that we have, and that would be something I’m excited about.”

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The next tier is a little more questionable, but there is no denying that Sam Ersson and Emil Andrae played roles in the Flyers’ success. Andrae started with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League but played 61 regular-season games and four in the playoffs for the big club. He had open communication with the coaching staff this season about what was and was not working, and will focus this summer on getting bigger, stronger, quicker and more explosive.

Ersson was stellar down the stretch, winning six of seven starts and posting a 1.99 goals-against average and .912 save percentage after the Olympics. He called it a new chapter.

“Not overthinking things,” he said about finding that consistency through a full season. “Just trying to push myself to get in the mindset at all times, just getting ready for the next performance, and just doing everything I can to be my best self for the next game. Not dwelling on things that have been in games in the past, even if it was a good performance, if it was a bad performance, it doesn’t matter.”

Ersson’s goalie partner isn’t due for a new deal until next season, but rumors have started that an extension is already in the works for Dan Vladař.

Asked about it, Vladař said, “If you can ask the same question to [general manager] Danny Brière, I’m going to be watching. So we’ll see what he says.”

On the unrestricted free agent side, there are Rodrigo Ābols, Carl Grundström, Luke Glendening, and Noah Juulsen to make decisions on.

Ābols, who walked in Tuesday saying “long time, no see,” dealt with a serious ankle injury in January that caused him to miss the rest of the season and would like another chance to prove he is an NHL player. And Glendening, who called this season “a bit of a whirlwind,” went from a professional tryout agreement with the New Jersey Devils to playing a critical role on the fourth line and penalty kill for the Flyers after being claimed off the waiver wire in March. The 37-year-old would love to come back but knows there is a youth movement in Philly.

Speaking of the youth, there was a lot of learning this season with several youngsters not just cracking the lineup but making an impact.

Alex Bump, who made his NHL debut in March, knows he has more to show and will take the lessons he learned from not just the regular season but the playoffs.

“It’s night and day between regular season [and playoffs],” said Bump, who had two goals in six playoff games. “I think it’s a totally different game. Obviously, it’s way faster. Everyone’s finishing their hits, always kind of just have to have your head on a swivel. No shift off. I think in the regular season, you can maybe take a shift off; in the playoffs, you can’t do that.”

Denver Barkey made his debut in December and got a chance to play at both wing and center. When asked if he’ll be working on his skills at center this summer, he said with a grin that he’ll just train as a forward.

“Come into camp at another level, that’s my goal,” said Barkey, who said there’s a lot of Jersey Mike’s in his future. “I don’t want to be the same player I was this year. That’s kind of always been my thing is, I want to be a different player. I want to be better.”

And then there’s Porter Martone, who is headed to Switzerland to play for Canada at the World Championships. The 19-year-old joined the team in late March and not only showed he can play at this level but also, as Konecny noted, gave the team a spark and distracted the team — in a good way — from the pressures of trying to make the postseason down the stretch.

“I think there’s a lot of things I can work on,” said Martone, who will head back to Michigan State for a bit to work out and then return to New Jersey. “If I want to be the player I want to be, I have to continue to keep on improving at every little aspect of my game. Definitely my skating, I can improve on that more.

“I think this summer for me is to get back into the gym, get training, be ready to go, and then work on everything on the ice, because I think I can improve at everything.”