The Philadelphia Flyers still have a pair of significant holes in their lineup. General manager Daniel Briere hasn’t addressed either one to this point in the offseason. A top-line center and power-play quarterback remain areas of need.There’s still been some roster turnover, though. That, coupled with the arrival of many of the young prospects and draft picks that Briere and his staff have compiled over the last three years, means the battle for roster spots and playing time should be pretty compelling when everyone convenes for training camp in September.With that in mind, let’s review the depth chart now that the dog days of the NHL offseason have arrived.
Center Player2026-27 cap hitSigned throughTrevor Zegras$9.125 million2029-30Christian Dvorak$5.15 million2030-31Noah Cates$4 million2028-29Sean Couturier$7.75 million2029-30Jett Luchanko$942k2028-29Jacob Gaucher$850k2026-27Jack Berglund$1.075 million2028-29Jack NesbittUnsigned—
Yeah, Leo Carlsson would have been a nice addition to this group. But that’s not happening, so barring any more moves, the Flyers will return the four centers they ended last season with down the middle: Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates and Sean Couturier.Is this a good enough group to make the playoffs? Well, yeah. They proved that last season.Is it good enough to contend for a Stanley Cup? Almost certainly not, and Briere is probably going to have to take another Carlsson-type swing on someone else at some point over the next year.Zegras, who spent most of the first three-quarters of last season on the wing, is expected to remain in the middle at the start of the season. In 20 games after he was shifted to center in early March, Zegras posted 17 points (five goals, 12 assists). Now that he’s the highest-paid player on the team and entering the prime years of his career at age 25, he’s going to have to improve on that output. Becoming a point-per-game player, at least, should be the expectation (a functional power play would help).“I thought playing center in the playoffs is something that definitely gave me a lot of confidence,” Zegras said on Tuesday.Dvorak and Cates would be solid middle-six centers on any team, as guys who can contribute offensively and be relied upon defensively. The real wild card here is Couturier. Will he be the black hole on offense that he was for most of last season, or did he figure something out late and into the playoffs that made him one of the team’s more effective players? Couturier was a drastically different player in April and May than he was in January. It was a remarkable resurgence.It seems unlikely that any of the center prospects will make the NHL team at the outset. Jett Luchanko is expected to spend next season in AHL Lehigh Valley, while Jack Nesbitt is committed to the University of Michigan, so he won’t even be at training camp. Jack Berglund might have an outside chance — he’s arguably now the Flyers’ top center prospect after the strides he made last season — but he’ll probably have to blow away team brass in camp if he is to claim a roster spot. He may also return to Sweden for another year.
