Philadelphia loves to win, but if that falls out of the question, fans can get pretty embraceful of a tank, too.
Back at the beginning of March, our own Adam Aaronson checked in with Tankathon founder Matt Hoover, who told him that Sixers fans have been returning to the site in droves amid a disastrous season, all checking to see what could be made of an expected high first-round draft pick – provided they get to keep it, that is.
This week, I spoke with Hoover to see what things looked like from the Flyers' side after the recent 1-10-1 stretch that sent them spiraling to the bottom of the standings and showed now former head coach John Tortorella the door, which has since been followed by a rebound of three straight wins for the team.
The Flyers have been No. 1 in NHL traffic to Tankathon through the past four weeks, Hoover said over the phone on Thursday, etching out a couple of other major market teams in the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens, who have both bounced back from their own struggles at least enough to focus more on the final stretch of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
The Flyers didn't. General manager Danny Brière sold at the trade deadline for futures a few weeks ago, and the team on the ice now crumbled right after.
They're looking at another early summer – the organization's fifth straight – but with 11 draft picks coming up, including three first-rounders, and with a lot of stock placed in the highest one to try and find the next core piece.
And Flyers fans, alongside their fellow Sixers faithful, have been flocking to the internet's top draft resource to get a beat on what might be, hopefully with enough lottery luck to push the orange and black up the board.
Hey, Philadelphia loves to dream, too, and Tankathon's "sim lottery" button can be pressed all you want.
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Hoover said the recent surge in Flyers-related traffic is another instance of Philadelphia further cementing itself as part of Tankathon's building legacy.
His creation of the site in 2013 went hand in hand with the start of "The Process" for the Sixers, which had their fans tracking picks and lottery odds for the next several years.
Now, with the Sixers bizarrely back to where they started and with the Flyers steeped well into their own rebuild, both fan bases are in the habit of checking Tankathon regularly.
Here are a couple of other future-minded Flyers thoughts…
Phantoms on the horizon
Top center prospect Jett Luchanko has assists in two of his three AHL games since joining Lehigh Valley out of juniors for the remainder of the season.
Wing prospect Nikita Grebenkin, the Flyers' player return in the Scott Laughton trade with Toronto, is up to three goals and five points through seven games since reporting to the Phantoms, which included this snipe against Laval last Saturday after a cut through open ice:
Nikita Grebenkin just 51 seconds in🚅@LVPhantoms | #LVvsLAV pic.twitter.com/Vj7baYptgo
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) March 29, 2025
The Flyers expect the 21-year-old Grebenkin to be a part of the NHL roster sometime soon.
The 18-year-old Luchanko, meanwhile, did make the team out of training camp late last summer, but got sent back to his junior team in Guelph before his nine-game trial window was up.
Still, he held up in his brief first taste of the NHL and the Flyers remain high on what he could bring to them down the line.
This look with the Phantoms to close out the year lines the young center up to take another shot at cracking the Flyers' roster in camp next time around – presumably for good this time.
Knights of the Round
The London Knights are back in the Ontario Hockey League Playoffs, and 2023 third-round forward prospect Denver Barkey, as their captain, played a major part in helping them tear through the first round.
The 19-year-old posted five goals and seven assists for 12 points in a first-round London sweep of Owen Sound, which so far, is the point total that leads the OHL playoff field.
He's been leading the way with style, too:
DENVER BARKEY IS THAT DUDE.@NHLFlyers | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/K63pY5xV00
— London Knights (@LondonKnights) April 3, 2025
Barkey had a rough first half of the season with a case of mono that forced him to miss time and then a miss of the cut for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship.
He hasn't appeared to have let any of that set him back, though.
Instead, Barkey's trying to lead another Knights charge back to the Memorial Cup.
COWAN AND BARKEY.
BARKEY AND COWAN.#LeafsForever | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/dKdjYXfIqQ— London Knights (@LondonKnights) April 4, 2025
Oliver Bonk, the heralded defenseman taken 22nd overall in the 2023 draft, has been in the mix for London, too, with three assists through the first-round 4-0 sweep.
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