What the betting market is telling us about the 2024-25 Flyers

The Flyers missed the playoffs in 2023-24, but there is no arguing that they massively exceeded expectations.

The Flyers finished with 87 points, just four back of the Washington Capitals for the last spot in the postseason, and were in a playoff spot for essentially the whole campaign. It wasn’t the end that fans hoped for, but you have to give John Tortorella’s side a ton of credit for providing a terrific ride considering nobody expected the Flyers to be competitive.

Philadelphia won’t sneak up on anyone this season, but has the betting market over-adjusted to the Flyers’ surprising 87-point campaign in 2023-24?

Flyers 2023-24 Betting Odds (via DraftKings)

At first glance, you’d say that the betting market is expecting a step back for the Flyers in 2024-25. Philadelphia landed on 87 points last season, but its Over/Under is set at 85.5 as we head into August. Additionally, Philadelphia is sitting at +200 (33.3% implied probability) to make the postseason, which is behind teams like the Senators, Red Wings, Sabres, Islanders and Capitals.

While this may seem like the bookmakers are disrespecting the Flyers or, at the very least, overlooking them, the truth is that it is actually giving them quite a bit of credit. Philadelphia entered the 2023-24 season with an Over/Under of 73.5 points and easily sailed past that mark, so the market is implying that the team we saw last year was no fluke and that we should expect Philadelphia to hang around in the playoff picture once again.

All of that makes sense on paper, but there are some concerns that the Flyers may actually take a step back this season, rather than move forward.

The arrival of Matvei Michkov was the biggest news for Philadelphia in the offseason and the Russian wunderkind should add some serious pop to the offense, but the front office has made no secret about its approach to this coming campaign. General manager Daniel Briere is keeping his focus on the future and showed restraint by not making any impact moves to the roster this summer.

That includes in goal, where the Flyers are set to enter the season with a tandem of Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov. There is some upside to both of those netminders, but we saw Ersson struggle down the stretch in 2023-24 and Fedotov is a complete unknown after posting an .811 save percentage in three games last spring.

There are certainly paths to the Flyers outrunning their odds this season. We know Tortorella is a master at getting the most out of his roster, the concerns in goal really lower the floor for the Flyers.

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