The Philadelphia Flyers are coming off one of their most disappointing efforts of the season. After a big 7-3 win in Colorado against the best team in the league, they were shut out and failed to generate many scoring chances as they returned home against the Islanders on Monday night.
Not many Flyers players stuck out in a positive way, but Matvei Michkov did look like himself again and was moved up to the top line in the third period. That was just a temporary measure, though, based on the forward lines at practice on Tuesday.
However, there are some changes to the defensive pairs after Rasmus Ristolainen played 16:38 in his return to the lineup against the Isles.
Lines & pairs today at practice:
Zegras – Dvorak – Konecny
Barkey – Couturier – Tippett
Michkov – Cates – Brink
Grundstrom – Pederson – GrebenkinSanheim – Ristolainen
York – Drysdale
Seeler – Juulsen
Andrae – Deslauriers— Charlie O’Connor (@charlieo_conn) January 27, 2026
Emil Andrae a healthy scratch amid struggles
Emil Andrae has had his ups and downs this season, as any young defenseman does, and he’s been stuck in a rut as of late.
Points aren’t necessarily the best benchmark for a defenseman, but for someone like Andrae, who is touted as a puckmover and more of an offensive guy, only having one point — an assist on Michkov’s deflection goal in Colorado — in his last 15 games isn’t great. He had 10 points in his first 25 games, all coming in a 19-game span from November 14 to December 22.
His underlying metrics have been good, though, with the Flyers generating over half of the scoring chances (60% of the high-danger chances) and a team-leading 56.2% of the expected goals share with him on the ice in that 15-game span. He’s also been the team’s most sheltered defenseman in that time with a 68.75% offensive zone start percentage.
Hopefully, Andrae sitting will just be for one game with the Flyers on a back-to-back this week. They play in Columbus on Wednesday night before heading to Boston on Thursday. One game in the press box to reset isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s not ideal.
Scratching Andrae may also be more due to the changes that Rick Tocchet wants to make on the other pairs.
Rasmus Ristolainen promoted to Flyers’ top pair
It looked like we were going to get a Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen pair a few weeks ago before the hulking rearguard was a late scratch and then missed nearly two weeks of action. Tocchet is going back to that pairing for Wednesday night, moving Sanheim from the right side, where he’s been playing with York, to his natural left side.
Over the last three seasons, Sanheim and Ristolainen have played just 231 minutes together at 5-on-5. They’ve helped generate 49.77% of the shot attempt share, but just 44.73% of the expected goals share while getting outscored 15-7. An on-ice save percentage of .847 and an on-ice shooting percentage of 6.31% certainly haven’t helped that.
In theory, this pair should work. However, it has yet to yield positive results. We’ll see how they fare this time around in the Tocchet system, as they’ve played just 16 minutes together with 63.6% of the expected goals share this season.
Cam York and Jamie Drysdale could find chemistry on second pair
Cam York and Jamie Drysdale are friends off the ice, but they haven’t seen much time together on the ice this season. They’ve played just shy of 40 minutes together at 5-on-5, posting a 53.8% expected goals for.
York has been fighting it a bit recently, so perhaps getting him some easier assignments with an improving Drysdale can help him get going again.
Once again, this is a pair that should work in theory. York is a solid two-way defenseman, while Drysdale can use his speed to move the puck and take chances in the offensive zone.
Overall, these two top pairs feel a bit more even and less top-heavy heading into Columbus on Wednesday night.
Nick Seeler and Noah Juulsen will generate defense
It’s a bit frustrating to see Andrae scratched when Noah Juulsen is getting back into the lineup, but Tocchet likes having a left-hand shot on the left side and right-hand shot on the right side as much as possible. Juulsen was a fine third-pairing defenseman when the Flyers were dealing with injuries, but he should clearly be the seventh blueliner on this team.
This defensive-defensive pairing has a 44.2% expected goals for in 105 5-on-5 minutes together this season. The Blue Jackets don’t have a ton of offensive firepower, cannon withstanding, so hopefully, Seeler and Juulsen won’t get completely overmatched against one of the bottom teams in the division.
Stats via Natural Stat Trick and Money Puck