The2015–16Philadelphia Flyersseason was the49th season for theNational Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 5, 1967.[2] The Flyers opened the regular season on October 8, 2015 against theTampa Bay Lightning.[3] This was the first season under new head coachDave Hakstol. The Flyers finished fifth in theMetropolitan Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference, qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the second Wild Card team in the Eastern Conference, where they would lose in the first round in six games to theWashington Capitals.
After the Flyers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three seasons in2014–15, head coachCraig Berube was fired.[4] On May 18, 2015, the Flyers hiredDave Hakstol to replace Berube. Hakstol had been theUniversity of North Dakota's head coach for the past 11 seasons, during which he had a 289–143–43 record and led the school to theNCAA tournament in each season and advanced to theFrozen Four seven times.[5] The Flyers retained assistant coachesIan Laperriere,Joe Mullen andGord Murphy.[6]Kim Dillabaugh was named goaltending coach on July 3, 2015, replacingJeff Reese.[7]
The Flyers signedKontinental Hockey League defensemanEvgeny Medvedev to a one-year, $3 million contract on May 20.[8] June 27, the first day of thedraft, was a busy one for the Flyers, as they selected defensemanIvan Provorov with the seventh overall pick while also trading the 29th and 61st overall selection for the 24th in order to select forwardTravis Konecny.[9] The next day, the Flyers made a trade to create some cap space, with theArizona Coyotes receivingNicklas Grossmann and acquiring the contract ofChris Pronger, while the Flyers receivedSam Gagner and a conditional 2016 or 2017 draft pick.[10] The Flyers then tradedZac Rinaldo to theBoston Bruins in exchange for a 2017 third-round pick on June 29, while re-signingChris VandeVelde to a two-year deal.[11][12] The next day, the Flyers re-signedRyan White to a one-year deal.[13] On July 1, the Flyers signed free-agent goaltenderMichal Neuvirth to a two-year, $3.25 million contract.[14]
Shayne Gostisbehere set a number of team records during the 2015–16 season. Gostisbehere‘s 15-game point streak from January 19 to February 20 is the team record for a rookie and the NHL record for a rookie defenseman, and his nine-game assist streak from January 21 to February 11 tied the team record for a rookie.[21][22][23] He set franchise single season highs for goals by a rookie defenseman (17) and overtime goals (4), and tied the team record for powerplay goals by a defenseman (8).[24][25][26]
The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 16, 2015, the day after the deciding game of the2015 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 12, 2016, the day of the deciding game of the2016 Stanley Cup Finals.[29]
Below are the Philadelphia Flyers' selections made at the2015 NHL entry draft, held on June 26–27, 2015 at theBB&T Center inSunrise, Florida. The Flyers original second and third-round picks were traded in two different trades.[75]
^The Flyers retained $500,000 of Grossmann's salary.[32]
^The draft pick the Flyers receive will be Arizona's choice of either a 4th-round pick in 2016 or their 3rd-round pick in 2017.[32] Arizona sent the Flyers San Jose's 4th-round pick on June 25, 2016, to complete the trade.[33] Arizona had previously traded their own 4th-round pick and acquired the pick from San Jose on June 20, 2016.[33]
^abThe Flyers retained half of Lecavalier and Schenn's salaries.[36]