2015–16 Philadelphia Flyers season
The 2015–16 Philadelphia Flyers season was the 49th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 5, 1967. The Flyers opened the regular season on October 8, 2015 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was the first season under new head coach Dave Hakstol. The Flyers finished fifth in the Metropolitan 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 the Washington Capitals.
Off-season
After the Flyers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three seasons in 2014–15, head coach Craig Berube was fired. On May 18, 2015, the Flyers hired Dave Hakstol to replace Berube. Hakstol had been the University 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 the NCAA tournament in each season and advanced to the Frozen Four seven times. The Flyers retained assistant coaches Ian Laperriere, Joe Mullen and Gord Murphy. Kim Dillabaugh was named goaltending coach on July 3, 2015, replacing Jeff Reese.The Flyers signed Kontinental Hockey League defenseman Evgeny Medvedev to a one-year, $3 million contract on May 20. June 27, the first day of the draft, was a busy one for the Flyers, as they selected defenseman Ivan Provorov with the seventh overall pick while also trading the 29th and 61st overall selection for the 24th in order to select forward Travis Konecny. The next day, the Flyers made a trade to create some cap space, with the Arizona Coyotes receiving Nicklas Grossmann and acquiring the contract of Chris Pronger, while the Flyers received Sam Gagner and a conditional 2016 or 2017 draft pick. The Flyers then traded Zac Rinaldo to the Boston Bruins in exchange for a 2017 third-round pick on June 29, while re-signing Chris VandeVelde to a two-year deal. The next day, the Flyers re-signed Ryan White to a one-year deal. On July 1, the Flyers signed free-agent goaltender Michal Neuvirth to a two-year, $3.25 million contract.
Standings
Schedule and results
Pre-season
Regular season
Playoffs
Player statistics
;Skaters| Player | ||||||
| 78 | 22 | 45 | 67 | −8 | 53 | |
| 81 | 32 | 28 | 60 | −7 | 147 | |
| 80 | 26 | 33 | 59 | 3 | 33 | |
| 73 | 11 | 44 | 55 | −5 | 38 | |
| 64 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 8 | 24 | |
| 63 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 8 | 30 | |
| 82 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 9 | 30 | |
| 79 | 11 | 15 | 26 | −5 | 27 | |
| 62 | 6 | 17 | 23 | −1 | 18 | |
| 71 | 7 | 14 | 21 | −2 | 34 | |
| 73 | 11 | 5 | 16 | −9 | 101 | |
| 53 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 25 | |
| 74 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −8 | 27 | |
| 76 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −3 | 116 | |
| 79 | 2 | 12 | 14 | −7 | 27 | |
| 52 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −8 | 16 | |
| 45 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 34 | |
| 39 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 15 | |
| 37 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 4 | |
| 81 | 1 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 42 | |
| 28 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 6 | |
| 56 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 66 | |
| ‡ | 29 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −7 | 30 |
| 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| ‡ | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| † | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player | ||||||
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |
| 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −1 | 13 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 4 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 2 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 15 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 18 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltenders
| Player | |||||||||||
| 54 | 53 | 3150 | 23 | 19 | 10 | 132 | 2.51 | 1602 | .918 | 4 | |
| 32 | 29 | 1825 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 69 | 2.27 | 908 | .924 | 3 |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Flyers. Stats reflect time with the Flyers only.
‡Traded mid-season
Awards and records
Awards
Records
- NHL record
Individual
Milestones
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career Point 1st Career Assist | October 8, 2015 | |
| 500th Career NHL Game | October 14, 2015 | |
| 20,000 Career Minutes | October 20, 2015 | |
| 500th Career NHL Game | October 31, 2015 | |
| 1st Career NHL Game | November 14, 2015 | |
| 1st Career Point 1st Career Assist | November 14, 2015 | |
| 1st Career Goal | November 16, 2015 | |
| 400th Career NHL Game | November 19, 2015 | |
| 300th Career NHL Game | November 19, 2015 | |
| 300th Career NHL Game | November 28, 2015 | |
| 1st Career Goal | December 1, 2015 | |
| 100th Career NHL Game | December 5, 2015 | |
| 300th Career NHL Game | December 8, 2015 | |
| 300th Career Point | December 10, 2015 | |
| 10,000 Career Minutes | December 10, 2015 | |
| 200th Career NHL Game | December 21, 2015 | |
| 1000th Career NHL Game | January 13, 2016 | |
| 400th Career Point | January 13, 2016 | |
| 1st Career Point 1st Career Assist | February 7, 2016 | |
| 1st Career Goal | February 11, 2016 | |
| 500th Career Point | February 27, 2016 | |
| 400th Career Point | February 27, 2016 | |
| 30th Career Shutout | March 5, 2016 | |
| 700th Career NHL Game | March 7, 2016 | |
| 200th Career NHL Game | March 7, 2016 | |
| 600th Career NHL Game | March 12, 2016 | |
| 100th Career NHL Game | March 12, 2016 | |
| 100th Career Assist | March 15, 2016 | |
| 600th Career NHL Game | March 30, 2016 | |
| 400th Career NHL Game | March 30, 2016 | |
| 600th Career NHL Game | April 3, 2016 | |
| 100th Career Assist | April 3, 2016 | |
| 200th Career NHL Game | April 7, 2016 | |
| 400th Career NHL Game | April 10, 2016 | |
| 200th Career NHL Game | April 10, 2016 |
Suspensions and fines
Transactions
The Flyers were involved in the following transactions from June 16, 2015, the day after the deciding game of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 12, 2016, the day of the deciding game of the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals.Trades
Signings
Free agency
The following players were signed by the Flyers via free agency. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk.| Date | Player | Previous team | Term | Ref |
| Michal Neuvirth | New York Islanders | 2-year | ||
| Tim Brent | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 1-year* | ||
| Chris Conner | Washington Capitals | 2-year* | ||
| Davis Drewiske | Montreal Canadiens | 1-year* | ||
| Jason LaBarbera | Anaheim Ducks | 1-year* | ||
| Colin McDonald | New York Islanders | 1-year* | ||
| Chris Porter | St. Louis Blues | 1-year* | ||
| Philippe Myers | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies | 3-year* | ||
| Ray Emery | Adler Mannheim | 1-year | ||
| Alex Lyon | Yale University | 2-year* |
Internal
The following players were either re-signed by the Flyers or, in the case of the team's selections in the NHL Entry Draft, signed to entry level contracts. Two-way contracts are marked with an asterisk.| Date | Player | Term | Ref |
| Chris VandeVelde | 2-year | ||
| Ryan White | 1-year | ||
| Ivan Provorov | 3-year* | ||
| Michael Del Zotto | 2-year | ||
| Travis Konecny | 3-year* | ||
| Sean Couturier | 6-year extension | ||
| Jakub Voracek | 8-year extension | ||
| Colin McDonald | 2-year extension* | ||
| Michael Raffl | 3-year extension | ||
| Reece Willcox | 3-year* |
Waivers
The Flyers were involved in the following waivers transactions.| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| October 1, 2015 | Chris Porter | to Minnesota Wild |
Departures
The following players left the team via free agency, release, or retirement. Players who were under contract and left the team during the season are marked with an asterisk.| Date | Player | New team | Via | Ref |
| Zack Stortini | Ottawa Senators | Free agency | ||
| Jason Akeson | Buffalo Sabres | Free agency | ||
| Blair Jones | Vancouver Canucks | Free agency | ||
| Carlo Colaiacovo | Buffalo Sabres | Free agency | ||
| Oliver Lauridsen | Frolunda HC | Free agency | ||
| Jay Rosehill | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | Free agency | ||
| Andrew Johnston | Missouri Mavericks | Free agency | ||
| Matt Konan | Tulsa Oilers | Free agency | ||
| N/A | Rob Zepp | — | Retirement | |
| Ray Emery | Ontario Reign | Free agency | ||
| Tim Brent* | — | Retirement |
Draft picks
Below are the Philadelphia Flyers' selections made at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The Flyers original second and third-round picks were traded in two different trades.| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Ivan Provorov | Defense | Russia | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| 1 | 24 | Travis Konecny | Right Wing | Canada | Ottawa 67's | |
| 3 | 70 | Felix Sandstrom | Goaltender | Sweden | Brynas IF | |
| 3 | 90 | Matej Tomek | Goaltender | Slovakia | Topeka RoadRunners | |
| 4 | 98 | Samuel Dove-McFalls | Left Wing | Canada | Saint John Sea Dogs | |
| 4 | 104 | Mikhail Vorobyev | Center | Russia | Tolpar Ufa | |
| 5 | 128 | David Kase | Right Wing | Czech Republic | Pirati Chomutov | |
| 6 | 158 | Cooper Marody | Center | United States | Sioux Falls Stampede | |
| 7 | 188 | Ivan Fedotov | Goaltender | Russia | HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk |