Offseason Spotlight: Tyson Foerster

Tyson Foerster is coming off a promising NHL rookie season in 2023-24. He showed a consistently strong attention to detail in his all-around game, and contributed 20 goals among his 33 points. 

Even when goals were tough to come by in the first quarter of last season, the hard shooting winger stuck with the program. He maintained a solid forechecking presence, backchecked diligently, and displayed good hockey sense. Consequently, Foerster stayed in head coach John Tortorella's lineup. 

After being a healthy scratch on opening night in Columbus, Foerster dressed in 77 of the remaining 81 games. He missed four games in February with a lower body injury. Otherwise, Foerster was an every game player in the Flyers' lineup.

Eventually, the goals started to come with regularity. From the beginning of January onward, Foerster's 15 goals trailed only Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett (16 goals apiece) for the team lead. 

At the end of the season, Foerster said that he didn't change anything dramatically in terms of his offensive approach. It was a matter of making sure he got to the scoring areas. Foerster is skilled at skating downhill and ripping the puck home from the top of the circle down to just below the dots. He also scored a few deflection goals from the high to mid slot.

"I think the puck just started going in for me. I felt like, at the start of the year, I was getting a bunch of grade A chances. I just wasn't able to score them.  In the second half, I was getting the same chances. I was just able to score them. The difference was being able to score them, and getting a few lucky bounces," Foerster said on Exit Day.

Foerster's hottest offensive stretch of the season bookended the injury that cost him four games. He had a run of nine goals in nine games played between January 27 to March 2.

Foerster finished seventh in the Calder Trophy balloting for NHL Rookie of the Year, won by Chicago Blackhawks standout Connor Bedard. Foerster received 107 voting points (Bedard had 1,808), including 10 third-place votes. He also received one fifth-place vote in the Selke Trophy race for the NHL's top defensive forward.

All in all, despite largely flying under the radar in terms of leaguewide recognition, the 2020 first-round pick (23rd overall) has come a long way since his Draft year. Moreover, at age 22, he's still on the rise.

Foerster worked hard to improve his skating, which was considered his biggest weakness as a prospect. He's shown that he can get from Point A to Point B as needed, and keep up with the NHL pace. He's also proven that he's a complete player who has much more to offer than "just" a heavy shot from the flank.

As the 2023-24 season progressed, Foerster showed a knack for scoring timely goals. Arguably, his biggest moment came in the Flyers' 3-2 home win over the Boston Bruins on March 23.  With 1:29 remaining in regulation, Foerster sniped the game-winning goal over netminder Linus Ullmark from his "office" at the top of the right circle.

Foerster was able to find some positives for the long haul despite the club's issues late in the stretch drive. The team's road win over the New York Rangers and home victory against the New Jersey Devils set up a critical final game against Washington. Needing a win in regulation to stay alive, the Flyers yielded two late empty-net goals in a 3-1 loss.

"We had a lot of heart all year. Everyone counted us out all year, but I think we proved them wrong. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done at the end. But we had a great year [overall]," Foerster said on Exit Day.

Tortorella is not a coach who offers much casual praise to his players. Foerster was one of the players, however, with whom Tortorella was most impressed.

"I was able to use him on the right wing, left wing, playing 11-and-seven; a lot of different ways that I never thought I’d feel comfortable with at such a young age," Tororella said.

Moving forward into 2024-25 and beyond, Foerster's biggest objective will be to shorten some of the offensive dry spells from his rookie season. Goal-scorers in general tend to run hot and cold, but Foerster is capable of a little more consistency. He's capable of becoming a 30-goal scorer as he gains experience.

Another opportunity for further growth: cutting down on avoidable penalties. Foerster took 16 minor penalties during his rookie season, all of which were restraining fouls (hooking, holding), stick infractions (slashing, high sticking), or tripping (two) penalties. However, it should be noted that Foerster largely corrected that issue down the stretch drive of last season. From March 19 until the end of the season -- a span of 14 games, Foerster only took a single penalty.