The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins have key directions to take, which means there’s a lot for Pennsylvania NHL fans to stay tuned for.

Evgeni Malkin and Owen Tippett

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

If you’ve ever been to Pennsylvania, you’ll know the people there love their sports.

Not “like” their sports. We’re talking a devoted, fierce, undying affection for their teams. And when it comes to the NHL, Pennsylvania fans have a good deal of drama to deal with this summer with the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Flyers are on the upswing, with GM Daniel Briere focused on accelerating his team’s full rebuild.

They shocked many observers this past season with a very healthy competitive situation – and while they ultimately failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Flyers did finish just four points out of a playoff position. Briere and Flyers fans have to be excited about what’s ahead this coming season, as much better days are ahead for this franchise, and a playoff spot in 2024-25 is certainly not at all out of the question for them.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Penguins are at a much different place in their competitive cycle. Pens GM Kyle Dubas is trying desperately to push his squad back into the playoffs. Penguins stars, including Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, are in the twilight of their NHL careers.

Unlike the Flyers, the Penguins are on the downward slide greased by Father Time, and Dubas must figure out how to turn around Pittsburgh’s fortunes before it’s too late. Pittsburgh finished only three points out of a playoff berth this past year, and they’ll probably be in a similar situation this coming season.

Interestingly enough, the Flyers and Penguins are facing different, significant challenges on the salary cap front.

As per PuckPedia, the Flyers have only about $803,000 in cap space, while the Penguins have $13.2 million in cap space. That said, fans in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh should expect notable moves on the trade front this coming off-season.

Philadelphia forwards Morgan Frost, Cam Atkinson, Scott Laughton and Joel Farabee could be on the move, and a young forward, such as Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras, could be a target for the short and long term.

By the time key Flyers youngsters have matured into their prime, many current Flyers veterans will be well beyond their best days, so it’s up to Briere to make the most of his assets and continue making over Philadelphia’s roster to reflect that reality.

In Pittsburgh, though, Dubas is tasked with spending his cap space wisely to address the Penguins’ issues. That process begins with landing a second goaltender behind veteran Tristan Jarry, who struggled seriously last season.

Backup Alex Nedeljkovic is a UFA, and while there is a chance Nedeljkovic returns to Pittsburgh, Dubas may acquire a different netminder to give the tandem in Steeltown a different look.

After that, Dubas must improve his offense – something you’d think would’ve been easy to do after landing Karlsson and Reilly Smith last season. But in reality, the Pens struggled to produce offense, ranking 19th in the NHL in goals-for. Dubas now has to add experienced hands who can contribute as secondary scorers.

In the competitive Metropolitan Division, it’s likely that only one of the Penguins or Flyers gets into the playoffs next year. With New Jersey, the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes being almost assured of a playoff berth, the fight for the final two or three playoff spots will come down to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington and the New York Islanders. It will be quite the battle, but once again, we can see the difference in the playoffs will be three-to-four standings points, and if Philly or Pittsburgh steps up and improves slightly, that could be all it takes for them to get back into the post-season.

Part of the fun of sports is the local rivalries that only grow more intriguing over time. In Pennsylvania, that means the Flyers and Penguins are constantly measuring their success in part due to their relationship with each other. Both teams are going to be vying for a playoff berth in 2024-25, and the team (or teams) that doesn’t make it into the playoffs will be sorely disappointed. But the Pens and Flyers have one of the best rivalries in all of sports, and fans inside and outside of Pennsylvania will have a blast watching these two organizations battle it out this coming year.