Less than a week after losing game four of the Stanley Cup Finals, head coach Terry Murray was fired.
On July 14, unrestricted free agent defenseman Luke Richardson, formerly of the Edmonton Oilers, signed a five-year, $12.6 million contract.
Although the club finished the calendar year with an 8–0 strafing of Vancouver on New Year's Eve and began 1998 with a 7–2 road win over Ottawa, there were signs of trouble for Wayne Cashman's team - notably bad shutout home losses to San Jose in November and Boston in early December.
In a season in which the Flyers – despite a hard fall to the Detroit Red Wings the previous year – were heavily favored to repeat as Eastern champs and return to the Finals, they never came close, as they were dominated in the first round by the Buffalo Sabres in five games.
[21] Philadelphia's picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft, which was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1997.