The Flyers are right back at it less than 24 hours after a preseason loss, and this one sends them into Boston to face a Bruins team that looks a lot more like an NHL lineup than a typical exhibition group.
Philadelphia is coming off Monday night’s 5-2 defeat against the Washington Capitals, and the biggest concern out of that game was the loss of Denver Barkey. The 21-year-old forward left with a lower-body injury and did not return, and head coach Rick Tocchet had no update on him after the game.
There was also another rough takeaway from Monday: not much went right for the young end of the roster. The Flyers didn’t get much from some of their top prospects, and now they’re back in action with another chance to clean that up. Matvei Michkov has been turning heads at training camp, though it’s still unclear whether he’ll play tonight.
The Flyers held an optional skate Tuesday morning before heading to Boston, so Tocchet’s exact lineup is still a mystery. But the best guess has Alex Bump, Jett Luchanko, and Cole Knuble together on the top line, followed by Carl Grundstrom, Noah Cates, and Owen Tippett. Zach Aston-Reese, Jacob Gaucher, and Danila Klimovich are projected as the third trio, with Nolan Foote, Jack Studnicka, and Matthew Gard on the fourth line.
On defense, the likely pairings are Hunter McDonald with Oliver Bonk, Nick Seeler with David Jiricek, and Ty Murchison with Spencer Gill. The Flyers are expected to go with a lot of the same looks they used Monday, which means another heavy dose of prospects and bubble players trying to make a case for themselves.
That’s a tough assignment because Boston is dressing a pretty serious group for preseason. The Bruins’ forward group includes Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, David Pastrnak, Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha, and JJ Peterka, which gives them a top six that could easily resemble their regular-season setup. The only forwards missing from that mix are some of the younger names, including James Hagens, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Fraser Minten.
The blue line is also loaded enough to matter, even without Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei. Hampus Lindholm, Will Borgen, Nikita Zadorov, and Connor Clifton are in the projected lineup, and Jeremy Swayman is getting the start in goal. Simon Zajicek is listed behind him.
For the Flyers, that means a second straight night of asking bottom-of-the-lineup players and prospects to handle a group with real NHL quality. It’s not exactly a soft landing after a travel day and a loss.
That makes the spotlight pretty clear. This is another chance for players like Cole Knuble to stand out, and for someone such as Zach Aston-Reese to strengthen his case for an extra forward spot over a player like Carl Grundstrom. David Jiricek also needs to show what he can do on the back end, even if his roster situation is already trending in his favor.
Special teams will matter, too. The Flyers opened Monday’s game with a power-play goal from Jack Studnicka, but they gave one back on the penalty kill shortly after and later allowed a shorthanded goal to Jonny Brodzinski in the 5-2 loss. Against a Bruins group with this much skill up front, Philadelphia needs to at least make the power play hard work for Boston while trying to find anything of its own with the man advantage.
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Flyers Just Made A Behind The Scenes Goalie Move Fans Will Notice
The Flyers quietly bolstered their hockey operations staff with three additions that should help on and off the ice, bringing in Kyle Blackstone as a massage therapist, William Heim as an assistant athletic trainer for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Daniel Spencer in a role that has become increasingly notable around the NHL. Blackstone arrives with seven years of experience to support player recovery, while Heim comes to the organization after stops in the ECHL and in university athletics.
Spencer is the name most fans will recognize, since he had previously filled the local Emergency Backup Goalie role around the team. Now he is moving into a much larger commitment with the Flyers, with the job requiring him to travel with the club and be part of regular practices, a sign that the organization wanted a deeper layer of readiness in a position that usually stays invisible until it suddenly matters. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Leo Carlsson Push Says Plenty About Their Center Hunt
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Carlssons agent, Ryan Keator, said there was no shortage of interest once the possibility of an offer sheet opened up. He said about eight teams reached out, with multiple serious discussions and two firm offers in the mix before Anaheim matched Philadelphias proposal. For the Flyers, it was another reminder that their hunt for a center has been anything but subtle, and that they were willing to make a real swing even if it didnt end with a new player in orange and black. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Just Got Hit With An NHL Crackdown Fans Will Debate
The preseason is usually where teams shake off rust, but the NHL also uses it to send messages, and the Flyers got a reminder of that against Boston. Trevor Zegras was hit with a penalty for improper wearing of equipment, part of a stricter league push this season on jersey tucking and other uniform violations. Under the NHLs procedure, players can get a warning first, but repeat offenses can draw a two-minute penalty.
Zegras and Travis Konecny argued the call on the ice, giving the moment a little extra edge in a game that already had the feel of a test run with real consequences. For Philadelphia, it was the kind of small-seeming rule enforcement that can still swing attention fast, especially when the league is making clear it plans to police the details more aggressively than before. [Read more 🡒]