The Flyers are close enough to their season-opening roster that the final shape is easy to read, even if a few names still have to sort themselves out over the next few days.
Friday’s round of cuts sent Cole Knuble, Jett Luchanko, Oliver Bonk and Jacob Gaucher to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley, trimming Philadelphia to 26 players. The club still has to get down to no more than 23 before next Monday’s 5 p.m. ET deadline, but the heavy lifting looks largely finished.
Knuble was one of the more interesting decisions. The 22-year-old prospect didn’t crack the opening-night group, but he made a real case with a strong preseason.
He finished with two goals and an assist, then added a goal in his lone rookie game. If that momentum carries into his season with the Phantoms, he looks like a player who could be near the front of the line for a call-up.
"There's a numbers game," Rick Tocchet said Thursday night, "but he's definitely pushing some people."
Luchanko also left a clear impression. The 20-year-old center posted three assists in the preseason and, as Tocchet put it, looks healthier and more confident. After bouncing around so much, the Flyers want him in one place for a while, and Lehigh Valley should give him that chance.
"All fairness to him, in two years, I don't even know if he has got a place to put his underwear," Tocchet said Monday. "He's here, he's there, he's there.
So I want him to go somewhere where he can relax, wherever it is, and just settle down and get reps of his lifestyle. I think that's going to help him."
A few other roster decisions are still tied to health. Helge Grans, Aleksei Kolosov and Garrett Wilson are all expected to eventually head to the Phantoms, though the timing isn’t identical.
Grans exited Thursday night’s preseason game with a lower-body injury and won’t be able to report until he’s healthy. Wilson, who is on an AHL contract, missed Tuesday of training camp and may still be a little banged up, though he has returned to the ice.
Kolosov is likely to play in Saturday night’s preseason finale, and he could stay with the Flyers if Dan Vladar isn’t ready for opening night next Wednesday.
Vladar is day to day with an upper-body injury, so the goaltending picture remains one of the last unresolved pieces.
There’s also uncertainty around Denver Barkey, who is dealing with a lower-body injury. If he can’t go for the opener, the Flyers would turn to Carl Grundstrom or Nikita Grebenkin.
For now, the roster the Flyers are carrying tells the story pretty plainly. The list is down to 26, and most of the names appear to be accounted for as the club edges toward opening night.
Forwards: Garrett Wilson, Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Nikita Grebenkin, Alex Bump, Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates, Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras, Noel Acciari, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Denver Barkey, Carl Grundstrom and Porter Martone.
Defensemen: Helge Grans, David Jiricek, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, Nick Seeler, Simon Benoit and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Goaltenders: Aleksei Kolosov, Joseph Woll and Dan Vladar.
In Other News...
Flyers Have One Big Christian Dvorak Decision Still To Make
Christian Dvorak gave the Flyers exactly what they needed last season, settling in as the top-line center for much of the year and turning in the kind of all-around production that made him look like a fit for a bigger role. His first year in Philadelphia ended with a career season across the board, and the team responded by committing to him long term as it starts sorting out what the center depth chart is supposed to look like next.
The bigger question now is how the Flyers want to arrange the middle of the ice around him. Dvorak is in place, but the club still has to decide which combinations give it the best balance, and whether his most natural usage is still at the top of the lineup or in a different setup as camp and the season approach. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Are Finally About To Learn What David Jiricek Really Is
The Flyers are at the point where camp decisions start turning into actual lineup reality, and David Jiricek is already part of it. General manager Daniel Briere confirmed the defense prospect has made Philadelphias opening night roster, a notable step for a player the organization wants to evaluate in a meaningful role rather than stash on the sidelines. With injuries affecting some of the competition around him, the Flyers still have two roster cuts to make before Mondays deadline.
For Jiricek, the first glimpse of that evaluation looks fairly defined. He is expected to begin on the third defensive pairing and handle the second-unit power-play quarterback duties, giving the Flyers a chance to see how his skill set translates when the games count. It is a useful landing spot for a player whose next stretch should tell Philadelphia a lot about where he fits, and the clubs final moves over the next few days should only sharpen the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Opener Confidence May Hinge On Dan Vladar
The Flyers got a little more clarity on Dan Vladar as the regular season draws closer, with the goaltender taking part in a skate while continuing to recover from an upper-body injury. Rick Tocchet said Vladar is progressing daily and described him as day to day, a sign the team has at least some optimism around the crease as opening night approaches.
Philadelphia still has a wait-and-see feel to it with a few pieces of the roster, and Vladars status is one of the bigger ones given how much the Flyers want stability in goal to start the season. Forward Denver Barkey is also day to day with a lower-body injury and could be in the mix as well, but for now the focus is on whether Vladar can keep trending the right way in time for the opener. [Read more 🡒]