The Flyers are heading into the 2026-27 season with a roster that mostly looks settled, and Monday’s official opening night announcement confirmed just how little drama remained after the weekend’s moves.
Philadelphia beat the 5 p.m. ET deadline to submit its 23-man group, and after Oliver Bonk, Cole Knuble and Jett Luchanko were sent down over the weekend, plus Aleksei Kolosov being loaned back to the AHL on Sunday, the shape of the roster was already pretty clear.
The club will carry 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders to start the year.
Up front, the Flyers listed Garrett Wilson, Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Nikita Grebenkin, Alex Bump, Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates, Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras, Noel Acciari, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Carl Grundstrom and Porter Martone.
The one name that stands out a bit is Wilson, though his spot lines up with Denver Barkey starting the season on injured reserve. Barkey has been day-to-day since getting hurt in the Flyers’ first preseason game, and the team had already signaled Wilson could be part of the mix when it signed him to a one-year deal on Sunday.
Because this is season-opening injured reserve, Barkey does not have to miss a set amount of time. He can return once he’s ready, which matters for a Flyers schedule that begins with a back-to-back and four games in six nights. He qualifies for SOIR because he’s on a two-way contract and appeared on the roster for fewer than 50 games last season.
For the most part, though, this is the same forward group Philadelphia leaned on a year ago. Acciari is the only new addition, arriving on a two-year, $5.6 million contract in the offseason.
On the blue line, the Flyers have David Jiricek, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, Nick Seeler, Simon Benoit and Rasmus Ristolainen available.
Jiricek and Benoit are the only newcomers in that group, although Jiricek did appear in Game 82 last season. Even so, his grip on an opening night role may have slipped after a rough showing in the final preseason game.
Benoit, meanwhile, looks like the kind of steady veteran who can fill the Noah Juulsen role on the third pair and sit as a healthy scratch when needed. He came over from the Maple Leafs in the Joseph Woll trade and is in the final year of his contract at a $1.3 million cap hit.
Helge Grans was also designated as injured non-roster.
The Flyers did have a scare in goal when Dan Vladar exited his preseason debut after only a few minutes because of an apparent right arm injury, but Danny Briere and Rick Tocchet offered encouraging updates over the weekend. Vladar is set for opening night and will pair with Joseph Woll, giving Philadelphia a tandem that could be among the league’s better ones if health holds.
Sunday’s practice may have offered the clearest preview of what the Flyers intend to run out there when the season opens.
The forwards worked in these combinations, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall:
Owen Tippett - Trevor Zegras - Porter Martone
Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Matvei Michkov
Alex Bump - Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny
Carl Grundstrom/Garrett Wilson - Sean Couturier - Noel Acciari
The defense pairs were:
Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York - Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler - Simon Benoit
David Jiricek rotated through those pairings, but he may be the seventh defenseman when opening night arrives.
The lines are new in plenty of places, and none of those forward trios logged much time together last season. Still, there are some familiar connections. Foerster and Cates have developed chemistry over the years, while Tippett spent most of the final stretch of last season and the playoffs with Zegras.
The defense has a couple of pairings with real mileage behind them. Sanheim and Ristolainen logged 488 minutes together at 5-on-5 and emerged as a legitimate top pair late in the season. York and Drysdale were close behind at 482 minutes together, and both have looked sharp in the preseason.
Seeler and Benoit may not be the cleanest third pair on paper, but the Flyers should trust them to handle their own end of the ice.
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Rick Tocchet spent practice day talking less about the novelty of Year 2 and more about what should already feel familiar for the Flyers as the opener approaches. After a preseason loss, the team got back to work with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny both acknowledging there is still room to sharpen up, even as Tocchet pointed to the groups growing comfort in his system and the added maturity he wants to see carry over once games start to count.
Dan Vladar was also on the ice, which is at least an encouraging sign for a club getting ready to face Pittsburgh in its season opener. His availability is still something to monitor, but the larger test for Philadelphia is simpler: whether a second season under Tocchet looks like a true step forward or just a team that understands the plan without fully executing it yet. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question, though, is how all of that scoring talent fits with the rest of the picture, especially in a league where stability in net and true top-end finishing can swing a season. Joseph Woll is part of that conversation as a possible solution behind the crease, while Tyson Foerster has also been mentioned as a player who could take another jump. The Flyers have spent enough time trying to climb back into the mix that the next test is no longer just getting there, but finding out whether the pieces around their young core can actually hold up once they do. [Read more 🡒]
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The Flyers got their opening night roster down to 23 players, and the group reflects a little bit of everything from established depth pieces to younger names forcing their way in. Denver Barkey begins the year on injured reserve, while Carl Grundstrm and Garrett Wilson are among the forwards who made the cut, giving the club a mix of experience and flexibility as the season opens.
Garrett Wilsons path to the roster is especially notable after he started camp on an AHL-only deal, a reminder of how quickly things can change in the final stretch before opening night. Elsewhere, David Jiricek, Simon Benoit and Nikita Grebenkin held onto their spots, and Porter Martone and Alex Bump are on the roster for the first time, but the Flyers still have one lineup wrinkle to sort through once the dust settles from the initial cuts. [Read more 🡒]