The Flyers are about to give fans their first real look at the 2026-27 season, and the opening preseason lineup already offers a few clues about what Rick Tocchet wants to sort out.
Philadelphia opens Monday night against the Washington Capitals in its first of four preseason games before the season opener on September 30. The game will be played in Hershey, PA at the Giant Center, keeping alive last year’s quasi-tradition.
Once the Flyers hit the ice for morning skate, the group for the game started to come into focus. According to PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor, the forward lines will be:
Zach Aston-Reese - Denver Barkey - Porter Martone
Alex Bump - Jett Luchanko - Cole Knuble
Carl Grundstrom - Jack Studnicka - Matthew Gard
Garrett Wilson - Riley Thompson - Noah Powell
The defensemen were rotating a lot, so the exact pairings aren’t set, but the skate still revealed the players who will be in the mix Monday night: David Jiricek, Helge Grans, Ty Murchison, Oliver Bonk, Hunter McDonald, and Simon Benoit.
In goal, Joseph Woll and Carson Bjarnason will split the game, with Woll getting the first two periods and Bjarnason taking the rest.
The forward groups are where the most obvious questions sit. Barkey and Martone haven’t spent much time together, with only 17 minutes of game action on the same line during Martone’s nine regular season games and none in the playoffs. Still, the fit is easy to see: Barkey doing the dirty work along the walls and on the forecheck, Martone finishing the job.
The second line is another one worth watching closely. Bump, Luchanko, and Knuble could end up being a combination the Flyers see again in Lehigh Valley to start the season, and it has the potential to be a lively trio. Luchanko’s speed and defense, Knuble’s persistence, and Bump’s finishing could make for a useful blend.
There’s also some minor-league intrigue in the next two lines. Grundstrom and Studnicka could be a Phantoms pairing before long, while Gard’s spot in this game reflects a strong camp that kept him from being sent back to the WHL in the first round of cuts. Powell, too, has been rewarded for a good camp and could be headed to the Phantoms before the next preseason game.
The defense is where the roster battle gets murkier. Jiricek and Benoit are the only two in that group who seem clearly headed for NHL action soon, and even that is driven by different realities: Jiricek no longer has waiver exemption, while Benoit was brought in from Toronto to serve as the extra man.
Bonk has a bit of an edge over the others after getting time alongside Travis Sanheim in camp drills, which suggests the Flyers see him as a future top-four option. McDonald and Murchison are in a similar spot as young defensemen trying to prove they can become reliable, physical bottom-pairing pieces. Grans, meanwhile, appears to have the steepest climb of the bunch.
Tocchet’s pairings should tell a little more once the game starts. Bonk is likely to get a heavy look, though he could be matched with Murchison or McDonald to give one of them a chance.
Benoit could also get a long runway as the veteran presence. Jiricek, for his part, should be in line for a top-four right-side opportunity.
The power play will be worth tracking too. Jiricek looks like the most likely candidate to run the top unit, which should include some mix of Bump, Martone, Luchanko, and Barkey.
After months of waiting, the Flyers are finally back on the ice, and Monday’s exhibition should at least give everyone a first crack at seeing how these combinations look in actual game action.
In Other News...
Flyers Have A Bigger Concern Than Their Ugly Preseason Opener
The preseason is supposed to be about getting a first look at new ideas and fresh faces, but the Flyers opener in Washington quickly shifted from evaluation to damage control. Philadelphia fell 5-2 to the Capitals, an ugly result on its own, yet the more immediate concern came when forward Denver Barkey was hurt early in the second period and did not return.
Rick Tocchet didnt have an update on Barkey after the game, which leaves the Flyers waiting on a situation that matters more than anything that happened on the scoreboard. Preseason losses are easy to shrug off in September, but injuries to young players trying to make impressions can linger far longer than one rough night. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Already Have An Early Depth Concern To Watch
One of the Flyers early preseason storylines took an unwelcome turn when Denver Barkey went down with a lower-body injury against the Capitals on Friday night and did not return. Philadelphia announced the injury during the game, leaving an already young camp roster a little thinner in the kind of spot where depth is supposed to be getting sorted out, not tested.
The sequence came after a hit along the boards from Washington defenseman Martin Fehervary, and now the focus shifts to what Rick Tocchet has to say once the game is over. For a Flyers team trying to evaluate its bottom-six options and keep its prospects moving in the right direction, any injury this early is the sort of development it will want to monitor closely. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Prospect Denver Barkey Suddenly Faces A Worrying Setback
Denver Barkeys preseason night against the Capitals ended early after the young Flyers forward left with a lower-body injury and did not return. For a player trying to keep building momentum while splitting time between Philadelphia and the AHL affiliate, any health issue in September can be the kind of setback that gets attention fast, especially when hes looking to stay in the mix as the season approaches.
The Flyers had to wait until the third period to make clear Barkey would not be back in the game, leaving his status as the main concern from an otherwise routine preseason tune-up. Philadelphia has been counting on Barkey to keep developing with the organization if health allows, so the focus now shifts to how serious this latest issue turns out to be and whether it interrupts his push to stick around. [Read more 🡒]