With training camp only about three weeks away from opening up, the Philadelphia Flyers will be entering the 2026-27 season with very few question marks regarding the composition of their roster.
The Flyers will probably set out an opening night roster comprised of 14 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders like they did last year. The goaltending duo is set with Dan Vladař and the newly acquired Joseph Woll, whereas the defense is all but locked in with David Jiříček and Simon Benoit rounding out the 6th and 7th spots, respectively.
Even with their forward group, the 14 players are also close to being set in stone, barring injuries. Jett Luchanko will benefit from starting the season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Jack Berglund was loaned back to the SHL. That leaves us with just two real questions: who will fill out the bottom-6 and who will subsequently fill out the press box as a healthy scratch?
Noel Acciari, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, Christian Dvorak, Tyson Foerster, Travis Konecny, Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, and Trevor Zegras are the shoo-ins to play on a game-by-game basis as long as they’re healthy.
That leaves two spots for Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, Nikita Grebenkin, and Carl Grundström. Grundström signed a one-year extension to stick around, Grebenkin signed a 2-year deal but missed the last 2 months of the campaign due to an injury, and the two rookie forwards played critical roles down the stretch – including the postseason.
Both Grebenkin and Grundström feature heavy games that would fit like a glove on the fourth line under Rick Tocchet. With Garnet Hathaway having been moved during the offseason to the Florida Panthers, the Flyers could still use a bit of punch despite the arrival of Acciari.
Both of their games revolve more around their play off the puck, specifically Grundström, who finished the year with 2 goals and and 5 points in his final 35 contests after he had scored 7 goals in his first 11 games with Philadelphia.
The 23-year-old Grebenkin still has a lot to prove, primarily in his offensive game, but he had been playing relatively well before an injury in late March ended his season. At the very least, the Flyers could look to use one of them to play next to Acciari and Couturier on the fourth line.
Should Tocchet want either of them in the lineup, the issue will then be having to choose between one of Barkey and Bump. Both youngsters played very well in the bottom-6 for the Flyers last year and chipped in during the postseason. Bump finished with 5 goals and 9 points in 17 regular season contests to go along with 2 goals in 6 playoff games, whereas Barkey had 17 points in 43 games and another 2 points in 10 playoff games.
Barkey’s versatility should give him a leg up as he can be used down the middle of the ice, which is an area the Flyers would love to improve in. They do have Cates, Dvorak, and Zegras to play centre in the top-9, but should they want to use Zegras or Cates on the wing, Barkey’s versatility gives him the edge.
Grundström is the most likely of the 4 to have a seat, but we have seen Tocchet venture towards a more veteran-laden lineup at times, which allowed the Swedish forward to enter the lineup a lot more frequently down the stretch.
The Flyers also like to play matchups and will alternate bodies depending on the opposition. Grebenkin and Grundström hold the cards if the game requires more size and grit, whereas Barkey and Bump will feature more often in games that require offensive firepower.
It’s going to be a tough decision regardless because of how well Barkey and Bump transitioned from the minors to the big leagues. They also showed great chemistry with players like Cates and Michkov, which is another reason for them to play on a more consistent basis.
Injuries will always play a role during a regular season, more so now that there’s 2 additional games to play. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Flyers test things out in the first month of the season with 15 games between the 30th of September and the 28th of October, which include three sets of back-to-backs.
What will also play a factor is how the rest of the lineup fares. How will Michkov respond after a year filled with criticism regarding his fitness? How will Martone look in his first full season at the NHL level? Can Konecny shake off the cobwebs of a disappointing playoffs? How will Zegras return the favour fresh off a signed 4-year contract extension?
Depending on how the team plays as a collective unit, there might not need to be a lot of changes made – or conversely, they might want to shake things up in a bigger way should the offense come out of the gates stale.
However, at this very moment, it’s going to be Barkey’s and Bump’s spots to lose, but we’ve seen in the past what a good – or bad – camp can do for certain players. Healthy competition amongst the young players will only help them in the long run and should bring out their best, so it will interesting to see how Tocchet divvies things up in their four preseason contests before the season opener on the 30th of September against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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