With the roster deadline set for later today, the Philadelphia Flyers are dealing with a pretty big hiccup with defenseman Cam York expected to miss the season opener on Thursday night against the Florida Panthers.
According to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, the top pair defenseman is injured and general manager Daniel Brière isn’t sure if it’s going to be “two days” or “two weeks.” He added that Dennis Gilbert, who was placed on waivers the other day and cleared, will remain on the roster in the interim.
After Gilbert was placed on waivers, that essentially solidified the Flyers’ roster heading into the season opener with Noah Juulsen, Adam Ginning, and Egor Zamula all making it, as well as forwards Nikita Grebenkin and Jett Luchanko.
It’s also a bit curious that with York sidelined, a smaller defenseman in stature with offensive upside, the Flyers decide to bring Gilbert back instead of Emil Andrae, who was essentially sent back down due to his smaller stature and Rick Tocchet wanting a more physical presence on the bottom-pair.
Now that there is a vacancy in the top-4 and that the Flyers will be without a two-way defenseman who can provide offense, Andrae would fit the bill better than Gilbert.
With York’s status up in the air for the opener due to whats being labelled as a lower-body injury, as well as the possibility of an IR stint if he’s closer to the two week designation that Brière alluded to, the Flyers will have 3 of Gilbert, Ginning, Juulsen, and Zamula in the lineup, which doesn’t really look all that flattering.
As for the forwards, Brière wants to see Luchanko start the season with the big club and have more than a fourth line role before they have to make a decision to send him back to juniors or not.
While Brière would like to see him more involved, it looks like he might not be available for the season opener as he was seen rotating in and out on the fourth line with Nicolas Deslauriers.
Rodrigo Ābols was playing down the middle with Garnet Hathaway on the wing to complete the line as the Flyers are gearing up for a heavier lineup against the Panthers.
Perhaps it’s because of what Tocchet and company saw from the Panthers in preseason when they faced off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in two games that saw several ejections, the Panthers getting 20 power plays in one game, and fights aplenty.
Another tweak made was moving Christian Dvorak to the top line with Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov. Travis Konecny was moved down to Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett because of it, but the Noah Cates line remained the same.
However, perhaps the most interesting part of all of this, is that Grebenkin might also get scratched, which is even more puzzling considering how well he performed in camp and even got lauded by his coaching staff and general manager.
PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor alluded to the Russian rookie not getting many practice reps and essentially getting the treatment of a player who is in line to be a press box visitor for the opener.
For most of camp, Grebenkin had been parked in the top-6 with Couturier and either Michkov or Konecny. Now that Deslauriers is mixing into the rushes and with Dvorak getting promoted to the top line, it doesn’t bode well for his chances.
It’s also a little strange considering he used his body to his advantage, got to the front of the net a lot, won board battles, and helped offensively. If Tocchet wants a heavier lineup, shouldn’t the 6’3”, 210-pound winger be in there?
It could also just have to do with the one game against the Panthers, although it feels like a game you would want to put out your very best considering they’re the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions – even without Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.
