Philadelphia Flyers Announce 2025–26 Opening Night Roster
Hockey season is officially underway. The Philadelphia Flyers will begin the 2025–26 campaign on Oct. 9 against the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup winners, the Florida Panthers. What will the Orange and Black be rolling out with?
Flyers’ Opening Night Forwards
The Flyers will have 14 forwards on their roster for opening night. They are the following:
Forwards (14): Rodrigo Ābols, Bobby Brink, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, Nicolas Deslauriers, Christian Dvorak, Tyson Foerster, Nikita Grebenkin, Garnet Hathaway, Travis Konecny, Jett Luchanko, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, Trevor Zegras
Fortunately, the Flyers have a full-health offense (the same can’t be said about the defense, which we’ll get to shortly). Two rookies are on the team’s opening night roster: Nikita Grebenkin and Jett Luchanko. They will, however, have to battle for usage.
Veterans Rodrigo Ābols and Nicolas Deslauriers seem to be more trusted by head coach Rick Tocchet. In the team’s latest practice, they were slotted in at the fourth-line center and left-wing spots, respectively.
There are two offseason newcomers here. One is Christian Dvorak, who signed a one-year deal worth $5.4 million. That cap hit came as a shock, as he’s more of a penalty-killing bottom-six forward, but there’s a chance he gets some looks alongside Matvei Michkov. After all, his two-way game could be an asset.
Next is Trevor Zegras, who we can almost guarantee will play with Michkov. Acquired via trade from the Anaheim Ducks, the Flyers are betting on the 24-year-old center’s upside. He was on the cover of EA SPORTS NHL 23.
Flyers’ Opening Night Defensemen
Now, for the team’s defensemen. The team’s three injured/non-roster players will be included in this section, as they’re all members of the blue line:
Defensemen (7)
Injured/Non-Roster (3): Oliver Bonk, Rasmus Ristolainen, Cam York
Without Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York, the defense is a bit of a mess. The Flyers’ defenders didn’t have the most encouraging training camp and preseason battle to earn a spot on the team, with arguably the best one, Emil Andrae, getting sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL). This was most likely due to his 5-foot-9 frame.
Jamie Drysdale, Travis Sanheim, and Nick Seeler, all regular fixtures from last season, should consistently see top-four usage in the early going. But between the other four guys, it’s anyone’s game. Perhaps Egor Zamula gets some looks with Sanheim—they’ve played as a pair in the past.
Flyers’ Opening Night Goaltenders
Finally, the Flyers’ goaltenders. They are listed below:
Goaltenders (2): Samuel Ersson, Dan Vladař
The Flyers are running with two NHL veterans for a change, as opposed to Samuel Ersson and a couple of rookies backing him up like last season. He and Dan Vladař should more or less split starts this upcoming campaign, although the latter was more impressive in the preseason.
The bad news is that, among the 186 goalies with at least 100 games played since 1999–00, they are the two worst netminders in save percentage, according to QuantHockey. But the good news is that they have some experience. A one-two punch of Ersson and Vladař could be an upgrade over what the Flyers had last season: the worst team save percentage in the advanced stats era.
Mark Madden: Penguins mix old, new in sharing-the-torch season opener
Some strange things happened Tuesday night when the Penguins opened their season at Madison Square Garden with a 3-0 win against the New York Rangers.
For example, Erik Karlsson played a responsible, mistake-free game. (Except for one gratuitous turnover.) That’s been a rarity during his Penguins tenure, now entering its third campaign.
That performance will likely be the exception to the rule. But something happens to veterans when a lot of kids invade the dressing room.
Kids can bring out a teacher instinct in veterans. A right-way vibe.
New coach Dan Muse knows that. He put out a signpost when he didn’t merely start his first line and top defense pair.
He mixed and matched. It was part old firm, part new guys.
It was Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang along with Harrison Brunicke, 19, and Ben Kindel, 18.
That said something: We’re not passing the torch, we’re sharing it.
Starting Arturs Silovs in goal instead of Tristan Jarry said something, too. Muse seems to be trying to wipe away what’s stale as quickly as he can.
It didn’t hurt that Silovs pitched a shutout, though the Penguins’ defensive effort made certain he was rarely under siege on the way to 25 saves.
Will Silovs start again Thursday in the home opener vs. the New York Islanders? That, too, would make a statement.
It’s good that the Penguins won, even though the priority remains getting a top-five pick in next year’s draft, not squeaking into a one-and-done playoff appearance.
You don’t want the season’s buzz to disappear right away.
You don’t want poor home attendance right off the bat. (I’m curious about the size of Thursday’s crowd at PPG Paints Arena.)
You don’t want the team’s newfound youthful energy to be suppressed. If the Penguins are even near .500 through October and November, that energy should sustain itself all season.
Karlsson’s performance at New York was interesting.
Malkin getting two assists playing between two 6-foot-5 wingers was a different look. Maybe that’s the way to go as age slows Malkin, 39. Malkin twisting forward with the puck through an offensive-zone faceoff to set up Justin Brazeau’s winning goal was beautiful.
Kindel played an amazingly solid game.
Brunicke wasn’t great initially but played a strong second and third period.
The Penguins minimized mistakes. Badger Bob Johnson used to preach the value of fundamentals, and those were on display at New York.
These Penguins have lots of subplots and sidebars.
Let’s not leave Crosby out of the discussion.
Crosby had zero points. But over 200 feet, he was the best player on the ice. He was a buzzsaw down low and in the dirty areas. He was visibly and extremely happy after. Crosby just wants to win.
Those opportunities won’t be as frequent as he likes. It’s good to see the captain savor the flavor.
