Following multiple roster cuts on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers have only a handful of decisions to make before they reach their final roster for the start of the regular season.
Following multiple roster cuts on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers have only a handful of decisions to make before they reach their final roster for the start of the regular season.
Of the defensemen, only a few horses are left in that race.
Prospects Emil Andrae and Helge Grans were cut Tuesday, leaving Adam Ginning, Egor Zamula, Dennis Gilbert, and Noah Juulsen to battle it out for the few remaining roster spots.
At forward, Tuesday's cut of Alex Bump effectively confirms that Nikita Grebenkin, acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Scott Laughton trade only a few months ago, has locked up a roster spot.
As it stands, the Flyers' roster currently stands at 29 players, and they need to get down to 23 for opening night.
Injured forwards Lane Pederson and Karsen Dorwart are still around, as are defensemen Oliver Bonk and Ethan Samson.
We can safely assume that those four will be cut when the time comes, leaving one remaining cut at forward and defense.
Centers Rodrigo Abols and Jacob Gaucher, who each made their Flyers and NHL debuts last season, are battling with each other and Jett Luchanko for the final two roster spots there.
On defense, the homegrown duo of Ginning and Zamula probably have the advantage over Gilbert, and Juulsen already played for Rick Tocchet on the Vancouver Canucks and is a right-shot defender.
Given the state of affairs on defense and up front, the above is my current roster prediction with two preseason games left to play.
To start with the obvious, I think the Flyers are wary of sending Luchanko back to the OHL with the Guelph Storm, as are Flyers fans. Whether or not he sticks remains to be seen, but he's capable of creating offense and defending with all the details required of an NHLer.
Pairing Luchanko with Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett gives him two shooters to work with, even if it breaks up the Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink unit.
They lose considerable offensive upside with Foerster moving up, but it makes more sense to put Garnet Hathaway on a checking line than with Luchanko.
Instead of playing center, I have Christian Dvorak playing the Erik Haula role as a complementary winger with Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov.
For those who don't know, before he was traded, Erik Haula played with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt on the New Jersey Devils and would regularly step in to take faceoffs in place of the ineffective Hughes.
Flyers Roster Battles Leaving Much to Be Desired Early in NHL PreseasonThrough three NHL preseason games, several Philadelphia Flyers roster battles look far from being decided any time soon.
It helps, too, that this trio has shown some natural chemistry for the Flyers in parts of the preseason so far.
As for Grebenkin, he's an elite puck protector and has shown plenty of playmaking chops early in his Flyers tenure. He and Travis Konecny are going to be super annoying to play against at the same time.
Last but not least, Adam Ginning usurps Egor Zamula on defense and comprises a third defense pairing with Juulsen.
Zamula is experienced enough to serve as an extra defenseman on this roster, but as I pondered previously, I'm not sure what Tocchet's patience level will be with his pace of play. At best, I think he'll split games with Juulsen until Rasmus Ristolainen returns from injury.
On the heels of his wildly impressive preseason campaign, Abols earns the 14th forward spot behind veteran enforcer Nick Deslauriers.
We'll see what transpires in the final two preseason games, but the Flyers' opening night roster should be close to or exactly the same as this at this stage.
Category: General Sports
