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See You Soon! Flyers Cut Two Top Prospects; Updated Roster Outlook
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- See You Soon! Flyers Cut Two Top Prospects; Updated Roster Outlook
With just one preseason game left to play, the Philadelphia Flyers have all but decided on their final 23-player roster ahead of the start of the regular season.
On Friday, the Flyers announced four more cuts to their training camp roster, sending surging prospects Jett Luchanko and Cole Knuble back to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, alongside power forward Jacob Gaucher and top defense prospect Oliver Bonk.
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The Flyers' current roster now stands at 26 players, and they need only make three more cuts to finalize their roster ahead of opening night.
For Knuble and Luchanko, it is a bit of a shame, as Knuble had two goals and an assist in his three preseason games with the Flyers, while Luchanko recorded an assist in each of his three preseason games, too.
This is the unfortunate result of a numbers game for both players, though this was a decision largely made in the best interest of Luchanko's development ahead of time, too.
In an offseason Q&A with The Hockey News , Danny Briere had already strongly indicated that Luchanko would spent the season in the AHL with the Phantoms unless he had clearly established himself as one of the Flyers' 12 best forwards.
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With Trevor Zegras , Christian Dvorak , Noah Cates , and Sean Couturier all still ahead of him in the pecking order at the center position, Luchanko will spend the season in the AHL until if and when the injury bug strikes.
As for Bonk, the 21-year-old was always going to start behind David Jiricek , if for no reason other than that Jiricek has to pass through waivers to return to the AHL.
Jett Luchanko recorded an assist in all three of his preseason appearances for the Flyers. (Photo: Kyle Ross, Imagn Images)
At the same time, Bonk was not especially impressive in the preseason and made a few uncharacteristic mistakes that undermined his standout hockey IQ, his top trait as a pro player.
That's fine, though, as Bonk hasn't even played a full professional season yet after missing the start of last year due to injury. The Flyers will be happy to let him marinate for another year.
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Projecting Flyers' final cuts
So, the Flyers have three more cuts to make, and they are all fairly obvious moves, depending on the health of the rest of the team.
Prospect Aleksei Kolosov , the Flyers' de facto No. 3 goalie, remains on the roster with Dan Vladar temporarily on the shelf with an upper-body injury.
If and when Vladar is healthy, Kolosov will return to the Phantoms and reprise his role as their starting goalie, working with Carson Bjarnason as his backup.
On defense, Helge Grans remains on the roster for now after suffering a lower-body injury in Thursday night's 2-0 preseason win over the Boston Bruins .
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Grans played his best game of the preseason in the brief 1:29 he skated for before exiting with a dubious injury, and he will require waivers to be assigned to the AHL. Perhaps the Flyers are waiting until other teams all make their cuts at the same time to reduce the chance Grans is claimed.
Veteran tough guy Garrett Wilson remains as the one notable AHL player yet to be cut by the Flyers; Wilson fought Dylan McIlrath in the Flyers' first preseason game against the Capitals , and that's been about it for him since then.
And, in the event the Flyers need roster flexibility, Carl Grundstrom already cleared waivers earlier this week, which protects him for the next 10 games he plays or for the next 30 days on the roster, whichever comes first. Then, he'll need to clear waivers again.
Knuble and Luchanko were the two toughest remaining cuts for the Flyers, and now that the decision has been made, the Flyers' NHL roster ahead of opening night is virtually set in place.
