Flyers Roster Tracker: Tiering the Roster After Saturday’s Loans

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Flyers Roster Tracker: Tiering the Roster After Saturday’s Loans

Flyers Roster Tracker: Tiering the Roster After Saturday's Loans — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

William James

Sun, Sep 20, 2026 ·

5 min read

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The Philadelphia Flyers have held two practice sessions and a scrimmage so far in training camp before their first preseason game on Monday. So far, we've got a good look at the players who will be on the NHL roster, as well as an indication of who is fighting for a spot on the NHL roster and who is not.

The team made their first round of cuts on Saturday following the scrimmage, sending forwards Brady Berard, Alex Ciernik, Devin Kaplan , Owen McLaughlan, Ilya Pautov, and Zayde Wisdom, as well as defenseman Jackson Edward and Andrew Perrott to Lehigh Valley Phantoms training camp.

Additionally, forwards Nathan Quinn and KJ Sauer, defensemen Brek Liske, Maksim Sokolovskii, and Luke Vlooswyk, as well as goalies Martin Psohlavec and Marek Scklenicka, have been loaned back to their respective junior clubs.

The Flyers' training camp roster is now at 42 players and has to be shrunk to 23 before the season begins in 10 days.

Here is where things stand as of now.

Flyers Training Camp Roster Tiers

*Note: Lists are in numerical order*

Roster Locks

Again, this is the group of people who are all but certainly making the NHL roster. Barring anything unforeseen, this group of players entered camp with the expectation of making the NHL roster and having their spots safe.

Denver Barkey and Alex Bump were two of the only players, if any players, who needed to earn their spots. After a phenomenal showing for both players so far at camp, they've shown that they have nothing left to prove.

The only major change here is David Jiricek . He was in the roster battle tier last time. This time around, his spot looks solid.

This is your NHL group.

D David Jiricek
D Travis Sanheim
D Cam York
D Jamie Drysdale
F Travis Konecny
F Sean Couturier
F Alex Bump
F Christian Dvorak
D Nick Seeler
F Noah Cates
F Matvei Michkov
F Trevor Zegras
F Noel Acciari
G Joseph Woll
D Rasmus Ristolainen
F Tyson Foerster
F Owen Tippett
G Dan Vladar
F Denver Barkey
F Porter Martone

Roster Likely

Same as last time, this is the group of players, all of whom are expected to be on the NHL roster, but still have a little fight left to secure their spot.

As mentioned earlier, I moved Jiricek from this group to the locks tier. He was paired with Nick Seeler in the scrimmage. Honestly, he has not made any glaring defensive blunders thus far, and he was given power play time with the 2nd unit on Saturday. I thought maybe he had a little battle to do. It seems like the team has made up its mind.

I also dropped Simon Benoit down simply because of his pairing on Saturday. Clearly, the team envisions him as the 7D. He also only has one year left on his deal. I still expect him to make the roster, but if a young guy like Oliver Bonk or Ty Murchison makes a strong case for the big club, Benoit as the 7D could be the casualty on the roster.

However, the Flyers have shown a tendency to go 13F 8D in the past, so for that same reason, I have Carl Grundstrom still in this spot. I do expect Grundstrom to be in the NHL with the Flyers on opening night.

Nikita Grebenkin remains on the list simply because he has yet to be cleared to skate with the big club.

F Nikita Grebenkin
D Simon Benoit
F Carl Grundstrom

Bubble/Roster Battle

I did some moving around in this section as well. I beleive that the bubble players are shrinking a bit. While defensemen Helge Grans and Hunter McDonald have in no way been bad at training camp, I don't see them fighting for a chance at the NHL roster. They've been paired together, and ultimately, I see them as a Top-4 pair in Lehigh Valley.

If any defensemen were to give the Flyers a tough decision, it would be Murchison and Oliver Bonk. If I had to lean one way right now, I'd lean towards Murchison, simply because I do think it would be for a 7D role. The Flyers would be much better off having Bonk playing every night in Lehigh rather than only playing 20/30 NHL games.

Jacob Gaucher has always been a reliable "next man up" sort of player. Plus, being a center helps. He remains in this category as a just-in-case option.

Jett Luchanko is also making what should have been an easy choice hard. He's looked sharp in training camp – the best he has looked since being drafted. I still think he starts the year in Lehigh, but it won't be an easy decision.

Zach Aston-Reese got a good look in the scrimmage, but I don't think he did much with the opportunity on Saturday. He did not pop, and Danila Klimovich and Jack Studnicka outshone him. However, instead of moving them up, I moved Aston-Reese down in my rankings.

Cole Knuble got tasked with playing alongside Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster. He continued to rise to the occasion. While I don't think that if Grebenkin is healthy, Knuble has a chance. However, if Grebenkin is not good to go, Knuble is certainly earning a short look in the NHL. He's been great so far.

D Oliver Bonk
F Cole Knuble
F Jett Luchanko
F Jacob Gaucher
D Ty Murchison

AHL/Juniors Bound

This group of players survived the first round of cuts, but I still don't see an NHL path for them. A few of these players will likely be sprinkled into the NHL groups while camp continues, but don't expect them to be with the Flyers come September 30th.

D Helge Grans
F Garrett Wilson
F Noah Powell
F Zach Aston-Reese
F Danila Klimovich
F Jack Studnicka
F Nolan Foote
G Aleksei Kolosov
F Riley Thompson
D Spencer Gill
G Carson Bjarnason
F Matthew Gard
D Hunter McDonald
D Cam Dineen