The Philadelphia Flyers will begin training camp this week, and with a new campaign on the horizon, so too are the ups, downs, twists, and turns that the grind of an NHL season brings.
The drama all starts in preseason, and this year’s Flyers squad will have no shortage of subplots to track. Last year, the arrival of Matvei Michkov stole the spotlight. This year, the addition of Trevor Zegras and the development of the club’s numerous young players will take center stage.
Much like any other training camp, just about every player offers a compelling story waiting to be written. But this year, five players particularly stand out as X factors in the gauntlet’s early going.
Emil Andrae, LD
After a disappointing finish to the 2024-25 campaign, Andrae may be running out of real estate to prove he deserves a full-time role with the Flyers.
Andrae appeared in 42 games for the Flyers last season, but managed just one goal and seven points on the year. However, despite the unspectacular raw scoring numbers, Andrae surprisingly led all Flyers defensemen at 5-on-5 in Corsi For percentage (51.85) and Expected Goals For percentage (55.10).
The 2020 second-round pick spent a considerable chunk of the season in Lehigh Valley, where he registered three goals and 16 points in 25 games and averaged nearly a point per game in the postseason. Unfortunately, that level of point production has yet to translate to the NHL.
In spite of Rasmus Ristolainen’s iffy status going into the season after undergoing surgery in March to repair a triceps tendon rupture, Andrae is far from guaranteed a roster spot. Assuming Ristolainen is unavailable for the start of the season, Jamie Drysdale, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, Cam York, and Egor Zamula are all locks to make the roster, and newcomers Dennis Gilbert and Noah Juulsen will also be competing to earn playing time — particularly the latter, who played under Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet with the Vancouver Canucks the last two seasons.
Andrae, 23, is the only waivers-exempt player of the bunch, and if he doesn’t turn heads in camp, the Flyers brass may not be entirely convinced he’d be worth keeping on the roster to start the season.
Alex Bump, LW
Bump will be one of the more interesting players to follow through training camp. The 21-year-old Minnesota native has every intention of making the Flyers’ opening night roster, and given his play in college and in Lehigh Valley last season, it’s hard to envision him not at least putting up a fight for a spot on the wing come October 9.
Bump, a 2022 fifth-round pick out of the USHL, has done nothing but impress since heading to Kalamazoo and suiting up for Western Michigan University. As if 36 points in 38 games as a first-year NCAA player wasn’t enough, Bump outdid himself in his second year at Western Michigan, logging 47 points in 42 games and helping guide the Broncos to their first-ever national title for men’s hockey. The celebration didn’t last long, though. Not even a week after winning the national championship, Bump made his AHL debut and turned heads with five points in nine games (seven of which came in the playoffs) with the Phantoms.
Bump’s production on the ice speaks for itself, but it’s his attitude that has fans — and the Flyers — particularly excited. He’s got a snarl to him, both on and off the rink.
Of course, Bump will have some work to do to carve out a roster spot. The Flyers have something of a logjam on the wing in their top nine. Tyson Foerster, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, and Owen Tippett are all locked in at wing, meaning Bump would likely need to beat out the likes of Bobby Brink, who was among the Flyers’ most effective 5-on-5 point producers last season, and possibly Noah Cates if he shifts to wing to start the campaign. There’s also the possibility that Bump could make the roster and begin the year playing on the fourth line, but it would be fair to question if that route would ultimately be best for his development in the long term.
Luckily, Bump’s training camp is already off to a good start following a pair of strong performances in the Flyers’ Rookie Series against New York Rangers prospects.
Helge Grans, RD
Andrae isn’t the only young Swedish defenseman with hopes of becoming a full-time NHLer this fall. Grans also has his eyes on a roster spot, and he’ll be competing with his countryman to make the leap to the big club.
Notably, though, Grans has a major advantage over Andrae in one key characteristic — size.
As evidenced by their insistence on beefing up their pipeline of defensemen in this year’s draft, the Flyers may lean toward Grans’ 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame over the 5-foot-9 Andrae, whose diminutive size has only magnified doubters’ skepticism of his overall potential as an NHL defender.
Grans is coming off an encouraging season with the Phantoms. He logged eight goals and 23 points in 66 games and even had a brief cup of coffee with the Flyers in November, when he logged an assist in six games.
Grans, selected by the Los Angeles Kings just 18 picks ahead of Andrae in the second round of the 2020 draft, doesn’t offer the offensive upside that Andrae brings to the table, but his length could very well be the deciding factor if he outperforms his smaller counterpart throughout the preseason.
Jett Luchanko, C
Aside from Michkov, Luchanko was the darling of last year’s training camp. He impressed throughout the preseason, won over John Tortorella (which famously isn’t the easiest thing to do), and earned a spot on the Flyers’ opening night roster. Granted, he only appeared in four NHL games before being sent back down to his junior club, but he still managed to make the team out of camp. Now, he needs to prove he can do it again.
Of course, he’ll need to get healthy for that to happen. Luchanko missed rookie camp due to a groin issue, but the hope is he’ll be full go for the start of training camp.
Given the Flyers’ uninspiring center depth, Luchanko’s chances of making the team (health permitting) are far from nonexistent. Sean Couturier and veteran newcomer Christian Dvorak are the two most polished centers on the roster, but beyond them, there are a lot of question marks, which poses well for Luchanko. With another strong camp, the 2024 first-round pick could once again force his way onto the team largely due to the obvious need for stronger play down the middle of the ice.
However, the Flyers will be faced with a considerable dilemma if he’s not yet prepared for a full-time NHL role.
Luchanko just turned 19 in August. For this reason, he is ineligible to be assigned to the AHL and instead must return to his junior club in the OHL, the Guelph Storm. Per the new NHL and NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, NHL teams will soon be allowed to assign one 19-year-old player to the AHL per season. However, that change to the CBA doesn’t take effect until the 2026-27 season.
Therein lies the problem — a return to the OHL may potentially stunt Luchanko’s development.
Luchanko is coming off a year in which he played several games in the NHL and stood out in the Phantoms’ playoff run once he was eligible to be assigned to the AHL after his junior season concluded. Guelph, meanwhile, was one of the worst teams in the OHL last season, and a return to the Storm probably won’t do him much good as he looks to further round out his game.
The Flyers likely won’t have their hand forced by this wrinkle in the CBA, but a world where Luchanko isn’t being wasted away in Guelph is certainly more optimal than the alternative.
Trevor Zegras, C
The Flyers’ shiny new toy is sure to steal the limelight in training camp, and for good reason. At one time, Zegras was considered one of the top young stars of the sport, thanks largely to his dazzling talent and affable personality.
Now, he’s hoping to complete a redemption arc. After falling out of favor with the Anaheim Ducks, Zegras is entering the season with a massive chip on his shoulder, plus a laundry list of questions that need answering.
Can he return to form after consecutive down years? Can he stay healthy for a full season? Can he regain the confidence he displayed during his sensational rookie campaign?
And perhaps the most important question — can he stick at center?
Zegras’ struggles in Anaheim largely coincided with his shift from center to wing under former Ducks bench boss Greg Cronin. He even stated during his Flyers introductory media availability that he’s “always felt more comfortable” at center than at wing and expressed excitement at the prospect of returning to the faceoff dot (despite having more than his fair share of room for improvement in that realm).
A Zegras resurgence while playing center would be as pivotal a development imaginable for the Flyers, and he’ll be given every opportunity to prove himself right throughout training camp, and likely through the early portion of the regular season.
All statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.
