The Game: 7:00 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Philadelphia and on the radio at 97.5 The Fanatic.
After splitting their first two preseason games on the road, the Flyers will kick off their final home preseason at the soon-to-be-renamed Wells Fargo Center with a matchup against the New York Islanders. And, after the first round of cuts early this week, the Flyers’ lineups are becoming closer and closer to what we could expect on opening night. There’s a few notable absences – including Sean Couturier, Joel Farabee, and Bobby Brink – but there’s some really interesting lines tonight that could certainly be a fixture in the regular season.
Players to watch
Jett Luchanko
We’re officially nearing or at the tipping point of Jett Luchanko’s chances to make the Flyers. All camp, the entirety of the Flyers brass has been impressed with the 2024 first rounder’s maturity and conditioning, and his ability to not just hang with NHLers – but to make an actual impact on his own.
Playing on a line with Tyson Foerster and Travis Konecny on the wings, the Flyers are giving Luchanko every opportunity to shine tonight. They already placed him in an advantageous position on Sunday against the Capitals, on a line with Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink – but moving him to a line with Foerster and Konecny feels like an even further step up. Let’s see if Luchanko passes the test with flying colors. If he does, the idea of a nine game tryout will become even more feasible. If not, and Luchanko struggles with two of the Flyers’ best, sending him back to Guelph might be a much easier pill to swallow.
Owen Tippett
There’s been much discussion about the Frost-Michkov connection in the early stages of the preseason, and rightfully so. However, Tippett’s been the other guy on the line and not talked about all that much, and I’m not sure if the fit has been perfect with Frost-Michkov thus far. Stylistically, the line has two guys who love the puck on their stick and creating their own opportunities with their elite skill – Michkov’s evasiveness and Tippett’s speed/physicality – not to mention Frost’s best skill as a distributor. There’s only one puck to go around though, and that line will obviously be centered around Michkov with the puck on his stick. For this reason, I’d like to see Tippett somewhere else where he can be a little more puck dominant.
Having said that, this game will be interesting to see if there’s a world where Tippett fits on a line with Frost-Michkov. It might simply take a minute for the chemistry to get going, but I wonder if the Flyers opt to change it up if Tippett doesn’t pop in this game again.
Sam Ersson
The Flyers could desperately use some stability between the pipes – and Sam Ersson probably represents the best chance the Flyers have at it. Considering the somewhat shaky play of Ivan Fedotov on Sunday, and the Flyers now reportedly bringing Alexei Kolosov stateside, Ersson being really solid throughout the preseason and into the regular season would certainly help calm down the goaltending situation a bit. Now, it’s the first preseason game for a goalie, so we have to be careful not to take too much away from it (the same holds for Fedotov), but regardless it’ll be interesting to see how Ersson looks in his first game action since April.
Matvei Michkov
And of course, the reason why most people will be watching, Matvei Michkov is a guy to look out for tonight in his home debut. It’ll be interesting to see his fit with Frost again, and whether his most translatable skill thus far – his passing – continues to stand out. In addition, his impact on the power play is something to really watch out for on Thursday night. Just take the mess that was the Flyers power play on Monday vs Montreal, and compare it to the Michkov-led power play on Sunday that scored two goals. Out of the many areas where Michkov will have impact on the Flyers this season, it really feels like that impact will be most apparent on the man-advantage.
The lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Matvei Michkov
Tyson Foerster – Jett Luchanko – Travis Konecny
Anthony Richard – Rodrigo Abols – Oscar Eklind
Nic Deslauriers – Jacob Gaucher – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Erik Johnson
Adam Ginning – Helge Grans
Sam Ersson
(Cal Petersen)
New York Islanders
Since the Islanders did not have a morning skate this morning, the roster for tonight’s game will be posted closer to gametime. We will update when information about lines becomes available.
