The Philadelphia Flyers open up their 2025-26 season on Thursday night against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
An underwhelming training camp and preseason for many of the Flyers players fighting for roster spots, particularly on the blue line, has dampened some of the excitement and anticipation for the season. As has the injury to Cam York, who is on Injured Reserve to begin the season, leaving the Flyers without two of their top-four defenseman, with Rasmus Ristolainen still on the shelf.
Rick Tocchet and the Flyers toyed around with different line combinations and defense pairs over the last few weeks, but it sure seems like they’ve settled on their lineup for opening night. The Flyers have now used the same line combinations in practice on Monday and Wednesday, per PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor:
“Dvorak – Couturier – Michkov
Tippett – Zegras – Konecny
Foerster – Cates – Brink
Luchanko/Deslauriers – Abols – Hathaway
Seeler – Sanheim
Ginning – Drysdale
Zamula/Gilbert/Juulsen all rotating
Grebenkin still largely sitting out rushes.“
So Jett Luchanko made the opening roster, but will not play in the first game in Florida.
While it’s anywhere from confusing to infuriating, it makes sense: the Flyers pride themselves on building a culture and doing right by their players. Nic Deslauriers may be in the lineup on opening night, but he’s sure to spend plenty of time in the press box this season.
Outside of that, though, let’s take a look at each line.
Flyers’ forward lines
Dvorak — Couturier — Michkov
Pairing up Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov makes a lot of sense. Michkov is the Flyers’ most talented forward, and Couturier can be the responsible centerman to control the middle of the ice in all three zones. He can get to the net and put his stick on the ice as a target for Michkov.
It is a bit interesting that Christian Dvorak is on the left wing, though. Dvorak was with Michkov and Trevor Zegras for a decent portion of training camp, which makes sense given the latter two’s defensive acumen, but perhaps Tocchet wants to let Michkov run free with two of the Flyers’ most reliable forwards with him.
Tippett — Zegras — Konecny
Now this has the potential to be a fun line. Zegras should pair well with Travis Konecny, as the two are both skilled offensively, with the veteran winger bringing a two-way game to cover for some of his center’s deficiencies in that area.
Figuring out where Owen Tippett fits in this lineup is going to be huge for the Flyers this season. He has the speed and offensive skill to create off the rush, but his ability to generate offense once in the zone is questionable. Maybe these three can find chemistry right out of the gate as the team’s scoring line with two more well-rounded lines around them.
Foerster — Cates — Brink
Tyson Foerster joined Noah Cates and Bobby Brink as soon as he was healthy enough to play, and Tocchet immediately used them as one of his most-trusted lines.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but keeping this line together might be detrimental in the long run if the top-six group doesn’t gel together too well. Foerster may need to be moved up the lineup, with Dvorak sliding down.
Deslauriers — Abols — Hathaway
Garnet Hathaway was always going to be the fourth-line right wing. Nic Deslauriers, whether you like it or not — and for the record, I do not –, gets the nod on opening night.
Rodrigo Abols won himself a roster spot in training camp and starts the year as the fourth-line center. He held his own in 22 NHL games last season and looked even better in the preseason.
Flyers’ defensive pairs
Seeler — Sanheim
First-pair defenseman Nick Seeler? Sure, why not.
With York out to begin the season, the defense pairings are in complete flux.
Travis Sanheim played over 30 minutes in a game four times this season — twice in regulation –, and he’ll be leaned upon heavily in the early going under Tocchet.
Ginning — Drysdale
Personally, I might prefer Adam Ginning up with Sanheim just to keep Seeler and Jamie Drysdale together, but it’s not as if the Swedish blueliner blew people away in the preseason; he was just the least bad out of the group.
Ginning will try to replicate Seeler’s stay-at-home style to complement Drysdale’s offensive ability. We’ll see how long it lasts, though.
Zamula / Gilbert / Juulsen
Pick your poison of which two make up the third pair, and which one is a healthy scratch.
I would think that Zamula and Juulsen start the year, given that the Russian blueliner has been with the Flyers for years, and the newcomer is one of Tocchet’s favorite toys. But it doesn’t really matter. If the third pair leaves the ice without allowing a goal or taking a penalty against the Panthers, that’s a win.
All in all, the Flyers’ opening night lineup isn’t quite as exciting as we once thought it might be.
The York injury leaves a huge hole on defense, and neither of the rookies who made the roster is going to be suiting up on opening night. Hell, Zegras and Michkov aren’t even together at 5-on-5.
But it is just one game of an 82-game slog, and there are no real expectations for the season.
Hockey is back. Enjoy it.
