There are still several unknowns when it comes to what the Philadelphia Flyers’ final roster will look like when they start their season next week. But at least we do now know one defenseman who will not be part of the blue line.
Announced by the league on Saturday afternoon, the Flyers have placed defenseman Dennis Gilbert on waivers. While we cannot say with certainty that they will then be sending him down once he clears, we’re going to assume that they will be.
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Gilbert, 28, was signed by the Flyers to a one-year, one-way contract on July 1 earlier this year and was set to be involved in a heated battle for the final spot on the blue line, along with fellow free agent acquisition Noah Juulsen, and younger homegrown players like Adam Ginning and Helge Grans. Grans was cut as soon as possible after never really seeming like an NHL-caliber defenseman through the preseason, and now it’s Gilbert that gets the next cut just days before the Flyers have to make their final decision.
All 32 NHL teams need to submit their season-opening roster by Monday at 5:00 p.m. and there still remains multiple questions as to who Philadelphia will keep around. As it stands, the Flyers have seven healthy defensemen and 14 forwards. They will need to cut at least one and it almost certainly is coming from up front.
Jett Luchanko and Rodrigo Abols are the only two forwards who are truly competing for a spot. Nikita Grebenkin has made this team and the only other forward who poised a threat, Alex Bump, was already sent down to start his professional career in the AHL.
In keeping Luchanko, the Flyers can get a first-hand influence on the 19-year-old’s development — especially with the options only being the OHL or NHL, there are reasons why the Flyers might want Luchanko to stay in Philadelphia. For Abols, he has had as good a preseason as he possibly could and has looked like an improved fourth-line center compared to what we saw from the Latvian last season. Keeping him around would be rewarding him for his effort and in the end, if he’s the 13th forward it would not be as detrimental as keeping Luchanko out of the lineup.
Of course they could carry 14 forwards and seven defensemen to fill the 23-man roster, and that would mean Abols and Nic Deslauriers would most likely be the extra forwards in that scenario. It’s not the most outlandish thing and is entirely possible.
But for now, all we have is one more answer with Gilbert being sent down. Last season, the 28-year-old defenseman played 25 games for the Buffalo Sabres and earned five total assists while racking up 50 penalty minutes.
