The Philadelphia Flyers have already clinched the playoffs in dramatic fashion with a shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. So, with their season finale happening just 24 hours later, they have decided to rest a lot of key players and bring up some prospects from the AHL for what is a meaningless game when it comes to standings and making the playoffs.
Since, you know, the Flyers are making the playoffs.
Flyers recall several prospects to give key players a rest before playoffs
Before the Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night for Game 82, they made a fairly interesting move to change things around and give some guys a break.
Announced by the team on Tuesday morning, they have recalled a total of five players up from Lehigh Valley: Veteran forwards Jacob Gaucher and Anthony Richard, defensemen Hunter McDonald and Oliver Bonk, and goaltender Aleksei Kolosov.
Transactions: We have recalled the following players from the @LVPhantoms (AHL):
— x – Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 14, 2026
• F Anthony Richard
• F Jacob Gaucher
• D Hunter McDonald
• D Oliver Bonk
• G Aleksei Kolosov
McDonald and Bonk will make their NHL debuts tonight in #MTLvsPHI.
Bringing up Gaucher and Richard is the easiest choice in the world. With nothing truly to play for, they’re bringing in two AHL veterans to lessen the load on the older players and give some players the chance to just sit in the press box and prepare for what should be a very interesting first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
We won’t really find out too much about these players, but these could be the final time we see them in Philadelphia. Both Gaucher and Richard are pending unrestricted free agents, able to sign with anyone this summer, and while their veteran presence down in the AHL has been great to make that the Phantoms competitive, there is a massive wave of young talent coming into the AHL next year and room will need to be made.
For McDonald and Bonk, it is much more interesting — both young defensemen will be making their NHL debuts. McDonald, the 23-year-old blueliner, was recalled for a brief period of time earlier this season but didn’t actually get into a lineup until now. The 6-foot-4, left-handed defenseman has earned just six assists in 62 games for the Phantoms this season and hasn’t been as impactful on either end of the puck as one would hope in development.
But for Bonk, it is plenty exciting. The former first-round draft pick is now getting rewarded after what has been a crucial year for him. The 21-year-old is in his first season of pro hockey after wrapping up his junior career with the London Knights by winning the Memorial Cup last year, but unfortunately had a rough start due to injury and didn’t actually play in his first game with the team until December.
But since then, and 19 points in 44 games later, he’s been starting to look like the all-around first-round talent that the Flyers hoped for. He won’t necessarily pop in any one category, but he projects to be just a very solid, understanding, and foundation-led blueliner who would rather play with smarts and physicality than flash. It is plenty exciting that he gets to make his debut to close out the Flyers regular season.
And finally, our good buddy Aleksei Kolosov. This recall is simply to give Dan Vladar a more-than-deserved break and not even let him near the bench just in case. On Tuesday night, it should be Sam Ersson starting and Kolosov being his backup.
Additionally, we should expect some of the current healthy scratches — Garrett Wilson, Alex Bump, and David Jiricek — get into the game as well. That leaves us with just one question.
Which Flyers will be getting rest before the playoffs?
We won’t know until we either hear from head coach Rick Tocchet or we see them take brief line rushes during warm-up tonight — since there will be no morning skate before the finale against Montreal — but we have to imagine who will be getting the rest and who will not.
Matvei Michkov, Denver Barkey, and Porter Martone are most likely going to be in the lineup, just to not give them the white-glove treatment yet. And the other, more senior players, might be trying to get to a milestone.
While it might seem silly from the outside, it is very important to players if they are able to play all 82 games. The Flyers right now have four veterans with 81 games played, who we can expect to all play tonight to get to that important number: Trevor Zegras, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, and Travis Sanheim. It would be slightly shocking if any of them came out of the lineup because of this.
Add those four to the presumed mix of seven scratches and call-ups and take in the three youngsters listed above, and we’re starting to see a clearer picture of who will play Tuesday. Maybe other veterans like Garnet Hathaway and Luke Glendening will get in the mix, but we could see them taking a breather too (as well as Sean Couturier). Travis Konecny has been battling, so he could use some rest.
It’s pointless to try to really piece something together without any knowledge as to who will rest — oh, Rasmus Ristolainen is maybe another candidate to sit — but no matter what, it adds a little flair to what was going to be a somewhat meaningless game to watch in the grand scheme of things.
