The Philadelphia Flyers made another round of cuts on Tuesday afternoon, sending 10 players to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and putting another on waivers. Those cuts whittled down the roster quite a bit, leaving only the players who are truly fighting for roster spots.
As the calendar flips to October, Danny Briere, Keith Jones, and Rick Tocchet have just a few days left to decide on their opening night roster. But that doesn’t mean we can’t predict it right now.
Let’s take a crack at predicting the Flyers’ lineup for opening night in Florida on October 9.
Predicting Flyers’ forward lines
Dvorak – Zegras – Michkov
The Flyers are looking to start the season with Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov together, and Rick Tocchet wants a reliable forward joining them.
Christian Dvorak got the first look, and while the free-agent addition would likely fit better in the bottom six, he brings the defensive responsibility, faceoff ability, and familiarity that Tocchet wants.
Tippett – Couturier – Konecny
Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny are two of the longest-tenured players on the team, and they’ve developed some pretty good chemistry over the years. They should be together on one of the top two lines.
Then there’s Tippett. He’s probably the hardest Flyers player to fit into the lineup, and is really only on this line by default. He’s going to be in the top nine and should be in the top six. The speedy winger should eventually get a look with Zegras and Michkov if the Flyers need an offensive spark.
This trio played a bit together in the last two seasons with mixed results (’23-24: 53.8% xGF in 108 minutes; ’24-25: 47.9% xGF in 129 minutes), so it has some familiarity.
Foerster – Cates – Brink
This trio came together last November and stayed as a line for most of the rest of the season. They played 571 minutes together, per MoneyPuck, with an expected goals share of 58.3% at 5-on-5. Of lines that played at least 300 minutes together, only lines centered by Connor McDavid, Aleksander Barkov, and Auston Matthews had a higher xGF%.
Oh yeah, they also connected for a gritty goal in Foerster’s preseason debut on Monday night in Boston.
🚨 1-0! 🚨
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) September 30, 2025
The Foerster-Cates-Brink line picks up right where it left off. 🔥#PHIvsBOS | https://t.co/gztjKygSxs pic.twitter.com/nZkWloFMHn
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Grebenkin – Luchanko – Hathaway
Nikita Grebenkin has looked like an NHL player during the preseason, and the team seemingly wants to start Jett Luchanko with the club — which is where he should be. Garnet Hathaway is locked in on the right side.
The fourth line is where the most moving pieces are right now with two preseason games remaining.
Rodrigo Abols is pushing for a spot and will likely make it as an extra forward, and Nicolas Deslauriers is still hanging around. Those would be the two healthy scratches for opening night in this scenario.
Predicting Flyers’ defensive pairs
York – Sanheim
These two formed a great pair last season as one of 16 duos to play over 870 minutes together. They had a solid showing with an expected goals share of 54.8%, and all signs point to the new coaching staff keeping them together to start the season.
While Travis Sanheim may be moved to the left side at some point, particularly when Rasmus Ristolainen comes back, he’s more than comfortable playing on his off side.
This is going to be a big season for Cam York, though, who clearly did not see eye to eye with John Tortorella.
Seeler – Drysdale
The Flyers are hoping to see Jamie Drysdale take another step this season, and they’ll likely keep him alongside a known quantity in Nick Seeler.
In theory, a stay-at-home defenseman like Seeler should pair well with a puck-moving blueliner like Drysdale. They played 587 minutes together last season, and while Seeler would better fit on the third pair, the Flyers don’t have four defensemen better than him right now.
Ginning – Zamula
Adam Ginning appears to be the last man standing in the Flyers’ blue line battle. Helge Grans and Emil Andrae have been sent down, and veteran additions Dennis Gilbert and Noah Juulsen have not impressed.
One of those veterans — if not both — will likely make the roster as an extra and rotate in depending on matchups, but Ginning is the guy right now.
And for all of the talk around Egor Zamula, he’s locked in on the third pair. Ideally, he’d be the seventh, but he can play both sides and has some strengths in his game.
Predicting Flyers’ goalie tandem
Ersson and Vladar
Sam Ersson is starting the season as the Flyers’ “number one” goalie, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Dan Vladar sees a few consecutive starts early in the year as well. The big netminder has looked solid in the preseason, while the Swede has struggled a bit.
