The Flyers 3-2 shootout win Saturday afternoon against New Jersey ended their seven-game exhibition slate, winning three and losing four. The Flyers waived Dennis Gilbert during Saturday’s game, reducing the roster by another player and getting things closer to what the final roster will look like heading into game one against Florida on Thursday night. While there were a few players who flew under the radar most of the camp (Nick Seeler, Garnet Hathaway), there were others who stood out for both good and bad reasons. Here then, in no particular order, are three of the biggest surprises at training camp as well as three of the biggest disappointments.
Biggest surprises
Nikita Grebenkin
Nikita Grebenkin forechecked, backchecked and should be compensated with a much bigger paycheck this season. After playing seven games for the Maple Leafs last season, Grebenkin spent most of his time with the Marlies of the American Hockey League before being part of the Scott Laughton trade last year. Grebenkin spent of the rest of the year in Lehigh Valley, getting seven points in 11 games with the Phantoms in the regular season before adding a goal and three assists in seven playoff games. In short, Grebenkin looked fine.
This training camp Grebenkin was one of a handful of players who had a chance to win a spot, and from start to finish Grebenkin looked more than fine. He seemed like a perfect fit more often than not regardless of where head coach Rick Tocchet put him in the lineup. He spent time with Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras and more than held his own. Meanwhile, in a fourth line setting with Garnet Hathaway, Grebenkin played the role of a big, solid, two-way player. Grebenkin didn’t light the lamp all that often, but his durability and ability to be used in a variety of ways proved to be a huge plus throughout the games he played. And he rarely seemed to be on the wrong side of the puck or hemmed in his own end during his shifts. The forward at worst lived up to but probably exceeded expectations with his play. Good on him!
Christan Dvorak
Many weren’t sure what to expect from Christian Dvorak. The price tag that came with him had some questioning the move. Yet after his performances throughout the exhibition, Dvorak did everything he was asked of, and then some. Whether it was setting up Travis Sanheim on a very pretty short-handed tally against the Islanders or complementing whoever he was playing with, Dvorak on first glance seems like money well spent. He also filled the middle position well when he was playing it and didn’t seem lost when he was on the wing.
Christian Dvorak and Travis Sanheim combine for a beauty while shorthanded! 👏 pic.twitter.com/zYm1Xat10d
— NHL (@NHL) October 2, 2025
And it’s not just helping down the middle, Dvorak looks like he could be a huge boost in penalty killing. Nobody is expecting the amount of short-handed goals they had a few seasons ago thanks to Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny. But if Dvorak can help improve their 20th ranked penalty kill into the top half, that’s another plus that should help the Flyers throughout this year.
Trevor Zegras
He has had his faults at times, and he still has some work to do in his own end, yet Trevor Zegras has been putting a smile on people’s faces wherever he goes. A breath of fresh air from the previous regime, Zegras has found a supporter in Rick “Taco” Tocchet while diligently working with Matvei Michkov during and after practices. From simple amusing games to helping Michkov improve on faceoffs, Zegras is starting to find his footing in a new city and with a new club.
If Zegras can continue to develop, help get the Flyers power play out of the doldrums and manage to be a fine center and great partner to Michkov, then Philadephia has found a gem of a player. Hopefully he hits the ground running. It’s not like he’s lollygagging or not putting the work in. With more practice time and reps, it’s a good bet that Zegras will end up being a blessing for the Flyers far more than a curse.
Honorable mentions: Rodrigo Abols and Jamie Drysdale
Biggest disappointments
Egor Zamula
With Rasmus Ristolainen injured, and Oliver Bonk nowhere to be found this exhibition season and training camp, Egor Zamula should’ve have been a lock to end up one of the six defenseman starting the season. He still could very well be one of those six. But if there was ever a backdoor entrance into an NHL roster for an established blueliner, Zamula unfortunately fits the bill. Zamula was just average on his best appearances in training camp, rarely raising the bar, or separating himself from defensemen like Noah Juulsen, Dennis Gilbert, Emil Andre or Adam Ginning. Generally he was quite poor, only out-playing Juulsen. But that’s like saying, “Congratulations for being the runner-up in an axe fight.”
Tocchet rarely called out players directly, but managed to name Zamula after the Flyers game on Thursday night. “He’s got to pick it up,” Tocchet said. And there’s no guarantee Zamula is guaranteed anything to start this season. With Bonk hopefully a few weeks from playing with the Phantoms, Emil Andrae looking like he might have deserved a longer look, and Ristolainen possibly ready to go in November, Zamula has done nothing to solidify his position on the third pairing. Unless he hits two more gears when the games matter, he’s closer to playing for the seventh spot.
Alex Bump
Coming into camp, Alex Bump was thought to be in the running for a spot with the big club. He had the size, the scoring punch and possibly the swagger that he could make a difference with the Flyers. Then came the Rookie Camp where he wasn’t exactly stellar. Then came the Flyers training camp and a whole lot of warts in his play. Bump ended up being a -6 in the games he played this exhibition season. He couldn’t really find much mojo offensively and looked lost a few times when it came to reads and defensive coverage.
The final nail in the coffin came against the Bruins when with the period ending, a simple task of holding the puck until the buzzer sounded went screwy. Bump misplayed the puck in the corner then instead of holding it, tried stickhandling it again. A Bruin got it and put the puck behind an unsuspecting Sam Ersson with under a second to play. Bump probably wasn’t going to make the club before the mistake. He sure as heck was gone afterwards. On the whole, Bump was underwhelming. Maybe he takes those hard knocks he’s had into Lehigh Valley and plays great with a chip on his shoulder. That’s being the optimist. If he continues to struggle with the Phantoms then he might need to do a lot more work to prove himself.
Sam Ersson
It’s not even a regular season game and we’re picking on the goaltenders? Really? Well, yes. For good reason. Ersson spent the summer knowing he was the number one starter. The Dan Vladar signing at worst made Ersson part of a tandem. The removal of Ivan Fedotov from the equation set up the four goaltenders remaining nicely. Ersson and Vladar with the Flyers and Aleksei Kolosov and Carson Bjarnason with the Phantoms. Everything fell into place.
Yet Ersson still showed flaws in his game. A few leaky goals against competition that wasn’t exactly NHL grade-A quality demonstrated he still needs to work out some kinks. Even Rick Tocchet and the coaching staff seem to be meeting Ersson more than halfway by trying to clear lanes and giving him far cleaner looks than the previous two seasons. Some iffy goals against the Islanders left a bad taste in some mouths, particularly given how bad he was last year. Ersson has time to work things out, but it’s doubtful both Tocchet and general manager Danny Briere are going to give him an extremely long leash to find his footing.
Ideally Ersson stones the defending Stanley Cup champions on Thursday night, giving him and the team a huge confidence boost he’s able to ride to start the season. If he gets lit up in his first few starts, don’t be surprised to see Vladar get the nod to try and carry most of the workload.
(Dis)Honorable mentions: Owen Tippett, Noah Juulsen
