Philadelphia Flyers winger Tyson Foerster was spotted wearing a black practice jersey Tuesday morning, meaning the non-contact phase for him when he began training camp should hopefully be a thing of the past.
Looks like Tyson Foerster has been cleared for contact. pic.twitter.com/0XS8uMasL0
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) September 23, 2025
Last week Flyers general manager Danny Briere said the training staff and Foerster were erring on the side of caution in not rushing him into contact. Foerster was seen getting some contact from Travis Sanheim and Cam York doing some reps last week. But now it seems he’s ready to take the hits that’ll come with both the exhibition and regular season.
The Flyers travel to Montreal today to play the host Canadiens in Philadelphia’s second exhibition game of the year. Foerster won’t be in the lineup tonight but it’s expected he’ll get into one or two games near the homestretch of the seven-game slate. After tonight the Flyers next game will be against the Capitals on Thursday before their first home tilt against the Bruins on Saturday.
Having a healthy Foerster will be crucial to the Flyers getting off to a decent start. As previously reported, he hasn’t been the quickest out of the gate in the first month to six weeks of the last two seasons. So hitting the ground running would be a huge boost to the team and to Foerster’s confidence. Knowing he can handle the physicality after recovering from surgery will only be proven when he gets into game action and takes some hits. Hopefully the elbow will be able to withstand the punishment.
Foerster, who developed the problem during the World Hockey Championships this past spring, hit the 25-goal mark last year to go along with 18 assists for 43 points in 81 games. In his first full rookie season (2023-24) the Flyers winger had 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points in 77 games. Foerster should be expected to put in similar or higher numbers this year given that he should once again be paired with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink for a great third line. And with any improvement on the power play, he should see a few more goals and power play points over the course of the 82 games.
But for now, it’s another good sign. Especially considering in the summer Briere wasn’t sure just how bad Foerster’s infection in his elbow was. Fortunately for now it looks to have worked out for the best, a far cry from initial speculation which said he could be out the first few months of this season.
