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As noted in Monday’s column, the Philadelphia Flyers devoted much of the day’s practice to competitive drills designed to battle for time and space. Head coach Rick Tocchet was unhappy with things he saw in the last two games, underlying the combined 10 goals the team yielded against the St. Louis Blues and Dallas. He is also unhappy with all the slow starts the team has had in recent games.
Additionally, Cam York has been playing banged up over the last week. He was not quite at his best the last two games. After Sunday’s team-wide off day, York took a maintenance day on Monday. He’s slated to return to practice on Tuesday.
Rookie defenseman Oliver Bonk made his first on-ice appearance with the team since sustaining an upper-body injury during rookie camp. He participated in part of Monday’s practice, wearing a no-contact jersey.
Flyers make a minor trade
The Flyers made a minor deal with the Ottawa Senators on Monday. The Flyers sent veteran depth defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the Senators in exchange for 24-year-old restricted free agent AHL defenseman Maxence Guenette. Philly signed Guenette to a one-year, two-way contract. He’ll head to Lehigh Valley.
Guenette has appeared in eight NHL games. Mostly, however, he played in the AHL for Belleville. The right-handed shooter has good size (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) and some offensive game. Last season, he served as an alternate captain for Belleville.
Meanwhile, veteran defenseman Gilbert is a well-traveled depth player. He’s appeared in 111 NHL games. Gilbert opened the 2025-26 season on the Flyers’ NHL roster. However, he did appear in any regular season games. He will join the ranks of players who’ve been on the NHL roster without ever appearing in a game for the Flyers beyond the preseason.
O&B Puckcast: Prospect check-in, NHL trends
Thank to to Isiah, “Chef” Brendan Gillespie, and Dan Silver for having me on once again as their guest for a 90-minute live edition of the O&B Puckcast. We went in-depth on various Flyers prospects in the system: Porter Martone, Jett Luchanko, Jack Nesbitt, Jack Murtagh, the injured Spencer Gill, Carter Amico, Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, Carson Bjarnason and many more. What is their upside and ceiling? How has their season gone so far? What are the main things they needed to work on to make it to the NHL?
Subsequently, the second half of the program looks at trends with the 2025-26 Flyers to date. Through 18 games, what has improved? What’s been of concern? What, if anything, has gone backward for the short-term and/or big picture outlook?
