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The Philadelphia Flyers held practice on Sunday at the FTC in Voorhees. Coming off a 5-1 loss in the preseason finale the previous evening, the team faces some early adversity. The Flyers’ NHL squad lost, essentially, to the Hershey Bears. It’s not hard to see exactly what happened. Nevertheless, the underlying reasons do not offer much comfort.
- The Capitals received excellent goaltending from Charlie Lindgren, which brought them through a heavy disadvantage in puck possession and scoring chances in the first 30 minutes of the game.
- Philly received subpar goaltending from AHL netminder Aleksei Kosolov. Unfortunately, this has been a constant for two-plus seasons. Kolosov is usually fine until the first goal gets past him. Thereafter, he falls apart. His competitiveness level drops off a cliff, and he ends up yielding multiple goals an NHL netminder must stop. It happened again on Saturday.
- David Jiricek lacks poise and confidence. He has offensive tools but his bonafide development has been spotty. Meanwhile, his defensive game, with and without the puck, has arguably regressed each year. That’s why he’s already in his third NHL organization. If he were not subject to waivers, he’d probably be back in the AHL to start 2026-27.
- They had some looks, but the Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play (all in the first period). If you come away empty after eight minutes of power play time, odds of a victory usually plummet as frustration mounts.
Flyers make two roster moves: Kolosov and Wilson
The Flyers announced two roster moves on Sunday. First, for the second straight year, they converted rugged veteran winger Garrett Wilson’s AHL contract into a two-way NHL/AHL deal. Secondly, the team assigned Kolosov to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
- Denver Barkey remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Meanwhile, Nikita Grebenkin is less than 100 percent healthy. Neither player practiced on Sunday. Therefore, there may be a spot for Wilson to start the year on the opening NHL roster. Flyers general manager Danny Briere said on Saturday that Barkey may miss a few games at the start.
- Kolosov’s assignment reiterates hopeful news Briere reported on Saturday. Number one goaltender Dan Vladar (upper body injury) should be OK to start the regular season. The season opens with back-to-back games. Look for Vladar to start on Wednesday against Pittsburgh. Thereafter, Joseph Woll could start Thursday’s game in Newark against the Devils.
- In the bigger picture, the Flyers have a major concern if they lose either Vladar or Woll. Kolosov has failed every NHL opportunity (preseason or regular season) so far. Meanwhile, second-year pro Carson Bjarnason is clearly not NHL-ready yet either.
Practice day: Sunday’s lines and notes
As previously noted, neither Barkey nor Grebenkin practiced on Sunday. The most notable Sunday development, however, was on the Blueline. Jiricek was the seventh defensemen in reps. He rotated into some turns on the third pair. That strongly suggests the coaching staff targets th Czech blueliner as a healthy scratch. for opening night.
Owen Tippett – Trevor Zegras – Porter Martone
Tyson Forerster- Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Alex Bump – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Garret Wilson/Carl Grundstrom – Sean Couturier – Noel Acciari
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Simon Benoit / David Jiricek
Dan Vladar
Joseph Woll
PP1: Martone, Foerter, Michkov, Zegras, Drysdale
PP2: Konecny, Cates, Bump, Tippett, York
Phantoms Files
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms opened their abbreviated preseason with a 4-1 home victory against the Hershey Bears in Allentown on Saturday. victory. Dressing a young lineup, the Phantoms outshot by a Hershey 28-13 margin.
Braeden Kressler, Cooper Wylie, Noah Powell and 20-year-old Ilya Pautov scored goals for the Phantoms. Meanwhile, Owen McLaughlin and Riley Thompson each contributed a pair of assists. Carson Bjarnason (12 saves on 13 shots) went the distance in net.
Post-practice media: Rick Tocchet
Rick Tocchet provided post-practice updates on player injuries and Sunday’s on-ice focus. Tocchet said his main concentration remains on roster development, refining power play units, and improving overall offensive shot efficiency.
“We had a bunch of chances, but we don’t score,” Tocchet said. “Then all of a sudden they get a couple. Every time they shot, they scored and then guys get frustrated.”
Tocchet didn’t throw Kolosov or any particular skaters under the bus. However, he acknowledged that the team didn’t handle adversity well on Saturday. Offensively, they still miss the net too much.
Team Toyota Spotlight: Prospect Focus
One of the key segments of Daniel Briere’s Saturday press conference focused on three prominent prospects: forwards Jett Luchanko, Cole Knuble and Oliver Bonk.
“They showed they’re not far off,” Briere said. “The main message is ‘keep doing what you’re doing.’ You’ve done everything you’ve could’ve done in camp. Keep developing your game. Play against the top players in the AHL. It gives them the chance to be more successful when they’re needed at this level.”
Bonk entered camp needing to blow the doors off to beat out Jiricek for the opening night roster. That didn’t happen. Truthfully, no one overwhelmed the rest of the field in camp, including Jiricek. The likes of Ty Murchison, Hunter McDonald and Bonk had some good moments but none jumped way ahead of the competition. Correspondingly, Benoit seems to be the likeliest 6D on opening night.
Opening Night Flyers Fan Fest at Stateside Live!
On Wednesday, September 30, to celebrate the start of the 2026-27 NHL season and the Flyers Home Opener matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins, today the Flyers announced the club will host Fan Fest at Stateside Live! (the former Xfinity Live!)
Before the game, there’s an on-site Fan Fest event starting at 3 p.m. EDT. The Flyers encourage people to RSVP — and arrive early — for the best chance at entry inside. Full details are here.
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