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  • Emil Andrae’s improved consistency is what forced the Flyers to loan Adam Ginning to the AHL

    Emil Andrae’s improved consistency is what forced the Flyers to loan Adam Ginning to the AHL

    The writing has been on the wall.

    Five days ago, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet was asked about defenseman Adam Ginning, who has not suited up for a game since Oct. 25.

    “I talked to [Flyers general manager Danny Brière] today. We’ve got to figure something out here, because we can’t have this guy [without] activity,” Tocchet said then. “I hate having guys sit long periods of time, wherever it is, so we talked about it. We have to have a game plan.”

    The game plan materialized Tuesday, when Ginning was assigned on a conditioning loan to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. Conditioning loans are for 14 days, and the Phantoms play five games between now and Dec. 2, including playing host to the Rochester Americans on Wednesday.

    Ginning still counts toward the active NHL roster, so it does not open a spot for a call-up.

    The Flyers badly need an offensive boost. Could calling up Alex Bump be the answer?

    The Swedish defenseman, who turns 26 in January, has played in five games this season for the Flyers on the third pair. Averaging 15 minutes, 20 seconds — although that dropped to just over 12 in his last two games — he did not register a point but did have two shots on goal and is one of 11 skaters with at least an even plus-minus (minimum five games played).

    A big defenseman at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Ginning said that he wants to “be a steady defensive defenseman who can make hard plays and be a guy you can trust.” An unrestricted free agent on July 1, who now has 16 NHL games under his belt, he was a surprise out of training camp after having a disastrous one in 2024.

    “I think I learned a little bit from it,” he told The Inquirer in September, “because I felt like I was trying to do a little bit too much last year maybe. And tried to prove myself in the wrong way instead of just doing what I’m good at — I tried to do maybe a little bit too much. So I tried to not do that this year.”

    With Ginning in the AHL, it all but solidifies Emil Andrae’s spot in the lineup as the team’s fifth defenseman.

    The 23-year-old has played in eight games this season — notably, all six since his latest call-up on Nov. 3. He has two assists and is one of five players on the team with a positive plus-minus (plus-3).

    “I think I’ve been doing better and better every game here. … I think I’ve tried to start my game a little bit more simple, hard,” Andrae told The Inquirer on Nov. 9. “There’s a new coaching staff, so you’ve got to build up your trust, and I’ve got to be more reliable and consistent. And I think I’ve done a good job so far.”

    The Swede is averaging 13:54 of ice time this season, but don’t let that number fool you. As he builds that equity and trust with the coaching staff, he has been given more time. In the past two games — a back-to-back — he is ranked third on the Flyers at 19:36. That is more than Jamie Drysdale.

    Defenseman Adam Ginning hadn’t played since Oct. 25 before being sent on his AHL conditioning loan Tuesday.

    Back on Nov. 9, Tocchet said Andrae was chasing consistency and had to put together consistent games. That tune has now changed. Andrae got an overtime shift Friday in the 6-5 win over the St. Louis Blues.

    “Andrae deserves to play,” Tocchet said Monday. “He’s trying to become an everyday NHL defenseman, and he’s chipping away at that.”

    Last season, Andrae played 42 games and notched seven points (one goal, six assists). He looks more confident this season, and while known for the ability to be a puck mover and an offensive player, he has been solid at both ends of the ice.

    The biggest knock on Andrae has always been his size. At 5-f9, 189 pounds, he’s not a big blueliner. But he plays without fear and won’t back down from anyone on the ice, especially when battling along the boards.

    The duo of him and veteran Noah Juulsen has played the third-most minutes together this season (87:50); Egor Zamula and Ginning also played alongside Juulsen. According to Natural Stat Trick, Juulsen and Andrae have been on the ice for more chances for the Flyers than the opposition (51.26% Corsi For) at five-on-five, while the Flyers have outscored their opponents 3-1 with that duo out there.

    Grading the Flyers so far: Special teams have soared but offense can’t get off the ground

    Andrae isn’t getting time on special teams — although he has power-play capabilities — but he is making his mark at five-on-five. According to Natural Stat Trick, despite playing just eight games, when Andrae is on the ice, the Flyers have a 55% Corsi For (first on the team), 63.8% of the shots (first), and 71.4% of the goals (first) and have scored two high-danger goals without allowing one.

    And he is tied with Christian Dvorak for No. 2 on the team with a 1.034 PDO, which combines shooting percentage and save percentage. The Flyers have a .920 save percentage when he is on the ice.

    Breakaways

    The Flyers and Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education are hosting a Bernie Parent Celebration of Life at 6 p.m. Friday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. It is free and open to the public, but fans need to secure a ticket for admission via Ticketmaster. … The Flyers placed defenseman Maxence Guenette, whom they acquired Monday in a trade with Ottawa, on waivers Tuesday. If he clears, he will report to Lehigh Valley.

  • The Flyers badly need an offensive boost. Could calling up Alex Bump be the answer?

    The Flyers badly need an offensive boost. Could calling up Alex Bump be the answer?

    Don’t let a five-goal outburst on Friday night fool you; the Flyers’ offense has stalled.

    Entering Tuesday, the Flyers averaged 2.61 goals per game. It is the fourth-lowest average in the league, with only the Calgary Flames (2.10), Nashville Predators (2.40), and the New York Rangers (2.50) between the Orange and Black and the cellar.

    Maybe this team needs an infusion to spark things.

    Maybe they need a bump.

    Maybe they need an Alex Bump.

    “He started out really slow, and I really attribute this [improvement] to Snowy,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said Monday, referring to Lehigh Valley Phantoms coach John Snowden.

    Flyers top 20 prospects: Porter Martone is No. 1, but where do Alex Bump and Jett Luchanko rank?

    “I think he’s an excellent coach. He knows how to develop, but he’s got a little bit of, not sternness, but he’s good at getting to a player without crushing the guy’s confidence.

    “I think Bumper needed that two, three weeks ago, and his play is getting better. So I attribute it to Bumper, obviously, it’s all him, but I have to give a lot of credit to Snowy for what he’s doing with him down there.”

    On Sept. 30, Bump was loaned to the Flyers’ American Hockey League affiliate. Maybe the demotion was a hard pill to swallow for a player many, including The Inquirer, inked into a spot on the opening night roster.

    As Tocchet said, the left winger did start slowly. Bump didn’t score his first goal until Game 3 and had one goal and three points in the first eight games. Across his past seven games, he has three goals and seven assists.

    “The moment that it really clicked for him was after the second Wilkes-Barre game. I challenged him in a different way,” Snowden told The Inquirer, referencing the fifth game of the season.

    “We all know that he has the offensive ability — he can hold onto the puck, he can beat you one-on-one, he can score with his shot, he can beat you with a pass, he’s got all those qualities — but the one thing that he was lacking was the abrasiveness in playing inside of contact and getting guys on your back and in finishing hits when it’s time to finish a hit, and valuing the defensive side of things. All those little things that are going to create more offensive opportunities for him, we need to get those better.”

    In his first year as the Phantoms’ bench boss, after serving as an assistant coach for two years, Snowden challenged Bump in areas like winning pucks back, getting through contact, puck retrieval, and working to get inside and into dangerous areas.

    “In order to play in the NHL … everybody’s going to finish their hits, everybody’s going to be incredibly hard in battles, and 50-50 pucks on the wall,” Snowden said. “You have to be able to do that here [in the AHL]. If you can’t do that here, you’re not going to do it there. So what do we have to do?

    “And for him, it starts in practice. How are you getting in and over pucks? How are you coming outside of pucks? What are you doing to get those opportunities back, and defensively, are you sprinting back to your spot? Are you closing plays out? Are you in shot lanes? Are you doing all those things to give you all the offensive opportunities that you have?

    “And we challenged him with that, showed him some video, and all credit goes to him. He’s like, ‘Yep, no problem. I completely understand it.’ And he’s taken that advice and that challenge, and he’s really run with it. And as you can see, now he’s starting to get offensive production, and he’s a threat in most every game when he wants to play that way. And that’s given him an opportunity to set himself up to eventually become an NHL player when that time comes.”

    Alex Bump is starting to pair more consistency away from the puck with his offensive dynamism.

    Bump’s become a more well-rounded player lately, and the uptick in his defensive play has, according to Snowden, led to more touches offensively.

    The 21-year-old entered Tuesday tied for third among AHL rookies in points (13) and is the co-leader with nine assists. His 45 shots on goal rank No. 1 among rookies and 10th overall.

    Bump’s been skating on a line with fellow rookie Denver Barkey, whom Tocchet complimented as well. Barkey has 10 points in 15 games.

    And, yes, the Flyers’ bench boss is keeping close tabs on the Phantoms.

    “You know what, lately, a lot more,” Tocchet said Monday when asked how much he pays attention to Lehigh Valley, maybe hinting at an upcoming move. “Talked to Snowy the other day. He checks in. I’ll check in with him. We talk systems. We talk about what he’s seeing, which is great, who’s playing well, and then usually we’ll have the game on, working out or something. So as much as we can.”

    Flyers prospect Alex Bump became a star at Western Michigan. The former fifth-rounder might prove to be ‘an absolute steal.’

    After Bump averaged over a point a game (47 points in 42 games) and won a national championship with Western Michigan, and then impressed during a nine-game stint with Lehigh Valley at the end of last season, many expected him to slide right into the NHL this fall.

    But he didn’t. Despite having a strong development camp in July and another impressive spin at rookie camp in early September, the forward didn’t have a great training camp.

    Skating alongside guys like Sean Couturier, Trevor Zegras, and Travis Konecny, he showed flashes of what he can bring, namely a big-time shot, playmaking ability, and high hockey IQ.

    However, across three preseason games, Bump was minus-6 with seven shots on goal, and one bad miscue that led to a Boston goal. According to Natural Stat Trick, which tracked two of the games, he had seven individual chances with several hitting the post or getting sent straight into the goalie, and the sixth-highest individual expected goals (0.68) on the team.

    There is a brightness to Bump. He brings not just youthful exuberance, but a giant chip on his shoulder — the 2022 fifth-round pick told The Inquirer at the Frozen Four in April that he was “definitely not a fifth-round player” — and that chip probably got bigger with not making the roster.

    But don’t confuse it with ego. Bump has talent, and he knows he has talent. It’s not ego. It is a confidence in himself and his game.

    He’s been playing that way of late. His puck control and possession numbers have been strong with his increased focus on using his 6-foot-1, 200-pound frame to dominate the boards, steer away from opponents, and weave his way through defenses.

    “When you get Bumper a puck on like the second or third touch of an offensive-zone sequence, that’s when [his line with Barkey and Lane Pederson are] dangerous, because he’s got that ability to shoot the puck in the net from anywhere. And now he’s extending possessions, and he’s attacking the interior,” Snowden said.

    “As a line, they’re doing a lot of good things, but in order to do that, Bumper had to get to the place of like, he needs to go win pucks back, too. And when he wins pucks back, he gets maybe his second or third touches in the Grade A area, and, boom, it’s in the net.”

    Snowden said that Bump is 90% consistent with how he plays the game. But is he ready for that NHL debut?

    The Flyers certainly could use his offense, but the biggest conundrum for the team’s brass is where he would fit in the lineup. Right now, the only spot that looks to be open is on the fourth line, and Bump is too skilled to slot in there. But he looks like he’s not inching, but taking giant leaps to be ready to make the jump if and when that opportunity comes.

    “I think he’s a pretty cerebral person,” said Snowden, adding that Bump is “starting to problem-solve the American League.

    “I think he studies his game, and he watches his shifts, and he understands when he can be dynamic and when he needs to obviously live to fight another day with a situational play. It’s only going to be more magnified there. So can he do what he’s doing now and up that 25, 30% 40% to be able to do it in the NHL?”

  • Rick Tocchet is using this week’s extra practice time to attack some worrying trends with his Flyers

    Rick Tocchet is using this week’s extra practice time to attack some worrying trends with his Flyers

    Standing in the hallway outside the visitors’ locker room at American Airlines Center after his team got trounced by the Dallas Stars on Saturday night, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet offered some insight about the coming week.

    “We’ve got some practice time here, and we’re going to have to really work on some two-on-two and three-on-three battles I think it’s going to be the majority of the four days,” he stressed with the Flyers’ next game not until Thursday when the St. Louis Blues, who they just beat 6-5 in a shootout on Friday, visit (7 p.m., NBCSP).

    That’s just what the Flyers did on Monday in Voorhees.

    Flyers ship veteran defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the Ottawa Senators in trade

    Behind the scenes, the team watched video,” on how we can be better and kind of just get back to how we were playing at the start of the year, plus improvements,” defenseman Jamie Drysdale said.

    But for many players, like Drysdale, watching on video only takes them so far. They need to put it into action.

    “Get a feel for it,” he said. “It’s all comfort. It’s all feeling, feeling your gaps, feeling the pressure, feeling your reads, things like that. So we got the best of both here, and it was a good day.”

    On the ice, after splitting into two groups to focus on rush coverages, the Flyers converged onto the main sheet for five-on-five, three-on-three, and two-on-two drills.

    It was physical, with Matvei Michkov getting into it with Adam Ginning and then taking a few cross-checks from Noah Juulsen as he went to the net. Captain Sean Couturier described it as “grinding” practice with a focus on winning battles.

    And it was competitive, as noted by Tyson Foerster’s reaction after scoring during a two-on-two small-area game. After colliding with his partner Travis Sanheim — they were both OK — the winger stuck with it and scored on a wraparound between the left post and the skate of goalie Dan Vladař. His teammates in the black jerseys cheered too.

    “I love them,” forward Travis Konecny said about having an intense and spirited practice. “It was getting a little competitive, little chippy. I think we need it. It’s good. I think you get in that competitive mindset … [and] everyone’s bringing the intensity. Guys are leading the right way, competing, doesn’t matter who you are out there, you’re just setting a good example for the next guy, the next rep.”

    The Flyers have started slowly too often this season, trailing in 12 of the 18 games they’ve played, including the last five. That has forced them to chase games pretty quickly. Tocchet said on Monday that he’s “a trend guy” and is focused on stopping a bunch of trends he’s seen from his group.

    “When trends hit, that’s when you’ve got to attack it. So these three days were attacking the trend. Too much containment,” he said of his team playing too passively and not stepping up on the opposition defensively.

    “Not enough support of the puck. And then, backing it at the blue line — it’s not just the defense, it’s a five-man thing — so it’s just been a trend the last three, four games, and we have to stop it.”

    Juulsen thinks these types of practices can help the Flyers get “into the battle right away,” as does working on things through small-area games. USA Hockey is a big proponent of playing small-area games as they increase puck touches, competition, quickness in decision-making, and battles.

    It helps the next generation focus on that while working in small spaces. It helps the older kids, too.

    Grading the Flyers so far: Special teams have soared but offense can’t get off the ground

    “I think the majority of the game is like, won and lost in those little battles,” said Konecny. “There’s the flashy open ice stuff that you get on the highlight reels, but it’s probably the play, two plays before, whatever, that actually allowed that to happen. I mean, a lot of the time, it’s kind of what is the difference for some guys to even make the NHL, is just those little battles and being good with your stick and learn[ing] how to do that stuff.

    “Yeah, it’s difficult. Because that’s why the teams that win the Cup every year, they’re the best at good sticks, details, winning those little battles.”

    Breakaways

    Defenseman Cam York had a maintenance day, with Tocchet adding that “He’s fine to play. … He could have practiced, but I felt two days, try to help him out get over what he’s got. It’s a little minor thing, nothing major.” … Defenseman Oliver Bonk was on the ice for the start of the practice, skating with the orange team on the second sheet of ice. It is the next step for the 20-year-old, who just turned pro and is dealing with an upper-body injury that kept him from participating in both the rookie series against the New York Rangers in early September and training camp.

  • Flyers acquire defenseman Maxence Guenette in trade with Ottawa Senators

    Flyers acquire defenseman Maxence Guenette in trade with Ottawa Senators

    Trader Danny is at it again.

    On Monday, Flyers general manager Danny Brière pulled off yet another deal, shipping veteran defenseman Dennis Gilbert to Ottawa for defenseman Maxence Guenette. Both players were playing in the American Hockey League.

    The move sees Gilbert, 29, return to Ottawa, where he finished up last season after being dealt by Buffalo at the deadline in the Dylan Cozens-Josh Norris trade. The Flyers signed the rugged blueliner to a one-year, $875,000 contract on July 1 to provide defensive depth, especially given that Rasmus Ristolainen was expected to miss the first few months of the season while recovering from triceps surgery. Gilbert had one assist and six penalty minutes in six games for AHL Lehigh Valley.

    In Guenette, the Flyers are getting back a 24-year-old defenseman with good size (6-foot-2, 209 pounds) and mobility. Ottawa’s 2019 seventh-rounder, who has played eight career NHL games, has spent the majority of the last four seasons playing for the Belleville Senators in the AHL.

    An offensive defenseman, Guenette tallied nine goals and 23 points last season in 58 games. In 236 career AHL games, he has 27 goals and 116 points, twice leading Belleville’s defensemen in scoring, He had a career-high 40 points in 2022-23.

    Guenette, a restricted free agent, has not played yet this season and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Flyers following the completion of the trade. PuckPedia says that the contract is worth $775,000.

    Monday’s trade is the fifth deal — most of them minor league transactions — executed by Brière since September. Last month, the Flyers traded Samu Tuomaala for Christian Kyrou. Kyrou has brought instant offense to the Phantoms’ blue line with a goal and nine points in seven games. Carl Grundström and Tucker Robertson, two other players acquired in recent deals, are also contributing regularly with the Phantoms.

    Brière also has pulled off bigger deals in his two-plus years as Flyers general manager, including a shrewd move for Trevor Zegras in June and previous subtractions and future-centric moves involving Ivan Provorov, Scott Laughton, Cutter Gauthier, Jamie Drysdale, Sean Walker, Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Kevin Hayes.

    Don’t be surprised if Brière has a few more trades up his sleeve ahead of next offseason, as a once-promising free-agent class has all but evaporated and made a trade the most likely route if the Flyers are ready to try and acquire a star or bolster their options down the middle or on the blue line.

    For Trevor Zegras, the trade to the Flyers is not just a refresh, it is also a homecoming of sorts
  • Sean Couturier goes down, but the Flyers battle to send Nashville out and win third straight

    Sean Couturier goes down, but the Flyers battle to send Nashville out and win third straight

    Although there wasn’t much country music blaring from the sound system inside Xfinity Mobile Arena, there was some honky-tonk goodness for the home team on Thursday night.

    Despite losing captain Sean Couturier to injury after the first period, the Flyers skated away with a 4-1 win against the visiting Nashville Predators. The Orange and Black have now won three straight and six of their last eight games while improving to 6-1-0 at home.

    This win was backed by Trevor Zegras’ second two-goal performance in three nights, Matvei Michkov’s first two-point performance this season, and 32 saves by Dan Vladař.

    Couturier did not return after the first intermission due to an undisclosed injury. He took a shot from teammate Noah Juulsen with 14 minutes, 37 seconds left in the opening frame, and, while he was shown on the broadcast in pain, he played the rest of the period.

    Zegras gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the second period with his third goal of the season. After Michkov gained the offensive zone, he withstood pressure from Predators defenseman Nick Blankenburg to control the puck and chip it to Zegras. The New York native carried the puck to the center and sent a whipping wrister from above the circles past goalie Juuse Saros.

    He extended the Flyers’ lead to 3-1 with a one-timer on a power play in the third period. Noah Cates won the faceoff back to Cam York, who fed his former United States National Team Development Program teammate in the right circle.

    Zegras now has six points in his last three games and 10 points in seven games at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Bobby Brink has emerged ‘a complete player’ after surviving John Tortorella’s doghouse

    On Wednesday, Michkov was practicing the famous “Michigan” lacrosse-style scoop shot in Voorhees. Maybe the Predators saw that because when the Russian winger got the puck behind the net less than 3 minutes later, everyone in the building — including them — looked like they thought he was going to attempt it.

    Instead, Michkov — who did confirm postgame he was thinking it initially — faked everyone out and fed Jamie Drysdale for a quick shot from just above the goal line. The goal is the blueliner’s first of the season, to accompany his three assists.

    Vladař was once again impressive. He made 10 saves in the opening frame, including stoning Erik Haula atop the crease after he received a nifty between-the-legs pass from Jonathan Marchessault. With time winding down in the first, he stopped Ryan O’Reilly’s one-timer with a kick save during a delayed penalty.

    In the third period, with 5:28 left and the Flyers holding on to a two-goal lead, he made a big-time save on Michael Bunting from 12 feet out. The netminder allowed one goal to Matthew Wood after Owen Tippett’s clearing attempt was intercepted by Haula at the Flyers’ blue line.

    The Flyers placed goalie Sam Ersson on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury.

    Breakaways

    Emil Andrae played his second game of the season. … Aleksei Kolosov, who was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Thursday, served as the backup. Sam Ersson went on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. … Travis Konecny powered through Predators defenders along the boards to score an empty-netter during four-on-four action.

    Flyers make minor league trade; place goalie Sam Ersson on injured reserve

    Up next

    Call it Reunion Weekend. Scott Laughton returns with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m., NBCSP) and Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, and the Calgary Flames visit on Sunday (7 p.m., NBCSP+).

  • Sean Couturier exits Flyers game with an upper body injury

    Sean Couturier exits Flyers game with an upper body injury

    The Flyers may be without their captain for a bit.

    Sean Couturier did not return after the first intermission Thursday night against the Nashville Predators because of an undisclosed injury.

    With 14 minutes, 37 seconds left in the opening frame, Couturier took a sharp wrister by defenseman Noah Juulsen off the torso. He was spotted on the broadcast in pain on the bench and was seen by head athletic trainer Tommy Alva.

    Sean Couturier goes down, but the Flyers battle to send Nashville out and win third straight

    However, Couturier skated another four full shifts, including two well over a minute. A key penalty killer, he was on the ice after getting hit by the puck for a 59-second shift when Jamie Drysdale was called for hooking Jonathan Marchessault.

    After the game, coach Rick Tocchet said he did not have an update but did confirm the injury came off a shot from the point. “We’ll evaluate. Can’t tell right now,” he added.

    Couturier has been off to a solid start, entering the night with two goals and nine points in the first nine games. Under new coach Rick Tocchet, he had been averaging 19:35 of ice time. It is the most since the 2021-22 season, when he played 29 games before undergoing two back surgeries and missed the entire 2022-23 season.

  • Flyers GM Danny Brière provides injury updates on Rasmus Ristolainen and Oliver Bonk

    Flyers GM Danny Brière provides injury updates on Rasmus Ristolainen and Oliver Bonk

    After an off-day on Sunday, the Flyers hit the ice Monday for practice in Voorhees, and there was a big piece missing.

    Defenseman Travis Sanheim did not skate, and when asked if it was a maintenance day, coach Rick Tocchet said, “Kind of, yeah.”

    “Just dealing with a little tweak here and there,” he added. “It’s better [for] us to just keep him off the ice. He’s played a lot of minutes.”

    In his ninth NHL season, Sanheim ranks second among all NHL skaters in ice time, averaging 26 minutes, 28 seconds. He only trails Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks.

    Flyers send Jett Luchanko back to junior team, Guelph

    The blueliner, who does not skate on the power play, does play against the opposition’s top line and kills penalties.

    “Just whatever’s asked of me, whenever they need me to go out there,” Sanheim said on Oct. 19. “I’ve got the lungs to do it. I recover pretty good. So just whatever they kind of ask [of me].”

    Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim, who ranks second in the NHL in ice time, has one goal and four points this season.

    Ristolainen update

    Rasmus Ristolainen is inching closer to a return.

    “In Risto’s case, everything’s coming along nicely,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said on Monday of the defenseman, who has been skating on his own. “Pretty soon, we’re hoping he starts practicing with the team.

    “I don’t know how far away that is, but he’s progressing well, and everything’s going well. We’re hoping next month, in about a four-to-six-week range, hopefully he’s back with the team.”

    Ristolainen has not played this season after undergoing surgery on a right triceps tendon rupture on March 26. In 2024, Ristolainen underwent two surgeries, including a repair to a ruptured triceps tendon. According to Brière in April 2025, the injury was similar, although he wouldn’t confirm if he tore the tendon again.

    Trevor Zegras propels the Flyers’ comeback to win it in a shootout over the Islanders

    Before the start of training camp, the GM announced Ristolainen was expected to miss the first six to eight weeks of the season. It sounds like he is on track.

    The Finnish defenseman played in 63 games last season, with four goals, 15 points, and the first positive plus-minus of his career (plus-3) while averaging more than 20 minutes. One of the Flyers’ top blueliners, Ristolainen, who also played on the power play this season, last played on March 11.

    Bonk update

    It’s been weeks since prospect Oliver Bonk has been spotted on the ice. The 20-year-old, who just turned pro, is dealing with an upper-body injury that kept him from participating in the rookie series against the New York Rangers in early September and training camp.

    Flyers defenseman Oliver Bonk will make his professional hockey debut this season.

    “Things are not moving … as quickly as we expected,” Brière said on Sept. 16, adding that he underwent medical imaging that morning despite skating with the rookies in a noncontact jersey.

    Unlike Ristolainen, his timeline is still to be determined. But the hope is for the highly touted blueliner to get back to action soon.

    “As far as Oliver, we didn’t know how serious it was at first. We’ve kept him out of rookie camp, and it lingered. We kept him out of main camp, thinking that it would get better, and it’s been a slow process with his upper-body injury,” Brière said on Monday.

    “But it’s going well now. We’re just hoping that there’s no setbacks. We’re trying to give him the time and proper space between skates for him to feel good enough to come back and play. It’s a little tougher on a timeline with him. We’re kind of waiting on the progression and making sure there’s no setback on him.”

  • Flyers send Jett Luchanko back to junior team, Guelph

    Flyers send Jett Luchanko back to junior team, Guelph

    Guess who’s going back, back again. Jett Luchanko is returning to juniors.

    The Flyers announced Monday that the center has been returned to Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League after he skated in four of the Flyers’ first eight games. According to a team source, there has been no decision yet on who will be recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to take Luchanko’s spot on the roster.

    The team could have played Luchanko in as many as nine games before triggering his NHL contract.

    “Very simple, we want him to play high minutes,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said. “We liked what we’ve seen. He could have stayed here; he showed that he can play. But we want more than that for him in the long run.

    “And we felt at this point it was time for him to start playing high minutes and more of an offensive role, get back to playing power play, killing penalties, facing the top opposition on the other team, on a nightly basis.”

    Luchanko averaged 8 minutes, 58 seconds of ice time with the Flyers, registering one shot on goal and a plus-minus of minus-3. Last season, also in four games, he tallied three shots on goal across an average of 14:03 with the same plus-minus.

    The only difference is that last season, under former coach John Tortorella, Luchanko was playing higher up the lineup. Under new coach Rick Tocchet, Luchanko had been slotted in on the fourth line, often between Garnet Hathaway and Nikita Grebenkin.

    “He’s going to play in the NHL, there’s no doubt about that. Now, how high does he get? That’s really up to him, but it’s in there,” Brière said. “The speed alone is going to scare a lot of teams eventually — when he gets more comfortable, when he gets more assertive out there. The speed alone is probably his biggest asset. … It took me a while to feel comfortable enough to make those plays, so I know exactly what he’s going through. It takes time.

    “From our end, we need patience; we need to give him time to find that comfort, and on his end, his job is just to find a way to break through.”

    Flyers top 20 prospects: Porter Martone is No. 1, but where do Alex Bump and Jett Luchanko rank?

    Luchanko struggled to find his footing this season despite his high hockey IQ and passing ability. He missed development camp because of a groin injury and was held out of rookie camp for precautionary reasons.

    He also continued to grapple with the Flyers’ push to see the 19-year-old shoot more; he also had only three shots on goal in five preseason games. As an NHL scout told The Inquirer in early October, Luchanko, who is listed at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, doesn’t look NHL strong yet and needs to play a harder, more confident game.

    “I wouldn’t say shooting’s his thing,” Riley Armstrong, the Flyers’ director of player development, told The Inquirer in April. “I think that’s one thing that we’re working on with him. He’s always been kind of that pass-first guy. … And a lot of it is confidence, having confidence that you can beat a goalie.”

    Added Brière: “It’s a comfort thing. He just needs to feel comfortable. I know how you feel as an 18- or 19-year-old. You’re coming in, you’re trying to please everybody around you. You’re on the ice with guys you’ve been watching on TV. You have a Travis Konecny beside you, obviously, you’re going to force a pass there. It’s human nature. That’s just how it is.

    “It takes time, and hopefully he’s going to get out of that pretty soon. And we’ve seen him play in juniors. He can shoot the puck. He’s got a good shot. It’s just the confidence that he needs to do it here now.”

    Drafted 13th overall in 2024, Luchanko tallied 21 goals and 56 points in 46 OHL games last season with Guelph. After his season ended with the Storm, he had a 16-game stint with the Phantoms in the American Hockey League, which included seven playoff games. He racked up nine assists in the AHL, including two in the first-round series clincher against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

    While there was a thought to send him to the AHL on a conditioning stint, it meant he would have had to sit for some time to be eligible. But the Flyers were happy with his progression with the Phantoms and at training camp as well.

    “We saw a big progression last season when he came in to play in Lehigh — he was pretty impressive. He played really well,” Brière said. “He was arguably our best player down the stretch and into the playoffs. So that was really encouraging to see.

    “He was able to put up points as well, but that was the product of playing heavy minutes in junior to feeling comfortable on the ice … and that takes time.”

    Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko showing ‘why he was a high pick’ with impressive run in AHL playoffs

    Because of the NHL-CHL agreement, which prevents CHL players under 20 years old from going to the AHL, he could only be returned to the Storm. That rule will change next season when each team will be granted one exemption.

    “Well, it [stinks] because he’s in that mushy [middle]. … There’s certain things that, [to be fixed], he just has to go play a lot,” Tocchet said. “You can’t do it up here, whether you play 10, 11, minutes: more decisive with the puck, more shooting mentality, use his speed offensively, not just defensively. … Because of the rules of it is what it is, he has to go somewhere where we can just get settled and play.”

    The expectation is that Luchanko will play for Canada at the World Junior Championship, which begins after Christmas. Luchanko suited up last year in a limited role, despite being one of the better players, for the squad that lost to Czechia in the quarterfinals. A native of London, Ontario, he had one goal in five games.

    “We also want to prepare him for the World Junior Championship because it’s tough if he’s playing 7, 8 minutes a night for the first three months of the season, and you send him to the World Juniors, and they expect to play him 15 to 18, maybe 20 minutes,” Brière said.

    “It’s a tough adjustment to change like that. So you’ve got to get used to those minutes, and it should give him plenty of time to get conditioned to play in high minutes.”

    Entering Monday, Guelph is 6-5-2-0 in 13 games and has won three straight.

  • Trevor Zegras propels the Flyers’ comeback to win it in a shootout over the Islanders

    Trevor Zegras propels the Flyers’ comeback to win it in a shootout over the Islanders

    It was a New York State of Mind for the hometown team on Saturday.

    Backed by a pair of goals from New York native Trevor Zegras, who also scored a shootout goal, the Flyers clawed back and skated away with a 4-3 win against the visiting New York Islanders.

    Matvei Michkov beat countryman Ilya Sorokin in the shootout, and Sam Ersson stopped Anthony Duclair to give the Orange and Black their fourth win in the past six games.

    Big Shot

    Trailing 2-0, the third line of Christian Dvorak, Zegras, and Michkov single-handedly tied things for Philly.

    Dvorak made it 2-1 with his second of the season with 9 minutes, 31 seconds left in the second period. Michkov and the center twice had a give-and-go, first in the neutral zone and then once again when the blue line was gained.

    Michkov got the puck right up against the left boards and, as Dvorak sneaked behind the Islanders’ defense, the Russian winger fed Zegras across the ice at the right point. Zegras waited to hit Dvorak as he cut across the crease, and the center scored on the backhand.

    New Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař is looking like a shrewd signing amid an impressive start

    And then came the big moment: Zegras’ first goal with the Flyers.

    Dvorak carried the puck into the offensive zone, and although Islanders defenseman Marshall Warren poke checked him, it went up and off the arm of Dvorak, who corralled the puck at the goal line.

    While doing so, he also drew two Islanders with him, Warren and former Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo, giving Zegras the time to accept the pass, pause, and beat Sorokin top corner.

    Dvorak said he had seen Zegras out of the corner of his eye but also heard him yell for the puck.

    “I always call for the puck,” Zegras said, jokingly. “I might not even be open, but I probably scream for it. Just happy he found me on that one though.”

    Turn the Lights Back On

    The Flyers have two power-play units. But is the one with Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Cam York, and Zegras the second unit? Or is it the one with Michkov, Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Jamie Drysdale, and Owen Tippett?

    “I’m not sure who is first or second right now,” coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “You can say two, but I don’t know yet. It’s one and one right now.”

    That’s a fair assessment, considering how much better the Cates unit has looked. While the other unit started the first two-man advantages, the Cates unit started the third power play of the day — and it worked.

    Zegras got his second goal of the game — his first multigoal game since Jan. 7, 2024, when he was with Anaheim — as he put a rebound shot on Sorokin. Bobby Brink had turned and fired off a good shot from the right face-off circle that the Islanders’ goalie stopped before Zegras’ shot led to a mad scramble in front.

    Owen Tippett is setting the tempo for the Flyers, both on the ice and with the aux cord

    It took a few seconds, but the puck crossed the goal line with Cates giving it an extra push after it was in to confirm it tied the game at 3.

    As Tocchet said, they took the information assistant coaches Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovský and Jay Varady provided before they went out and applied it.

    “They do apply a lot of stuff that we say,” he said of the Cates line.

    “Just kind of good for us to crash the net,” Cates added. “I think we want these pretty plays, but we see it day in and day out in the NHL, that you just get it to the net, get guys there, outnumber them, especially on the power play, it’s going to go in.”

    On the flip side, the Couturier unit struggled again as the Islanders got better looks and a goal. Simon Holmström gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with a short-handed tally 39 seconds into the Flyers’ first power play of the day.

    Set up in the offensive zone, they had Drysdale at the point, Michkov in the right face-off circle, and Tippett in the slot as the bumper.

    Tippett had some time in the bumper, and there was an open lane for a few seconds, but by the time Michkov tried, it was closed as two guys jumped on Tippett.

    Matvei Michkov (stick raised in the right face-off circle) did have an open lane, but a small delay in his delivery to Owen Tippett — and thus giving away his plan — saw the lane close quickly.
    The lane closed as New York Islanders forwards Simon Holmström and Jean-Gabriel Pageau were able to check Tippett and create a turnover.

    Holmström, who is a lefty, was easily able to knock the puck away from Tippett, a right-handed shot. It appeared the red-hot Tippett was looking to shoot instead of drawing two players in and bumping the puck back to Michkov to open even more space.

    The Swedish winger got the puck and passed it to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, breaking out two-on-one. Drysdale overcommitted slightly to the puck carrier, Pageau, as Couturier tried to catch up with Holmström. Both Flyers went to Holmström after he got the puck back, but he was a stride ahead and beat his countryman, Ersson stick side.

    On the Flyers’ second power play of the day — and with the Couturier unit on the ice — Adam Pelech rang one off the post after a Konecny giveaway in the Flyers’ zone.

    The Flyers’ power play is now at 16% effectiveness, with four goals in 25 opportunities.

    Flyers’ Travis Konecny happy to get on the board and put an end to the ‘snakebit’ questions

    Keeping the Faith

    Making his third start of the season, and first appearance since Oct. 16, a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Ersson made 23 saves on 26 shots for his first win of the season.

    “His attitude was unreal all week. Practicing hard. He’s with [goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh] and never complained,” Tocchet said. “You’ve got to give him credit. It was a [heck] of a save on Duclair at the end [in the shootout]. So, give him a lot of credit. Great attitude.”

    In the first period, he faced just four, 13 in the middle frame, and five in the third. Not an easy task for a goalie who likes shots but hasn’t seen game action in a while.

    “I’ve got to try to stay ready as best as I can; obviously, it’s hard sometimes,” Ersson said. “But I’m looking to stay involved in the game, play pucks, do something to stay attached to the game mentally. So, yeah, it’s just another challenge [and] you’ve got to find a way to deal with it.”

    Ersson allowed one goal in each period, but the one in the second period, the Swede had no chance.

    Defenseman Noah Juulsen tried to go D-to-D with Drysdale behind the net, but the puck hit the skate of the referee. Duclair tracked it down and tried to feed Anders Lee in front; however, he was tied up by two Flyers — one being Juulsen.

    The puck sprung loose to Warren, a Long Island kid making his NHL debut, who put the puck through the crease to Duclair sitting wide open at the right post for the easy goal.

    Warren then helped the Islanders take a 3-2 lead less than 3 minutes after Zegras’ tying goal, when his low point shot was deflected up and over Ersson by Maxim Tsyplakov for his first NHL goal.

    Then Ersson locked things down.

    With the game tied, Tippett was tugged off the puck by Bo Horvat, allowing him to skate in on a two-on-one with Drysdale the only Flyer back. Horvat fed Jonathan Drouin for the quick shot, and Ersson made a diving blocker save.

    But, Ersson saved his best save of the night for overtime, robbing Horvat on a sure goal. After the puck was carried back in by the bodies of Horvat and Cam York, Drouin picked it, and the Islanders’ forwards had a short two-on-one as Horvat got past York. Drouin fed the former Vancouver Canuck — he crossed paths with Tocchet for a week — and was absolutely robbed by the glove of Ersson.

    “He bailed us out a handful of times,” Dvorak said. “Played great, couple of big saves there in the third, and the overtime was unbelievable. We couldn’t believe he saved that on the bench there. So it was a big goal and got us a win.”

    “Just, Erss is back,” a grinning Cates said when asked what he thought about watching that save. “When he’s confident, he’s so good, and that’s a huge game for him.”

    Breakaways

    Flyers prospect Spencer Gill suffered an upper-body injury and could miss 12-15 weeks. The Flyers are still trying to determine whether the defenseman needs surgery or if he can rehab the injury. … The only change among the skaters was swapping defenseman Adam Ginning in for Egor Zamula on the third pair. … Forward Garnet Hathaway had five hits and dropped the gloves with Scott Mayfield, leaving the Islander bloodied on his forehead. In the third period, Rodrigo Ābols also fought Kyle MacLean, the son of former New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers forward John MacLean, for his first NHL fight. The line of Ābols, Hathaway, and Nikita Grebenkin ended up in the box together, with the latter two getting coincidental minor penalties.

    Up next

    The Flyers are off on Sunday and will practice at 11:30 a.m. on Monday. They take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. It kicks off ESPN’s Frozen Frenzy triple header with puck drop at 6 p.m.

  • New Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař is looking like a shrewd signing amid an impressive start

    New Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař is looking like a shrewd signing amid an impressive start

    Hitting the open market for the first time this summer, Dan Vladař wasn’t sure what to expect. But when he heard that the Flyers were interested, he “really wanted to come.”

    And after signing a two-year, $6.7 million contract with the Flyers in July, he has found a home — on and off the ice.

    “It’s been great. Since Day 1, everybody’s been super nice to me. So obviously, I really appreciate the way that guys welcomed me in this organization. … And I for sure, appreciate the opportunity as well,” he said on Friday.

    “So, you know, I don’t want to waste any moment here. I’m just trying to do my best, and enjoy my time, but at the same time, try to get myself and my teammates better every day.”

    New Flyers goalie Dan Vladař says he’s coming to compete. His underlying numbers are intriguing.

    There were question marks from outsiders about the Czech goalie’s ability to tend the twine, enforced by his .895 career save percentage across 105 NHL games.

    According to Natural Stat Trick, over his past three seasons with the Calgary Flames, during five-on-five action, he had the 12th-lowest goals saved above average (-13.97) and 14th-worst high danger save percentage (.808) among goalies with at least 3,000 minutes.

    For comparison, his current partner, Sam Ersson, was third-worst in GSAA (-33.78) and 15th from the bottom in HDSV% (.809). GSAA compares the number of goals allowed to what was expected based on a league-average save percentage and shots faced.

    But in five starts for the Flyers, Vladař has been impressive with his compact movement, ability to read the play — even as teams crash the net and try to take away his eyes — and confidence in net. He is 3-2-0 with a .932 save percentage, tying him with two-time defending Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck for the third-best mark among goalies who have played at least four games.

    After a season in which the Flyers’ goalies produced a ghastly .879 SV%, Dan Vladař has brought some much-needed solidity to the position.

    “Just solid,” coach Rick Tocchet said of his netminder. “There’s some saves there, where they’re Grade A shots. Like, it doesn’t seem like that to the average person, but that’s a good save. There’s traffic, and you see him stick his blocker out; from the bench, that’s a good save. He’s making those kinds of saves [and] he’s giving us a chance to win.”

    Flyers general manager Danny Brière said at the end of last season that the team’s goalies — Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov, who is now with Lehigh of the American Hockey League, and the since-traded Ivan Fedotov — needed to be better after combining for a league-worst .879 save percentage.

    Entering Friday, led by Vladař, the Flyers are ranked 12th with a .908 save percentage. And, according to Natural Stat Trick, he is ranked sixth with a 2.96 GSAA and .889 HDSV% at five-on-five among goalies with at least 150 minutes.

    “Obviously, you want to start off well, but at the same time, you only have to focus on things you can control,” Vladař said. “And that’s how you prepare, and what you do outside of the games, right? So whether it’s practice or just taking care of your body outside the rink, you’ve just got to try to put yourself in the best position for success.

    “And if it works out great, if it doesn’t, then you at least know that you did everything you could to give yourself the best chance.”

    Owen Tippett is setting the tempo for the Flyers, both on the ice and with the aux cord

    Vladař came to Philly intending to go day by day with a clear mindset. What he probably didn’t expect was having the comforts of his hometown, Prague, close by.

    The 28-year-old native of the Czech Republic and his family head to Four Green Cats Café in Mount Laurel often.

    Described as a cozy Czech café with an antique atmosphere that offers authentic European pastries and drinks on its Facebook page, Vladař said that his wife, Martina Vladařová, goes twice a week. He goes at least once a week to get some home cooking at the café that lists Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos as a patron, too.

    “I can even put a food order, and the lady makes it for us, Nadia [Vasa]. So she’s been awesome and we really like it. We really like it,” he stressed. “It reminds us of our country, of our home, and she’s a really good cook.

    “I told her that she should open up a Czech restaurant in Czech, not in the U.S., because she cooks really well.”

    Vladař is a big fan of goulash — he likes the beef stew with the chunks of meat — and has already ordered it twice. He may just get it again in the near future. And this time, maybe with the Czech version of coffee cake, one of his favorites.

    “One hundred percent,” he said about having familiar, fresh foods so close.

    “The only thing is, it’s not as healthy,” he smiled. “So, if I do that once a week, I always get the kids’ portion, because I don’t want to stuff myself up with not as nutritious meals.”

    Breakaways

    The Flyers Charities Carnival will be held on Feb. 1. General admission tickets go on sale Monday at 11 a.m. Tickets bought on this day will have early access to purchase Sign & Snaps when they become available on Nov. 10.