Jett Luchanko makes Flyers’ opening lineup, final cuts made

The Philadelphia Flyers trimmed their training camp roster by 14 players today. All of these moves means the roster now stands at 23 players. And with today’s trimming one name still on the roster is the Flyers 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko.

Whether he remains with the Flyers for all or a portion of a nine-game tryout remains to be seen. What’s clear is that he’s impressed the right people in the Flyers organization at exactly the right time. And anyone saying there was no chance of a nine-game try out are probably wondering if the stint could be a lot longer than nine games. A longshot but time will tell.

As previously reported both Anthony Richard and Olle Lycksell were placed on waivers today. If both clear they will be loaned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

Nine additional players have been assigned to Lehigh Valley: two goaltenders, three forwards and four defensemen. No real surprises in goal as both Cal Petersen and Alexei Kolosov were assigned to the Phantoms as most were suspected, with Kolosov probably getting the call up if either Ivan Fedotov or starter Sam Ersson get injured or just become horrible. Petersen is not even in the ballpark in terms of options, playing out the last year of his contract before he’s let go by the Flyers.

The three forwards are Rodrigo Abols, Oskar Eklind and Samu Tuomaala. Abols had an outside chance of becoming the thirteenth or fourteenth forward on the Flyers roster but obviously never made the cut. Tuomaala had a decent start to camp but got hurt and seemed to get lost in the shuffle, not giving himself nor the team a chance to see if he was ready. As for Eklind there wasn’t really much there despite having a decent showing in the Thursday night game against New Jersey.

The four defensemen cut are Adam Ginning, Emil Andrae, Hunter McDonald and Helge Grans. Andrae made the strongest case to stay with the Flyers, concluding the exhibition season with a goal and two assists against the Devils. And McDonald, although not quite ready, didn’t embarrass himself during training camp, often paired with Oliver Bonk (more on him in a little bit). As for Grans, he didn’t do enough to make much of an impression but surpassed Ginning’s rather shabby performance who Tortorella called out as simply bad.

One forward on an AHL contract, Cooper Marody, was returned to the Phantoms also. Marody saw some practice time but very little if any game action over the seven-game preseason.

Finally, Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey are assigned to their respective junior hockey teams. Bonk, paired with McDonald, looked good in flashes but needed his physical and mental pace during games to be quicker in Tortorella’s opinion. It’s certainly another year in junior with the London Knights won’t hurt. Unfortunately if Denver Barkey didn’t have bad luck he would not have had any luck at all this camp. Barkey came down with mono during the camp and was essentially a non-factor, making the decision to send him back down a formality.

All NHL teams have until Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern to submit their opening-day rosters.