The importance of handling an influx of rookies

The Philadelphia Flyers are going to have a lot of rookies in the AHL and could possibly have some in the NHL, too.

As the dust from free agency settles, and development camp wraps up, there aren’t many things about the Flyers that are up in the air heading into preparation for the 2025-26 season. 

The goaltending rotation looks set, with Samuel Ersson set to return as the tentative starter, and Dan Vladar arriving to hopefully serve as a more consistent understudy. Five spots on defense are all but secure, with Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler, Jamie Drysdale, and a newly signed Cam York all virtually locked into the top five spots. The sixth spot will more than likely see a few different names enter the fold, whether it be one of the new guys in Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert, or homegrown options in Emil Andrae and Professional Friend/Power Play quarterback Egor Zamula. Regardless, unless Andrae finally takes that crucial step forward, there really won’t be that much expected out of the final defensive spot. 

The story is largely the same on forward, where the acquisitions of Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak have largely filled up the more important vacancies in the middle of the lineup, with only two spots that will realistically be up for grabs:

Nic Deslauriers and Rodrigo Abols won’t play every night, but they will likely be on the active roster, and bringing up someone earlier on in development like Jett Luchanko to play 4LW and get 12 minutes a night seems a waste, so names like Karsen Dorwart or Alex Bump seem more likely to take up that mantle when the time comes. This is largely dependent on performance when training camp comes around, so trying to project who will slide in is pretty futile, but either way, the roster as currently constructed really only leaves peripheral positions open. The only variable that may change that fact, is if Tyson Foerster’s elbow injury keeps him out for the start of the regular season.

Despite that, there are still a host of players that are going to be looking to bang down the door and make a case to become full-time Flyers as early as they can. The aforementioned Bump is seemingly in pole position after his great NCAA career, but the former Michigan State Spartan in Dorwart is obviously there too, along with even more names who are orbiting the discussion. 

Alexis Gendron was a surprise bright spot throughout his first year in Lehigh Valley while scoring 20 goals, Nikita Grebenkin played NHL games last season with the Maple Leafs, and had a really impactful stretch late on in the season with the Phantoms, as well. And that is without mentioning the younger, more marquee names like Jett Luchanko and Porter Martone, who likely fancy their chances at making the breakthrough as well. 

Even once those battles are settled and the roster is set, the Flyers will still have a farm team in Lehigh Valley that skews on the exceptionally young side. Let’s look at a rough template of what their lines could look like, assuming Bump sticks in the NHL, with each player’s age tagged appropriately:

Grebenkin (22) — Dorwart (22) — Gendron (21)
Barkey (20) — Gaucher (24) — Tuomaala (22)
Richard (28) — Rizzo (24) — Pederson (27)
Avon (22) — Eklind (26) — Kaplan (21)
Average age: 23.25

Andrae (23) — Grans (23)
McDonald (23) — Bonk (20)
Ginning (25) — Samson (21)
Murchison (22)
Average Age: 22.4

On both forward and defence, the Phantoms will be the youngest they’ve been in a very long time. They have a chance to ice a top six forward group where every member is under the age of 24, and a top four on D that lacks anyone over 23. Anthony “Tony Dick” Richard stands to be the oldest Phantoms skater at the decrepit, ancient age of 28, and even if the Flyers were to hand out a couple more AHL deals before the season starts, they’re still going to be relying on a very youthful outfit as a farm team. 

This is where the importance of development comes into play. New Phantoms head coach John Snowden, along with his newly minted assistants in Nick Schultz and Terrence Wallin, are being brought in for one reason, and that is to develop NHL talent. Schultz, a 15-year NHL veteran, is entering his first coaching position after serving in a player development role with the Flyers for the last six seasons. Wallin comes to the Phantoms from the ECHL’s Maine Mariners, where he was the head coach and general manager. It remains to be seen how these three will fare, but it is an acknowledgement that the past system wasn’t working. The youth movement is beginning from the ground up, and it only exacerbates the importance of the upcoming 2-4 year window. The Flyers’ brass obviously believes that they can build the nucleus of a winning team from within, and then supplement things with big moves down the line. 

The foundation of that future is being built in front of our eyes, let’s see if it works out.