September 25, 2026
Kyle Ross/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Cole Knuble suddenly has a serious roster case to make the Flyers with one preseason game left.
Cole Knuble followed the rush, crashed the net, and jammed home a rebound that closed the book on the Flyers' preseason win over the Bruins Thursday night, 2-0.
The book on the 22-year-old's sudden roster case, though, is still going, and may have just gotten a lot more interesting.
"He's definitely pushing some people," head coach Rick Tocchet said of the center prospect afterward.
The NHL preseason is tough now for anyone who isn't already a lineup regular. The schedule got cut down to four games so that the league could take on an 84-game regular-season schedule, which also accelerated the pace of training camps so that the year could start earlier accordingly.
Even so, Knuble has found his way to stand out, and may have just carved himself a path toward the opening night roster because of it.
He's skated hard, checked smartly and responsibly, and scored in two of the Flyers' three preseason exhibitions so far, with the kind of tough, greasy goals netted from the top of the crease that would be in demand for any NHL bottom six.
"You notice him out there," Tocchet said.
And maybe can't ignore him anymore.
Another goal for Cole Knuble! pic.twitter.com/zYKwWYsqfG
— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) September 25, 2026
The original expected plan for Knuble was that he would go to the Phantoms in Allentown and play a full year of pro hockey in the minors, after he left Notre Dame in the NCAA last March to sign his entry-level contract, with the immediate task of finishing the season in the AHL.
The Flyers have liked Knuble, a former fourth-round draft pick from 2023, as a prospect for a long time. He's a smart and hard-working center who can drive the puck through the middle of the ice, win faceoffs, and then can handle himself well in corner battles for possession in a playstyle adapted from his dad, former Flyer and 16-year NHL pro Mike Knuble.
"He used to say like, 'If you have 12 eggs in your pockets, they should all be broken,'" Cole said of the game he picked up from his dad back during the Flyers' development camp earlier in the summer.
Long-term, Knuble was probably going to be the next steady two-way center in the pipeline to succeed the Flyers' current reliable two-way force in Noah Cates.
But plans can change, and often quickly.
Cole Knuble ties it! pic.twitter.com/1DblT3hXDt
— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) September 22, 2026
Denver Barkey, a key rookie for the Flyers last year, got hurt earlier this week with a lower-body injury suffered during the preseason opener against the Capitals in Hershey. He has been skating alone in a yellow non-contact jersey at the team's training center in Voorhees since, but his status to start the season appears in doubt, which creates a potential opening for a forward in the bottom half of the lineup who can swap between center and the wing.
If it's there, Knuble has been playing consistently and impressively enough that he just might be able to take the job, at least while it's open for presumably a couple of weeks. Plus, he did play on the wing through Thursday night's game, which shows that he does have the positional flexibility to move up, down, and around the lineup as needed.
Tocchet didn't dismiss the idea when asked about it postgame, and even Knuble admitted in the locker room that the thought of making the team has entered his head now that final decisions on the Game 1 roster are looming, with just one more preseason showcase against the Capitals on Saturday left.
"Obviously those thoughts creep in, to be honest," Knuble said. "But I just talked to my dad today. He's like, 'One day at a time.' Never get too high, never get too low. I think things can change quickly, you know? Rosters, whatever. One day at a time is what I'm thinking."
Because the book on him isn't done. It's starting to become a page-turner, though.
"I think [it's] show up the same way every day," Knuble said. "I think consistency is important if you want to make it."
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