July 25, 2026
Eric Hartline/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Porter Martone will be heading into his first full NHL season.
The Flyers are more or less set at this point in the summer.
They got Tyson Foerster, Dan Vladar, Trevor Zegras, and Jamie Drysdale all signed to contract extensions, and took a big swing that ultimately whiffed with the Leo Carlsson offer sheet, but that also at least sold the point home that they're serious about landing a star.
For now, though, what they have is the core that steadily built up and just broke through into playoff contention under team control for the immediately foreseeable future, and really, it's probably OK for the Flyers to just let those players keep developing on their own for another season – as game-changing as a Carlsson blockbuster would've been.
"What I can tell you is I'd be very comfortable going into the season with this lineup," general manager Danny Brière said last week, going on to echo that the organization will only make a further move from here on out if it makes total sense.
"If something makes sense, we're gonna look to improve," Brière continued. "If there's a chance out there, we've said it from Day 1, it has to make sense, and that's what we're looking for."
In other words, don't expect anything too major to happen with the Flyers between now and training camp in September. The team does still have some minor orders of business to address in restricted free agent deals for defensive prospect Hunter McDonald and depth winger Nikita Grebenkin, but those should be resolved rather easily.
So if Brière is going into the season with the current Flyers lineup, how does that actually fill out?
Here's an early projection of the possible line combinations, noting that 1) none of this is a certainty, 2) it's a lineup projection in the slow part of the summer, and 3) LeBron is a Sixer. Relax a bit if you're about to get up in arms:
| LW | C | RW |
| Tyson Foerster | Trevor Zegras | Porter Martone |
| Travis Konecny | Christian Dvorak | Owen Tippett |
| Alex Bump | Denver Barkey | Matvei Michkov |
| Noah Cates | Sean Couturier | Noel Acciari |
RESERVES: Carl Grundstrom, Nikita Grebenkin
Notes...
• During exit interviews after the playoff run, head coach Rick Tocchet talked about turning up the offense more for next season. So the idea with these line combos is to try to get the most offense out of the top six.
• Zegras stuck as a center down the stretch of last season, and should offer solid skill and playmaking down the middle to distribute the puck. This would be his look as the top center, while Martone would be the high-scoring power forward to barrel down the wall, slip into open space, and bury a shot. Foerster would take up the defensive identity of the line, but still with plenty of strength and ability to protect the puck, work his way to the inside, and unleash a lethal shot of his own.
• Konecny-Dvorak-Tippett is a safer veteran line, but should be more than solid enough to drive play up the ice, especially if Tippett stays consistent enough to push toward that 30-goal range. Konecny and Tippett are both right wingers, but a more reactive skater like Konecny can get by improvising from the left side, while Tippett can keep the puck to his forehand along the right wall, using his strength and speed to carry it down.
• The third line is where things start to deviate. Barkey got moved to center during the Carolina playoff series, and held up well there. He wouldn't commit to where he'd be playing after the season ended, and neither would Tocchet or Brière, but they have to find out. While they're at it, though, lean into full youth. Bump can bring the physicality and shoot-first mentality to finish off chances from the left, while a hopefully revitalized Michkov brings creativity and elusiveness from the right.
• Inevitably, though, more youth taking hold means someone has to get bumped down. Cates might be that guy, down to the fourth line and out of the faceoff circle, at least regularly. But that could form a pretty taxing checking unit between himself, Couturier, and Acciari. All three can take faceoffs, and all three are pretty fierce checkers, which should form to give the Flyers consistently dependable shutdown minutes.
| Left | Right |
| Travis Sanheim | Rasmus Ristolainen |
| Cam York | Jamie Drysdale |
| Nick Seeler | David Jiříček |
RESERVES: Simon Benoit, Oliver Bonk, Ty Murchison, Hunter McDonald
Notes...
• The defensemen 1-5 are likely going to be the same as they left last season. Sanheim and Ristolainen are a playoff-caliber top pairing, York and Drysdale have a groove as a smaller but smoother skating second pair, and Seeler will be the high-motor, body-on-the-line third pair veteran who is fully willing to step in front of a shot.
That sixth spot is where it gets tricky. It seems like the Flyers have Jiříček in a spot where it's his job to lose heading into camp, with the hope that he can at least be a solid right-shot power play quarterback. His skating and defensive awareness are questionable, though, and Oliver Bonk is right there knocking on the NHL door, too.
• Benoit will be the safety net as a seventh defenseman who brings some added physicality when the Flyers need it, and McDonald and Murchison should be on the bubble of a call-up after both held their own in NHL looks last season – Murchison for three games in December, and McDonald for that last Game 82 against a Canadiens team going full tilt.
| Goalie |
| Dan Vladar |
| Joseph Woll |
RESERVES: Aleksei Kolosov, Carson Bjarnason
Notes...
• Vladar is the No. 1, Woll should be a much steadier backup who can ease a bit of the netminding burden, and Kolosov and Bjarnason will form the Phantoms' duo in the AHL for another year – and hopefully, neither of those latter two will be in a spot to see extended NHL time because they both still need a lot of reps and minutes.
The goalie situation is pretty cut and dry, as weird as that is for the most notorious troublesome position in Philadelphia sports.
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