September 29, 2026
Kyle Ross/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
It's almost go time for Trevor Zegras and the Flyers.
The Flyers will begin their new season Wednesday night against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, looking to build off last spring's rush of a playoff run, which caught the rest of the NHL off guard and, above all, got Philadelphia to rally behind its hockey team again.
Now comes the next challenge: sustaining that momentum, and figuring out how to push it further.
Going in, though, head coach Rick Tocchet does have a plan for how he wants the team to line up, now that mostly everyone has a full year of experience under their belt.
Based on observations through training camp, the preseason, and Tuesday's practice in Voorhees, here's a look at the lines that the Flyers are expected to roll out once this era of the team's second act finally begins Wednesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena...
| LW | C | RW |
| Owen Tippett | Trevor Zegras | Porter Martone |
| Tyson Foerster | Christian Dvorak | Travis Konecny |
| Alex Bump | Noah Cates | Matvei Michkov |
| Carl Grundstrom | Sean Couturier | Noel Acciari |
RESERVES: Denver Barkey, Nikita Grebenkin, Garrett Wilson
• There aren't too many significant line shakeups for the Flyers going into this year compared to the end of last, but the big thing out of the gate is that Porter Martone will be here from the start, Tyson Foerster will be healthy, Matvei Michkov will be out there with something to prove, and Trevor Zegras will have a much clearer runway as the leading center.
A more set core will have the benefit of a full year together, and with that, there's going to be a lot of leaning on internal growth for this team to reach another level.
Denver Barkey will have a role in that growth, too, as he's also entering his first full year in the NHL, but an injury suffered during the preseason for now will keep him sidelined for opening night against Pittsburgh.
MORE: The crucial storylines for the 2026-27 Flyers
| LD | RD |
| Travis Sanheim | Rasmus Ristolainen |
| Cam York | Jamie Drysdale |
| Nick Seeler | Simon Benoit |
RESERVES: David Jiříček
• Like the forward lines, the defensive pairings are expected to remain largely the same.
Sanheim and Ristolainen will handle the top minutes, York and Drysdale should progress as a smooth-skating second pair, and Seeler will anchor the bottom pairing, it's just that the partner to his right will likely be cycling in and out in the early going.
Benoit, as a more physical veteran, will probably get the nod to open up against the Penguins on Wednesday night, with bad blood maybe still lingering from last April's playoff series.
Jiříček, though, is going to stay in the mix and get his fair share of chances, at least for a while. The 22-year-old has had a spotty camp and preseason, but he's a 6'4" right-shot defenseman who can rip a puck on a power play. For whatever holes there are in his game right now, and there are a notable few of them, his remaining potential on the power play alone, for now, is still too much incentive for the Flyers to try and get him to work.
| F | F | F | F | D | |
| PP1 | Zegras | Michkov | Martone | Foerster | Drysdale |
| PP2 | Cates | Konecny | Tippett | Bump | York |
Tocchet has stacked his better – and younger – offensive skaters all on to the top power play unit, in the hopes that they'll be the answer to finally getting the power play out of the league's basement.
There is some firepower there now, and based on what's been seen out of camp, they're far more mobile of a group than anything the Flyers have put together on the man advantage than in the past several years.
But in this case, seeing is believing.
They have to get out there and show something right away.
MORE: The Flyers' power play might actually, finally pose some 'threats'
| F | F | D | D | |
| PK1 | Couturier | Acciari | Sanheim | York |
| PK2 | Dvorak | Cates | Seeler | Benoit |
The penalty kill will largely stay with the dependable veterans, running mainly through Couturier and Acciari as relentless checkers, and Sanheim as their best coverage blueliner.
Unlike the power play, the PK has never been the cause of too much worry for the Flyers. They've always had a lot of guys to go to for a two-minute kill.
| Goalie |
| Dan Vladar |
| Joseph Woll |
RESERVES: Aleksei Kolosov
As straightforward as it gets.
Vladar said Tuesday that he's ready to go after an injury scare in the preseason. Woll is the backup, and should be one that's easier to lean on to help lessen the burden on Vladar through a now 84-game schedule.
Kolosov would be the next in line in a call-up from the Phantoms, but the Flyers would rather not get to that point, opting to keep getting him and prospect Carson Bjarnason a steady run of minutes in the AHL instead.
The initial 1.0 projection of the 2026-27 Flyers lineup from back in July HERE.
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