At long last, hockey is back! The Flyers’ rookies are set to get underway for their first of two games up in Allentown against the Rangers’ rookies tonight, and we’ve got all of the most important details to know before they get rolling.

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: Flyers website

Pregame reading

  • Before we get rolling into the first game tonight, let’s check in with some of the top players to watch throughout the whole of this series. [BSH]
  • Undoubtedly, one of those is Porter Martone, who’s eager to get rolling and put in the work to ensure that the positives he delivered at the end of last season weren’t just a flash in the pan. [BSH]
  • And finally, we’ll see what he’s able to do tonight in the game setting, but Jett Luchanko’s already impressing in the practice settings. [BSH]

Pregame watching

Projected lineups

Philadelphia Flyers

Alright, let’s get into it. The Flyers haven’t been holding the most traditionally structured practices over the last couple of days, but here’s a few lineup notes that have tentatively emerged from those sessions:

These are some of the lines that they rolled in practice yesterday, and we might see them at some point this weekend:

Alex Bump – Jett Luchanko – Cole Knuble
Denver Barkey – Owen McLaughlin – Porter Martone
Alex Ciernik – Matthew Gard – Noah Powell
Ilya Pautov – Riley Thompson – Devin Kaplan

Oliver Bonk – Maksim Sokolovskii
Ty Murchison – Spencer Gill

We say “at some point,” because the indication is that Barkey and Martone won’t be in the lineup for the first game.

Based on the looks in the special teams reps they did this morning, though, it looks like at least all of these guys will be in tonight:

Also, Carson Bjarnason will get the start tonight, but it’s still undecided whether he’ll play the whole game.

Got all that?

New York Rangers

As for the Rangers’ side, here’s how things were looking for them in practice yesterday:

Storylines to watch

Notable absences

As we alluded to earlier, it appears that we’ll only get to see Barkey and Martone for one of these two games this weekend, and they’ll take a seat for tonight’s. None of this is hugely surprising, as with 16 forwards on the roster for this weekend, a few were going to have to be rotated in and out of the lineup in the interest of fairness, and with these two having some of the most notable NHL experience of the group, there’s not as much that the Flyers need to see from them in these game settings.

We’re hoping they show well when they’re called upon, to be sure, but there are other players in this mix who are maybe more on the bubble, or have a bit more to learn from these game situations, and it serves everyone a little bit more if they can get the longer looks in this series. Barkey and Martone will get their moments to shine this weekend, and when main camp opens up next week, but for now, we’ll see who’s able to step up in their absence.

Back in action

Tonight will see, though, the return to game play of key prospects Ty Murchison and Jett Luchanko, as they return from their recoveries from surgeries to rectify the injuries and lingering situations (respectively) that ailed them last season. We’re keeping our expectations manageable for these two, as they work to get themselves up to speed, but as also a couple of the more experienced players taking part in this camp, we hope to see some positive flashes and bits of productivity from them. This is going to be a big season for the both of them, as they work to advance their careers, but getting themselves healthy and rolling again is the first step, so we’ll see how well they’re able to shake off the rust here this weekend.

First impressions

We’ll welcome back quite a few familiar faces throughout this weekend’s proceedings, but this is also a good chance to get a little more familiar with some of the newcomers. The headliner of this group, no doubt, is the Flyers’ newest first-round pick in big defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii, and after showing some pop back in Development Camp, there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation to see what he’s able to do in these more competitive game settings. But while Sokolovskii will likely have eyes trained most heavily on him, we shouldn’t overlook the presence of some other new faces as well — center KJ Sauer and defenseman Brek Liske will also see some usage tonight, and we’ll also get a look at the two Czech goalies in Marek Sklenicka and Martin Psohlavec at some point this weekend. As the organization is working to graduate up the closest wave of prospects to the NHL level, it’s important that the next wave behind them is able to get going as well, to keep the pipeline productive and well stocked, and while the impressions this weekend certainly won’t be make-or-break, it will be interesting to see just what these newest selections are able to show.

Espace publicitaire · 300×250