There are always little surprises during training camp — narratives change. We go into the week thinking one way and after just a handful of practices, some publicly expressed opinions from coaches and other players, and a couple preseason games later, and we can think that a player is so much closer or so much farther away.
In recent memory, we’ve seen players at training camp be given an opportunity to make the Philadelphia Flyers given certain circumstances, and either take it and establish themselves higher up on the depth chart than before, or just completely stink it up and then they’re now thought of as the last person that is going to get the call up throughout the season.
For this season, there isn’t any specific opportunity that a player can instantly fill like if a veteran player was injured or if there was an actual hole in the lineup. But, there is still an opportunity for a young player to be so overwhelmingly good in training camp and in the preseason that the Flyers’ hand could be forced.
Who are those potential players? Basically, there’s three options.
Cole Knuble, RW/C
Cole Knuble has already earned a whole lot of praise from various Flyers coaches and executives and seems to be poised to be given as much opportunity as possible to really show off. Maybe it can be just to secure a spot in the Phantoms’ top-six forward group but if Knuble does enough, he absolutely could wiggle his way into a spot that was previously thought of as Nikita Grebenkin’s on the fourth line, or something like that.
Given his age of 22 years old, it’s not like the Flyers would be going against their desire to never rush a young player into the NHL, and it’s not like the expectation is for him to ever be anything more than a bottom-six forward in the future. Knuble might just arrive to that level of player ahead of schedule, in a Denver Barkey-esque way, and he would need a spot in the lineup carved out for him.
It’s a big hill to climb, since he did just finish his junior year at Notre Dame and while he did look great during his seven total games for the Phantoms at the end of last season, Knuble is easy to send down and let him develop further in the AHL. Even if he looks outstanding, it might just place him as the next man up instead of someone they want to cook longer in the minors.
But if we’re to stretch our imagination just a little bit, Knuble could really pop off and win at least a start with the big club.
Jett Luchanko, C
In a vacuum it wouldn’t be all that surprising if a player who made the Flyers out of training camp for two consecutive years, would made it three years in a row. But, for Jett Luchanko’s specific situation, it would be fairly surprising if he were to win over the coaching staff and front office so much so that he would make the team this season.
In other years, there were circumstances that made it easy for Luchanko to win the job. Whether it was John Tortorella falling in love with his speed or the Flyers’ complete lack of centers to start last season because Trevor Zegras was still on the wing and Sean Couturier wasn’t established as the super fourth-liner that he is now; Luchanko had a fairly clear path to start his season in the NHL. But now without the looming threat of having to send him back to the OHL, and the Flyers having four clear centers to start the season, Luchanko would need to do something special to win a spot.
That’s not to say it’s impossible. On Saturday night during the first Rookie Series game, Luchanko looked so much more dangerous offensively than he has in years past. If he continues to do that during rookie camp, and then into the preseason while surrounding with more NHL-level talent and against more NHL-level defenses, then it might be pretty hard to deny him a spot once again.
The developmental path for Luchanko seems to already be laid out for him this season — staying in the AHL for as long as possible or until he is clearly good enough to earn a midseason call-up — but he could stray from that path if he were to prove he’s clearly ready to be a middle-six center on this team. If he makes everyone believe that they would win more games with him over someone like Christian Dvorak in the middle six, then Luchanko might not see Allentown to start his season.
Oliver Bonk, RD
While the Flyers are fairly locked into their forward group and it would take some mind-blowing performances from a prospect to win a spot in the lineup, it’s a different story on the blue line.
There is seven clear blueliners who are going to start the season with the Flyers. The five regulars we know last year, newcomer Simon Benoit for some depth support, and David Jiricek is basically guaranteed a spot because he is no longer exempt from waivers. But there is a world where Oliver Bonk shows up to training camp and truly looks dominant.
Even if Bonk has a better camp than Jiricek, it will probably mean that he starts the season with the Phantoms just because of the lack of spots and that Bonk is still exempt from that pesky waiver wire. But, if the 21-year-old defenseman has one of the best camps on the entire Flyers blue line? Shows up and at times proves to be more offensively dangerous than Jamie Drysdale, while also being more physical than Rasmus Ristolainen? It would be extremely hard to deny him a start in the NHL.
It might not last for the entire season, but if Bonk were to show just how large of a developmental step he has taken over the summer and be that perfect all-around, right-handed defenseman that most teams dream of, then again, it will be hard to then just send him back to the Phantoms.
