It’s here. It’s finally here! Philadelphia Flyers training camp is underway on this beautiful Thursday morning and it means one thing: We get to look at lineups.
For this year’s training camp, the Flyers are split into three groups: Group A and Group B have a mix of NHL regulars, stars, AHLers, and prospects, while Group C is purely the Phantoms group. Nikita Grebenkin is included in Group C but purely for the fact that he is recovering from injury and is a limited participant.
It all kicked off on Thursday morning at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, NJ and we’re now getting a glimpse at some lineup sheets as Rick Tocchet and the rest of his coaching staff pair up and combine some players. Let’s take a look at what’s going on and what we can gleam from the combinations.
Group A lineup has some interesting connections
According to our pal Charlie O’Connor, the Group A lineup looked a little something like this:
Carl Grundstrom — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Alex Bump — Sean Couturier — Cole Knuble
Zach Aston-Reese — Denver Barkey — Matvei Michkov
Noah Powell — Jack Studnicka — Matthew Gard
Travis Sanheim — Oliver Bonk
Maksim Sokolovskii — Rasmus Ristolainen
Simon Benoit — Helge Grans
Ty Murchison — Brek Liske
That’s a whole lot of fun. Of course, we have to repeat to ourselves that it is literally the first day of training camp, but there are a little notable things nestled in this lineup.
The Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett pairing seems to be something that Rick Tocchet will be keeping around for the time being, and it makes perfect sense since they worked so well together. Cole Knuble starting on Sean Couturier’s wing is the Flyers really giving the youngster a chance to make an impact and see if there’s a fit on the fourth line. While Alex Bump is on the other side, we would be hesitant to read too much into that — he could be slated for some fourth-line minutes but that feels less likely.
Denver Barkey starting at center is certainly the most interesting thing in this group, but we’re thinking that it is more about the lack of NHL centers in this group and wanting to maybe pair him with Matvei Michkov to start the season. If Noah Cates was in this group, for example, it would not surprise us if he was centering those two wingers and that was the Flyers’ third line we see at the start of the season.
Noah Powell and Jack Studnicka could form some chemistry for the Phantoms season, while Matthew Gard is here and hanging out with a whole lot of NHL talent before he heads back to the WHL.
Now, to the blue line.
This is a big spot for Oliver Bonk to start training camp. The 21-year-old defenseman could certainly be in the mix to start the season with the Flyers if he performs exceptionally well, and they’re giving him the biggest headstart possible by partnering him with Travis Sanheim.
Maksim Sokolovskii and Rasmus Ristolainen is maybe the most chaotic defensive pairing we have ever seen in our lives. Fun, big, physical, European. The 18-year-old 6-foot-7 defenseman is getting some big-time support at his first taste of an NHL training camp.
Simon Benoit is going to be on the Flyers roster, so partnering him with Helge Grans is most likely just a numbers game. We really can’t even think too much about this. And finally, Ty Murchison showed off during the Rookie Series and is now next to freshly drafted Brek Liske. If he can play well next to someone who is a great prospect but might be just trying to keep his head above water, then it could mean something for whether or not he makes the team out of camp.
While this lineup certainly answers some questions, it is mostly what we expected. The Flyers are sticking with what they know, for right now. Tippett and Zegras are together and it seems like Michkov is going to start camp not in a guaranteed top-six role. Things can change, of course.
The most interesting things is where the prospects are placed. They could have easily put Sanheim and Ristolainen together to reunite them from the playoffs, and then but Sokolovskii and Bonk as an all-prospect pairing, since that is what we saw during the Rookie Series. But now they both have their veteran mentors next to them to run through some drills.
We will write about the Group B lineup once they are actually on the ice.
