The Philadelphia Flyers got some good news on Thursday. It appears that winger Tyson Foerster will be ready for the start of the season after unfounded reports earlier his summer stated he could miss significant time.
Foerster’s health was one of the few question marks hanging over the Flyers heading into training camp. If healthy, which we now know he should be, it takes away a roster spot that prospects could be battling for.
In fact, the Flyers now should have seven of their top-nine forwards returning from last season, plus offseason additions of Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak to round out that group.
Conservatively, let’s project that Tocchet keeps the Flyers’ two most-used lines from last season together in Foerster – Cates – Brink and Konecny – Couturier – Michkov. That would leave Dvorak – Zegras – Tippett as another top-nine trio, likely the second line. That could be a good combination given Dvorak’s prowess in the two-way game and faceoff dot, and the offensive flair of Zegras and Tippett.
Add in Garnet Hathaway as a mainstay on the fourth line, plus Nicolas Deslauriers as the 12th or 13th forward, and there’s really only two roster spots up for grabs.
And both of those roster spots are likely on the fourth line. There is a chance that Dvorak starts the season as the fourth-line center, but given his relationship with Rick Tocchet as someone that the new head honcho can trust, he’ll likely be in at least a third-line role.
The other spot up for grabs is the fourth-line left winger. Deslauriers is pencilled in there, but he only played 31 games last season due to a combination of injuries and being a healthy scratch.
So are the Flyers likely to give the final roster spot to an up-and-coming prospect or a more known quantity to fill out the fourth line? Let’s take a look at a few players who are most impacted by Foerster’s sudden turn of health.
Alex Bump
A lot of people — myself included — immediately penciled Alex Bump into the lineup if Foerster was to miss time due to injury. He plays the left side, has a shoot-first mentality, and isn’t afraid to go into the dirty areas to do what needs to be done.
Bump scored 23 goals and added 24 assists for 47 points in 42 games for Western Michigan University last season. He had an opportunity to join the Flyers for the final few games of the season, but elected to go straight to the AHL to join the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for their playoff run.
The 21-year-old winger made the jump and didn’t look out of place in the AHL with three points in two regular-season games and two more goals in seven playoff games. He then looked too good to be at development camp and made it clear that he aims to make the Flyers out of training camp this season.
Bump is certainly going to get a long look in training camp, and he very well could force his way onto the roster. If Tocchet does want to use Dvorak as the fourth-line center, Bump would be a top option to play on the left side in the top nine. However, the Flyers may opt to have him start the season in the AHL rather than playing limited minutes at the NHL level.
Nikita Grebenkin
Some are overlooking Nikita Grebenkin in the mix of Flyers prospects who could push for a roster spot. But they shouldn’t be. The 22-year-old winger played in seven NHL games last season and combined for 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 40 games with the Marlies and Phantoms. He also added four points in Lehigh Valley’s seven playoff games while looking like a strong presence in front of the net.
Last season was Grebenkin’s first in North America after recording 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) for Mettalurg Magnitogorsk in the 2023-24 KHL season. So despite not having a ton of NHL experience, he has put up solid numbers in one of the best professional leagues in the world: 67 points (28 goals, 39 assists) in 120 career KHL games.
Unlike Bump, who should probably only make the Flyers if he’s playing top-nine (or possibly top-six) minutes, Grebenkin has the experience and style to fit in on the fourth line alongside Hathaway and whoever the center is.
Jett Luchanko
While Jett Luchanko may only be tangentially impacted by a top-nine winger being ready to start the season, he could fall victim to the trickle-down effect.
The Flyers have a solid group of centers with Couturier, Zegras, Cates, and Dvorak down the middle. But if Luchanko has another impressive training camp, that could move one of those latter three to the wing in order to fit the 2024 first-round pick onto the roster.
Unlike Bump and Grebenkin (and most other forward prospects in training camp), Luchanko does not have the option of going to the AHL for this season. He’d have to go back to the Guelph Storm in the OHL if he does not make the Flyers’ opening night roster.
If Foerster wasn’t going to be healthy to start the season, there’d be a stronger case to be made to move a center to wing to get Luchanko onto the roster down the middle. That case has some cracks now.
Ultimately, Foerster being ready to go is only a great thing for the Flyers. He’s coming off a 25-goal season while showcasing a strong two-way game on one of Philadelphia’s best lines.
It also adds fuel to the fire of the prospects looking to make the team this season. A healthy internal competition should result in the Flyers being able to assess their top options throughout training camp as the open roster spots dwindle.