Flyers’ Forward Denver Barkey (lower-body injury) was placed on injured reserve on Monday, September 28, and may miss the 2026-27 season opener. Barkey’s retroactive date fur IR is September 22, so he is eligible to come off IR today September 29th (7 Days), which would obviously be one day before the opener.

The 21-year-old sustained the injury in the Flyers’ pre-season game against the Washington Capitals on September 21 (hit from Martin Fehervary). He was initially day-to-day but did not return for subsequent preseason games and was officially moved to Injured Reserve (IR) when the team submitted its opening-night roster.

The Flyers host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, September 30 (7:30 p.m. ET). Barkey is eligible to be activated once healthy. General Manager Danny Brière has said he is expected to miss only a short stretch—“shouldn’t be too, too long”—and could return shortly after the opener if not ready for it.

Barkey had five goals and 17 points in 43 regular-season games plus 2 points in 10 playoff games in 2025-26 and was expected to compete for a regular middle-six role this season.

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced their 23-man opening night active roster for the 2026-27 season on September 28, 2026.

nhl.comThey open the season at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, September 30 (7:30 p.m. ET on TNT).Forwards (14)

• 10 – Garrett Wilson
• 11 – Travis Konecny
• 14 – Sean Couturier
• 17 – Nikita Grebenkin
• 20 – Alex Bump
• 22 – Christian Dvorak
• 27 – Noah Cates
• 39 – Matvei Michkov
• 46 – Trevor Zegras
• 52 – Noel Acciari
• 71 – Tyson Foerster
• 74 – Owen Tippett
• 91 – Carl Grundstrom
• 94 – Porter Martone

Defensemen (7)

• 5 – David Jiricek
• 6 – Travis Sanheim
• 8 – Cam York
• 9 – Jamie Drysdale
• 24 – Nick Seeler
• 44 – Simon Benoit
• 55 – Rasmus Ristolainen

Goaltenders (2)

• 53 – Joseph Woll
• 80 – Dan Vladar

Injured Reserve: Denver Barkey (forward).
Injured Non-Roster: Helge Grans (defenseman).

Three players are set to make their Flyers debuts: Noel Acciari, Simon Benoit, and Joseph Woll. Fifteen players from last season’s opening night roster return. Porter Martone is the only official rookie on the active roster.

Recent practices (which coach Rick Tocchet described as “pretty close” to the opening night look) projected lines along these lines:

• Tippett – Zegras – Martone
• Foerster – Cates – Michkov
• Bump – Dvorak – Konecny
• Grundstrom/Wilson – Couturier – Acciari

Defense pairs roughly: Sanheim–Ristolainen, York–Drysdale, Seeler–Benoit (with Jiricek also in the mix).

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Our very own Michael Reaves was on-hand for the last pre-season game versus the Washington Capitals. Here are some great shots from the game, as Nick Seeler calls offsides on Chicago and Travis Sanheim gets into a scrum with two Caps:

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The Flyers (and all NHL teams) must submit their cap-compliant opening-night 23-man rosters by 5:00 p.m. ET today, Monday, September 28, 2026.

Of course, the 2026-27 regular season starts tomorrow (September 29), with the Flyers’ home opener vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, September 30. Teams can carry a maximum of 23 active players.As of the most recent updates (through September 27):

• The Flyers had trimmed their Training Camp roster significantly through multiple rounds of cuts/loans (including prospects like Cole Knuble, Jett Luchanko, Oliver Bonk, and Jacob Gaucher sent to AHL Lehigh Valley).
• Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov was loaned to the Phantoms.
• Forward Garrett Wilson was signed to a one-year, two-way contract.
• Remaining decisions involved players such as defenseman Helge Grans (dealing with a lower-body injury) and ensuring the group is at 23 while accounting for any short-term injury situations (e.g., around Denver Barkey or Dan Vladar’s status). Grans was placed on injured reserve, and he will have to clear through waivers when he’s healthy to get sent back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The Flyers roater sits at 24-playes, so one more move has to be made before 5:00 p.m. (Grans was placed on IR, so the roster is currently 24)

Official announcements of the final submitted roster (and any last-minute moves) typically come out later today or are reflected shortly after the deadline.

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The Flyers have agreed to terms with forward Garrett Wilson on a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $850,000.

An official announcement came today (September 27, 2026) from the team, via GM Daniel Briere. Wilson, 35 (born March 16, 1991), is a veteran left wing who has spent significant time with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Key details on Wilson

• In 2025-26 he played 54 games with the Phantoms (4 goals, 12 assists) and then appeared in 3 NHL games with the Flyers after being signed to a two-way deal earlier that season (March 2026).
• His March 19, 2026 appearance against the Los Angeles Kings was his first NHL action since the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• He was nominated by the Philadelphia chapter of the PHWA for the 2025-26 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey).
• Career NHL totals: 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) in 87 games across stints with Florida, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. He has strong AHL production over a long career (hundreds of games, primarily as a physical, leadership-oriented forward and recent Phantoms Captain).

This is a depth/leadership move that keeps the longtime organization veteran in the system on a two-way deal heading into the 2026-27 season

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Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder

It may be more accurate to say, Flyers goaltender Aleksei Kolosov desperately needed a big game with the Flyers last night. In a shortened four game preseason schedule the Flyers went 1-3-0. Thursday night’s 2-0 win against the Bruins proved to be the outlier, as well as the only game where the Flyers gave up less than 5 goals.

Aleksei Kolosov

Kolosov’s personal stats improved in Lehigh Valley last season although his most recent call-ups to the Flyers have not gone well for him.

Back in April of 2025 the Flyers beat the Rangers 8-5. Kolosov secured the win but allowed 5 goals on 29 shots.

He hadn’t had back to back solid games at that point since October of 2024 where he had 2 games in a row where he allowed only 2 goals on 27 shots back-to-back.

Last season Kolosov had two solid appearances in November, stopping 7-of-7 then allowing 2 goals on 21 shots the following game. Then the era of Dan Vladar started to kick in and Kolosov spent his season with the struggling Phantoms.

Currently Kolosov’s all time record with the Flyers is 5-11-1. He holds a career GGA of 3.64 with a .863 SV%. But it was his last two regular season appearances with the Flyers that he needed to overcome this pre-season.

Calling Card

Last season when the Flyers were experiencing their post holiday meltdown Kolosov had two starts. January 15th against the Penguins he allowed 3 goals on just 16 shots and was pulled. The Flyers went on to lose that game 6-3.

He was given the start again just two days later against the Rangers and allowed 3 goals on 3 shots before being yanked. This was the last time we saw Aleksei Kolosov between the pipes for the Flyers.

In the “what have you done for me lately” world of professional ice hockey Kolosov obviously had something to prove at Flyers Training Camp 2026. Better yet, he had something to disprove. This preseason would be a chance for him to put some distance on the calling card he left last January.

Dan Vladar started the preseason game on September 22nd in Boston and was injured 13:31 into the first period. Aleksei Kolosov took over in the net with the Flyers down by the score of 1-0. He did not allow any goals for the rest of the first period and all of the second. He made some challenging saves and was playing some solid hockey. This was exactly what he needed to do.

The Flyers went into the 3rd period with the score tied at one. Kolosov allowed four unanswered goals in the final period and the Flyers lost 5-1. This game was not out of character for the Flyers who disappeared in the 3rd period in all but one of their preseason games. But Kolosov really needed that not to happen on his watch.

Golden Opportunity

Saturday night Vladar and Joseph Woll were both unavailable for the Flyers. Vladar is still injured (but looking promising for opening night). Joseph Woll had already reached his allowed max time (while posting a shutout) for the pre-season.

So Saturday night against the Caps in Philly was Kolosov’s last chance to leave a different impression before most likely heading down to Lehigh Valley to start his season with the Phantoms.

The Flyers signed Yaniv Perets to a Professional Tryout Agreement so that they could have a backup goalie on the bench insuring that Kolosov would get his shot for all three periods.

The Flyers had pretty much their starting line-up for the season opener on the ice to face a super majority of prospects on the Washington squad. This was a golden opportunity for the Flyers netminder. Kolosov allowed 5 goals on 24 shots.

The Flyers outshot the Capitals 37-24 in the 5-1 loss. To be fair, Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren played an amazing game stopping 32 of 33 shots in the first two periods.

Just to make things worse the Caps rewarded Lindgren with the rest of the night off and put former Flyers Cal Petersen in the net for the final period. The Flyers were shut down by the young Washington squad in the 3rd period and managed just 4 shots against their former netminder.

This certainly was not the Training Camp Kolosov needed. …And what’s up with the Flyers being outscored 15-6 during their 4 preseason games? That’s a subject that deserves it’s own article.

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The Flyers got embarrassed 5-1 by a mostly young Washington Capitals squad in their preseason finale last night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

They iced a near full NHL lineup and still got outplayed after Jamie Drysdale’s early second-period goal. The Caps answered with three in the second (Cristall, Schäfer, Frank on the PP) and two more in the third. Charlie Lindgren was excellent for Washington (.970 save percentage), while Aleksei Kolosov went the distance and struggled —19 saves on 24 shots. It was a pretty poor outing, with some soft goals that shouldn’t have gone in, also two goals were from turnovers by Defensemen.

Fortunately, the pre-season doesn’t count, but finishing 1-3-0 and looking that flat against a prospect-heavy Caps team isn’t ideal heading into the regular season. The Regular season starts Wednesday vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rick Tocchet on the loss in the pre-season finale:

“I’m actually glad we lost 5-1. It’s a little humbling, which is good for us.”

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The Flyers have signed Yaniv Perets to a professional tryout agreement (PTO) today.

This is your backup for Aleksei Kolosov tonight

Yaniv Perets will wear #30 tonight. The main he will be sitting up tonight is vets can only play in two pre-season games. This excludes Dan is Vladar, if he were healthy, and Joseph Woll.

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Cole Knuble (son of former Flyer Mike Knuble) legitimately made a strong case and had a real shot at cracking the Flyers’ opening-night roster.

The 22-year-old Forward (2023 fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame) has stood out throughout rookie camp, training camp, and the early preseason:

• In the pre-season opener vs. Washington (Sept. 22 in Hershey), he had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 loss and was one of the team’s brightest spots. Coach Rick Tocchet specifically praised him as “flying out there.”
• He followed that up with more strong play (high motor, tenacity, generating chances) in subsequent games, including the 2-0 win over Boston. Tocchet called him “a really good, tenacious player” who’s good with the puck and not afraid to drive the net.

Knuble was in the mix for the final forward spots alongside guys like Jett Luchanko, with versatility (center/wing) and energy that fits a bottom-six role. Knuble will be a potential fill-in if there’s an injury (e.g., discussions around Denver Barkey). He’s still fighting a numbers crunch on a relatively set roster. His trajectory has been impressive and consistent—exactly the kind of “make it hard to cut him” that forced a painful decision for the Flyers.

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The Flyers have made some tough choices, as the following players have been sent to Lehigh:

Jacob Gaucher
Cole Knuble
Jett Luchanko
Oliver Bonk

The Flyers roster now sits a 26 players.

Knuble, Bonk, and Luchanko had great camps, Gaucher stood out at times too.

I believe Nikita Grebenkin and Carl Grundstrom will get the last two Forward spots.

The Flyers are dealing with some injuries to Dan Vladar, Denver Barkey, and Helge Grans, so it will be an interesting next couple of days to see how they manage the roster

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