Fansided

Philadelphia Flyers announce 2023-24 opening night roster

By Ariel Melendez |
Oct 2, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula (5), center Sean Couturier (14), defenseman Travis Saheim (6), right wing Travis Konecny (11), and left wing Joel Farabee (86) lineup during there national anthem against the Boston Bruins at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula (5), center Sean Couturier (14), defenseman Travis Saheim (6), right wing Travis Konecny (11), and left wing Joel Farabee (86) lineup during there national anthem against the Boston Bruins at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Hockey is upon us as the NHL regular season will get underway on Wednesday evening. The Philadelphia Flyers will begin play on Thursday when they travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets. It will be the first game that Ivan Provorov will play against the team that drafted him.

To get to a 23-man roster, the Flyers placed Rasmus Ristolainen on injured reserve. Ryan Ellis, who is still not expected to resume his hockey career, remains on IR to start the season. With these moves, the Flyers will be carrying seven defensemen and three goaltenders for the time being.

Forwards

Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster will make the Flyers opening night roster. Brink, who came in as a potential dark horse, has an impressive training camp that has paid off. Foerster, while not as strong, has a larger sample size of success in the NHL. John Tortorella has mentioned, though, that they may switch spots in the lineup to start. It’s likely not going to be something the team can do for the entire season. But both of them deservingly will get a chance to start the year for the Flyers.

Cam Atkinson, Bobby Brink, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, Nick Deslauriers, Joel Farabee, Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost, Garnet Hathaway, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Ryan Poehling, Owen Tippett

Defensemen

After making his North American debut with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the end of last season, Emil Andrae will get a taste of NHL action. Egor Zamula, who recovered from offseason shoulder surgery, also makes the Flyers roster as well. Tortorella mentioned not wanting either to sit for extended periods of time so we’ll see how the team decides to get each of them adequate playing time. Marc Staal, acquired this offseason, isn’t expected to be in the lineup every night, allowing the team to freely change their pairings.

Emil Andrae, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, Marc Staal, Sean Walker, Cam York, Egor Zamula

Goaltenders

With Carter Hart being the undisputed number one goaltender, there was only one spot available behind him. However, the Flyers have decided to hold on to three goaltenders to start the year. Felix Sandstrom needed to be placed on waivers and was a belief that the team was concerned he would be claimed, potentially by Tampa Bay. The choice is an odd one, but likely won’t be one they using for long as Sam Ersson has already been declared the backup to Hart.

Samuel Ersson, Carter Hart, Felix Sandstrom

Hockey is back and the Flyers will play their first two games on the road before they take on the Vancouver Canucks to open the home portion of their schedule on Oct. 17.

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