The Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-0) officially begin their 2024-2025 season on the road against the Vancouver Canucks (0-0-1).
In the summer, changes took place. The Flyers will begin with a new goaltending tandem in Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov, and they officially brought Matvei Michkov aboard. Currently, Philadelphia is progressing well in its rebuild. Jett Luchanko earned his place on the opening night roster, too. Competition is the pressure that theoretically creates diamonds on the roster.
Rogers Arena is the place where these two teams will compete against each other. John Tortorella will manage his lineup, and based on how he sees fit with his coaching staff, it will determine who successfully handles the pressure of a competitive field.
The Flyers matched up well against the Canucks last season. Philadelphia set the tone with a 2-0-0 record, including a shutout. However, Ersson did not occupy the crease against Vancouver in 2023-2024. Aside from Michkov and Luchanko, the goaltending presents another new wrinkle tonight.
“[There is] excitement on my part just to watch us play. Not just Sam [Ersson], but watch how we are. Did we get enough things accomplished in camp, [and] are we ready in certain situations? Camp is a drag for players sometimes as you go through two and a half [to] three weeks of it. It’s the same thing for coaches. We try not to over-coach. We need to play now. See what we have and start working through some of the things that we need to work on or feel good about; all that stuff when the regular season starts.” – John Tortorella; 10/10/2024
Tonight begins a new journey. The Flyers start a four-game tour out west. Will they continue their streak against the Canucks dating back to last season?
When: 10:00pm ET
Where: Rogers Arena; Vancouver, BC
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 93.3 WMMR
Last Game PHI: Preseason; 10/3; 5-4 W vs. New Jersey Devils
Last Game VAN: 10/9; 6-5 OTL vs. Calgary Flames
Philadelphia Flyers
Nick Seeler is considered day-to-day, per Tortorella. He, and Emil Andrae, will travel with the team but will not be in the lineup in Vancouver. Erik Johnson will step into his role on the second pair with Jamie Drysdale.
Philadelphia had the worst powerplay in the NHL and team history last season. In the preseason, there were signs of encouragement. The Flyers went 8/23 (34.7) on the powerplay against a mixture of prospects, AHL, and NHL players. Now, they need to convert in games where the result holds weight.
PP1: Konecny, Frost, Michkov, Tippett, Drysdale
PP2: Farabee, Luchanko, Brink, Foerster, Zamula
Egor Zamula and Michkov are two accompanying skaters on different powerplay units. In practice, Zamula is the bridge to Michkov, helping him pick up and understand the intricacies of what the coaching staff hopes to get across in drills.
“As coaches, we know what we want out of him [Michkov], out of any player, whether it be Mich or any player. Sometimes we don’t spend enough time making sure they understand. Like, when we set up a practice, I always talk to the coaches. We go over our drills and practice, spend forty to forty-five minutes doing it, and then bang, we yell it to them, and we expect them to understand it. They just heard it [for] the first time. We [have] got to make sure, especially with Mich, that we explain it, and let him question us; just make sure it’s covered. Z [Zamula] did a really good job of that with him; worrying about his practice habits but also helping him as far as the language barrier. But, Mich picks it up. You can tell he picks it up. If he doesn’t understand, he tells us.” – John Tortorella; 10/10/2024
If last season sets any trend against the Canucks, look out for Zamula to score, though Michkov will collect a lot of attention with the puck.
Flyers Projected Lineup
#39 Matvei Michkov – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #71 Tyson Foerster
#86 Joel Farabee – #17 Jett Luchanko – #10 Bobby Brink
#21 Scott Laughton – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#5 Egor Zamula – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#77 Erik Johnson – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#33 Sam Ersson
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)
Canucks Projected Lineup (via Brendan Batchelor)
#20 Danton Heinen – #9 JT Miller – #6 Brock Boeser
#74 Jake DeBrusk – #40 Elias Pettersson – #91 Daniel Sprong
#24 Pius Suter – #54 Aatu Räty – #8 Conor Garland
#21 Nils Höglander – #53 Teddy Blueger – #44 Kiefer Sherwood
#43 Quinn Hughes – #17 Filip Hronek
#7 Carson Soucy – #57 Tyler Myers
#27 Derek Forbort – #47 Noah Juulsen
#32 Kevin Lankinen
(#31 Artūrs Šilovs)
