The Flyers are bringing out the big guns.
Finally playing their first home game of the 2026 preseason, the Philadelphia Flyers will debut many of their NHL regulars, as well as a few prospects pushing for a roster spot, in a rematch against the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday night.
Rookie forwards Jett Luchanko and Cole Knuble will be playing in their third preseason game, while Helge Grans interestingly gets another chance to prove himself with fellow prospects David Jiricek and Oliver Bonk sitting out on Thursday night.
In the wake of Dan Vladar's injury, Joseph Woll will get the full game against the Bruins, with Aleksei Kolosov backing him up once again.
A chance at revenge, of course, after a 5-1 beating at the hands of the Bruins on Tuesday.
Also of note, Nikita Grebenkin makes his preseason debut after recovering from a lingering upper-body injury that ended his season and held him out at the start of training camp. With Denver Barkey out injured, this is a prime opportunity for Grebenkin to re-establish himself as a lineup staple for the Flyers with his size and agitating style of play.
Flyers lines vs. Bruins
Porter Martone - Trevor Zegras - Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster - Christian Dvorak - Matvei Michkov
Nikita Grebenkin - Jett Luchanko - Cole Knuble
Sean Couturier - Jacob Gaucher - Noel Acciari
Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York - Jamie Drysdale
Simon Benoit - Helge Grans
Joseph Woll (S), Aleksei Kolosov
Bruins lines (proj.)
Dans Locmelis - James Hagens - Lukas Reichel
Ivan Ivan - Brendan Gaunce - Brian Halonen
Alex Steeves - Sean Kuraly - Mikey Eyssimont
Attilio Biasca - Jake Schmaltz - Joey Abate
Frederic Brunet - Charlie McAvoy
Jonathan Aspirot - Henri Jokiharku
Jordan Harris - Billy Sweezey/Ty Gallagher
Michael DiPietro (S), Jiri Patera
The Bruins will be trotting out a mostly AHL-centric lineup, sprinkling in a few NHLers, most notably top prospect James Hagens, star defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and Mikey Eyssimont and Henri Jokiharju.
For the Flyers, it's a good opportunity for their more established players to begin adjusting to a real game setting with less than a week to go before the start of the regular season, which will open on a back-to-back against Pittsburgh and New Jersey, respectively.
It seems unlikely that any roster battles will be won or lost during this particular contest, though Barkey's injury does open the door for players like Luchanko, Grebenkin, and Knuble, especially if he'll have to miss any time heading into the regular season.
Player to Watch
Jett Luchanko has quietly enjoyed a strong preseason and training camp to date, and as I wrote in our most recent Flyers depth chart, he has been proving that he can support more talented players with his style of play down the middle.
While it is still unlikely he makes the team out of camp for a third straight year, the one thing I had hoped to see from the 2024 first-round pick was to just make it a difficult decision for the Flyers.
That he has, as he gets ready to skate in his third consecutive preseason game, with just one left to go on Saturday.
