A few Flyers made an important first impression on the first day of training camp.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers kicked off their 2026 training camp separated into three groups, including one consisting almost entirely of prospects with pre-determined fates.
Group C, the prospects group, started the day off for the Flyers with the first on-ice session. Devin Kaplan, Alex Ciernik, Zayde Wisdom, Brett Berard, Nathan Quinn, KJ Sauer, Owen McLaughlin, Ilya Pautov, Luke Vlooswyk, Jackson Edward, Marek Sklenicka, and Martin Psohlavec, who are all earmarked for the AHL or junior hockey, were all on the ice Thursday.
Injured forward Nikita Grebenkin, who is also in that group, skated privately alone; Flyers GM Danny Briere said earlier in the week that Grebenkin could miss a few days of training camp due to a setback.
Groups A and B, consisting of NHL players and bubble guys, were the party-starters for the Flyers, with Group A taking the ice and Group B following shortly thereafter.
Group A was fairly interesting from a lineup perspective, as Denver Barkey spent time playing center between Zach Aston-Reese and Matvei Michkov.
Captain Sean Couturier played between Alex Bump and Cole Knuble, and Trevor Zegras centered Carl Grundstrom and Owen Tippett.
Barkey and Michkov, in particular, looked dynamic in drills, and Michkov impressed assistant coach Todd Reirden with some strong board play in his own end on the left wing wall.
Veteran depth forward Jack Studnicka scored a pretty goal going the other way a few reps later, and prospect Noah Powell got under the skin of Travis Sanheim, provoking the defenseman into some venomous cross checks after a rep.
Luchanko impressing Tocchet early
Jett Luchanko impressed Rick Tocchet with his growth on Day 1 of Flyers training camp. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images)From this group, none of the defensemen especially stood out, though it's worth noting that Sanheim and Oliver Bonk were paired together, as were Maksim Sokolovskii and Rasmus Ristolainen.
In Group B, top center prospect Jett Luchanko fascinatingly slotted in between wingers Porter Martone and Travis Konecny, with the latter clocking in on the left wing.
Luchanko enjoyed a productive day playing with more dynamic, skilled drivers, and even popped in a tidy goal of his own in short area 2-on-2 drills to end the group's practice session.
"The 2-on-2, held his head up, took the net head-on, had a hell of a goal at the top shelf, I think. I mean, those are the things I want him to do," head coach Rick Tocchet said after practice. "Like, I want him to be, you know, high-wire act. Man, go for it, like, don't be so cautious. And I think that goal, he wasn't cautious. I mean, that was a hell of a goal."
On defense, Cam York and David Jiricek formed an intriguing pair, one that could conceivably be a duo by the time the regular season starts.
York, a mobile puck-mover who is strong defensively, is a good fit for the lumbering, offensive-minded Jiricek.
Hunter McDonald, who is also pushing for a roster spot, and Jamie Drysdale, are similar in that regard.
Jiricek made a nice hit on Cam Dineen in the aforementioned 2-on-2 drill, standing his ground jostling for a 50/50 puck along the wall and effortlessly knocking Dineen to the ground.
At 6-foot-4, Jiricek will need to apply his size and strength more frequently to further endear himself to Tocchet and the coaching staff. His lack of lateral mobility makes play-killing skills and other physical traits paramount.
For Jiricek, so far, so good, though he will need to continue to perform and make some eye-catching plays to cement his place on the NHL roster.
