What Flyers Lines Say About Opening Night Lineup

With the lack of significant offseason additions, the Philadelphia Flyers, particularly at the forward position, are returning a mostly unchanged lineup from the one they ended the 2025-26 season with.

For the veterans and head coach Rick Tocchet, that can be an advantage. The Flyers who have been here for several seasons already have chemistry with many of their teammates, linemates, and defense partners, and Tocchet, as he stated after Tuesday's practice, doesn't have to start from "square one" with system work.

Tocchet and Co. debuted what appears to be their line combinations for opening night against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, opting to run with the theme of familiarity with no new or interesting combinations emerging from the shortened preseason and training camp.

Alex Bump, who had an unspectacular camp, for example, starts in the Flyers' top-nine with Denver Barkey and Nikita Grebenkin out injured. By extension, Carl Grundstrom will reprise his role as a speedy bottom-sixer, and veteran Garrett Wilson is here to enforce if and when needed.

Flyers lines from Tuesday's practice

Owen Tippett - Trevor Zegras - Porter Martone

Alex Bump - Noah Cates - Matvei Michkov

Tyson Foerster - Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny

Carl Grundstrom - Sean Couturier - Noel Acciari

Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen

Cam York - Jamie Drysdale

Nick Seeler - Simon Benoit

Extras: Garrett Wilson, David Jiricek

A few things here jump out right away.

Martone starts with a big opportunity

Tocchet and the Flyers are stacking the top line with Trevor Zegras, Porter Martone, and Owen Tippett, and while Tocchet had previously stated he felt Tippett was better playing right wing, he practiced on the left on Tuesday.

For Martone, there isn't really a difference between the left or right, so it might just be something specific to Tippett that Tocchet notices.

"No, not really. It's just hockey. You just read off the other person. There might be some shifts I'm on the left, there might be some shifts he's on the right. Sometimes, Trevor's even on the left and one of us have to fill in at center," Martone told The Hockey News on Tuesday afternoon. "The way hockey's played, you kind of use your brain and honestly just be a hockey player."

Also of note, Martone, who played in only nine regular season games for the Flyers at the tail-end of last season, has lined up with Zegras as his center very little.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the two played just 9:33 together at 5-on-5 in those nine games, generating one high-danger scoring chance and five unblocked shot attempts.

That's going to quickly change to start the new season, though, as Martone and Zegras spent 23:10 together at 5-on-5 in just two preseason games, generating 25 unblocked shot attempts to their opponents' nine and scoring one high-danger goal while allowing zero.

"Playing with Trevor, you know what he can do, and he's been in this league a long time. You see the way he plays, how skilled he is, the kind of plays he can make," Martone said. "For me, just always be ready because you don't know when you're going to get the puck. I need to support him as we can, try to win as many puck battles. I think I got a good hockey IQ, and I think we blend pretty well."

Michkov and Cates are back as a duo

Further down the lineup, the Flyers trot out a familiar line of Bump, Noah Cates, and Matvei Michkov, who were used sparingly as a trio in the playoff run and down the stretch.

With Michkov, no center the Flyers have is going to elevate his offensive ceiling, but Cates enjoyed a career year with Michkov at his side, and Michkov still turned in a respectable 51-point campaign in spite of everything that went sideways last year.

A rejuvenated, improved Michkov will be able to drive the line offensively, and while Bump is a bigger question mark, the scoring talent is there, and the Flyers don't have other options right now, anyway, with Barkey and Grebenkin on the shelf.

I did like Travis Konecny playing left wing with Michkov and Christian Dvorak in the preseason, but the Flyers are shifting him back to the right with Tyson Foerster slotting on the left.

Depending on Konecny's sustained health throughout the season, this line should have plenty of scoring potential while also being capable of taking on top-six matchup duties, though Sean Couturier and Noel Acciari will almost certainly be tasked with handling opponents' No. 1 lines on a nightly basis.

The Jiricek of it all

As for the defense, everything remains the same from last season, though it is notable that David Jiricek's nightmarish end to the 2026 preseason slate cost him a spot in the opening night lineup.

Veteran newcomer Simon Benoit, a left-shot, took the bulk of the reps next to Seeler during Tuesday's practice, though Tocchet did tell Jiricek "'I got to get you in the lineup.'"

As I wrote previously, aspirations of contending and developing players in the NHL on the fly don't exactly mix, so it will be interesting to see how Tocchet and Co. handle this over a full season.

Jiricek does have a two-year contract with the Flyers, so maybe he plays 30-40 regular season games rotating with Benoit in preparation of a true full-time role next year.

Additionally, Jiricek lost his PP2 quarterback duties to York... for now, though the big draw of having the former No. 6 overall pick in the lineup is his offensive potential.

For the time being, it's better York gets the reps so he and the Flyers are prepared for when Jiricek isn't in the lineup, and we'll have to see how the situation evolves from there.