Flyers finalize 23-man opening night roster; Jiricek, Grebenkin, Grundström and Wilson all retained

With their actions over the past three days, general manager Daniel Briere and the Philadelphia Flyers had already made their case regarding the nature of their opening night roster – expected Monday at 5 p.m. EDT. But they still had to submit the final roster before they could turn their full attention to the season opener Wednesday night.

Consider the submitted list.

The Flyers announced their final lineup with 30 minutes remaining, and there were few surprises. As expected, Briere and the Flyers will open the season with a maximum of 23 players and with one projected starter – Denver Barkey – starting the year on injured reserve.

Briere told media Saturday that Barkey’s absence from the Philadelphia lineup should not be long. And although Barkey’s placement on IR technically requires Barkey to remain on IR at least seven days before becoming eligible to be activated, the Flyers are allowed through the CBA to backdate that to the day after Barkey’s injury – September 22.

Barkey’s placement on IR temporarily opened up an additional spot on the team, however, and the result was that the Flyers were able to keep Carl Grundstrom and Garrett Wilson on the team to start the season. Grundstrom was successfully waived last week, making him a plausible candidate for a demotion, but the Flyers opted to keep him on the roster despite that flexibility.

As for Wilson, he wasn’t a candidate to make the roster at the start of camp, as he had signed an AHL-only contract with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and was only a camp invite. That changed Sunday, when the Flyers and Wilson agreed to a one-year, two-way NHL contract worth $850,000. Wilson – who appeared in three games with the Flyers last season – then emerged as a plausible option on the NHL roster, and on Monday the Flyers confirmed that he would indeed remain with the big club for the time being.

Grundström’s place in the team is easy to understand: the 28-year-old impressed last season in 47 games with the club (nine goals, 13 points) as a depth forward. Wilson’s fit isn’t as obvious, however, given his age (35) and the fact that his last NHL was in 2019 before the Flyers signed him to an NHL contract at the end of the 2025-26 season and dressed him for three games down the stretch.

But Wilson offers a stamina that the Flyers probably lack since Nicolas Deslauriers now plies his trade in Carolina; Wilson is more than willing to drop the gloves on behalf of his teammates. Additionally, Wilson has long been known as a great teammate, serving as captain at Lehigh Valley for years and serving as something of a mentor to the many young prospects who have come through this roster during his tenure with the club. The Flyers likely see value in adding this personality to the locker room in an additional forward role.

The other “bubble” players had solidified their spots on the Opening Day roster well before Monday. David Jiricek’s error-filled performance in Saturday’s preseason finale could eliminate him from the opening night lineup, but following Oliver Bonk’s demotion on Friday, there was little chance he would miss the final roster entirely. Simon Benoit has always been a near lock and moved to true lock status with Bonk’s demotion. Once Nikita Grebenkin proved he was truly healthy (as he did in the final days of camp), he was always likely to remain on the final roster as well.

As for the rest of the roster, it went as planned. Porter Martone and Alex Bump both made the Flyers’ roster for the first time in their respective careers. New additions Noel Acciari and Joseph Woll will indeed don the Orange and Black for the last time in the regular season on Wednesday. And there were no surprise injuries, minus Barkey’s IR placement early in the season.

Helge Grans will begin the season as an injured non-roster player, but this placement does not imply that Grans is a candidate to remain with the big club all year. Grans was injured on Thursday and injured players cannot be sent to the AHL until they are fully released. Once Grans recovers from his injury, he will almost certainly be waived and then demoted to the AHL, which has always been his most likely end-of-camp destination, barring a massive preseason performance.

Details of the Flyers’ opening night lineup have not yet been finalized. But the roster itself is now locked in, as the team prepares for the start of the 2026-27 season.

Forwards (14): Noel Acciari, Alex Bump, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, Christian Dvorak, Tyson Foerster, Nikita Grebenkin, Carl Grundström, Travis Konecny, Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, Garrett Wilson, Trevor Zegras

Defensemen (7): Simon Benoit, Jamie Drysdale, David Jiricek, Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, Cam York

Goalkeepers (2): Dan Vladar, Joseph Woll