Flyers thoughts: Jett Luchanko’s next chance, Cam York’s status, and finally getting rid of the Ryan Ellis contract

The Flyers will open their season Thursday night in Florida against the reigning Cup champion Panthers.

Their opening night roster is set. There is optimism within it, but going in, there are parts of it that underwhelm, too – some by design, others not.

But it's clear to see where this is going.

The majority of the names on the list are homegrown, and a notable few are young-ish trade acquisitions that have been taken on as reclamation projects.

This is a team slowly coming along from within. They might not be on the verge of a full-on breakout just yet, but the pieces are lining up, hopefully with more on the way.

Also, they just got a longstanding anchor of a contract off the books, which stood as one of the fewer remaining remnants from the decisions that finally spiraled the Flyers into a much-needed rebuild in the first place.

Here are a few thoughts on the Flyers ahead of Thursday's opener, starting with that notorious Ryan Ellis contract…

Off the books

The Flyers traded Ellis' contract to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday, with no retention, which cleared the defenseman's remaining two years and $12.5 million ($6.25 million per year) out from the team's salary cap.

They also sent a 2026 sixth-round draft pick to the Sharks – the better of the two they currently hold – and received forward Carl Grundstrom and defenseman Artem Guryev in return.

Ellis is never playing again. Once thought to be a solution for finding former top defenseman Ivan Provorov a regular partner, Ellis only ever played in four games for the Flyers following his trade in from Nashville before a complex series of lower-body injury issues derailed his career and eventually sidelined him for good.

The sudden end to Ellis' career accelerated the Flyers' spiral into apathetic mediocrity, and left them always needing to account for his contract as they began taking the steps to slowly reconstruct the team.

They won't have to play salary cap gymnastics anymore, though.

Sharks GM Mike Grier was willing to take on the contract in order to shed a couple of players that his own rebuilding team had no use for anymore.

Grundstrom, 27 is expected to be a forward who can serve as a quick call-up on the NHL/AHL roster bubble between the Flyers and Phantoms, and Guryev, 22, is a fifth-round defenseman who was assigned directly to the Phantoms, the team said.

"It's not like it was critical," general manager Danny Brière said of the trade on Monday. "We were fine to get under the cap, but obviously, it gives us flexibility. It's one of those deals that we help San Jose with some of their issues, they help us with some of our issues. So it was a trade, really, that helps us both. So, you know, just working together with Mike Grier on trying to help each other out."

And maybe it wasn't critical right now, but later on, getting Ellis' contract off the books sure is going to help.

As of Tuesday, the Flyers have a projected $6.64 million in cap space, per PuckPedia.

Ellis' $6.25 million per is officially clear now. After this coming season, Scott Laughton's and Kevin Hayes' retained salaries will be paid off – Laughton has $1.5 million left, and Hayes $3.57 million – and so will Cam Atkinson's buyout charge at roughly $1.76 million.

The summer of 2026 has long been viewed as the offseason when the Flyers can really dive into the free agency pool, should they feel ready to, and you can see the money they're set to have actively starting to free up, all with that rising cap, too.

Jett's next chance

Jett Luchanko made the team, again, but Brière made it clear on Monday that it doesn't necessarily mean he's here to stay.

The speedy 13th overall pick from the 2024 draft needs to hold his own in the NHL, otherwise, it's back to Guelph in the OHL for more development, even though juniors isn't much of an ideal place to have him skate his minutes anymore.

The Flyers are at least going to see if the 19-year-old center can take his spot and keep it this time around.

"Jett is a big part of our future," Brière said. "And we're trying to give him some experience but protect him at the same time, and trying to help him out along the way. I don't know what's gonna happen. A lot of it will be his. play, part will be how the team is going, but him, like many other players, every day, they have to bring it and keep earning their roster spot."

Sanheim ties it up! Great puck handling by Jett Luchanko, gets a deserved assist on this goal. Grebenkin gets the other.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/YASfTxenKO

— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) October 4, 2025

Luchanko made the Flyers out of camp last season under former head coach John Tortorella, making use of the nine-game trial run for Canadian junior prospects before making a decision to either keep the player in the NHL permanently or send him back to his junior club.

Luchanko exhibited some impressive speed and good anticipation for his age, but his shot and physicality needed work, and when the call was made to send him back to juniors, Tortorella at the time said it was also because they didn't want to lean on the prospect and overwhelm him in a group that was very thin at center.

The situation is a bit different, and the Flyers hope a bit better, a year later.

Luchanko doesn't have a clear-cut spot in the lineup as it stands right now. On Monday, current head Rick Tocchet also discussed that nine-game trial run, which Luchanko still falls under as a 19-year old junior prospect, and the balance between him playing, sitting, watching and adjusting, and preserving his confidence.

"We gotta figure that out," Tocchet said. "But the first couple weeks, we'll see how it goes down. You can't have a kid like that sit out four or five games, but you also want when he's playing, that he has the confidence to play in these types of games. I don't want him to lose confidence."

But just as much, the organization would like to see him step up and earn his keep.

Delayed (blue) line

OK, so, the Flyers' announced opening night roster in full…

Forwards (14): Rodrigo Abols, Bobby Brink, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, Nic Deslauriers, Christian Dvorak, Tyson Foerster, Nikita Grebenkin, Garnet Hathaway, Travis Konecny, Jett Luchanko, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, Trevor Zegras

Defensemen (7): Jamie Drysdale, Dennis Gilbert, Adam Ginning, Noah Juulsen, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, Egor Zamula

Goaltenders (2): Samuel Ersson, Dan Vladar

The forward group is relatively young, with some both promising and established skill in there between Michkov, Foerster, Grebenkin, Zegras, and Konecny.

The goalies are as expected between Ersson and Vladar. They're both coming in with something to prove, and there are a lot of ways each can turn out, but that's been known about the scenario in net for a long time now.

That defense is looking a little rough.

Travis Sanheim is still there at the top, and Nick Seeler for the middle pairing. Brière and the Flyers aren't particularly worried about either of them at this point.

Beyond them, though, this is a big year for Drysdale to show if he's really going to reach for that fluid-skating, rover defenseman ceiling, while everyone else has previously fallen into bottom-pairing to on-the-bubble types of roles.

It's a thin-looking and not particularly fearsome-looking blueline to start.

Having Rasmus Ristolainen out for the first month or two from a re-ruptured triceps doesn't help.

Neither does having Cam York sidelined right before.

Day-to-day, for now

Brière revealed on Monday that York has "a little bit of a lower-body issue." Later that day, when the Flyers submitted their roster, York was listed on Injured Reserve.

"At the moment, it's a day-to-day." Brière said before the roster was out. "We're trying to find out a little bit more, if it's are we looking at a week? Are we looking at two weeks? Are we looking at two days? That's what we're trying to figure out right now."

But it's a setback for the 24-year-old defenseman and the team, nonetheless.

This was shaping up to be a big year for York.

He proved capable of taking on upwards of 20 minutes a night and against the opposition's tougher assignments, but missed time with injury and struggled thorugh inconsistency last season, all while Tortorella's approach was notably wearing thin on him as the Flyers were spiraling near the end.

Tortorella was fired, York was extended (rather reasonably), and the summer brought a belief that there is still so much more to York's game that could be unlocked with a clean slate and a new voice from Tocchet.

Those hopes, however, will be on pause to start the year, and it's unclear for how long.

See you in '28?

Elsewhere, and the big story in the NHL, this happened:

THE CAPTAIN 🫡
The #Oilers have signed forward Connor McDavid to a two-year contract extension with an AAV of $12.5 million! pic.twitter.com/UYpGe4NKkx

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 6, 2025

It was always the 99.999999999 percent likelihood that Connor McDavid was going to stay in Edmonton, but that it's only on a two-year extension that expires in 2028 is certainly a head-turner.

For the Oilers, this feels like an ultimatum. They have three years to win the Stanley Cup with McDavid, or else he can walk and completely change the landscape of the entire league with what will probably be a market re-defining contract.

For the 31 other teams in the NHL, you're still going about your business, but there has to be a part of every GM where they at least have to see if they can put together a pitch – Flyers included.

It's a long shot, but that's the best player in the world. You have to at least see if there's a chance.

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