By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
The final day before the start of the 2020-21 season is here, and that means roster decisions are due. The Flyers have officially announced their roster for opening night of the 2020-21 season.
The 23-man roster is as follows:
Forwards
- 11 Travis Konecny
- 12 Michael Raffl
- 13 Kevin Hayes
- 14 Sean Couturier
- 19 Nolan Patrick
- 21 Scott Laughton
- 23 Oskar Lindblom
- 25 James van Riemsdyk
- 28 Claude Giroux
- 48 Morgan Frost
- 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
- 86 Joel Farabee
- 93 Jake Voracek
Defensemen
- 5 Phil Myers
- 6 Travis Sanheim
- 8 Robert Hagg
- 9 Ivan Provorov
- 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
- 56 Erik Gustafsson
- 59 Mark Friedman
- 61 Justin Braun
Goalies
- 37 Brian Elliott
- 79 Carter Hart
In addition to the 23-man roster, the following six players will be on the team’s taxi squad, allowed to participate in practices and skate with the rest of the team and be called upon at a moment’s notice for game action.
Additionally, there was some speculation as to Shayne Gostisbehere and his status. He missed the last three days of camp as “unfit to participate,” but appears to be on the 23-man roster. The indication is that Gostisbehere is not unavailable long-term, though Alain Vigneault confirmed he will not play in the season opener on Wednesday.
- 34 Alex Lyon G
- 10 Andy Andreoff C/LW
- 55 Sam Morin LW
- 81 Carsen Twarynski LW
- 82 Connor Bunnaman C
- 39 Nate Prosser D
There are still four players who remain on the injured, non-roster list. It was already known that Kirill Ustimenko and Isaac Ratcliffe would be out long-term with injuries. Tanner Laczynski continues to recover from offseason core-muscle surgery, but is not expected to be out long-term. Wade Allison is now added to that list after being unfit to participate in training camp since Saturday.
The Flyers also assigned 14 players to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The AHL is expected to get underway on Feb. 5.
- Chris Bigras D
- Pascal Laberge F
- Mason Millman D
- Roddy Ross G
- Felix Sandstrom G
- Zayde Wisdom F
- Linus Sandin F
- Tyson Foerster F
- Derrick Pouliot D
- Egor Zamula D
- Wyatte Wylie D
- Matthew Strome F
- Tyler Wotherspoon D
- Max Willman F
The Flyers also announced that there will be a few adjustments to the leadership group. Claude Giroux remains the captain and Sean Couturier will be an alternate captain for each game. For home games, Ivan Provorov will be an alternate captain. For away games, there will be a rotation between Jake Voracek and Kevin Hayes as the other alternates.
Flyers Adding Sponsors to Helmets
Many teams around the NHL are trying to gain some revenue back with the absence of fans in the building. One common one seen throughout the league is the addition of sponsors on player helmets.
The Flyers are now joining in on this endeavor, according to a report from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Flyers will have Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as their helmet partner for the season. These will debut on Wednesday when the Flyers open the season against the Penguins.
Teams like the Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators were among the first to announce they were taking this step to try to gain back revenue lost from the shortened season, both last year and this upcoming season.