The dawn of a new season can bring about a range of feelings. There can be new hope, a clean slate, and the potential of what is to come.
The Flyers may still be steps away from the ultimate goal, but they have a clean slate in front of them and two symbols of new hope. Friday night marks the 2024-25 season opener for the Flyers, and the NHL debut of 19-year-old Matvei Michkov and 18-year-old Jett Luchanko.
The Flyers take on the Vancouver Canucks, a team that equally surprised in the NHL standings last season and turned it into a second-round appearance in the playoffs.
Game time is at 10 p.m.
Team Leaders
| Philadelphia Flyers (2023-24 Stats) | GP | G | A | P | Vancouver Canucks | GP | G | A | P |
| Travis Konecny | 76 | 33 | 35 | 68 | Brock Boeser | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Owen Tippett | 78 | 28 | 25 | 53 | J.T. Miller | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Joel Farabee | 82 | 22 | 28 | 50 | Quinn Hughes | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Travis Sanheim | 81 | 10 | 34 | 44 | Conor Garland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Morgan Frost | 71 | 13 | 28 | 41 | Daniel Sprong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
The long-awaited NHL debut of Matvei Michkov has arrived. The 19-year-old played in four preseason games and recorded points in each, including three straight multi-point games to start his preseason career.
Quinn Hughes won the Norris Trophy last season with 75 assists and 92 points. The Vancouver captain opened up the 2024-25 season on Wednesday with a pair of assists in a 6-5 loss.
Sam Ersson gets the start in the season opener. Ersson finished last season strong with three solid starts, allowing two goals on 62 shots. He emerged as the Flyers starting goalie, getting nearly all of the starts for the Flyers down the stretch. He finished 2023-24 with 51 games played.
Kevin Lankinen gets the start for the Canucks. Lankinen is a newcomer to the Canucks, spending the last two seasons with the Nashville Predators. Last season, Lankinen was 11-6-0 with a 2.82 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Projected Lineups
Flyers Scratches: Nick Seeler (injury), Noah Cates (healthy), Nick Deslauriers (healthy)
Canucks Scratches: Thatcher Demko (injury), Dakota Joshua (illness), Vincent Desharnais (healthy), Nils Aman (healthy), Arshdeep Bains (healthy)
Lineup Notes
- Flyers: Nick Seeler remains day-to-day and is not expected to play in the season opener on Friday. Erik Johnson would swap in as the healthy defenseman.
- Canucks: Pius Suter makes his season debut after missing Wednesday’s game. Noah Juulsen enters for Vincent Desharnais.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (12.2% – 32nd in 2023-24), Canucks (50.0% – 4th)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (83.4% – 4th in 2023-24), Canucks (66.7% – 13th)
- Recent History vs. Canucks
- Dec. 27, 2023 – Flyers 4, Canucks 1 (at VAN)
- Oct. 17, 2023 – Flyers 2, Canucks 0 (at PHI)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Canucks
- Sean Couturier: 18 GP, 6 G, 7 A, 13 P
- Travis Konecny: 13 GP, 3 G, 8 A, 11 P
- Scott Laughton: 14 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 P
- Sam Ersson: 1 GP, 1-0-0, 1.41 GAA, .947 SV%
- Milestone Watch
- Sean Couturier needs two points to reach 500 for his career.
Where to Watch
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: Flyers Broadcast Network
