By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
The Flyers road to a final roster has been a whirlwind to say the least.
On Monday, two of their youngest were rewarded for passing all of the offseason and preseason tests, as 19-year-olds Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny were confirmed for the final roster.
But in the same sense, injuries and suspensions have played a role as well, and another suspension is being added.
Defenseman Radko Gudas has been suspended for six games for an illegal check on Boston Bruins forward Austin Czarnik in Saturday’s preseason finale.
Gudas narrowly missed a suspension for a hit in the game prior to Saturday’s final, getting a boarding major for a hit on the Rangers Jimmy Vesey. Gudas, who was suspended for the first time in his career last season, has put together a string of run-ins with the Department of Player Safety.
Gudas will be eligible to return on Oct. 25 when the Flyers host the Buffalo Sabres.
This leaves the Flyers with exactly six defensemen on the roster, which means they will likely call up a defenseman. The two leading candidates are Sam Morin, who would potentially be making his NHL debut on the same night as Provorov and Konecny despite not making the team out of camp, or T.J. Brennan, a veteran who wouldn’t be hurt by sitting as a healthy scratch.