The NHL deadline for teams to file their opening night rosters is tomorrow (October 10) at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Leaguewide, there will be a slew of players placed on waivers today in order to assign them to minor league teams for purposes of compliance with the 23-man active roster maximum and/or for salary cap purposes.
In the case of the Flyers, Ryan Ellis ($6.25 million cap hit) is a lock to go on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) when the roster is filed. This will make the Flyers -- who are currently $1.492 million over the cap ceiling -- compliant with the cap. Ellis remains out for the foreseeable future and it would not be at all surprising if he's out the entire season.
If Sean Couturier is projected to miss at least the first 10 games/ 24 days of the regular season, the Flyers could also place him on LTIR ($7.75 million). However, they could also just wait and see how his recovery comes along from a pre-camp back injury and place him on regular IR. Couturier has yet to be cleared to skate and officially remains out on a week-to-week basis.
Patrick Brown (offseason back surgery) is rehabbing but not yet cleared to play. He, too, is week-to-back. Brown will also go on IR come tomorrow.
Prospect Bobby Brink (offseason hip surgery) is eligible to go on Season Opening Injured Reserve (SOIR), which would mean that only a fraction of his $925,000 would be on the Flyers' cap until he's eligible to be activated and assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Brink is expected to return to play at some time in late December to early January.
Joel Farabee (offseason neck surgery) seems to have a strong chance to be ready to play either by opening night or at least within the first week of the season, barring any setbacks. He's been practicing daily. Depending on how it goes at Sunday's practice, he could simply start the season on the active roster.
Goaltending-wise, the Flyers still have three goalies on the training camp roster: Carter Hart and backup goalie candidates Felix Sandström and Samuel Ersson. Hart missed the entire preseason schedule due to a lower-body injury but has practiced on back-to-back days and expects to be OK to start on opening night.
Sandström is dealing with a lower-body injury but is said to close to playing. However, he could start the season on IR if it looks like he will need at least a week to be ready to play. It's likely that Ersson will eventually be sent to the Phantoms to get more playing time once it is clear that Sandström is able to play if needed. Additionally, while Ersson is on an entry-level contract and does not require waivers to send to the AHL, the Flyers would need to waive a healthy Sandström for purposes of AHL assignment if Ersson were to outright beat out his countryman for the backup job.
Forward Cooper Marody, injured during training camp, needs to be medically cleared to play before he is eligible to be waived and sent to the Phantoms. He's been skating with the rehab group in practice and is considered day-to-day.
Veteran center Artem Anisimov, injured in the preseason opener (lower body injury via a blocked shot), is on a professional tryout (PTO) and need not be involved in any roster decisions at the present time. He can simply remain on his PTO indefinitely into the season. Once cleared, he can practice and be evaluated for a potential contract or to be released from the PTO.
Among the aforementioned injured players, the Flyers can reduce their roster from 32 players to 26 assuming Farabee is fine to play: Ellis to LTIR, Couturier to IR or LTIR, Brown to IR, Brink to SOIR, Sandström to IR or Ersson to the Phantoms, Marody waived today if medically cleared and sent the Phantoms tomorrow, and Anisimov staying on as a non-roster player on a PTO.
There would still be at least three more cuts to make.
The Flyers still have eight healthy defensemen in camp. Rookie hopefuls Egor Zamula and Ronnie Attard are waiver exempt so either one (or both) could be assigned to the Phantoms tomorrow without fear of losing them via waiver claim. Nick Seeler seems to have the team made again as at least the No. 7 defenseman.
The Flyers currently have 16 healthy forwards if one includes both Farabee and Cam Atkinson (still officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury but having not played at all in the preseason or practiced with the healthy players in recent days) in the healthy ranks. Jackson Cates does not require waivers. Both Zack MacEwen and Hayden Hodgson would require waivers today to be assigned tomorrow to the Phantoms.
Let's say that the Flyers carry 14 forwards and seven defensemen on the opening roster that is filed tomorrow. Sending either Attard or Zamula to the Phantoms tomorrow would get the team down to seven defensemen.
The forward situation is less clear: Will Atkinson be fine to start the season or will he need IR for the first week? If both Atkinson and Farabee are healthy, what does that immediately mean for Jackson Cates, MacEwen and Hodgson? Those three players practiced on a rotate in/ rotate out basis on Thursday and Friday with Atkinson not practicing.
The Flyers will practice in Voorhees at 11 a.m. on Sunday.