The NHL trade deadline has come and gone. A pair of players were on the move to new destinations, but the rest of the Philadelphia Flyers (28-22-11) lineup remains intact as the final 21 games begin. It starts on Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins (31-17-13) at 5:30 PM.
How to WatchProjected Flyers Lines vs. PenguinsForwards
46 Trevor Zegras – 22 Christian Dvorak – 74 Owen Tippett
52 Denver Barkey – 27 Noah Cates – 39 Matvei Michkov
20 Alex Bump – 14 Sean Couturier – 29 Nikita Grebenkin
91 Carl Grundstrom – 41 Luke Glendening – 19 Garnet Hathaway
Defense
6 Travis Sanheim – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
8 Cam York – 9 Jamie Drysdale
36 Emil Andrae – 47 Noah Juulsen
Goalies
80 Dan Vladar
33 Sam Ersson
Scratches: None
Injury & Roster UpdatesLineup Updates: Nick Seeler remains out with a lower-body injury. Travis Konecny skated on Friday in a non-contact jersey and is not expected to play, Alex Bump was called up and will make his NHL debut. Luke Glendening, claimed off waivers on Friday, could also make his Flyers debut.Starting Goalie: Dan Vladar gets the start for the Flyers. Vladar made 20 saves on 22 shots in the loss to Utah on Thursday. He is 19-10-6 this season with a 2.39 GAA and .908 save percentage.InjuriesTravis Konecny: upper-body injury, day-to-dayNick Seeler: lower-body injury, day-to-dayRodrigo Abols: fractured ankle, out at least two months from Jan. 21Tyson Foerster: surgery on right arm on Dec. 17, out five months.Opponent Snapshot: Pittsburgh PenguinsOpponent record: 31-17-13Special Teams RankingPower Play: 25.3% (6th)Penalty Kill: 84.5% (2nd)Who’s hot?: Bryan Rust has two goals and five points in the last five games. Egor Chinakhov has 10 goals in 23 games since being acquired by the Penguins. Ben Kindel has seven goals in his last 11 games.Who’s in net?: Stuart Skinner gets the start for the Penguins. Skinner is 19-13-6 this season with a 2.74 GAA and .892 save percentage. In 15 games with Pittsburgh, Skinner is 8-5-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .893 save percentage.Injuries: Sidney Crosby returned to practice on Friday in a non-contact jersey. Evgeni Malkin begins serving a five-game suspension on Saturday.Keys to the GameTurning the Corner: The trade deadline is over and now the focus shifts to the final 21 games of the season. Whether the Flyers get back to their recent winning ways to make one last-gasp effort in the playoff race or fizzle out even further takes center stage.Fresh Faces: Alex Bump gets his first chance in the NHL. Moving Brink opened the door for the Flyers to allow one of their other wingers waiting in the wings to get some time and experience.Down a Duo: It’s a shorthanded forward group for the Penguins with Sidney Crosby still out with injury and Evgeni Malkin serving a suspension. The Penguins have been able to get by in the past with depth scoring. Can they do that here without both of their legendary forwards?By the NumbersThe Penguins have an 11-1-6 record against the Metropolitan Division this season.The Flyers have been outscored in the first period, 53-46. The Penguins have outscored opponents, 68-47, in the first period.The Penguins are currently in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 75 points. The Flyers enter the game eight points behind the Penguins and six points out of the final wildcard.Quotable”You guys made a big story, I didn’t know I was trying to sell him, but you guys made it sound like we were dumping Risto for next to nothing. At the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto. I wasn’t trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus to be honest, and that’s okay. I get it’s part of the job, part of my job to deal with that. But the reality is, Risto is an important part of our defense. He’s still under contract next season, so we weren’t looking to dump him. Where do you find 6’4″, physical, top-4, right-shot defenseman? There’s not a lot. We saw it on the market, and when that came out, we did get a lot of calls. We took them seriously, and we went through all the teams that were serious, but at the end of the day it just did not make sense value-wise. There’s nothing that made more sense to trade him.” – Danny Briere on choosing to keep Rasmus RistolainenX-FactorsAlex Bump: There have been many times when it felt like Alex Bump might be close to making his NHL debut. The moment finally arrives on Saturday. Bump had scored four goals and six points in his last six games in the AHL.Ben Kindel: The 11th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft has been a pleasant surprise for the Penguins in his rookie season. The 18-year-old has 15 goals this season and 30 points in 58 games.
Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.
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