Jett Luchanko makes the cut for now as the Flyers’ 23-man roster is set for the new season

The Flyers roster is set … kind of.

All teams must submit their rosters by 5 p.m. on Monday to the NHL, and there’s a chance there will be a wrinkle.

When asked about veteran defenseman Dennis Gilbert, who cleared waivers over the summer and was expected to be sent to Lehigh Valley, Flyers general manager Danny Brière said he will be sticking around.

He then revealed that top-pair defenseman Cam York has “a little bit” of a lower-body injury. York played more than 25 minutes Saturday in the preseason finale, but did not speak after the game as he was getting treatment, which is a common occurrence.

“At the moment, it’s a day-to-day thing,” Brière said during a news conference on Monday. “So, we’re trying to find out a little bit more. If it’s, are we looking at a week? Are we looking at two weeks? Are we looking at two days? That’s what we’re trying to figure out right now.”

» READ MORE: The Flyers’ gifted Matvei Michkov overcame pressure as a rookie. Now he’s out to avoid the sophomore slump.

York is expected to have a big season as he plays a freer game under new coach Rick Tocchet, and showed off good puck movement and high-end skating in the preseason. “I thought York and [Jamie] Drysdale, especially, took a step and looked way better than they did last year,” Brière said.

Here’s what else the GM said as the Flyers head into the first week of the regular season.

Outside of York and Gilbert, the 23-man roster is set, which means that Nikita Grebenkin, who was acquired in the Scott Laughton trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko will stick around.

Luchanko, 19, can only play in the NHL or juniors this season and will get, at least, a nine-game audition. Luchanko’s junior team, Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League, is not expected to be good again this season; however, Brière said that did not factor into the decision to keep the teen around.

“Everything’s on the table. He has to earn his spot. So there’s no guarantee that he’s going to play every single night; that’s going to be up to Tocc to decide,” Brière said, adding that he doesn’t want him to play on the fourth line all season.

“Obviously, we’re going to have some discussions, and at the end of the day, the one thing that’s going to keep coming back when we discuss is, what’s the best plan for Jett? And that’s what we’re going to keep thinking about as we move forward here.”

Beyond the top-four defensemen — Travis Sanheim, York, Nick Seeler, and Drysdale — there’s more uncertainty with the blue line. Tocchet said the defense, if York cannot go, will “be a committee.”

Adam Ginning, 25, played well in the preseason and snagged a roster spot. According to the GM, “to be honest, we didn’t think he was even in the mix going into camp, but he played so well that he earned his way onto the team.” Drafted in the second round in 2018, the Swede played one game last season with the Flyers and has 11 NHL games under his belt.

A known commodity to Tocchet from their days in Vancouver, Noah Juulsen, 28, “had it rough to start with, but then came around and played better as the camp went on.” The defenseman underwent hernia surgery in February and said he was off the ice for around eight months.

» READ MORE: Q&A: GM Danny Brière preaches patience but says Flyers ‘have to be better’ this time around

The biggest question mark is on Egor Zamula. The 25-year-old Russian played well in the Flyers’ first preseason game, and “we were really excited about his play, and then all of a sudden, it kind of tailed off after that,” Brière said.

Often critiqued by former coach John Tortorella for his slow pace of play, and something that Tocchet also said needs to be improved on, Brière added that Zamula is “still in our top six,” before adding that his spot is not locked up.

“The message, just like it is with all these guys fighting for those last few spots, he’s got to perform,” said the GM, noting that guys are pushing for spots. “He’s got to step up his game. He’s going to be in a battle to stay in the lineup, probably for most of the year unless he steps up his game and plays the way he’s capable of.”

One of those guys pushing is surely Emil Andrae. The 5-foot-9 puck-moving defenseman is someone who entered training camp with the potential to easily slide into the top six.

“Look, Emil is still young. Emil had some struggles in camp, but we still believe in him; he’s still a very good prospect for us,” Brière said. “I think the best thing for him is to play a lot of heavy minutes, rather than sit on the sideline and watch at the moment.

“At his age, it’s better for him to go down and play hopefully 22, 24 minutes a night, find his game again and build off of that, get the confidence to make plays, carry the puck, and become an everyday serviceable defenseman.”

The feel-good story of the preseason is Rodrigo Ābols, who has cracked the 23-man roster. He was originally slated to play just the preseason opener, but Tocchet kept saying he needed to see the 29-year-old again, and again, and again; he ended up playing in six of the seven preseason games.

» READ MORE: Flyers finally get Ryan Ellis’ contract off the books in a swap with San Jose Sharks

Brière made a savvy move on Sunday, dumping the contract of Ryan Ellis in a deal with the San Jose Sharks. Calling it a trade that helped both teams, if acquired forward Carl Grundström clears waivers, he’ll “probably have to be loaned to Lehigh.” The thought is that the Swede will be someone the team can call up down the road and, for now, wants him to be a leader with the Phantoms.

And when asked what he sees as the Flyers’ biggest strength, the former Flyers forward said it was the forward group.

“I started this job 2½ years ago,” he said of when he was handed the reins in May 2023, “and one of the big issues we talked about was, offensively, creativity was lacking. Now, slowly to see that kind of come into focus is exciting. And we haven’t really started including in that top-nine yet, guys like Luchenko and [Porter] Martone and [Jack] Nesbitt, who are going to come along the way, Grebenkin is on the doorstep of that, so, to me, that’s the exciting part.”