Flyers trim 10 players from their training-camp roster, including Samu Tuomaala

Flyers training camp has been open for a week, and while some players have been assigned to their junior teams, the biggest cuts to the roster came on Thursday.

Six players on American Hockey League contracts — forwards Sawyer Boulton, Cooper Marody, Garrett Wilson, and Zayde Wisdom, and goalies Yaniv Perets and Keith Petruzzelli — have been returned to Lehigh Valley, the team announced.

Forward Oscar Eklind has been placed on waivers to be assigned to the Phantoms, and forwards Massimo Rizzo, Tucker Robertson, and Samu Tuomaala also were assigned to the AHL team. Eklind and Tuomaala each played one preseason game.

The slicing of Tuomaala this early is a little surprising since the team was hoping he would take the next step. A second-round pick in 2021, the Finn had a tough season, dealing with illness and injury, but he worked on his strength over the summer.

» READ MORE: Noah Cates is a smart player for the Flyers, which earns him points with his new coach, Rick Tocchet

“I know what they want from me — [I] need to be better,” the 22-year-old said on Sept. 12. “So in the D-zone a little bit harder on the pucks, if I have a turnover and try to fight that a little bit harder, play harder overall. And then if I get the chance, just score goals and still play my own game.”

The Flyers are down to 42 players in camp.

Rick Tocchet isn’t an unknown commodity to some of the Flyers. Aside from Christian Dvorak and Noah Juulsen, who have played for him at the NHL level, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim worked with him at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February when Tocchet was an assistant coach for Canada and the team won the tournament.

The trio was together again at Canada’s orientation camp in August.

“He’d talk and then be like, ‘I’ll just see you in Philly, I’ll just see you in Philly,’” Konecny said on Sept. 18. “It was great seeing how excited he was to be part of not just coaching, but just being a part of the Flyers.”

But while the focus for The Travii is on the Flyers, that doesn’t mean the opportunity to play for their country on the world’s biggest stage isn’t in the back of their minds.

“I want to push for it,” said Konecny. “I want to be on that team, obviously, but … I’m just trying to be the best player I can here in Philly, and if that gets you on that roster, then that’s a humongous bonus.”

“Obviously the Olympics, I think, you know it’s in my head, obviously. That’s a goal of mine that I want to be a part of. I’m focused on the Flyers right now.”

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One guy who is already guaranteed a trip to Italy is Rodrigo Ābols. A member of Latvia’s Olympic team in Beijing, the forward has been named to Latvia’s roster for 2026.

“It’s special. It’s, for us as a country, we have to work for it, we don’t get in there automatically. So we got to win that little tournament that we won last summer,” said Ābols, who had four points in the 2024 men’s final Olympic ice hockey qualification. “Definitely looking forward to it. It’s going to be a grand event and that’s, I think, every athlete’s dream is to able to represent their country in the Olympics.”

The Flyers announced that defenseman Ethan Samson has an upper-body injury and is expected to be out six to eight weeks. He played Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens and was hit awkwardly into the boards with just over six minutes left in the third period. Samson, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, was seen flexing his right arm after the play and did not return. … Defenseman Oliver Bonk and forwards Karsen Dorwart and Lane Pederson remained day-to-day with upper-body injuries as the Flyers played the Washington Capitals in Hershey on Thursday night.

» READ MORE: With his prospect clock ticking, offensive D-man Ethan Samson is ready to put the ‘ups and downs’ behind him