3 Flyers Rookies to Watch in Training Camp

The fall sports season is officially here. College football started in full last weekend. The National Football League is returning this week. And while the NHL regular season is still a few weeks away, teams around the league are starting organized activities in preparation for the start of training camp next week.

As one of the NHL’s youngest teams in the last few seasons, rookie camp means a bit more to the Philadelphia Flyers than to some teams. Six of the 27 players on the rookie camp roster played for the Flyers last season, and all, plus maybe one or two others, have a chance to do so again in 2026-27.

Of course, this weekend (and however long they stick in main camp) is about more than the present for many of these young players. Between drills and a pair of exhibition games against the New York Rangers youngsters, it should be a good test to establish a baseline of where part of the Flyers’ future stands heading into a pivotal season. Here are three players to particularly pay attention to.

Porter Martone

This is the most obvious selection by far. When you’ve handled not just a regular-season stretch run but two rounds of playoff hockey with impressive skill and strength, there may not seem like a lot to prove in preseason, and there isn’t. But this is the start of what the Flyers hope will be a journey that ends with the franchise’s first Calder Trophy and hopefully extends deep into the spring once again.

In the grand scheme of the NHL, though, Porter Martone still has a lot to prove. But there’s every expectation and reason to believe he’ll approach the lofty goals set for him in his first full NHL season. No Flyer has ever won the Calder Trophy, and Martone and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Gavin McKenna are neck-and-neck in preseason odds. At minimum, Martone is in great shape to be the team’s first nominee since Shayne Gostisbehere finished second in 2016.

Martone doesn’t need to become an 80-point, play-driving star winger right away (although it would be great for the Flyers if he did). But if he can continue flashing the star power that popped in his first 20 NHL games, the Flyers can be comfortable that they have a true difference-maker on their hands, the type of player the franchise is craving.

Maxim Sokolovskii

From an NHL-ready prospect to a total project, this will be about the long game for Maxim Sokolovskii. The London Knights defenseman was a risky pick, with his gargantuan size (6-foot-7, 237 pounds) juxtaposed with his incredible rawness (eight points in 44 Ontario Hockey League games last season) that will have to be shaped.

To be confident that Sokolovskii will eventually develop the offensive abilities needed to be a passable NHL defenseman (and ideally more), he’ll need to take a fairly significant jump in his offensive output this season with London. If he gets into a preseason game, not as much of a guarantee with only four on the slate under the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement, how he manages the puck under pressure will be the main element to watch.

Jett Luchanko

Speaking of disappointing offensive seasons, Jett Luchanko‘s stock sunk in an underwhelming draft-plus-two season split between the OHL’s Guelph Storm and Brantford Bulldogs. His goal-scoring was a question when he had back-to-back 20-goal outputs to start his junior career, let alone after just seven tallies last season.

After at least one, maybe even two seasons where the Flyers would have preferred Luchanko to have started with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, they’ll finally get their wish. The team’s center depth at the NHL level is strong enough that there’s no pressing need to pigeonhole him into a bottom-six role.

In John Snowden’s first season as Lehigh Valley’s head coach, he successfully graduated Barkey and Bump to the NHL, so there’s precedent that he knows how to develop forwards (from “Q&A: Phantoms coach John Snowden on developing young Flyers, David Jiříček’s power-play prowess, and more,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 26, 2026).

Of course, the biggest responsibility falls on Luchanko’s shoulders. Everyone knows he has tools; his skating has never been doubted, and he had the defensive acumen to hang with Connor McDavid as an 18-year-old. But he needs to put it all together. After a solid two-assist performance in rookie camp, he enters big camp with some momentum. He doesn’t need to make the Flyers, but he needs to build on it.

Training Camp Schedule

As mentioned above, the exhibition schedule across the league has been slashed to accommodate a two-game bump in the length of the regular season. The Flyers knock their road games out in back-to-back days next week against the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins on Sept. 21 and 22. They’ll host both teams at 5 p.m. on Sept. 26 and 7 p.m. on Sept. 24, respectively.

Starting Sept. 17, the Flyers have practice every day until Sept. 25, except Sept. 20. There’s one more practice scheduled the day after their preseason finale and then an off day from practice to lead into preparation for their Sept. 30 regular-season opener.