5 Things: Flyers vs. Blue Jackets

The curtain rises on the 2023-24 regular season on Thursday as John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-0) take on Pascal Vincent's Columbus Blue Jackets (0-0-0) at Nationwide Arena. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT.

The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia with Jim Jackson and Brian Boucher on the call. The radio broadcast, with Tim Saunders and Todd Fedoruk on the call, is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.

Thursday's game is the start of a two-game road trip for the Flyers to begin the season before returning for the home opener next week. The Blue Jackets start out with a four-game homestand.

Here are five storylines to track on opening night.

1. Couturier and Atkinson

The Flyers are a much deeper -- and more formidable -- hockey team when they have Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson in the lineup. Both players will be in the lineup for the Flyers on opening night.

Couturier's last official game was on Dec.18, 2021. The two-time Selke Trophy finalist missed more than a season-and-a-half due to recurring back problems that required two separate surgeries. Thankfully, he got through the 2023 preseason without injury and will look to work back to the form he displayed before the issues began. Even during the 2021-22 season, Couturier posted 12 points in the first 10 games before the back issues took hold.

Atkinson, whose last official game was on April 12, 2022, missed all of last season due to neck surgery.  He dealt with an unrelated (and minor) issue early in the preseason but was in the lineup during the latter half of the exhibition schedule. Atkinson, of course, spent the first 10 seasons and 627 games of his 700-game NHL career with the Blue Jackets.

Realistically, both Couturier and Atkinson will need some time to fully regain their pre-injury form. However, both players are now physically fine and showed some encouraging signs by the end of training camp.

2. Hart looks for a quick start

Last year, Flyers No. 1 goaltender Carter Hart missed the exhibition schedule due to an injury in training camp. Nevertheless, he started the regular season on time and had a spectacular month of October (5-0-1, 2.31 GAA, .938 save percentage). Ultimately, Hart won the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the Flyers MVP of the 2022-23 season.

Ultimately, it's very hard to separate team defense and goaltending -- one can either raise the other or drag it down. Although the Flyers showed some modest defensive improvements last year as compared to 2021-22, they still had a long way to go. Hart's numbers suffered a bit as the season progressed. 

Entering the 2023-24 season, the blueline remains the Flyers' biggest question mark. Travis Sanheim needs a bounceback season. The team will need to fill the minutes that Ivan Provorov used to play. Cam York will need to take the next step in his development at the top level. The team will need to figure out how to balance playing time for veterans -- including newcomers Marc Staal and Sean Walker -- and younger players.  Meanwhile, the forwards will need to do their part in playing as five-man units.

There's only so much that Hart and Samuel Ersson can do to hold opponents at bay. They'll need help in front. The Flyers' progress in playing a more consistent brand of two-way hockey will be a crucial factor in determining not only how Hart and Ersson's individual seasons go, but how the club itself fares.

3. On the Brink

Winger Bobby Brink did not appear in the NHL last season. He missed the first half of the 2022-23 season rehabilitating from off-season hip surgery. When he returned, he joined the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the remainder of the season. It took several months to regain his form.

Brink had a less-than-ideal 2023 Rookie Camp including the Rookie Series against the New York Rangers' prospects.However, he came on strong during the week of NHL training camp. His ice vision and passing ability stood out most of all but he also scored an impressive five-on-five goal and a successful shootout attempt against the Bruins.

Brink appears poised to open the regular season on Couturier's line at 5-on-5 as well as the top power play unit. Early in the season, Brink will compete for playing time with fellow rookie Tyson Foerster. At least for opening night, Brink will get the nod.

4. Flyers line play

Rasmus Ristolainen was placed on the injured reserve list when the Flyers filed the team's season-opening roster with the National Hockey League office on Monday. However, the injury was backdated to last week (Ristolainen was a late scratch from the preseason finale and also missed practice the next day). He's now eligible to be placed on the active roster as soon as he's ready. 

Flyers general manager Danny Briere indicated on Tuesday that he anticipated going to opening night with three goaltenders on the active roster. Felix Sandström, the number three goalie on the depth chart, was not placed on waivers on Wednesday, meaning that he will remain on the roster at least through the game in Columbus.

It is possible that the Flyers could make an on-paper roster move involving a waiver-exempt player in order to activate Ristolainen for the opener. However, based on the line combinations in the last three practices (last Saturday and this Tuesday and Wednesday),  Ristolainen's return may wait until the Flyers are in Ottawa on Oct. 14.

During practice this week, the "extra" skaters have been rookie right winger Tyson Foerster and rookie defenseman Emil Andrae (paired with Ristolainen). Barring a day-of-game change, the starting line combinations for the opener in Columbus will look like this:

86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Bobby Brink
21 Scott Laughton - 27 Noah Cates- 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
44 Nic Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
18 Marc Staal - 26 Sean Walker
24 Nick Seeler - 5 Egor Zamula

79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]

PP1: Brink, Atkinson, Couturier, Konecny, York
PP2: Farabee, Tippett, Frost, Cates, Sanheim

Scratches: 71 Tyson Foerster (healthy), 36 Emil Andrae (healthy), 32 Felix Sandström (healthy).

IR; 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed), 94 Ryan Ellis (psoas muscle, other issues).

5. Behind enemy lines: Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets were riddled with injuries last season that kept key personnel out of the lineup either for the rest of the season or at least for lengthy stretches. The club was especially decimated on the blueline. The club finished with a mere 59 points: the third-worst record in the NHL and last in the Eastern Conference.

In the NHL Draft Lottery, the Blue Jackets came away with third overall pick in the 2023 Entry Draft. Columbus selected highly touted University of Michigan center Adam Fantilli. The player will make his NHL debut against the Flyers on opening night.

During the offseason, the Blue Jackets acquired defenseman Ivan Provorov in a three-team trade with the Flyers and Los Angeles Kings. He'll make his Blue Jackets debut against his longtime team. Provorov, who has never missed an NHL game due to injury, dealt with a minor injury during training camp. He's good to go for opening night.

Fellow blueliner Zach Werenski missed all but the first 13 games of last season due to a shoulder injury. He'll make his official return to the Blue Jackets' lineup in this game. Likewise, Jack Bean missed all but 14 games due to a season-ending shoulder injury.

Projected lineup (subject to change):

4 Cole Sillinger - 29 Patrik Laine - 13 Johnny Gaudreau
42 Alexandre Texier - 38 Boone Jenner - 52 Emil Bemström
86 Kirill Marchenko - 11 Adam Fantilli - 17 Justin Danforth
50 Eric Robinson - 7 Sean Kuraly - 96 Jack Roslovic

8 Zach Werenski - 2 Andrew Peeke

9 Ivan Provrorov - 78 Damon Severson
22 Jake Bean - 44 Erik Gubdranson

90 Elvis Merzlikins
[30 Spencer Martin]

PP1: Gaudreau, Fantilli, Marchenko, Laine, Werenski

PP2: Roslovic, Jenner, Bemström, Severson, Bean

Scratched: 91 Kent Johnson (healthy), 27 Adam Boqvist (healthy)

IR: Daniil Tarasov, Yegor Chinakhov

Game Notes: