Who makes the 23-man roster? Here’s our projection as Flyers camp hits final week

The final week of Flyers training camp begins Monday. It’s the Final Countdown.

The Flyers play the fifth of their six exhibition games Monday night at home against the Boston Bruins before wrapping up their preseason slate Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center vs. the New York Islanders.

They have trimmed what was once a 57-man training camp roster down to 31, and the final roster battles will play out over the next few days.

Who will be on the 23-man roster for the season opener Oct. 12 in Columbus? It’s a good time to reset the group after the Flyers’ off day on Sunday.

Here’s our best guess at who makes the team.

The Flyers have 11 of their 12 forward spots seemingly etched in stone. The remaining question mark is right wing on the third line. It would seem that spot is between 22-year-old Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster, 21, who showed his potential in eight games with the Flyers last season.

Brink performed well over the weekend, but Monday’s lineup made it seem like he still had some more work to do to edge out Foerster. Foerster, meanwhile, will have his chance to respond this week.

» READ MORE: Monday’s Flyers lineup offers some clues to how the team might look for the season opener

Here’s a look at the four forward lines with Foerster on the team:

Extras: Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski

Why leave Brink off the roster entirely? There’s no point in him being a healthy scratch. If Brink doesn’t make the team, the Flyers will likely want him playing AHL games and not wearing a suit on game nights.

If he emerges with a strong week, the only thing that changes with this projection is Brink in for Foerster. The Flyers will also likely want Foerster playing consistent games with the Phantoms.

» READ MORE: The Flyers’ new-look fourth line has been one of the few constants so far at training camp

Don’t expect a ton of surprises here. The Flyers entered camp with a top six that seemed pretty set, and it would have taken a pretty remarkable run from some of their young roster hopefuls to shake that up. That hasn’t happened.

Here’s a look at the three projected defensive pairs on opening night:

Extra: Egor Zamula

This is the chalkiest projection there is. But none of the “regulars” have given any reason to think they shouldn’t be on the ice in Columbus and beyond.

Zamula hasn’t done anything special to necessarily beat out his competition, but unlike most of the others, he is no longer waiver-exempt, and sending him to the AHL comes with the risk that he gets claimed by another team.

The Flyers placed Victor Mete on waivers Monday but he went unclaimed and will likely start the season with the Phantoms. The 25-year-old defenseman appeared to have an outside chance at making the NHL roster, but seems to be a prototypical AAAA player, to put it in baseball terms. He’s an above-average AHL player, and a bubble NHL defenseman. Zamula has been in the organization longer, and the Flyers just seemed to be more invested in his success.

There is another layer to this, too. We explored last week the possibility that the Flyers could go the more unconventional route and keep eight defensemen on the 23-man roster to start. Most teams carry two extra forwards and one defenseman. The Flyers seem to like what Staal brings to the locker room, but head coach John Tortorella was pretty open about the fact that Staal won’t play every night and said he told the veteran defenseman that he won’t block the Flyers from developing their young players.

If the Flyers do end up keeping eight, that would mean Allison or Laczynski gets sent back to the Phantoms in this projection. Both would have to clear waivers in order to do so. The Flyers placed Laczynski on waivers on Tuesday.

If they decide to keep eight, it would seem to be down to three players: Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning, and Emil Andrae. The first two were slated to play in Monday’s preseason game while Andrae was sitting out.

Andrae, a 21-year-old prospect, has played pretty well in his preseason games so far, and he showed why the Flyers like him Saturday night vs. the Devils, flashing his skill with the puck.

» READ MORE: Flyers ‘not tanking,’ says Danny Brière, but how will the rebuild impact roster decisions?

Hart is the No. 1 goalie. But the three-man backup goalie battle has been arguably the most intriguing roster race in Flyers camp.

Ersson has played the best out of the trio, which also includes Felix Sandström and Cal Petersen.

Of the three goalies fighting for the backup job, Ersson is the only one who can be sent back to the Phantoms without having to clear waivers. Petersen was placed on waivers Tuesday by the Flyers but given his $5 million cap hit, it is almost a certainty that he will go unclaimed.

That means the Flyers will have to be comfortable risking Sandström in waivers if Ersson wins the job.

“It’s kind of unfair when we want to talk about merit and not stay with merit right on through no matter what position it is,” Tortorella said last week when asked if the waiver process would impact the team’s decision on the goaltending position.