The Future of the Flyers
Is Skating in Voorhees.

VOORHEES — While most of South Jersey is thinking about beach tags and July 4 fireworks, the future of the Philadelphia Flyers is skating laps right here in Camden County. The Flyers' 2026 Development Camp is running Monday, June 29 through Friday, July 3 at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, and for once, the closest look at the organization's next wave isn't across the bridge — it's down the road.

Forty-one players are on the ice this week, split into three groups for power-skating and skill sessions and two squads — Team Briere and Team Jones — for practices and games. Leading the class are all six of the Flyers' 2026 NHL Draft picks, headlined by Maksim Sokolovskii, taken 27th overall. A few draftees are arriving late: Czech goalies Martin Psohlavec and Marek Sklenička and Finnish defenseman Max Laatikainen couldn't travel in time for the start, but they're expected to join later in the week.

What makes this year's camp different is who's on the ice who doesn't technically need to be there. Several players who've already made their NHL debuts with the club — Porter Martone, Denver Barkey, Alex Bump and Oliver Bonk — jumped into the on-ice sessions anyway. Martone's presence in particular sends a message. According to the coverage out of camp, he's back not because he has anything left to prove at this level, but to show the younger prospects what it means to wear the jersey. That's the kind of culture-setting that doesn't show up in a box score but tends to show up years later in a locker room.

There's a bit of caution mixed in, too. Jett Luchanko was not on the ice for the first day, with Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong noting Luchanko is dealing with a lower-body injury — the sort of thing camps are designed to manage carefully rather than push through.

For local families, the appeal is simple: this is real, professional-caliber hockey development happening in your own county, in the middle of summer, when the sports calendar usually goes quiet. The camp features a scrimmage on Thursday, July 2 at 6:00 p.m., a chance to see the names Flyers fans will be arguing about for the next decade before they're household names.

South Jersey has always been Flyers country, even without a bridge toll between here and the orange and black. This week, the drive is even shorter. The kids who could shape the next competitive Flyers team are lacing up in Voorhees right now — and if you've ever wanted to say you saw a future star before everyone else did, the ice time is practically in the neighborhood.

Based on reporting from NHL.com/Flyers, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Broad Street Hockey, and Philly Hockey Now. The Neighborhood Gazette covers South Jersey at neighborhoodgazette.town.