The curtain rises on the 2024-25 regular season as John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers take on Rick Tocchet’s Vancouver Canucks in British Columbia. Game time at Rogers Arena is 10:00 p.m. EDT.

The game will be televised on NBCSP. Radio coverage is on 93.3 WMMR with a 24-hour online simulcast on Flyers Radio.

Friday’s game begins a four-game road trip for the Flyers to start the season. They will be back in action on Saturday against the Calgary Flames.

Here are five things to keep in mind heading into the regular season opener.

1. Michkov’s NHL debut

Nineteen-year-old Matvei Michov, the Flyers’ 2023 first-round pick, has arrived in North America with great anticipation and excitement among Philadelphia fans. Michkov is considered a potential Calder Trophy candidate – an award no Flyer has ever won – and has elite-level offensive skills.

The Russian striker is dangerous as both a playmaker and a goalscorer. His hands, creativity and offensive anticipation draw rave reviews. Although he has average straight line speed, his edge work is of top quality. Michkov is also a very competitive young player.

Michkov appeared in four games during the Flyers’ (4-3-0) seven-game preseason schedule. The teenage winger (who split time between right and left wing) scored at least one point in every game he played in, notching three goals and four assists for seven points. Now things really get going with the faster pace and higher intensity of control that distinguish season games from friendly games.

Based on recent practices, it appears Michkov will make his NHL debut on the left wing of Sean Couturier’s line with Travis Konecny. Michkov will also have a spot on the Flyers’ top power play unit.

2. First look at Luchanko

Michkov isn’t the only teenage Flyers player set to make his regular-season NHL debut Friday night. 18-year-old Jett Luchanko is on pace to become the youngest player in Flyers franchise history to wear the orange and black in his first regular-season game.

Luchanko was born on August 21, 2006 and was selected by the Flyers with the 13th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft. One of the youngest players eligible for the 2024 draft (birthday cutoff September 15, 2006), Luchanko is one of the few players selected in this year’s draft to earn a spot on the 2024-25 NHL inaugural team.

What the Flyers’ coaching staff and hockey operations department like about Luchanko: his blistering speed, his exceptional defensive maturity for such a young player, his playmaking vision and his deft passing ability. His scoring ability is nascent, but he can set up linemates in dangerous scoring areas.

Under NHL rules, Luchanko can play up to nine NHL games without burning through the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. If he appears in a 10th game this season, it will trigger the first season of his ELC, even if he subsequently returns to the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League.

Tortorella has promised to give Luchanko ice time for all situations from the start. Look for the young center to appear on the second power play unit and be a secondary part of the penalty kill rotation. In the five-on-five system, Luchanko recently formed the middle line along with Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink.

3. Seeler stays day-to-day

Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler’s status for the season opener remains unchanged. He is dealing with a lower-body injury suffered in a preseason game Oct. 1 in Boston. Seeler has not been able to train since the injury.

If Seeler’s absence continues, look for 36-year-old veteran blueliner Erik Johnson to be part of Philly’s opening lineup. Johnson is currently 13 games away from reaching the coveted Silver Stick milestone (1,000 regular season games played) in his NHL career.

4. Focus on the power play

It’s no secret that the Flyers have struggled on the power play in recent years, finishing 32nd (last) in the NHL in each of the last three seasons. The club’s success rate on the man advantage was 12.2 percent, the lowest in franchise history.

The Flyers will need to improve significantly in this area in the 2024-25 season if the team wants to provide enough offensive support to improve on last season’s record (38-33-11). With the arrival of Michkov and the offensive-minded Jamie Drysdale, now fully healthy heading into his first full season as a Flyer, the team believes the power play personnel has improved.

The organization also formed a “power play committee” to develop strategic ideas for power play coach Rocky Thompson to be employed at the club. In addition to Thompson himself, the participants included John LeClair, Patrick Sharp and Dany Heatley.

How well will these things impact on the ice this season? We’ll find out on Friday when the marathon 82-game gauntlet begins.

5. Behind Enemy Lines: Vancouver Canucks

Flyers Hall of Fame member Tocchet enjoyed a strong 2023-24 regular season with his team, compiling a record of 50-23-9 with 109 points. However, the Flyers won both games against the Pacific Division club last season.

This season, the Flyers’ two-game series against the Canucks will be over in the blink of an eye. The teams will face off again next Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in the Flyers’ home opener. The Flyers and Canucks will then not compete against each other again in the regular season until the 2025/26 season.

The Canucks are an offensively strong team against whom it is a must to bounce back defensively. JT Miller scored 103 points last season. Brock Boeser had a 40-goal season. Dynamic center Elias Pettersson (34 goals, 55 assists) scored 89 points last season, while fleet-footed offensive defender Quinn collected an impressive 75 assists among his 92 points.

Vancouver enters this game with an injury in goal, making it unlikely No. 1 goaltender Thatcher Demko will play until November. Kevin Lankinen (11-6-0, 2.82 GAA, .906 save percentage last year) and young Latvian goaltender Arturs Silovs are available for action.

The Canucks start the 2024-25 regular season 0-0-1. On Wednesday, the Canucks built a 4-1 lead over Calgary in the first half, but then settled for just one point in a 6-5 overtime loss.