GAME PREVIEW (2:30 AM EDT)
The Flyers will look for their second win in six preseason games when they head to Newark tonight to take on the New Jersey Devils. The Devils prevailed, 2-1, when the clubs faced off in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m. There is no television broadcast of the game but a
radio broadcast will be available on 97.5 The Fanatic.
Steve Mason is expected to start in goal tonight for the Flyers. The rest of the lineup, especially the defense pairings, will not be clear until the morning skate but it stands to reason that Peter Laviolette will work in players who did not appear in Tuesday's game.
On Tuesday, Laviolette started six defensemen who are locks to at least be on the opening night roster, barring an injury (or trade) before the opener: Kimmo Timonen, Mark Streit, Braydon Coburn, Erik Gustafsson, Nicklas Grossmann and Andrej Meszaros. The latter three are competing for two available starting spots, with Grossmann playing the best hockey among the three players thus far in the exhibition season.
Tonight's defense lineup is likely include Luke Schenn, plus the roster bubble group of Bruno Gervais, tryout Hal Gill and Oliver Lauridsen. It would stand to reason that one or two among Gustafsson, Grossmann and/or Meszaros would play tonight. Streit played nearly 24 minutes on Tuesday and Timonen played nearly 21 minutes. Coburn played 17:18 on Tuesday (a bit low compared to his norm) so he'd seemingly be the most likely to suit up tonight if only one among Gustafsson, Grossmann and Meszaros play.
Up front, top line right wing Jakub Voracek (lower back injury, day-to-day) was not slated to play tonight, anyway, and did not practice yesterday. Wayne Simmonds (recovered from the flu) did not play on Tuesday and should be a go for this game.
On the bottom six of the forward lineup, Laviolette will likely work in Zac Rinaldo and roster bubble checking line player Chris VandeVelde tonight. Neither played on Tuesday, and Rinaldo is fine now after sustaining an upper-body injury that forced him to leave the preseason opener.
Logically, it would figure that bubble players Michael Raffl and Scott Laughton, who did play on Tuesday, will be playing again tonight. Although Adam Hall reportedly practiced in Voracek's spot yesterday (I was under the weather and not able to make it to the Skate Zone), I would not be shocked if Raffl starts and ends up getting a look at the top end of the five-on-five lineup, while continuing to see a bit of power play time.
After tonight's game, the Flyers head to DC. They wrap up their preseason schedule tomorrow night with a game against the Washington Capitals. The team will make additional roster cuts tomorrow. Since one typically sees something close to the opening-night lineup in the preseason finale, I'd expect that tomorrow night's lineup will have a greater resemblance to what we'll see come next Wednesday.
I think it is likely that Lauridsen gets assigned to Adirondack tomorrow, and that Gill will be released from his PTO (possibly with an offer of a minor-league contract, which would contain an out-clause if Gill has an opportunity to sign an NHL contract). I also think that the most likely forward cut is VandeVelde, whose AHL-only contract may be canceled out in favor of a two-way NHL contract that would enable the Flyers to call him up to the big club should a need arise. However, if VandeVelde significantly outplays Raffl, it's also possible that the Flyers could give the nod to the 26-year-old with 28 games of NHL experience.
My gut feeling on Laughton is that the 19-year-old will not make the opening night roster this year. The team wants to keep him at center. He's not going to take ice time from any of Claude Giroux, Vincent Lecavalier or Sean Couturier. Veteran checker Hall has has a solid enough preseason to hang on to his fourth-line center spot, and the club could also plug Max Talbot or even VandeVelde (himself a natural center) into that role should the need arise early this season. As such, I think Laughton ends up getting assigned back to the OHL's Oshawa Generals when the final roster cuts gets made.
Of course, this is all just my own speculation. There is still plenty that could happen between today and next Wednesday to shape the Flyers' opening night roster.
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THURSDAY QUICK HITS
* Samuel Morin, the Flyers first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, suffered
an undisclosed injury in the Rimouski Oceanic's last game. He is slated to miss 10-to-14 days, according to a French-language report in L'Advantage.
* Defense prospect Valeri Vasiliev, who has been back for two games since sustaining a shoulder injury in his KHL regular season opener, is in action today with Spartak Moscow. The team will take on Avtomobilist. Game time is 11 a.m. EDT and a webcast stream will be available
here.
* Adirondack Phantoms head coach Terry Murray spoke after the Flyers' AHL farm team opened training camp on Monday (video below). The team opens its brief, two-game preseason schedule on Saturday night with a home game against the Albany Devils and then follows up on late Sunday afternoon with a road match against the Utica Comets. The regular season opens with a road game in Hershey on Oct. 5.
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