FLYERS STILL PONDERING FINAL MOVES ON ROSTER DAY
With a 5 p.m. deadline today to become compliant with the salary cap ceiling and file their opening night roster with the NHL, the Flyers still have several decisions to make. Flyers general manager
Paul Holmgren told CSN Philly/HockeyBuzz writer Tim Panaccio that the club will carry 23 players on opening night but that the combination could still involve 13 or 14 forwards and seven or eight defensemen in addition to goaltenders
Ray Emery and
Steve Mason.
Veteran forward
Adam Hall and defenseman
Bruno Gervais cleared waivers yesterday but there is still a chance that one or the other could be with the team come opening night on Wednesday.
The Flyers have been trying, thus far unsuccessfully, to trade a defenseman (most likely
Andrej Meszaros) to create some salary cap space. However, the club does NOT need to make a move in order to get below the salary cap ceiling. They also have the option of making an on-paper move to assign Hall, Gervais and a waiver-exempt player such as
Brayden Schenn or
Sean Couturier to the Phantoms and then to recall those players in conjunction with placing
Chris Pronger on long-term injured reserve.
The latter option is not ideal, but may be preferable to eating a portion of a traded player's salary and/or including a draft-pick asset as an incentive. There had been rumors over the weekend of the Flyers discussing a trade with Colorado that would send Meszaros to the Avalanche in exchange for third-line-caliber forward
John Mitchell. However, Avalanche coach
Patrick Roy subsequently denied that the club plans to make any trades before the start of the season.
The Flyers also need to make a decision today on tryout defenseman
Hal Gill. If they trade a defenseman, the 38-year-old veteran could sign an NHL contract with Philadelphia and serve as the team's seventh defenseman. If the team is unable to make a trade, it is alternatively possible that Gill will be offered an AHL contract with the understanding that he can be released from the deal if an NHL opening arises in Philadelphia or elsewhere.
As of this writing, this is where the roster stands:
GOALTENDERS (2)
Ray Emery
Steve Mason
DEFENSEMAN (11)
Kimmo Timonen
Braydon Coburn
Mark Streit
Luke Schenn
Nicklas Grossmann
Andrej Meszaros
Erik Gustafsson
Hal Gill (PTO, must be signed or released today)
Bruno Gervais (cleared waivers, eligible for AHL assignment)
Chris Pronger (will go on IR/LTIR)
Marc-Andre Bourdon (cleared waivers, also an LTIR candidate)
FORWARDS (14)
Claude Giroux
Jakub Voracek
Scott Hartnell
Vincent Lecavalier
Brayden Schenn (waiver exempt)
Wayne Simmonds
Sean Couturier (waiver exempt)
Matt Read
Max Talbot
Scott Laughton (slide-rule eligible)
Zac Rinaldo
Jay Rosehill
Adam Hall (cleared waivers, eligible for AHL assignment)
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PHANTOMS DOWNED BY UTICA IN PRESEASON FINALE
The Adirondack Phantoms finished their abbreviated preseason schedule with an 0-2-0 record after losing 4-2 to the Utica Comets yesterday in Rome, NY. Austrian rookie forward
Michael Raffl scored both goals for the Phantoms, assisted by Czech rookie
Petr Straka.
Goaltender
Yann Danis stopped 21 of 24 shots for Adirondack, while winning goalie Joe Cannata turned back 27 of 29. Alex Friessen notched the first two goals for the Comets, later supplemented by a second period tally from Kurtis Bartiff and a late-game empty net goal by Colin Stuart.
The Phantoms, who played Albany the previous evening in Glens Falls, fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period. Raffl got one of the goals back in the opening minute of the second period. He got open in the slot and received a feed from Straka out of the corner. He beat Cannata low with his shot. After Bartiff restored a two-goal lead for Utica, Raffl potted the rebound of an initial shot by Straka off the rush.
Adirondack opens the regular season in Hershey on Saturday. With 35 players still in training camp for the Phantoms, head coach
Terry Murray and general manager
Ron Hextall have a lot of roster decisions to make this week.
The following NHL two-way or AHL-contracted players are in camp:
GOALTENDERS (3)
Yann Danis
Cal Heeter
Carsen Chubak
DEFENSEMEN (7)
Brandon Manning
Oliver Lauridsen
Mark Alt
Matt Konan
Maxim Lamarche
Cullen Eddy
Tyler Hostetter
FORWARDS (16)
Kris Newbury
Tye McGinn
Jason Akeson
Michael Raffl
Petr Straka
Marcel Noebels
Chris VandeVelde
Ben Holmstrom
Kyle Flanagan
Rob Bordson
Zack FitzGerald
Matt Mangene
Andrew Johnston
Brandon Alderson
Tyler Brown
Derek Mathers
The Phantoms have two tryout players (defensemen Mark Nemec and Mike Cornell) in camp. Additionally, there are four players in camp who are contracted for the 2013-14 season with the Flyers/Phantoms ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors: forwards Guillaume Asselin, Jordie Johnston and Jean-Michel Rizk, plus defenseman Lee Baldwin.
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