MELTZER'S MUSINGS: SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
1) The Flyers announced that training camp will start on Sept. 18 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. A total of 61 players -- veterans and rookies -- are slated to be in camp. There will be daily two-a-day practice sessions, scheduled for 9:45 a.m. and 1 p.m., on Sept 18, 19 and 20.
The full camp roster is
available here.
As always, the sessions are open to the public and free to attend. On Sept 19, the Flyers will hold a carnival-like "Super Saturday", with games, prizes, open-air booths, etc. The first 250 fans in attendance will receive free t-shirts emblazoned with this season's "Play Boldly" slogan and all fans on hand will get a free schedule key chain.
2) Flyers general manager
Ron Hextall met with the local media on Thursday to discuss his expectations for training camp and a wide variety of topics ranging from the leadership skills and the adjustment period for new head coach
Dave Hakstol, the keys to a successful season, the advancement of top prospects to challenge for NHL jobs and the importance of various players who did not meet expectations last season -- such as
Matt Read,
R.J. Umberger and, to a lesser extent,
Brayden Schenn -- to have strong seasons in 2015-16.
3) Hextall said that the number one short-range objective was to get off to a strong start. Two seasons, the Flyers managed to successfully climb out of a deep hole that saw the club start out with records of 3-9-0 and 4-10-1 (with only 15 goals scored up to that point) to make the playoffs. Last year, the club started out 0-2-2 but were 7-5-2 by the time a disastrous five-night schedule hiatus rolled around in mid-November. Upon their return, the Flyers sank to 8-13-4 and never really recovered.
This time around, Hextall does not want to see the team find itself in the same situation of playing catch-up hockey for much of the season. Even if it is done successfully, the process takes a heavy physical and emotional toll.
"It still takes a lot of energy to catch because you’re catching six or eight teams not one or two teams," Hextall said. "They go in a down streak and you go by fairly easy. With the way the league is now it takes a lot of energy to try to catch up and play desperate hockey for seventy games. It wears on the teams throughout the years. We need to get off to a better start.”
Although Hextall does not put too much stock in the preseason from an individual player standpoint, he does want to see the team put emphasis on getting into good habits that lead to consistency during the regular season. For this reason, a little more focus will be placed on winning preseason games in order to be as prepared as possible to get off to a good start once the games start to count.
"It's a mentality. Preseason matters. You want your guys to play hard every game and try to win every game. It's a habit. So there's going to be a little more emphasis put on that. I'm not saying we didn't put emphasis on it [in past years]. We did, but we need to really stamp the fact that we need to get off to a good start," said Hextall.
Additionally, this year, the Flyers will not be taking any late preseason bonding/training trips away from their home base in Voorhees. Although Hextall did not say so directly, it was clear the expense and logistics of the getaways were not justified by the on-ice results.
4) Hextall acknowledged that Matt Read's ankle issues and Umberger's multiple ailments were factors in their respective down seasons. However, the GM said both were still capable of better years than they had and both need to have bounceback years in 2015-16. Specific to Umberger, the GM said the player -- who underwent both hip and abdominal muscle surgeries -- is now healthy and the organization hopes he can average about 15 minutes of ice time this season with more effective results at both ends of the ice.
5) The general manager said of Schenn that while Hakstol is aware that the player's best stretch of play came late in the season when he played right wing (for the first time in his career) on a line with
Sean Couturier and Read, it is premature to assume that he should play right wing from now on based on a limited stretch of games with the club already out of the playoffs. However, it is a possibility that Schenn could end up at right wing this season. That will be up to the coach and the player's performance to determine.
6) Last year, when
Samuel Morin enjoyed a strong preseason for the Flyers but was returned to his junior team (the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic), Hextall said that he is very wary about reading too much into individual preseason performances by young players. That is because, during the preseason, the pacing and intensity are a notch lower than during the regular season. Specifically, even when teams have their veteran NHLers in the lineup in the preseason, many of those players treat those games as tune-ups rather than bringing their "A" games. Conversely, when a player has something to prove, he is more likely to treat the preseason as a showcase for his abilities.
On Thursday, Hextall reiterated this theme when asked about whether the team's top prospects have a shot at winning an NHL job out of camp. He said that a player would have to stand head and shoulders above the competition to do so. The GM also said that he is wary about using the nine-game NHL trial option for slide-rule eligible prospects such as
Ivan Provorov. He would prefer not to disrupt the player's season.
"The problem there that I have seen in the past is so you keep a kid for nine games and then he goes back to juniors for a month or two so you can look at it and say we took half his season and kind of turned it upside down where he didn’t go on the perfect development path, where he kind of went back to junior at the end of preseason or the proper time you might call it, and have his head ready at junior, play in the NHL for 9 games," said Hextall.
"For a lot of young kids, it can be detrimental. Just remember like I said you go back to junior, where is your head for the next month or two? Some are fine but for the most part they’re elsewhere.”
7) Declining to name any names, Hextall said that he has "feelers out" to several unsigned NHL veterans about potentially coming to camp with the Flyers on a tryout basis. Tomorrow's blog will look more in-depth about possible candidates.
Some of the players out there who may be of some interest to the Flyers include forwards
Jiri Tlusty,
Sean Bergenheim,
Brad Boyes and
Curtis Glencross. With a current logjam of bodies on the blueline, it seems less likely the team would invite an unsigned defenseman.
It is also unlikely the organization would have strong interest in bringing center
Mike Richards back even if he is aiming to play in the NHL this season. Apart from the player needing to sort out much publicized off-ice issues, there is concern about how much the former Flyers captain is able to contribute.
NHL pro scouts have described Richards as an "old 30" because he has to burn the candle at both ends to be successful on the ice. Richards was never the most naturally gifted player (although he's a decent playmaker) and conditioning has never been his forte. He succeeded primarily through excellent hockey sense and a high competitiveness level.
If and when Richards is ready and able to push for an NHL job again, he might be better off getting a new start somewhere else rather than returning to the place where he enjoyed his best seasons and held the captaincy. Both for his sake and the Flyers, the fit in Philadelphia no longer seems to be right.
8) SHL preseason: Flyers 2014 fifth-round pick
Oskar Lindblom scored a 5-on-3 power play goal in Brynäs IF Gävle's 3-1 preseason win over Örebro on Thursday. Flyers 2015 third-round pick
Felix Sandström served as the backup to veteran starter
Bernhard Starkbaum.
9) WHL preseason: The Calgary Hitmen, featuring Flyers prospects
Travis Sanheim and
Radel Fazleev, begin a weekend set of preseason games with a road match on Friday against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Game time is 5 p.m. EDT. On Saturday afternoon (4:00 p.m. EDT), the Hitmen host the Prince Albert Raiders in Calgary.
10) OHL/QMJHL preseason: The OHL's Ottawa 67s, featuring Flyers 2015 first-round pick
Travis Konecny, will play host to the QMJHL's Gatineau Olympiques on Friday evening. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»