Quick Hits: August 25, 2023
1) Flyers Daily: In Friday's 20-minute edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus discusses some of the things he's most looking forward tracking in the upcoming season: whether Sean Couturier can quickly recover his game and stay healthy, how year two of the John Tortorella goes, how the organizational rebuilding plan continues to evolve based on how the season goes, player development and which players step up, etc. To listen to the podcast, click here.
2) The finale of the offseason "Liftoff" docuseries centers around the Flyers recent Development Camp in Voorhees. Much of the focus is on the coaching staff at camp, but there are segments with 2023 first-round pick Oliver Bonk, video footage of John Tortorella speaking to the prospects, and a segment with Danny Briere discussing training camp in September and his expectations for the coming year. The full episode is embedded below. A synopsis of the episode with the take-away themes the program emphasizes will run later today on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
Inevitably, entry-level contracts are a topic than often trips up casual hockey fans especially when it comes to explaining the "slide rule" for 18-year-old and 19-year-old players and clarifying which players are and are not eligible to immediately play in the American Hockey League. It's not quite as arcane as explaining the rules governing NCAA-affiliated players attending NHL team-run camps, but it's another topic that comes up every year and causes confusion.
On PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, I wrote an article that breaks down into bite-sized pieces -- and hopefully brings some clarity -- to the entry-level contract recently signed by Flyers 2023 first-round pick Oliver Bonk. It's an article geared more toward fans who didn't understand why the Flyers signed Bonk quickly after drafting him or have questions related to the salary cap, the 50-contract limit per NHL team, the slide rule, etc.
The article is available here.
4) Flyers assistant director of player development and alum defenseman Nick Schultz celebrates his 41st birthday today. Other Flyers Alumni with August 25 birthdays: Dave Tippett (1961) and Greg Paslawski (also 1961).
5) Today in Flyers History: August 25
* 1997: Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk announces his retirement due to a chronic hip ailment. Hawerchuk did his best to battle through it in 1996-97 but it was becoming too hard to play at anything resembling the level that the late longtime star expected from himself.
* 2000: The Flyers trade the rights to defenseman Ray Giroux to the New York Islanders for a sixth round pick (later traded to Montreal) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
* 2021: The Flyers sign unrestricted free agent forward Derrick Brassard to a one-year contract.