Quick Hits: September 11, 2018
1) Prior to the beginning of on-ice work at the Flyers Rookie Camp on Monday, general manager Ron Hextall met with the media to provide an update on defenseman Andrew MacDonald and other veterans, along with giving an overview of his Rookie Camp outlook. Some key points as pertain to the NHL roster:
* MacDonald sustained the lower-body injury in an off-ice workout about 10 days ago. However, the medical testing results did not come until this past weekend. The six-week timetable for his return is dated to this week, and not to the time of the injury itself.
* Sean Couturier has resumed skating, and is on track with his original projected return. He is still slated to play during the second half of the preseason after ramping up to full-contact clearance after partial participation in drills early in camp. Similar plans are in place with Wayne Simmonds and goaltender Brian Elliott. Flyers veterans are working out on the ice at the Skate Zone, preparing for the start of training camp on Friday. Couturier met with the media after Hextall, and said he is feeling fine. If it were an in-season injury, he'd likely play sooner than the announced timetable, but they will adhere to it as a precaution since it is still early September. Couturier is adjusting to wearing a knee brace on the ice, which he will use permanently.
2) For an overview of Day 1 of Rookie Camp, click here. The running blog contains notes, quotes and some video from Monday.
3) The prettiest goal of Monday's session was scored by 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost, who made a quick move out from behind the net into the lower slot, used a defenseman as a partial screen, and beat ATO goaltender Liam Hughes over the glove with a wrist shot.
4) 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov did not participate in on-ice drills on Monday. However, he was in the locker room afterwards in workout clothes, chatting with fellow Russian forward Mikhail Vorobyev.
5) Later today on the Flyers official website, I will have a feature on Philippe Myers: his views on his development path over the past year, his outlook on challenging for an NHL roster spot out of camp this year, and my analysis of the strengths of his game and the work-in-progress areas that he made significant strides in last season as a rookie with the Phantoms.
6) This week on Flyers Radio 24/7, the Training Camp Preview edition of the "FlyerBuzz" podcast, featuring Brian Smith and me, is now available. You can download the podcast here.