Quick Hits: October 11, 2023
1) After a players-only bonding trip on Sunday and Monday, practice resumed on Tuesday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. All players were present and accounted for on the ice, including defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who was placed on the injured reserve list when the Flyers filed their opening roster with the National Hockey League office on Monday. The line combinations in the hour-long practice were as follows:
86 Joel Farabee - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Bobby Brink 21 Scott Laughton - 27 Noah Cates- 11 Travis Konecny 74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson 44 Nic Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway 71 Tyson Foerster
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim 18 Marc Staal - 26 Sean Walker 24 Nick Seeler - 5 Egor Zamula 36 Emil Andrae - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
79 Carter Hart 33 Samuel Ersson 32 Felix Sandström
PP1: Brink, Atkinson, Couturier, Konecny, York PP2: Farabee, Tippett, Frost, Cates, Sanheim
On Wednesday, the Flyers will hold another practice at the FTC before departing for a mid-afternoon flight to Columbus. On Thursday, the team will play its regular season opener at Nationwide Arena against Ivan Provorov and the rest of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
2) Before the start of practice, Flyers general manager Danny Briere met with the media contingent at the FTC. Briere discussed the start of the season, observations from training camp and the final roster decisions he made. Some key points:
* The Flyers backdated Ristolainen's IR status to last week. He was a late scratch from last Thursday's preseason finale, missed practice on Friday but returned to the ice on Saturday. He practiced but did not look 100 percent healthy. Ristolainen stayed behind in Voorhees and skated on his own on Monday while the rest of the team was on its two-day trip. Briere said that Ristolainen's condition lingered long enough to merit further examination. However, as noted above, Ristolainen practiced on Tuesday. He's eligible to exit IR on Thursday for the opener, which head coach John Tortorella said is quite possible.
* Briere, however, stated on Wednesday that he anticipates that the Flyers will carry three goaltenders on the roster on opening night; suggesting that they won't rush Ristolainen back onto the active roster. For the Flyers to pare down to two goalies on the roster for Thursday, they'd have to place Sandström on waivers on Wednesday. If he clears, he could then be sent to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Thursday to open a roster spot that would enable the club to activate Ristolainen.
* Briere said that John Tortorella, like most NHL coaches, is inclined to have a more veteran-oriented lineup on the opening week of the season and then start to work in more young players as the season progresses. The GM also said that, by necessity, plans often change suddenly in the NHL. This was said in regard to whether young defensemen such as Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula or veterans such as Marc Staal and Nick Seeler would get the starting lineup nod for opening night. With Ristolainen temporarily sidelined, Zamula practiced in the presumable starting lineup grouping.
* Briere said it was a tough decision to risk waivers on Wade Allison (who cleared on Saturday and was assigned to the Phantoms) but felt that both Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster outplayed Allison in camp. The GM said that the challenge now for players such as Allison, Tanner Laczynski and defenseman Victor Mete to take a good frame of mind to Allentown and get to work in trying to earn a recall when the opportunity arises.
3) Related note: After the Phantoms won their preseason finale on Sunday against the Hershey Bears on an overtime goal by Laczynski off a feed from Mete, Laczynski spoke with the media. He discussed how, while everyone wants to play at the highest level, he's already embraced the prospect of playing an important role for the Phantoms and belief that the AHL club will build on the improvement it showed last season.
Tanner Laczynski postgame, Oct 8 pic.twitter.com/GlsrcCWSWk
— Bob Rotruck (@BobRotruck) October 8, 2023
An intriguing decision that's still pending: The Phantoms have to determine whether to keep 19-year-old Alexis Gendron or send him back to the QMJH's Gatineau Olympiques for his draft-plus-two season. Although Gendron was not NHL Entry Draft-eligible in 2021 due to being born too late (Dec. 30, 2002) for the Sept. 15, 2022 birthdate cutoff, he IS age-eligible for the American Hockey League during the 2023-24 season. That's because he'll turn 20 before the end of the 2023 calendar year.
Alexis Gendron Postgame Oct 8, 2023 pic.twitter.com/nFIPchKDdF
— Bob Rotruck (@BobRotruck) October 8, 2023
5) On Tuesday evening, the debut episode of season two of the Flyers preseason docuseries, "The Standard", went live on the Flyers Youtube channel. Episode 1 runs 21 minutes. For a synopsis of what's covered in the debut episode and key moments/quotes, click here. To see the entire episode, watch it below.
In case you missed it: Tuesday's episode of Flyers Daily included a segment with Samuel Ersson talking about winning an opening night roster spot, backing up Carter Hart and performing when not starting every night, developing his game to the NHL Level and more. To listen, click here.