QUICK HITS: SEPTEMBER 26, 2018
1) The Flyers had an off-day from practice on Tuesday. They will return to the Skate Zone ice in Voorhees today and prepare for Thursday's preseason tilt at the Wells Fargo Center against the New York Rangers.
2) The Flyers made two roster cuts on Wednesday: second-year pro defenseman Philippe Myers and third-year pro forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Both players got caught in a numbers game.
Before camp, the word on Myers that I heard was that he'd have an opportunity to earn an NHL roster opportunity but it would take a stellar camp to do so. When Andrew MacDonald suffered a pre-camp lower body injury, the door was opened a bit wider for Myers. Then, when Travis Sanheim sustained an upper-body injury in the preseason opener, it briefly looked like Myers had a job to lose if Sanheim missed extensive time.
However, the Sanheim injury turned out to be only a 7-to-10-day type of issue. He will return to game action this preseason and should be fine for the opener assuming there is no new injury. Then it was quickly apparent that MacDonald was way ahead of schedule on his initial six-week timetable. MacDonald returned to the lineup in Monday's game; roughly a full month ahead of the initial projection.
Their returns put Myers back into a numbers game. The organization wants him to be playing regularly and not in a seventh defenseman's spot where he could be a scratch for lengthy stretches.
This preseason, Myers has had some good shifts and segments of games where he showed flashes of the upside that make him an intriguing prospect. He practiced fairly well, although he didn't really break out from the pack Overall, he held his own (despite a few gaffes in games) but he also didn't excel.
It wasn't like the blueline as whole has really stood out at a consistent positive -- outside of Shayne Gostisbehere, while the first period of Monday's game was the first one where Ivan Provorov looked to be ramping up his game to close to regular season level. However, the preseason bar for Myers to make the NHL roster was set at "excel" level (assuming healthy incumbent players), as it quite often is for potential NHL rookies. Incumbent players, especially ones with multiple years of NHL experience, usually have the inside track; not just with the Flyers but leaguewide. That is not an opinion; it's a fact.
Once two projected starting six D-men were set to return to the Flyers lineup, the bar on Myers was re-elevated to him having to perform at a very high level to make the opening night roster. He had an uneven game on Monday -- actually one of his weaker ones overall in his body of work in camp -- so the decision to send him down was not surprising. The question was what day it would happen.
Interestingly, Mark Friedman survived the roster cutdown longer than Myers did. I never would have predicted that before camp or even a week ago at this time, although Friedman overall has had a decent camp albeit under the radar. He, too, is in the numbers game and unlikely to make the team. However, since Friedman wasn't cut on Tuesday, he could get one additional preseason appearance before being sent down.
Aube-Kubel had a decent camp but was in an even more severe numbers game than Myers. Even before camp, he appeared to be competing more for positioning himself as a viable in-season recall option -- possibly even for an extended recall -- rather than a major player in the open-night roster battle. I think he helped his case in that regard. It's hard to predict what will happen in-season but it would not be a surprise if Aube-Kubel makes his NHL regular season debut in 2018-19.
Tyrell Goulbourne remains in camp. In his case, there is a waiver consideration because he is no longer on an entry-level contract. The Flyers did not expect to lose Danick Martel on waivers, and likely won't lose Goulbourne. Timing matters to some degree, however. When Martel was claimed by Tampa Bay on Saturday, the Lightning locked themselves into placing Martel on their opening night NHL roster and, by NHL rule, keeping him there at least 30 days (from Oct. 3) or 10 games, whichever comes first. Teams cannot make waiver claims for the purpose of grabbing a player for their AHL team. Chances are that Goulbourne, when he is waived for AHL assignment purposes, will clear.
3) Carsen Twarynski, a first year pro, also remains in camp. While he still is more likely than not to start the year in Lehigh Valley (with the instruction to "just keep doing what you've been doing, and you'll have a career up here, possibly even soon"), he has been identified by Ron Hextall as the most pleasant surprise at the NHL camp. He's done very well for himself, day in and day out, using his side, skating, physicality, ability to agitate and his surprisingly quick and heavy shot to good effect.
4) Mikhail Vorobyev appears to be on the brink of winning the third line center job for the Flyers. Jordan Weal, who was talked up as a candidate by Ron Hextall, entered camp with the apparent inside track for the third-line center role. He hasn't had a bad camp but Vorobyev has far outplayed him, and has been rewarded, day after day and game after game, by playing with skilled wingers on his line.
Vorobyev had a promising rookie year with the Phantoms last year. He was set back by some injury and consistency issues as a Phantoms rookie last year. His offseason homework was to continue to attend to fitting in within the North American game and also settling in within the expectations teammates have on one another. Over the summer, he was considered at least an outside contender for an NHL spot -- Ron Hextall brought up his name -- but seemed to have less than a 50-50 shot at breaking camp with the big club. He's earned where he is now.
Vorobyev has worked his tail off, both in the offseason and daily in camp and games. Importantly, his English is now good enough for him to communicate more freely (although he isn't quite comfortable or fluent enough yet to do interviews in English).
5) While I don't think Weal's roster spot is in danger, he is not a lock for the starting 12 on opening night. He's spent some recent practices with likely non-roster players as his wingers and it was Vorobyev who was given the chance to play between Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny in Monday's game at Wells Fargo Center, which was a mighty big reward for the young Russian.
The roster bubble right now appears to consist of incumbents Jori Lehterà¤, Dale Weise and Taylor Leier plus AHL/NHL veteran Corban Knight and Twarynski. Michael Raffl's roster spot and top-12 starting role seems safe.
6) It is difficult to make any sort of comment on the story that appeared on Finland's MTV3 on Wednesday morning (late Tuesday night eastern U.S. time) regarding Jori Lehterठbeing interviewed by police in connection with a suspected cocaine dealing ring after a raid at a cottage owed by Lehterà¤.
In a matter such as this, it is vital to have every fact correct. There is a lot that is unknown or unclear.
The only facts that known for certain, per the original report are that Finnish authorities raided a summer cottage that belongs to Lehterठand that he was one of the people questioned. He has not been arrested or charged with anything to this point, and it is unclear if he is still considered subject to further investigation. The investigation itself appears to be an open case. MTV3 reported that Lehterठdenied having any involvement or knowledge of what was going on at his property. Beyond that, details are hazy.
7) Over on the Flyers' official website, I wrote a long-read feature article on Shayne Gostisbehere and the traits that set him apart in his longs-odds journey from obscure converted forward from a non-traditional hockey background to one of the best young defensemen in the NHL. It was a fun article to assemble.
I was one of the first people to interview Ghost at his first NHL Development Camp with the Flyers in 2012. The Flyers had just hired Anthony SanFilippo as their in-house reporter but Anthony had not yet started on the job and I was asked to come write a series of Development Camp articles for the Flyers official website. On Day 2 of camp, I met and wrote about "Ghost" for the first time.
On Day 1 of camp, there were a lot of reporters on hand and the interviews were focused on 2012 first-round pick Scott Laughton, 2012 second-rounder Anthony Stolarz, second-year pro Brandon Manning and camp director Ian Laperriere. On Day 2, I believe the only people around media-wise were the Flyers' Brian Smith, Anthony Mingioni, perhaps Russ Cohen (I know Russ was there on Day 1) and myself. Ghost was every bit as impressive in his first camp interview as he was on the ice shortly before; which is saying something. I also interviewed Reese Willcox, 2011 draftee Nick Cousins and Greg Coburn on that day, but the Ghost interview was the most memorable. I believe the Day 3 interviews were with Fredde Larsson, Oliver Lauridsen and Matt Konan.
At any rate, I think most Flyers fans will enjoy the new Gostisbehere article. To read it, click here.
8) Yesterday, I was part of a meeting at Wells Fargo Center to set content for the Flyers Radio 24/7 podcast series for the 2018-19 season. While I was waiting in the lobby to go up for the meeting, Gritty (in full costume, despite it being mid-afternoon on a non-game day) and Andrea Helfrich, in a Gritty t-shirt, came walking past. Bobby, the longtime security guard, took a photo with Gritty before helping them with the elevator. That scene was a bit, um, different.
The Flyers may have a forthcoming announcement about the full array of programming that will be upcoming this season on Flyers Radio 24/7 as well as on 97.5. I will be part of 2-3 of them.
9) Sept. 26 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Matt Carle (1984), Craig Darby (1972).