Meltzer's Musings: Vets in Voorhees, Prospect Updates, Alumni and More

MELTZER'S MUSINGS: SEPTEMBER 2, 2015

1) Now that September has arrived, the number of Flyers veterans working out at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ, will start to increase rapidly as the start of full camp on Sept. 17 starts to draw closer. This week, returning Flyers players Nick Schultz, Chris VandeVelde, Ryan White and Radko Gudas joined offseason acquisitions Evgeni Medvedev and Michal Neuvirth for workouts.

Medvedev spent part of the day in new Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol's office, discussing aspects of the system the team will employ. Part-time Flyers power skating coach Slava Kouznetsov sat in to translate and also served as translator when Medvedev spoke afterwards with beat writers in attendance.

2) Flyers 2013 and 2014 first-round draftees Samuel Morin and Travis Sanheim were among the 40 top NHL prospects invited to Toronto on Tuesday for the 2015 NHLPA Rookie Showcase. The event, held at the Mattamy Athletic Center (the site of the former Maple Leaf Gardens) is focused around young players posing in their NHL rights-holding team's uniform for each player's first NHL/NHLPA licensed trading cards from Upper Deck.

Although both players are now under NHL entry-level contract with the Flyers, neither of the team's two 2015 first-round picks -- Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny -- were among the listed participants. Only the players selected with the first five picks of the 2015 NHL Draft attended. The rest were prospects selected in the previous three Drafts, and no NHL organization had more than two prospects on hand.

Below, Morin poses with Mike Matheson (Florida Panthers 2012 first-round pick), Ryan Hartman (Chicago Blackhawks' 2013 first-round pick), Ivan Barbashev (St. Louis Blues 2014 second-round pick) and Nikolay Goldobin (San Jose Sharks 2014 first-round pick).

3) Sanheim, 2015 sixth-round pick Radel Fazleev and the rest of the Calgary Hitmen have a Western Hockey League preseason road game on tap for Thursday evening against the Regina Pats. There are also home exhibition games in Calgary slated for Friday (vs. Moose Jaw Warriors) and Saturday (vs. Prince Albert Raiders) afternoons. Sanheim and Fazleev will attend the Flyers rookie camp (starting Sept 14), full camp and see some action with the big club during the preseason. Calgary's regular season schedule starts on Sept. 25.

4) In contrast to the tightly packed early September preseason schedule for Calgary, Provorov's Brandon Wheat Kings team does not play its first preseason games until a home-and-home with Regina on Sept. 11 and 12.

5) The Ontario Hockey League's Ottawa 67s, featuring Konecny, have a home game on Friday against Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team Gatineau Olympiques. After that, Ottawa does not have another preseason game until Sept. 17 (by which time Flyers camp will be underway).

6) Flyers 2014 second-round pick Nicolas Aube-Kubel and the QMJHL's Val-d'Or Foreurs have a road preseason game on the schedule for Sept. 3. The club will take on the Sherbrook Phoenix.

7) Swedish Hockey League club Brynà¤s IF Gà¤vle, featuring Flyers prospects Oskar Lindblom (2014 fifth-rounder) and Felix Sandström (2015 third-rounder), have a road preseason game scheduled for Thursday against à–rebro HK and Saturday against Djurgà¥rdens IF. The SHL regular season schedule starts on Sept. 17 with a home game against the Malmö Redhawks.

8) Former Flyers prospect Andrew Johnston signed an ECHL contract on Tuesday. The left winger, who appeared in 14 AHL games last season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (zero goals, one assist) and 42 regular season games (six goals, 20 points) with the ECHL's Reading Royals, signed a one-year deal for 2015-16 with the Missouri Mavericks. Johnston completed his entry-level deal with the Flyers organization last season and was not tendered a qualifying offer, so he became an unrestricted free agent.

9) The arrival of September also means the annual return of the Flyers Alumni Team for benefit fundraising games at rinks around the Delaware Valley. On Sept. 12, the Alumni Team will take part in the Face-Off Against Cancer benefit game at the Ice Works in Aston, PA. More information will be forthcoming in the days to come.

On a related note, this journal entry by recent Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp attendee Lou Lumi is a must read. Mr. Lumi, who has been battling cancer for five years -- the struggle is ongoing -- wrote extensively about his day-by-day experiences at the camp and how much it meant to him.

TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY FROM FlyersAlumni.org: SEPTEMBER 2

1971: The Flyers sign a pair of prospects -- 21-year-old forwards Rick MacLeish and Bob Kelly -- to their respective first pro contracts. On the same day, the team signs fourth-year pro defenseman Larry Brown after claiming him from the New York Rangers three months earlier.

1994: The Flyers sign 1992 first-round pick Ryan Sittler to a pro contract, ending his collegiate hockey career after two seasons at the University of Michigan.

Flyers Alumni Birthdays

Three Flyers Alumni share Sept. 2 birthdays: early 1970s goaltender Michel Belhumeur (born 1949), mid-1980s depth right winger Paul Guay (1963) and early 2000s Czech import center Petr Hubacek (1979).