Quick Hits: Aug. 25, 2019
1) Back on July 1, the Flyers made eight unrestricted free agent signings geared toward bolstering the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms and/or adding depth to the bottom end of the NHL roster. Six of the signings were for two-way contracts. The other two were one-way deals. Generally speaking, when a free agent is signed to a one-way deal, it's an indication that the organization believes the player has a legitimate shot at earning a spot on the NHL roster.
One of the players signed to a one-way deal, 26-year-old defenseman Andy Welinski, appears to be caught in a numbers game in his bid for an NHL spot. This is assuming 1) the Flyers get still-unsigned restricted free agent defenseman Ivan Provorov under contract and 2) the team does not make any trades involving a defenseman before the start of the season.
Welinski was signed to a one-year contract worth $750,000 at both the NHL and AHL levels. A former collegiate standout at University of Minnesota-Duluth and an AHL All-Star selection during the 2017-18 season, Welinski is a potential impact edition to the Phantoms but strictly a depth addition the the Flyers. Prior to signing with the Flyers, Welinski had spent his entire pro career in the Anaheim Ducks organization.
The Ducks selected him in the third round (83rd overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft. He split the last two seasons between the NHL with the Ducks and the AHL with their San Diego Gulls farm team. In his 26 NHL games with Anaheim this past season, Welinski played third-pairing minutes (average 16:02 TOI) and chipped in one goal and three assists. In 27 AHL games with San Diego, he took on an all-situations role and produced 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 27 games. Overall, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Welinski has appeared in 33 NHL games (eight points) and 146 in the AHL (24 goals, 59 assists, 83 points).
The Flyers' other one-way signing on July 1 was 28-year-old left winger Ande Andreoff. Andreoff, who can also play center, signed a two-year, one-way contract carrying a $750,000 average annual value (AAV). In Andreoff's case, Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher directly mentioned his name among the players in camp who will be in the mix to compete for an NHL roster spot.
"Andreoff [is] a player that will make a very strong push to make our team this season," Fletcher said on July 1.
Whether that spot would be as the 12th forward or 13th, assuming he wins a job, remains to be seen. Nevertheless, by virtue of having received a one-way deal and Fletcher mentioning the veteran's NHL roster candidacy as a way of expanding upon a question about the chances of the rookie hopefuls in camp suggests that Andreoff will, at minimum, get a long look in camp.
A veteran of 159 NHL regular season games and one playoff game (2016) with the LA Kings, who originally drafted him in the third round (80th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft, Andreoff spent last season in the AHL with Tampa Bay's farm team in Syracuse (26 goals, 55 points, 150 PIM in 75 games).
If the 6-foot-1, 198-pound winger is waived, clears and is assigned to the Phantoms, he is capable of playing significantly higher in the AHL lineup than he would for the Flyers. If he makes the NHL squad, his role would be as a north-south fourth-liner who provides a physical presence.
2) Today in Flyers History: On August 25, 1997, the Hall of Fame career of forward Dale Hawerchuk officially came to an end as he announced his retirement. Hawerchuk spent the final one and a quarter seasons of his playing career with the Flyers. After coming over from the St. Louis Blues on March 15, 1996, Hawerchuk posted 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) over the final 16 games of the 1995-96 regular season and then added nine points (three goals, six assists) in 12 playoff games.
In 1996-97, Hawerchuk filled in on the top line while Eric Lindros missed the first few weeks of the season due to an injury incurred at the World Cup of Hockey. On Nov. 21, 1996, Hawerchuk notched the only hat trick of his Flyers career in a 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Limited by hip and groin issues to 51 regular season games (12 goals, 34 points), Hawerchuk was nevertheless a Commissioner's Selection to the 1997 NHL All-Star Game in recognition of his spectacular career.
Hawerchuk dressed in 17 games during the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs, including his first career appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. He posted seven points, while gritting through his physical ailments. In 2001, "Ducky" was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
3) August 25 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Greg Paslawski (1961), Nick Schultz (1982), Dave Tippett (1961).
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Quick Hits: Aug. 24, 2019
1) When general managers and coaches refer to a young player having a chance at a roster spot if he has an outstanding training camp, a large percentage of fans view it solely in terms of how the player fares in preseason games. In reality, game nights are only part of the evaluation. There is also significant weight given to the daily drills at practice: How quickly does the youngster grasp the systems work? How does he handle the rapid pacing, which is faster than anything they saw during rookie camp? How does he fare in battle drills? How far along did he come in preseason fitness testing?
For Morgan Frost, although this year will be his third September camp with the Flyers, he hasn't spent much time yet in the NHL team phase of camp. During his first camp with the Flyers (2017), he was returned to the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Sept. 14; the same day that full camp started. Last year, he fared well during Rookie Camp and posted a three-point game (1G, 2A) in the Rookies Game. However, in the opinion of then-GM Ron Hextall and then-head coach Dave Hakstol, Frost struggled to keep up once full camp started. After one preseason game in which he received sparing ice time, he was returned to the Greyhounds following the Flyers practice on Sept. 18, 2018.
"It was pretty obvious, not only in the game, but in practice, that he wasn’t ready for this. He’s 19 years old, we told him today. It is not a crime [to struggle in NHL camp] at 19." Hextall said at the time. “We watch practices hard. Every day matters. If you can’t keep up or you lose pace, it’s time. It was pretty obvious; it was an easy decision. That’s not a knock. He’s a typical 19-year-old kid.’’
Frost, who turned 20 on May 14 of this year, spent much of the past year working on areas that the Flyers told him to focus on: using his natural speed to play at a quicker pace, being a little harder to take off the puck in close quarters, and being a little stronger in taking the puck away from opponents.
This time around, Frost will have to lean on the benefit of past learning experiences and the organic progression of his game and physical development over the last two seasons to make a push at earning an NHL roster spot out of camp. He figures to fare better than last year, but will it be enough to break camp with the Flyers rather than with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Fellow first-year pro Isaac Ratcliffe is in the largely the same boat in his third camp. He enters 2019 training camp having only had a few days of NHL camp last year after having been cut in 2017 at the beginning of main camp.
In the case of 2018 first-round pick Joel Farabee, this year marks both his first Rookie Camp and first NHL Camp. Under NCAA rules that prohibit players from missing class to attend a training camp, Farabee was unable to participate last September.
This year will be Philippe Myers' third pro season and fourth full camp with the Flyers. It took Travis Sanheim until his fourth NHL camp to earn an opening night spot on the big club. Not even Ivan Provorov (second camp) or Travis Konecny (second camp) were deemed ready their first camp. Nolan Patrick made it his first camp after being the second overall pick of the 2017 Draft, despite coming off bilteral hernia surgery and not being particularly dominant in camp.
2) With the Flyers having 10 of their prospects in the NCAA and six more in Sweden (where the regular season starts in September), this year's Rookie Camp group figures to be a bit smaller than in past years. That gives the Flyers the ability to look at some other prospects via camp invites. A full camp roster will be posted when available. In the recent past, both Phil Myers and Yegor Zamula earned entry-level contracts with the Flyers via Rookie Camp invites as undrafted free agents.
3) The Philadelphia Flyers Warriors hockey team, the wounded military veteran hockey team sponsored by the Flyers, recently announced on Twitter that they will be playing a game against the Pittsburgh Warriors at the Wells Fargo Center on Sept. 16; the same day that the Flyers take on the New York Islanders in a preseason match.
4) For a rundown of the top moments, the funniest quotes and a results recap from the recent Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp,
click here.
5) Today in Flyers History: On Aug. 24, 1982, Bob "the Count" Dailey announced his retirement as an active player at age 29. A two-time NHL All-Star Game participant and two-time winner of the Barry Ashbee Trophy during his Flyers career, the hard-shooting Dailey suffered a shattered ankle after he went into the boards awkwardly after a hit by Buffalo's Tony McKegney in a game on Nov. 1, 1981 (the same night Pelle Lindbergh made his NHL debut and ended up in the hospital due to severe dehydration). Dailey attempted a comeback four years later, but it was short-lived as he could no longer keep up with even the pace of the AHL during a brief stint with the Hershey Bears.
6) Aug. 24 Flyers Alumni birthday: Norm Barnes (1953), Don "Smokey" McLeod (1946-2015).
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