Bill Meltzer Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSS
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QUICK HITS
1) The Minnesota-based DBL (Da Beauty League), a summertime 4-on-4 league featuring numerous NHL and other pro league players divided into six teams, has returned for its third year. Among the participating players are Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk and free agent forward Matt Read. They are teammates on RBC. Flyers prospect Noah Cates (University of Minnesota-Duluth) plays for Tria. Games feature two 23-minute halves. Although these are non-hitting games, the standard rules of hockey apply including offside and icing.
2) On NHL Network, Mike Johnson picked second-year Flyers center Nolan Patrick as his No. 1 breakout player candidate for the 2018-19 season.
Patrick got off to a tough start last season. Apart from the usual rookie adjustments to the league, Patrick was recovering gradually from dual hernia surgeries and then an early season concussion. He looked slow and, at times, too content to play on the perimeter. Through his first 29 games, he had produced just seven points (two goals, five assist).
As Patrick started to feel much closer to 100 percent, however, things started to click for him. After the All-Star break, he showed evidence of why he entered his (injury-marred) draft eligible season regarded as the top candidate to go first overall in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Patrick finished his rookie NHL season with 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in 73 games. Especially in light of his tough start, it was respectable production. The rookie scored one goal and added an assist in the Flyers' six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Patrick will celebrate his 20th birthday on Sept. 19.
3) Back in the spring, a Russian outlet reported that Phantoms forward Radel Fazleev, who has one year remaining on his entry-level contract with the Flyers, had signed a deal with a KHL team for the 2018-19 season. The report was erroneous. Fazleev has not jumped his contract nor has his contract been terminated via mutual agreement. While it is not totally inconceivable that Fazleev could be loaned out for the season if there is not a roster spot for him on the Phantoms, the 22-year-old forward is still part of the Flyers' organization.
4) ICMYI: Flyers general manager Ron Hextall joined Chris Therien and me on the new edition of the "Real Deal Hockey with Bundy and Bill" podcast on the Flyers Alumni's channel on Talkshoe. We covered a wide array of topics on the 40-minute program. Before Ron called in, Bundy and I discussed the tragic passing of Ray Emery and our memories of his time in Philadelphia.
Over on the new edition of the FlyerBuzz podcast on Flyers Radio 24/7, Brian Smith and I went in-depth on the Flyers offseason to date and discussed many of the prospects in the farm system as well as looking at this year's Draft class now that it's been a few weeks since the picks were made and the organization held its development camp in Voorhees. For more, click here.
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