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QUICK HITS: JUNE 30, 2018
1) Flyers general manager Ron Hextall spoke to the media on Friday, addressing the unrestricted free agent market. He clarified a previous statement he made about not being willing to go long-term on a contract for "good players" on the UFA market, saying he would have done so for a "great player" (as in John Tavares, whose final list of six teams include only his current New York Islanders club within the Metro Division).
Without elaboration, Hextall said he's been in contact with the agents for several impending UFAs. He added that "there's a line" beneath which he believes the remaining players on the market are not upgrades over either the current Flyers roster or prospects who are close to being ready for the NHL. If the free agents he regards as being above the line opt to sign elsewhere, the GM acknowledged that is is possible the Flyers make no NHL roster-geared signings on July 1. He said he will not make a signing just for its own sake.
Long gone are the day when teams like the Flyers and Rangers had a distinct advantage in landing pretty much any free agent they wanted. Nowadays, most of the Flyers' focus is on building from within. However, if the team is unhappy with the free agent market, they may seek upgrades via the trade route instead.
Of course, it also takes two sides to make a trade.
For example, the reported price tag that Buffalo placed on center Ryan O'Reilly was outrageous. From a Flyers standpoint, the buzz in Dallas over Draft weekend was that the Sabres demand from Philly was for one of the Flyers young defensemen (believed but not confirmed to be Travis Sanheim), a young roster forward plus the 19th overall pick in exchange for O'Reilly. As such, assuming the rumored price was accurate, it is understandable why it was a short discussion from the Flyers' end.
2) Hextall elaborated on the injury status of several prospects who are not on the ice in development camp. He confirmed what was long suspected about Wade Allison's right knee injury: it was a torn ACL. The power forward is expected to start his junior season at Western Michigan on time but it is not set in stone as he only recently resumed skating. Tanner Laczynski's injury is an ankle sprain. David Kase's injury is a shoulder issue. Connor Bunnaman's minor surgery on both feet was due to bunionitis.
3) On Friday, the Flyers hosted Humboldt Broncos defenseman Ryan Straschnitzki as their special guest at Development Camp. For more, click here.
4) Hextall confirmed that Acadie-Bathurst Titan over-age center Mitchell Balmas will attend the team's rookie camp in September as a tryout player. The 20-year-old Balmas posted 35 points in 33 games after coming over to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Titan after coming over in a trade with the Gatineau Olympiques (37 points in 35 games). Overall, Balmas scored 42 goals and 72 points in 68 regular season games last season. In the playoffs, he added five goals and 13 points in 16 games.
5) Saturday's on-ice schedule at Development Camp is as follows:
Goalie Group B (Ersson, Fedotov & Ustimenko): 8:00 AM -9:15 AM
Goalie Group A (Hart, Sandstrom & Tomek): 9:30 AM -10:45 AM
Defense: 9:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Forwards: 10:45 AM -Noon
6) June 30: Flyers Alumni birthdays -- Andrew Alberts (1981), Steve Duchesne (1965), Craig Fisher (1970), Bob Froese (1958), Jim Montgomery (1969).
7) Chris Therien filmed a Rocky-themed promotional video for his Bundy's Chariot of Flyers team at the 2018 Toyota Flyers Charity classic. He will be doing the 5k run to raise money for Snider Hockey. Sign up here.
We are just over 2 weeks away from the @Toyota Flyers Charity Classic and @FlyersAlumni@ctherien6 has been training hard throughout Philly with some inspiration from Rocky!
8) The new edition of the "Real Deal with Bundy and Bill" podcast on the Flyers Alumni's Talkshoe channel is now available. You can listen below to the episode or download it here.
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