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Preseason Gameday: Flyers @ Capitals
The Philadelphia Flyers will close out their six-game 2021 preseason schedule tonight with a game at the Capital One Center in DC against the Washington Capitals. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
The Flyers are 2-2-1 through five preseason games, going 2-0-1 in the three games where they had a semblance -- in one case, nearly full -- lineup of regulars. They are 0-2-0 in the two games where a decidedly "B" lineup played another team's A lineup. Friday's preseason finale will be the first where both sides dress their NHL lineups.
The Flyers still have 13 forwards, 8 defensemen and three goalies in camp. Carter Hart took a maintenance day on Thursday after the Flyers team had an off-day on Wednesday. Head coach Alain Vigneault said several times after Thursday's practice that Hart is not dealing with anything serious and that he'll be fine for opening night. Hart was the originally scheduled starter for the final preseason game but Martin Jones will play in the game instead and Felix Sandström will serve as the backup.
General manager Chuck Fletcher said on Thursday that the team may enter the season with only 12 forwards (excluding Kevin Hayes, who will go on Injured Reserve), six defensemen and goalies Hart and Jones on the active roster. If so, this would partially be for salary cap reasons and partially because the Flyers start the season on a four-game homestand with time off between each game.
If the team enters the season with 12 forwards, the final decision comes down to Jackson Cates or Garrett Wilson. The latter is on an AHL contract to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and a PTO (professional try-out) deal with the Flyers. If the Flyers so desire, they could place Cates on the opening roster and keep Wilson around on his PTO until such a time that they want him available to play. At that point, he could have his AHL contract converted to a two-way NHL deal. Wilson and Cates rotated reps at practice on Thursday.
On defense, it is likely that highly touted rookie Cam York will be assigned to the Phantoms. If the Flyers set an opening roster with six defensemen, Nick Seeler would require waivers to be sent to the Phantoms but would most likely clear. When the team needs a seventh defenseman for its western Canada road trip that follows the opening four games at home, Seeler would be the most likely recall.
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 19 Derick Brassard - 89 Cam Atkinson
23 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Scott Laughton - 25 JVR
47 Garrett Wilson - 44 Nate Thompson - 62 NAK
9 Ivan Provorov - 94 Ryan Ellis
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 45 Cam York
35 Martin Jones
[32 Felix Sandström]
The Capitals, like the Flyers will have most of their regulars in the lineup. However, star veteran center Nicklas Bäckström (hip) is currently unavailable and goalie Ilya Samsonov (lower body) may also be held off the game-day roster. Washington has 26 players remaining in camp, excluding the injured Bäckström.
Look for a fuller preview article later this morning on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, followed by the usual Postgame 5 recap and highlights following the game.
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Transcript: Fletcher Discusses Roster Moves, State of the Team
Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher had a media availability session on Thursday to discuss where the team is -- both roster-wise and in terms of progression on the ice -- during training camp. He spent a significant portion of time at the beginning discussing the decision to send Morgan Frost to Lehigh Valley to start the 2021-22 regular season.
Courtesy of the Flyers' Allie Samuelsson, the following is a transcription of Fletcher's media session.
There are 13 forwards left in camp. Was there consideration to look at Morgan Frost in one final preseason game?
I think AV wanted to get closer to the lines. You'll see Scotty Laughton at center today. Obviously, we know Scotty can play center. He's played a lot there. I don't think he needs a lot of work, but it'll be good to get practice going.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by Morgan's camp. I anticipated he be further behind than what he was. He missed a whole season and had serious shoulder surgery. I thought his details, his commitment to defense, and his competitiveness were above what I figured. You see players come back from shoulder surgery. It can be difficult for them to jump right back into it with confidence. I thought he did well. Predictably, his timing is a little off.
I think having him go down to Lehigh Valley and play, play a lot and play every situation for Lappy will benefit him. Allow him to get his timing back and his confidence back. The next time you see him, he'll be a vastly improved player.
AV said at the start of camp about the importance of building chemistry with the lines and that's why he kept the lines together for so long in preseason. You just said that Morgan kind of pleasantly surprised you considering how much time was missed. Obviously, he still didn't make the team. My question is if chemistry is important, Morgan pleasantly surprised you and still didn't make the team, why did Morgan stay up in the main lines for so long in camp?
To be honest with you, the coaches really like Morgan. This is probably more my decision in putting him down. I think we wanted to give Morgan every opportunity to show what he could do. We played him with good player. We played him in important situations. I think the best thing for him long term is to play and play in an environment where he can get his confidence. It's the best thing for him. It's the best thing for us. We went into it in good faith and wanted to give him that opportunity.
I still think we have a lot of time here. We still have over a week until our first game. We'll have a lot of practice time. The first couple of weeks of the season we have four home games where we'll have practice time. I think chemistry can happen quickly. The guys have been spending a lot of time together. I think Laughts is with JVR. They played together before, so I don't think it'll take all that long for that chemistry to happen.
Again, the coaches are really supportive of Morgan. This was more me to say ‘Hey, let's do what's right here. Let's give him the chance [to recover his offensive rhythm]'.. It's not a rush to get him playing here. He's going to play here, but let's make sure we give him a chance to be successful.
Garrett Wilson is on an AHL deal here and a PTO that is still in camp. What have you seen from Garrett in terms of his size and physicality that he brings to consider him for that role?
Well, he brings that. He has a lot of experience. I think when AV met with the players at the beginning of camp, he said that the players that play the best will get rewarded. I think we just stay true to our word there. He's been one of the best players day in and day out. He's competed hard and I think he's earned the right to be here right now.
How did Morgan take the news from you and what was your overall message to him?
Exactly what I said to you. Again, I was pleasantly surprised with how well he played, so this was not a punishment. I think he admitted that his timing isn’t where it will be, which is normal. Again, you can't miss a full season, step right back in, and be at 100%. It takes time. He's disappointed as anyone would be. He's a top, top player. I can't imagine he's been cut many times in his life. I got cut lots, but I don't think Morgan's had to deal with that. I think he understands it, but in the moment, of course you're disappointed. He's a competitor.
Based on what you said about Morgan and the playing time will benefit him. Are you looking at that the same way with Cam York?
Yes, possibly. We'll see how things go here. We have six veteran D that have all played well in camp and I think we're going to run it pretty lean early in the year, our roster.
Does that mean seven D?
It might mean six. We don't need a lot of extra bodies during the homestand. We can recall players, but I expect there will be a lot of movement up and down all year. The important thing for young players is to make sure they're playing.
What have you seen from Jackson Cates in camp on a day-in, day-out basis?
Jackson's a dependable player. He's a player that right now fits in our bottom six. What you ask of those players is to be responsible, to manage the puck, and work hard. Typically, you need to kill penalties in that type of role. He does all that well. He's another player that we’ll have to make sure we're monitoring his ice time. He's a little bit older, but yet he doesn't have a lot of pro experience. We just want to make sure with all these players that you're doing what's best for them to give them a chance to be successful.
Any update on the timeline for Kevin Hayes and Wade Allison? Any chance Kevin is going to be ahead of that six, eight weeks?
I hope so. I don't know. I'm hoping he's closer to six than eight. We'll know more in the next week or two as he starts to progress in his rehab and start to get back on the ice. We'll see how he feels and what Jimmy McCrossin and our medical staff feels is right.
With Wade Allison, is there any sort of update on the timeline? Any surgery he might need?
No, I don't believe he'll need surgery. High ankle sprain is a tough injury. My experience with that is they're very difficult to predict. Every player that's had it that I've been around. Again, the rehab sometimes it's going great and then you feel a tweak when you get back skating. It's a tough injury. It's really disappointing and I certainly don't think it'll be a quick return to play for Wade.
Until Hayes gets back, is there any thought given to how you'll set your center positions up from top to bottom? Will there be any adjustments there as far as like for Scott Laughton?
Scotty, I think ,we'll move to the middle. We're very comfortable with him in the 3C role. But really the way our lines are set up I'm not sure what the second line or what the third line is anyway. They're pretty even in terms of ice time and talent in my opinion. Scotty can play there.
I kind of laugh every year since I've been here, we start him on the fourth line and we almost have internal bets just to put a timeframe on how long it will take for him to move up into the top nine every year. That’s Scotty Laughton’s life, I guess. He handles it well. You've got to give him credit. One day he's second line left wing. Next day, he’s fourth line left wing and then he's third line center. He gives AV that flexibility where you trust him in any situation. You can move him around and it doesn't impact his play. He's never pouts and always has a smile on his face. I think he knows that eventually he'll get the minutes that he traditionally gets.
Going back to Morgan for a second. Obviously, he's going to start the year down in the AHL, but I'm curious as to how quickly you will consider calling him back up if he seems to be getting the timing back. Do you have an idea of how long you would want him down there at a minimum if he does start scoring and get his timing back?
That'll be up to this play and probably our health and how players are playing here. I don't know that the best thing for him is to have him on a yo-yo. Up for two, down for two. I don't think that, particularly early in the season would make sense. We'll let his play and our circumstances dictate that.
Oskar Lindblom really looks like the guy he was before his [Ewing Sarcoma] diagnosis. What have you seen from him?
I see a player that continues to improve and there's another player that's still working to get his timing back. I know he played last year, but that's incredibly tough what he went through. You think all the poison he had to put in his body to combat the cancer. Lord knows how long that takes to fully work its way out of the system, but he looks stronger. He looks quicker. Certainly, he has a smile on his face every day. Every game I see plays that he used to make. I see him making plays that he used to make and I'm sure it'll still take more time. I'm sure he'll be better in November than he is now. That's just the way it goes, but he certainly looks like a quality NHL player right now.
In terms of five-on-five play and commitment to the 200-foot game, have you seen progress towards that as we go through camp? Obviously on the penalty kill side, the numbers are not good but there's personnel still in and out this time of year.
Yeah, the penalty kill has been interesting. I don't know. Such a small sample size. The personnel have been moving around. We should be better on the penalty kill because we brought in players that historically have been good killers. Now, it may take time for that chemistry to find the right pairs up front and the right defense pairings on the back end. I suspect that'd be better. I've been happy with our five-on-five play so far.
Again, every game, either we have a better, stronger lineup than our opponent or they have a stronger lineup to us. Even in Bridgeport the other night, I thought, particularly the second and third period, we had the puck more than they did. They had the lead so maybe they were sitting back. It seemed like we got to our forecheck more successfully more often than we did last year. I saw certain signs there that are good, but again, I don't know. It can be dangerous reading too much into preseason. I think we've had a lot of time to work on things in practice. I really think AV and the coaching staff have done a good job, breaking things down. The guys have been here every day. We're working on different elements and it seems to be clicking so far. We'll find out eight days from now, I guess, when we get going for real.
With Kevin out for maybe the first three or four weeks of the season, will you be scouring the waiver wire for a center this week? Or are you content and just kind of bite the bullet sort of, for the first month of the season or three weeks?
I don’t know if we're particularly looking for a center. We have a lot of players that can play center. If we can find an upgrade on the waiver wire, we'll certainly look at that. We look every day like every club. We like our depth. Again, some of our key depth pieces are younger players that maybe ideally, we’d like to have them play in Lehigh and play bigger roles than maybe play a fourth line role up here. We'll look at every option that's there. Again, we can fill those spots easily with the players we have. I'm always trying to balance the long-term and the short-term.
There's been a lot of talk, understandably considering how last season went, about the defense and goal prevention. What are your thoughts on the offense especially in the beginning of the year with Hayes out, Morgan not being ready and Wade Allison that was expected to play a role getting hurt? Is there any concern there that you guys could struggle to score?
Typically, I worry about everything. We lost Jake, too. Jake was arguably our most talented forward or one of them, right? He and G, I would assume for pure puck skills. We're trying to find new chemistry. We have some new addition. I think the talent’s there to score, but you never know how long things will take to click. I've liked our powerplay. Regardless of whatever the percentage is, to me, it looks like we've been moving the puck well. I think Yandle up top; he looks to be a really strong distributor. We have different elements and different options there. I think with Jake not being here, that may allow players like Konecny and Farabee to play a bigger role. Certainly, they’re young players that should as they mature become good power play players in my opinion. I think we have the pieces there.
Time will tell. I think the root of our problems defensively last year really started with our forwards up the ice. If we can get them to play in the right way and being more responsible, that should allow us to have the puck more often, or certainly more than we did last year, which in turn, logically should lead to more offense. Again, we’ll hope that comes together quickly.
I know you said it's dangerous to overanalyze the preseason, but is there anything that you want to see in the remaining portion of the preseason that you don't think has quite been to the level you needed to be up to this?
No more injuries! I haven't liked what I've seen that way. We've had a couple tough ones. At this point, honestly, you never know what you get in that last game. Sometimes they're intense and more often, it seems like they're not intense. I think everybody knows what they need to do to get ready for that game next Friday, a week from Friday. At this point, the practice time will be critical and just building chemistry, continuing to work on our details and our structure.
The group is dialed in. The coaches are dialed in. This feels much more like two years ago as compared to last year. I think there's a freshness in camp and great attitudes. Work ethics been strong. The execution in the games has been a little up and down and here and there. That certainly hasn't been where we'll need to be, but I think the effort level has been great. The attitudes have been great.
What have you seen from Carter Hart during practices and during the games that’s different than what you saw last year?
He is smiling. Seriously, he’s smiling. He looks great, physically looks great. He put the time in, and he worked hard this summer, on the ice and off the ice. I think he had a great conversation with AV at the beginning of camp. They're both looking forward and communications been great. He's a talented goaltender. We all know that, and I expect good things from Carter Hart.
You said he’s smiling. How important is that, in all honesty? For goaltender to really just be in that better mood, it’s really kind of an important thing, isn’t it?
Yeah, he's fully in the present, which you need to be as a goaltender. I imagine pitchers, quarterbacks, goaltenders, you can’t dwell. You got to be in the present. That's where he's at. He's got a great mindset. He's a strong kid mentally, but he looks like he's in a really good place right now. That's important for anybody.
With his game, do you think there were foundation elements that he got away from a little bit last season? Or was it strictly, like you said, a confidence issue where he wasn't in a good mood and couldn’t play physically?
I think it was a little bit of everything. I'm not trying to be dismissive of last year, but I think we're all just trying to look forward. All of us last year struggled. I think it was everything for everybody. We're in a better place right now, as a team and in a really tough division. It's going to be a lot of hard work to get to where we want to get to, but I just love the attitude of the group right now.
Guys are excited and they enjoy being around the rink. You hear laughter down there. Keith Yandle, he's a beauty. He's a beauty. Having Hayesy around, it's been great. It's a fun group right now. Again, the real work starts next week, so hopefully, we're still smiling in a couple weeks from now.
You mentioned certain expectations coming into camp. Anything surprise you or a player surprise you?
With the exception of the extremely unfair accusation that was made last week and at 10:30 on a Saturday night that it's completely unfair to AV, beyond unfair. I thought he handled it great. With the exception of that, I think camp has been workman-like and orderly and not a lot of big surprises. I think that's great.
I've been happy with how the new players have fit in, both on and off the ice. That's something you're always looking for. It takes time. Sometimes it takes time. Guys came in great shape. I know we've spoken about that. Players like Konecny, Sanheim, Morgan Frost and Aube-Kubel, these guys came in great shape and much better than last year. You like to see that everybody put the effort in coming into camp. I think camp has been relatively uneventful, with the exception of the firestorm last weekend for Lord knows why that happened. Besides that, I think it's been kind of boring, which is great.
Given that we're eight days out now, you mentioned all the new faces, and quite frankly, a lot of old guys playing like new players this season. Is the team at where you'd like to be chemistry-wise? It's still going to take a while.
That's hard to say. It looks like it so far, but we haven't really had any adversity on the ice. We've won some. We've lost some. Whatever in preseason. To me, it looks like it's coming together, the chemistry. I think the next week will be critical. We have a lot of practice time. We're going to practice more by the end of October than I think we did all last year.
Certainly, over the next few weeks, we should have plenty of opportunities to get the details right and get the chemistry up to speed. It looks like we're trending in the right direction. Reality will hit next week, and we'll start to see where we're at. I just like the attitude, the coaching staff, and the players. The communication has been great.
It feels like two years ago. Guys are buying in. Everyone's communicating and on the same page so far. I think we've done what we could do to this point in time, but there's a lot of work left to go.
Going back to Carter for a second. You mentioned that you thought he had a really good conversation with AV at the start of camp. Do you think last year there was a disconnect between Hart and AV or Hart and coaching staff? Do you think there were issues that may be needed to be worked through before this season with regards to that?
I don't know that there was a disconnect. I think with all of us, we all had to reset. We all talk to all the players at the end of the year. I think everybody had to reset a little bit. It was a tough year.
None of us [performed as needed]. I had a bad year. I don't think that's the best year our coaching staff has ever had. It certainly wasn't the best year most of our players had. We owned it collectively. I think everyone's in a better spot and we're all focused on looking ahead.
Again, I like where guys are at physically. I like the energy and I like the commitment to doing the right things this year.
About the numbers for your roster. If you carry six D to start, do you envision you'll be at 21, 22 for your roster to start the season opener?
It could be any of that. We could start at 20. Being at home and with Allentown an hour and a half down the road, we can run it lean. We'll see. Again, we want to make sure young players are playing. The fact that we don't have a back-to-back for about three weeks, I think or whatever that is. We're not going to be on the road until the end of October. We have the ability to do whatever's right for the players and for our team.
That’s for cap considerations?
Cap and keeping guys playing. Last year, we had some players that didn't play a lot and players that want to rebound. I just want to keep everybody playing as much as possible. We're going to need everybody this year. As I mentioned before, it's a tough schedule for everybody, not just for us. With the Olympics, it's more compressed than normal.
The first time we’ll play an 82-game schedule in three years or whatever. I think by the second half, we could legitimately be dealing with fatigue and different issues like every club will. We're going to need everybody, so the goal early on is to try to get everybody up to speed as quickly as possible, whether it's here or Lehigh Valley. Lots of guys will get the opportunity at some point.
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Flyers Announce Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Inductions
On Thursday, the Flyers announced that there will be two new inductees in the team's Hall of Fame: Rick Tocchet and Paul Holmgren. For an in-depth profile of two players and why it's significant that they are being inducted together on the same night, click here.
The induction ceremony will take place on Nov. 16, 2021, before the Flyers take on the Calgary Flames at the Wells Fargo Center. Later today, the Flyers will have a special tie-in announcement.
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Quick Hits: October 8, 2021
1) Yesterday, the Flyers Alumni Association made its fifth adaptive bike donation via the "Every Child Deserves a Bike" campaign. The recipient was Laurel Jastrzembski of Swedesboro, NJ. Laurel's smile alone made everyone's day. The Flyers fan-funded program brings so much joy to special needs children and can be life-changing. I truly look forward to each and every one of these presentations.
After Flyers practice today, I was able to be part of the @FlyersAlumni adaptive bike presentation to Laurel Jastrezembski of Swedesboro, NJ. Her smile says it all. Highlight of the day. pic.twitter.com/1N8pZ7txzP
2) On the Friday edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus spoke with Rick Tocchet to discuss his Flyers Hall of Fame career and upcoming induction ceremony. To listen, click here.
3) On Thursday, I asked Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr about the timetable for making a decision on whether 2021 second-round pick Samu Tuomaala would spend the upcoming season in the AHL with the Phantoms or in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sudbury Wolves: Will a decision be made at the end of the AHL preseason?
Flahr replied that there's no set timetable to make that decision. The evaluation could continue beyond the end of the preseason with Tuomaala at least starting the regular season with Lehigh Valley.
Tuomaala dressed in the Phantoms' preseason opener on Wednesday; a 2-1 road loss to the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. Tuomaala assisted on the lone Phantoms goal, which was scored by tryout defenseman Quinn Schmiemann. Beyond that, he had two scoring chances of his own and created a power play for Lehigh Valley.
The 18-year-old Finn is still a pretty raw talent. There's a significant learning curve ahead for him. But he has things that can't be taught: namely explosive speed and very good hands. He has gotten better since seeming a bit lost in two Rookie Games and showed improvement over his time in NHL camp with the Flyers. He's also rapidly going from hesitant to speak in English to increasingly comfortable. Defensively he still has to improve and there are times where he's not involved enough but he was certainly noticeable in a positive way in his AHL preseason debut.
4) Today in Flyers History: On Oct. 8, 2015, the Flyers opened the regular season with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unsuccessful penalty shots by Claude Giroux (first period) and Scott Laughton (1:27 of overtime) against Ben Bishop loomed large. Steve Mason played well in goal, despite ultimately absorbing the OTL.
5) Flyers Alumni in memoriam: Darryl Edestrand (Nov 6, 1945 - Oct 8, 2017).
5) Flyers Alumni birthday: Art Stratton
The third oldest still-living Flyer after Jean-Guy Gendron and Forbes Kennedy, Art Stratton was born Oct. 8, 1935 in Winnipeg. A prolific minor league scorer who is a member of the American Hockey League Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, Stratton played professionally from 1955-56 until 1975-76. He appeared in 95 NHL games during that time.
For his career, Stratton played for seven teams in the AHL and five more in the NHL level. He was a two-time winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL's most valuable player (1964-65, 1973-74), a one-time John Sollenberger Trophy winner as the AHL's leading scorer and a two-two Central Hockey League Most Valuable Player Award winner.
Stratton played 12 regular season games and five playoff matches for the Flyers during their inaugural 1967-68 season after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Wayne Hicks. As a Flyer, Stratton contributed four assists and dressed in five of seven games in the team's Stanley Cup Quarterfinal series against the St. Louis Blues. A groin injury affected his late season play.
Following the 1967-68 season, the Flyers sent Stratton and John Hanna to the Western Hockey League's Seattle Totems to complete a deal for Earl Heiskala. Philadelphia also previously loaned Quebec Aces (AHL) players Bob Courcy and Ray Larose to Seattle.
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