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Flyers Preseason Gameday: 9/21/19 vs. NYR; Prospect Updates

September 21, 2019, 7:42 AM ET [173 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Preview: Flyers vs. Rangers

One night after accelerating the team's original roster cutdown timetable, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (0-2-1 on the preseason) will take on his former team, David Quinn's New York Rangers (0-2-0) at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. Game time is 7 p.m. EDT.

The game will be televised on NBCSP+ and NHL Network. The radio feed from 97.5 The Fanatic will, as always, be simulcasted online at Flyers Radio 24/7.

Saturday's original roster plan, featuring the roster and line combinations used in the Group A practice from Friday morning, was scrapped by Vigneault. He was unhappy with what he saw in the team's desultory 3-1 home loss to Boston on Thursday, in which a Bruins roster that had none of its stars and relatively few other NHL regulars outplayed a Flyers roster filled primarily with NHL regulars -- including the top forward line, two-thirds of the potential second line, and 4/6 or 5/6 of the opening night blueline -- in all three periods.

'Has nothing to do with outcomes. It has everything to do with the process. And, for me, the process needs to accelerate," Vigneault said.

Vigneault and general manager Chuck Fletcher decided instead to greatly expand the originally planned number of roster cuts in order to reduce the camp roster down to one practice group (18 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goalies). Vigneault decided to significantly increase the number of preseason games that the veteran locks for the roster will play. Additionally, a potential off-ice day on Sunday will be a full on-ice practice.

Eighteen roster cuts were made in all. As a result five originally planned starting forwards in Saturday's initial lineup will instead be assigned directly to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (non-waiver eligible players) or be placed on waivers on Saturday and assigned to the Phantoms on Sunday barring a waiver claim. The latter group includes both entry-level contracted prospects and veterans on AHL contracts rather than NHL deals.

There were no surprise names among the cuts, as all of the players were pre-camp longshots to make the NHL team out of camp. The most notable cut was 2017 second-round pick Isaac Ratcliffe, who had a strong Rookie Camp but struggled both in practice drills and in game action during NHL camp. Another name of note were forward prospects David Kase, Maksim Sushko and Matthew Strome. All of the youngsters were originally slated to be in the lineup on Saturday night; in Strome's case, for the first time since the Rookie Game on Sept. 11.

Including injured players, the Flyers camp roster now stands at 36 players. Below is the full list of Friday night cuts.

Five players to be placed on waivers Saturday for purpose of AHL assignment:

26 Tyler Wotherspoon (D)
39 Nate Prosser (D)
43 TJ Brennan (D)
51 Kyle Criscuolo (RW)
60 Reece Willcox (D)

Thirteen players assigned to AHL camp with the Phantoms:

32 Felix Sandström (G)
46 Cal O’Reilly (C)
52 Greg Carey (LW)
64 Maksim Sushko (RW)
67 Kirill Ustimenko (G)
70 Gerry Fitzgerald (C)
71 David Drake (D)
72 David Kase (C)
75 Pascal Laberge (RW)
76 Isaac Ratcliffe (LW)
78 Matthew Strome (LW)
80 Rob Michel (D)
85 Josh Couturier (D)

The list of injured players in camp is as follows:

3 Andy Welinski D (lower-body, week to week )
18 Tyler Pitlick RW (wrist surgery, week to week)
19 Nolan Patrick C (upper body, week to week)
29 Kurtis Gabriel RW (lower-body, week to week)

Vigneault was asked on Friday if his track record -- coaching two Stanley Cup finalists, winning a Jack Adams Award, and winning a President's Trophy -- would enable him to get buy-in from the veterans in the Flyers locker room to play at least two more exhibition games than originally planned.

"They have no choice," Vigneault said. "That's just how it is."

Travis Konecny is still slated to make his first appearance of the 2019 preseason on Saturday. However, he will skate with two different linemates in the game after playing with Kevin Hayes and Oskar Lindblom at practice on Friday. Lindblom and Hayes, who were part of the same line on Day 1 and Day 2 of camp, may or may not remain together for Saturday.

One line from the original game group that may carry over from Friday's practice is the trio of Scott Laughton centering Michael Raffl and tryout veteran Chris Stewart. The rest of the combos will be different.

Several players from the original non-game group will now be in Saturday's starting lineup. The list could include many among Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk

Carter Hart will still get the start in goal on Saturday. He is slated to play the first and second periods, with J-F Berube coming in for the third period.

The Rangers dropped a 4-2 road decision in Newark to the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Based on Friday's roster, it is likely that the New York lineup against the Flyers will include many among superstar offseason addition Artemi Panarin, 2019 first-round pick Kaapo Kakko, top line center Mika Zibanejad, new top pair defenseman Jacob Trouba, collegiate hockey standout blueline addition Adam Fox, and/or goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. Henrik Lundqvist got the start against the Devils.

The Flyers will not hold a morning skate on Saturday and Alain Vigneault's media availability will be at 5 p.m. EDT. Below is the Flyers' game roster and the Rangers' line combos.

Flyers

25 James van Riemsdyk - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom -13 Kevin Hayes - 93 Jakub Voracek
12 Michael Raffl - 48 Morgan Frost - 49 Joel Farabee
81 Carsen Twarynski -21 Scott Laughton - 44 Chris Stewart

9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
8 Robert Hägg - 15 Matt Niskanen
55 Sam Morin - 59 Mark Friedman

79 Carter Hart (1st and 2nd pds)
35 J-F Berube (3rd pd)

Rangers

20 Chris Kreider - 72 Filip Chytil - 74 Vitali Kravtsov
28 Phillip Di Giussepe - 50 Lias Andersson - 16 Ryan Strome
38 Micheal Haley - 15 Boo Nieves - 14 Greg McKegg
25 Tim Gettinger - 71 Nick Jones - 33 Connor Brickley

76 Brady Skej - 8 Jacob Trouba
55 Ryan Lindgren - 97 Matthew Robertson
43 Libor Hajek - 23 Adam Fox

31 Igor Shesterkin
32 Adam Huska

************

Quick Hits: September 21, 2019

1) The three Canadian Hockey League circuits -- Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League -- began their regular seasons on Friday night. Below is a short synopsis of how Flyers-affiliated prospects fared in their games.

* Egor Serdyuk (Victoriaville, QMJHL): The Tigres came back from an early 3-0 deficit to force overtime but dropped a 5-4 shootout decision on home ice to the Quebec Remparts. Serdyuk got the comeback started with a late first period goal that cut the gap to 3-1. Early in the third period, he was called for a careless high-sticking double minor. Later, he missed the met on his third-round shootout attempt. Serdyuk, who led QMJHL rookies in scoring last season, finished opening night with three shots on goal.

* Mason Millman (Saginaw, OHL): Saginaw dropped a 5-4 road overtime decision to the Kitchener Rangers. Millman started the game on the left side of the Spirit's second defense pair. He had a half-dozen shots on goal and saw power play time but it was an otherwise tough night that saw him on the ice for four Kitchener goals, including Ryan Stepien's game-winner in the final minute of 3-on-3 overtime.

* Wyatte Wylie (Everett, WHL): After being reassigned to Everett by the Flyers, who elected not to sign the AHL eligible defenseman to an entry-level contract at this time (Philly holds his rights until June 1, 2020), Wylie was named an alternate captain for the Silvertips this season. On Friday night, the Silvertips lost a 4-2 game at home against the Tri-City Americans. Wylie assisted on an early first period goal that gave Everett a 1-0 lead that lasted until midway through the game. A pair of Americans' power play goals sandwiched around an even strength tally turned the tide of the game. Wylie, who played in every manpower situation, finished the opener at minus-two (out for a 5-on-5 goal plus an empty netter) with four shots on goal.

2) On Saturday, defenseman Egor Zamula's Calgary Hitmen (WHL) have their regular season opener, visiting the Swift Current Broncos. Wylie and the Silvertips are back in action on Saturday, hosting the Victoria Royals. Millman and Saginaw host the Flint Firebirds, who dropped a 6-3 decision on Friday to Morgan Frost's now-former team, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Serdyuk and the Tigres host Chicoutimi on Saturday.

3) BCHL: Jay O'Brien and the undefeated Penticton Vees (4-0-0) are on the road on Saturday to take on Cowichan Valley. Through his first four games, the Flyers 2018 first-round pick has posted seven points (three goals, four assists).

4) SHL: Flyers goaltending prospect Samuel Ersson is slated to get his first start of the 2019-20 regular season as Brynäs IF Gävle takes on Färjestads BK Karlstad on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. eastern U.S. time.

Additionally, Linköpings HC hosts Rögle BK at 9:15 a.m. eastern U.S. time. Left winger Olle Lycksell has a goal and an assist over LHC's first two games. Defenseman Adam Ginning is unavailable due to serving the first match of a two-game suspension for fighting stemming from a confrontation during LHC's last game.

The Växjo Lakers, featuring Flyers defense prospects Linus Högberg and David Bernhardt, host Skellefteå AIK on Saturday. Game time is noon eastern U.S. time.

5) When the collegiate hockey season gets underway, do the sheer number of Flyers prospects playing in the NCAA this season, prospect updates will be confined to highlighting the primary standouts from the previous night plus a mention or two of others who haven't been recently updated.
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