Flyers Daily: Team’s ‘D’ Gets Little Respect; Canada Wins in WJC

The Philadelphia Flyers continued to get little respect in TSN‘s ongoing NHL rankings by position.

It placed the Flyers in the next-to-last tier among teams’ defenses.

The Flyers have now finished toward the bottom in TSN’s rankings on defenses and centers; they were next to the last tier among right wingers, and in the worst tier at left wing.

In the defensive rankings, only Arizona, Columbus, and San Jose were graded lower than Philly.

That ranking will change, however, when/if Ryan Ellis is able to play. Ellis played in just four games last season because of a pelvic injury and isn’t expected to be ready early in the 2022-23 campaign. And no one knows how long he will be sidelined.

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As it stands, the Philadelphia Flyers’ opening-night defensive pairings are expected to look like this: Ivan Provorov and Tony DeAngelo; Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen; and Cam York and Justin Braun.

In TSN’s ratings, Calgary, Colorado, and Nashville were the teams with the best defensive grades.

World Juniors update

World Juniors: Forwards Tyson Foerster and Elliot Desnoyers, a pair of Flyers prospects, didn’t score but contributed in other ways as Canada topped Latvia, 5-2, in the World Junior Championship opener in Edmonton. The story on Team Canada’s victory.

Connor Bedard, who turned 17 last month, had a goal and an assist for Canada. He is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft.

Canada plays Slovakia on Thursday at 6 p.m. Team USA, which is also 1-0, meets Switzerland Thursday at 10 p.m. Both games are on the NHL Network.

Two Flyers defensive prospects, Emil Andrae (Sweden) and Brian Zanetti (Switzerland) faced each other in another WJC matchup. Andrae’s Sweden team prevailed, 3-2. 

National Hockey Now

Islanders: The New York Islanders appear on the verge of making a slew of moves, including the addition of free-agent Nazem Kadri.

Florida: The Panthers signed goalie Andrew “The Hamburglar” Hammond to a professional tryout.

Detroit: Borje Salming, a Hall of Famer who finished his career in Detroit but played primarily in Toronto, reveals he has been diagnosed with ALS.

Colorado: The Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon is going to become a rich young man. VERY rich.

Boston: The Bruins are having ongoing negotiations with David Pasternak, a looming UFA.

Pittsburgh: Even though he is no longer with the Penguins, Marc-Andre Fleury is still beloved in Pittsburgh.

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