Flyers Host Boston in Preseason Opener; Training-Camp Notes

Players will get a chance to impress new coach John Tortorella as the Philadelphia Flyers play the first of their six exhibition games Saturday night, hosting the Boston Bruins.

The 7 p.m. game will be telecast on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.

The Flyers will play mostly inexperienced players, including Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost, Wade Allison, Ronnie Attard, Jackson Cates, Noah Cates, Tanner Laczynski, Olle Lycksell, Linus Sandin, Egor Zamula, and Hayden Hodgson.

Goalies Samuel Ersson, Felix Sandstrom, and Troy Grosenick may each play one period.

Anisimov, Frost, J. Cates, and Laczynski are the centers. pic.twitter.com/YPPvycuvMT

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) September 24, 2022

Tortorella will watch the first four games from the press level to get a better look at what unfolds on the ice. Phantoms coach Ian Laperriere and his staff will be behind the bench.

In addition to Tortorella, assistants Brad Shaw (penalty-kill/defense coach), Rocky Thompson (power-play coach), and Darryl Williams will watch from upstairs. His assistants will be behind the bench for the last four preseason games.

Tortorella will coach from behind the bench in the fifth and sixth exhibitions. After Saturday, the Flyers’ next exhibition is Tuesday in Buffalo.

Camp notes

Here are some training camp notes:

A self-deprecating Nic Deslauriers laughs as he talks about Torts calling his skating ugly. @NHLFlyers pic.twitter.com/DDKbF47rcS

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) September 23, 2022

• Torts said GM Chuck Fletcher and his scouting staff will will set the lineup for the first two preseason games.
• It will be interesting to see how speedy left winger Lycksell dos in the preseason games. He had three points, including two goals, in Team White’s 6-0 win over Team Orange in an intrasquad scrimmage Friday morning.
• Afterward, Tortorella downplayed the scrimmages, saying he would take more stock in the preseason games. “I want to wait until it’s against a team they didn’t just practice with,” the coach said.
• The James van Riemsdyk-Artem Anisimov-Konecny line had a good showing in Team White’s win.
• Van Riemsdyk said Konecny “always has some zippiness” to him. “I don’t know if that makes sense to you guys.”
• In the afternoon scrimmage, goals by Scott Laughton, Theo Rochette, and Antoine Roussel led the White past the Orange, 3-0. Grosenick and Pat Nagle combined for the shutout.
• The Philadelphia Flyers’ top line in the second scrimmage had Kevin Hayes centering Laughton and Cam Atkinson. Laughton may have to move back to center, however, depending on the severity of Sean Couturier’s latest injury.
• Speaking of Couturier. … The top-line center saw a back specialist for a second opinion Thursday morning. Tortorella said he still didn’t have a medical update.
• Tortorella sent letters to the players before camp, telling them it might be a good idea if they arrived early. They listened. Most were here three weeks before camp started. They worked out and bonded during that time. Some went to an event host by new Philadelphia Flyers left winger Nic Deslauriers in his Mount Laurel home; some went on a golf trip to Boston.
• Deslauriers, who delivered a big hit on Cam York in the afternoon scrimmage Friday, is accustomed to playing with physicality and dropping the gloves. “My role is to make everyone safe out there,” he said.
• In an effort to get to his old scoring self, Konecny, 25, watched lots of video of himself from past seasons and also explored analytics. He scored just 16 goals last season.