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Flyers Training Camp

Flyers Notes: Carter Hart ‘On Track’ for Opener; Joel Farabee Feels 100%

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Brad Shaw, Philadelphia Flyers
Associate coach Brad Shaw instructs some Flyers players at Thursday's practice in Voorhees, N.J. Photo: Zack Hill.

Another practice, another day to tinker with the lineup.

The Philadelphia Flyers experimented with their lines and pairings at Thursday’s practice in Voorhees.

They don’t start the season until Oct. 13 against visiting New Jersey, and new coach John Tortorella said he welcomes the time between the opener and the last preseason game two nights ago. It will give him time to implement his system, get his injured players healed, and work on special teams.

There were some different groups of lines and pairings at the latest practice session.

Example: Young defenseman Egor Zamula, whom Tortorella strongly hinted Wednesday would be sent to the Phantoms, was paired with 35-year-old Justin Braun.

As for injured players, goalie Felix Sandstrom and right winger Cam Atkinson did not practice with their teammates. Tortorella said Atkinson would probably get a few more days off the ice, and had no update on Sandstrom.

Atkinson has had “plenty of conditioning because he has been skating along the way,” Tortorella said. “So we’ll see as we go, but we just want to give him a littler bit more time.”

The veteran right winger has an advantage over his teammates: He played for Tortorella in Columbus and has an understanding of his system.

On-ice groupings

Here were the lines and pairings, which will probably be juggled leading up to the opener:

  • Kevin Hayes centering Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny.
  • Morgan Frost centering James van Riemsdyk and Wade Allison/Zack MacEwen.
  • Jackson Cates and Noah Cates centering Joel Farabee and Owen Tippett.
  • Tanner Laczynski centering Nic Deslauriers and Hayden Hodgson/Allison/MacEwen.
  • D pairs: Ivan Provorov and Tony DeAngelo; Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen; Zamula and Braun; Kevin Connauton/Ronnie Attard/Nick Seeler.

The goalies were Carter Hart, Sam Ersson and Troy Grosenick.

Hart optimistic

Hart did not play in any of the preseason games because of a lower-body injury, but he said he will be ready for the opener.

“I’m feeling better and on track here for next Thursday,” Hart said after practice.

Hart said it was good to get some five-on-five scrimmaging at practice, which lasted a little over an hour.

“I’m going to try to get as many game reps as I can, up until next Thursday,” he said. “We have a week, and I’m feeling pretty good about Thursday.”

“The amount of work he got today I’m sure helped,” Tortorella said.

Farabee update

Left winger Joel Farabee said he felt “good to go,” but he visited a doctor later Thursday afternoon, hoping to get cleared for full contact.

Farabee had neck surgery in the offseason, and it is not known yet if he will be ready for the opener. After practice, he said he felt “100 percent” healthy.

“I’ve been encouraged by Joel right from the get-go,” Tortorella said. “Today was kind of his first practice to get banged around a little bit. I thought the whole group practiced well, Joel being one of them.”

Breakaways

The ice was shortened by moving the nets closer in some of the drills. “It helps skill and development,” Tortorella said. … Tortorella said his system “isn’t really rocket science” and he was just “touching on a couple different situations and how we want to coach it.”

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