Flyers Training Camp
ROSTER DECISIONS: Who Will Flyers Keep, Cut, Waive?
The Philadelphia Flyers will have to get down to 23 players, maximum, by 5 p.m. Monday, when rosters must be submitted to the NHL office.
Who goes? Who stays? Who gets demoted?
After putting forwards Zack MacEwen and Cooper Marody on waivers Sunday, the Flyers have 30 players remaining in camp, including those who are injured.
Assuming Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson are ready for the opener, there will only be a few decisions to make on the final roster. Atkinson, who was injured and didn’t play in the preseason, did not practice Sunday, but coach John Tortorella said he expects him to be ready for Thursday’s opener against New Jersey.
If Farabee and Atkinson are ready, here are the Flyers’ forwards:
Good sign: Sandstrom on the ice. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/hw0IwaIsSu
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 9, 2022
Forwards
Locks (11): Wade Allison, Atkinson, Noah Cates, Nick Deslauriers, Farabee, Morgan Frost, Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Owen Tippett, James van Riemsdyk.
On the bubble (3): Jackson Cates, Tanner Laczynski (favored to make the team), Hayden Hodgson, Two or three of these players will be on the team. Hodgson would have to clear waivers to go to the Phantoms.
Defense
Locks (6): Ivan Provorov, Tony DeAngelo, Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, Justin Braun, Nick Seeler.
On the bubble (2): Ronnie Attard, Egor Zamula. Both are waiver-exempt.
Who gets the left-side defensive spot on the third pairing: Seeler or Zamula? If Zamula gets it, Seeler would be the No. 7 defenseman. Attard is also still in camp but seems to need more seasoning.
.@NHLFlyers Podcast: @camyork2 Fallout, Preseason's (Few) Positives, Roster Makeup, and More https://t.co/UQVZkAMTXd
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 6, 2022
Goalies
Lock (1): Carter Hart.
On the bubble (2): Felix Sandstrom, Samuel Ersson. Sandstrom would have to clear waivers to be sent to Lehigh Valley.
If healthy, Sandstrom will probably be the backup goalie and Ersson will go to the Phantoms. Sandstrom missed the last three preseason games because of an injury, but returned to practice Sunday. Both excelled in the preseason games.
Injury list
On the injured list: Sean Couturier (back), Ryan Ellis (pelvic region), Patrick Brown (back), Bobby Brink (hip), Artem Anisimov (lower body), Cooper Marody, who had been injured, practiced Sunday and was then placed on waivers. The Flyers hope Marody and MacEwen clear and can be sent to Lehigh Valley.
Sweet stickhandling from Morgan Frost, and an even better pass to Noah Cates, who scores on Carter Hart on the power play. pic.twitter.com/Kx6swfPNpV
— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) October 9, 2022
Practice lineup
Here were the lines, pairings and goalies the Flyers used at practice Sunday:
- Hayes centering Laughton and Konecny.
- Noah Cates centering Farabee and Tippett.
- Frost centering JVR and Allison.
- Laczynski centering Deslauriers and Hodgson.
- Jackson Cates centering Marody and MacEwen.
- Defense: Provorov and DeAngelo; Sanheim and Ristolainen; Seeler and Braun; Zamula and Attard.
- Goalies: Hart, Sandstrom, Ersson.
- PP1: Hayes, Farabee, Konecny, van Riemsdyk, DeAngelo.
- PP2: Frost, Noah Cates, Laughton, Tippett, Provorov.
35 year old Justin Braun is not going to be the difference between a playoff spot and a draft lottery entry. There is absolutely no reason to keep him (there was no reason to sign him in the off-season, specifically). Use Attard or Zamula and see how they progress. This front office seems to go out of its way to alienate the fans and make self-destructive decisions.