Flyers Make Some Roster Moves; Morgan Frost Still Benched

The Philadelphia Flyers sent rookie Emil Andrae to the AHL’s Phantoms and recalled two other defensemen from their AHL farm team Thursday: Louis Belpedio and Victor Mete.

Belpedio, an Illinois native, will be in the lineup Thursday against visiting Minnesota. The Flyers are without injured defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Marc Staal.

In four games, the 21-year-old Andrae had no points and a minus-1 rating this season. He needs more development before he’s ready for the rigors of the NHL, according to coach John Tortorella.

“It’s too much for him right now,” Tortorella said on Thursday morning. “The speed of it, how quickly you have to make decisions, the size of the rink.”

Louie Belpedio, who used to play in Minnesota, still has many friends on the Wild, making his season debut tonight even more special as he faces some ex-teammates. #Flyers

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 26, 2023

PHN: Flyers-Wild Preview, Prediction

Tortorella said he wants Andrae, who was a second-round selection in the 202o draft, to get time with the Phantoms “because we think he has a future” with the Flyers. Last year, he had six points in 10 late-season games with the Phantoms.

Belpedio, 27, has four NHL games and two assists on his resume — all with the Wild, the Flyers’ opponent Thursday. The righthanded-shooting defenseman had an assist and an “even” rating in five AHL games this season.

Highly regarded prospects Adam Ginning (three points in five games, minus-2) and Ronnie Attard (three points in five games, minus-1) had not played well enough at Lehigh Valley to warrant a callup, Tortorella said.

Meanwhile, center Morgan Frost will be benched for the fifth straight game. He had a career-high 19 goals last season and led the Philadelphia Flyers with 40 points over the last 55 games. The Flyers are 2-1-1 in games Frost has missed this year.

Breakaways

Goaltender Carter Hart will get his sixth start in seven games for the Flyers (3-2-1), who have a 2-0 home record. ,,, The Flyers are 3-0-1 when outshooting their opponents, 0-2 when they don’t. … Philly’s power play is 0 for 11 in its last four games and 1 for 20 on the season. … The penalty kill is 11 for 11 over the last four games. … Mete, 25, had an assist and a minus-3 rating over five games with the Phantoms this season.