Flyers Practice: Injury Update, Shaw Walks Back “Spoiler” Comment, & Flyers Prospects in the Frozen Four

VOORHEES, NJ–After practicing Monday at the Wells Fargo Center, the Philadelphia Flyers returned to the Flyers training center for Tuesday’s practice.

The Flyers did run lines at Tuesday’s practice, with nothing out of the ordinary–they remained the same from the Montreal game.

After practice, Brad Shaw gave a brief update on the recent injury situation down the middle. He also stepped back from his “spoiler comments”.

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Injury Update

Sean Couturier did not practice on Monday, and Ryan Poehling left the practice fairly early. Interim head coach Brad Shaw mentioned that both players were “nicked up” and that he would not know their status until Wednesday.

Both players skated and were full participants at Tuesday’s practice. Adding on, both players did not seem to be held back by any injury–they looked good.

Despite that, Shaw would not give any lineup updates, saying that a few guys are still maybes. It is safe to assume both Couturier and Poehling are the “maybes” in question.

It is also worth noting that if neither is good to go for Wednesday’s game, the Flyers will be able to make an emergency recall since Olle Lycksell was waived on Monday.

Brad Shaw Takes a Step Back from “Spoiler” Comments

Ahead of the Flyers’ game in Montreal, Brad Shaw said he was excited for a chance to go into the Bell Centre and play the role of spoiler. The team had not yet lost during his tenure, and had been playing some very good hockey.

Flashforward to today, the Flyers are now 3-1-0 in the Shaw era, and are coming off a game where the offense went quiet, and the team collapsed in the third period.

Now, Shaw’s focus is not on playing spoiler, but instead, putting emphasis on playing better as a team.

“I’d like us to focus on us a little bit more,” Shaw said. He said he was not particularly happy with the team’s attack game against the Canadiens, and also mentioned that they “fed their transition game quite a bit.”

Shaw would later say that if playing spoiler helps the team win a game, then great, but he would rather the team focus on their own game moving forward.

Read More: Flyers Ready to Play Spoiler in Final Six Games

Flyers Prospects in the Frozen Four

For the college hockey fans, the NCAA Frozen Four takes place later this week, with the semifinals on Thursday and the championship on Saturday.

Flyers forward Bobby Brink played in the Frozen Four with Denver back in 2022. Reflecting on his opportunity to play there, Brink said, “It’s special; It’s what you dream of. Whatever the goal is at the start of the year, it’s not easy to get there, so it’s pretty cool for the four teams that get there.”

The Flyers will have two prospects playing in the Frozen Four. Most notably, forward Alex Bump and the Western Michigan Broncos will be in the Frozen Four for the first time in program history.

Bump is having yet another phenomenal season for the Broncos. The Flyers prospect has 23 goals and 24 assists for 47 total points in 40 games so far this season. He is a big reason the Broncos have gotten this far.

For a former 5th-round pick, Bump has given both the Flyers organization and its fans a reason to be excited. Bump and the Broncos will take on the Denver University Pioneers on Thursday, with the puck dropping at 4:00 p.m. EST.

The other Flyers prospect who will be playing in St. Louis is forward Devin Kaplan with the Boston University Terriers.

Kaplan is certainly not as exciting of a prospect as Bump is, but he is still putting together a decent year for the Terriers. In 36 games so far, Kaplan has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points.

Boston U takes on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST.

Read More: Flyers Practice: Lycksell Waived, Shaw Talks Future, Center Depth “Nicked Up”, & More

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