Before the Philadelphia Flyers spent this past off-season addressing depth and veteran leadership, there were plenty of potential open roster spots heading into training camp. The Flyers didn’t sign anyone other-worldly, however there are a few new names that should be in the opening night roster on the 12th of October.
Two prospects who had to do a little more than the rest in training camp were Bobby Brink and Emil Andrae – and it wasn’t because they aren’t talented enough or ready to step foot in the NHL. There’s just a logjam for bottom-6 forwards and defensemen, or at least there was heading into training camp. A week of preseason hockey later and it seems more and more likely that the Flyers are going to have to make a few more difficult decisions than initially anticipated.
You can pencil in Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Cam Atkinson, Noah Cates, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, Scott Laughton, Nicolas Deslauriers, and Garnet Hathaway, which would you give you 10 forwards. Then there would be two spots open between Ryan Poehling, Tyson Foerster, Wade Allison, and presumably Bobby Brink. After how Foerster performed in his 8-game stint last year, it almost seems improbable that he doesn’t make the team out of training camp, but stranger things have happened before and look no further than Cam York in 2022-23.
On defense you can pencil in York, Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Marc Staal, which would give you 4 to start with. There would then be 2 spots to fight for between Nick Seeler, Sean Walker, Ronnie Attard, Egor Zamula, and potentially Emil Andrae now. With how training camp has gone so far, it’s hard not to have Andrae ahead of Attard and Zamula at the very least right now.
Brink hasn’t been mentioned enough over the last few seasons and a lot of that has to do with the fact that he was on the mend for 6 months, played in the minors to finish the season, and the Flyers had drafted Cutter Gauthier and Matvei Michkov, while having several other prospects jump up and down the ranks. The former 2nd round pick from the 2019 NHL Entry Draft has all the intangibles of becoming a solid two-way player for the Flyers and wherever he’s played, he has shown a knack for scoring and playmaking.
With the University of Denver, Brink scored 27 goals and 92 points in 87 games, including 57 points in 41 gams in 2021-22. After finishing up his collegiate career, he signed an ELC with the Flyers and recorded 4 assists in 10 games. He flashed his hockey IQ, his intangibles were on full display, and he formed chemistry quickly with whoever he was skating with on any particular shift. Unfortunately, he was on the mend for 6 months rehabbing a hip injury but came back and quietly put up 12 goals and 28 points in just 41 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and was a big help in their playoff push.
With the Flyers in 2021-22, he recorded an assist in his first game, had a multi-point effort in his 6th game, and even skated over 16 minutes a game on 4 different occasions. In totality he fired 18 shots on goal, averaged 15:27 TOI, finished 15 bodychecks, and played 31 minutes on the power play. With the Phantoms, it was nearly the same recipe as he finished tied for 7th in goals and 9th in points in 27 less games than some of his counterparts. He finished his season on a 6-game point streak and had 8 points in his final 8 games.
Coming into camp there was going to be a battle for some of those bott0m-6 spots. Wade Allison had fallen a bit out of favour due to his health and inconsistencies offensively, Tanner Laczynski has also had some injury issues but was not entirely a factor whenever in the lineup, Ryan Poehling was the newcomer and has stepped up big-time in the preseason games, and Foerster is the big man on campus in terms of prospects vying for a spot.
Brink was in tough from the get-go but that hasn’t stopped him from playing his game, showing off offensively, and being noticeable shift after shift. He survived the latest rounds of cuts as the roster has been trimmed down to 31 players and he should feature in tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins alongside Foerster.
The Flyers are putting out a lineup tonight that is very close to what their actual roster will look like during the regular season and it’s a testament to how well Brink has played that he has survived the cuts and is playing once again.
As for Andrae, he has really taken his game to the next level over the last calendar year. The 2nd round pick from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft struggled a little in his draft+1 season in 2020-21. He did play most of the season in the top-ranked Swedish league for HV71 but only recorded 7 points. He also played for Vasterviks IK on loan in the second-ranked league where he put up 6 points in 15 games. It wasn’t a terrible season by any means but it wasn’t what the Flyers had hoped for.
2021-22 was a different story as Andrae tore up the HockeyAllsvenskan for HV71 – 2nd ranked league in Sweden – with 9 goals and 33 points in 41 games, while captaining the Swedish World Junior squad with 4 goals and 8 points in 7 games. In 21 international games throughout the season, Andrae tallied 6 goals and 22 points, as well as 11 points in 10 qualification games.
He ran with that confidence and momentum into his following season, but this time in the SHL for HV71. He scored 6 goals and 26 points in 51 games against stronger, steeper, and deeper competition and once the season came to an end, he joined the Phantoms on an ATO where he scored 6 points in just 10 games. There was some worry that he would have to play in the Swedish league to start the 2023-24 season but HV71 gave the Flyers the thumbs up to let him continue his development in North America.
John Tortorella is already enamoured with his play, he is a defenseman who may be small in stature but he plays a physical brand of hockey akin to Niklas Kronwall, and his offensive skillset is exactly what the Flyers lack and desperately need from the backend. His head is always up, he can find the open man with relative ease, and his outlets and exits out of the defensive zone give him a leg up on his competitors.
Attard has had an okay training camp, Zamula not only has performed well but he also gained 15-20 pounds, and Victor Mete was just placed on waivers. Sean Walker is definitely a wild card to make the team after putting up 2 solid performances – both against the New Jersey Devils. With only 2 games remaining on the docket and more cuts looming, Andrae is definitely going to give the Flyers fits when they have to make a final decision.
John Tortorella doesn’t mess around when it comes to his training camps and his cuts. It’s truly a testament to how well they’ve played so far and the skillset that they possess, which works hand in hand with Tortorella’s system. Taking the first game out of the equation, the Flyers have played the system very well, they are creating a lot of chances, they are aggressive and constantly working in the hard areas, and most importantly they don’t give up if things aren’t going their way. They wanted to be hard to play against and it’s showing.
Tonight’s game is going to be a big one for Brink and if he continues to perform, he might make it all the way to the end. Andrae is not in the lineup but should feature in the final game at the very least – something he has rightfully deserved.
The future is bright in Philadelphia and it’s going to be a fun season to watch with the returns of Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson, Joel Farabee being 100% healthy, another season of a confident Travis Konecny, looking to improve further are Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, and Owen Tippett, and then the younger players in Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, and Emil Andrae trying to make their way into the NHL.
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