With the preseason coming to a close last night in their 4-3 defeat to the New York Islanders in overtime, the Philadelphia Flyers have announced several roster cuts as they are now down to 34 players with the season opener only a week away.
President of Hockey Operations and General Manager of the Flyers, Chuck Fletcher, announced that 10 players were cut earlier today and have either been assigned to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms or back to their junior hockey teams.
Amongst those who were assigned to the Phantoms, include forwards Tyson Foerster and Olle Lycksell, defensemen Adam Ginning, Adam Karashik, and Cam York, and the lone goaltender in Pat Nagle. Amongst those placed on waivers with the intention of being assigned to the Phantoms include Adam Brooks, Max Willman, and Louie Belpedio. Finally, J.R. Avon was sent back to the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League.
This most recent round of cuts weren’t all too surprising outside of the inclusion defenseman Cam York. Many believed he was in line for a starting role in the team’s top-six defense corps heading into the season. However, he did not have a great camp and John Tortorella didn’t mince his words either. He said no roster spot is given, it’s earned, and he’s going to have to work his way back up with a stint in the minors.
With his demotion to the AHL, that leaves the window open for Ronnie Attard, Egor Zamula, Nick Seeler, and Kevin Connauton. However, it is most likely that Attard and Zamula get sent down sometime within the next 48 hours as the Flyers continue to trim their roster.
John Tortorella mentioned that after Attard’s fight last night against the bigger and bullish Ross Johnston, not only was he displeased that no one else jumped in, but he said there was no way he’d send down the young defenseman today. However, it is looking more and more likely that the Flyers will field either one or both of Seeler and Connauton to start the season.
It’s a fine line between actually “playing the kids” and accounting for accountability. Both have been uttered to no end all summer and it sounds like accountability is at the forefront of their decision making process.
As for the forwards, several bubble players remain today that include Hayden Hodgson, Tanner Laczysnki, Wade Allison, Noah and Jackson Cates, and Zack MacEwen. The Cates brothers impressed very much during the preseason as did Laczynski, so there’s a good chance they are on the verge of cracking the opening night roster.
The Flyers have been very careful with the development of several players over the past few seasons, as they sent Morgan Frost down last year so that he could marinate in the minors. They are doing the same with York and perhaps Allison might get the same treatment as he has missed a lot of time recently with injuries.
The goaltending situation is also a little murky right now with not much news surrounding the ailment of Carter Hart. Felix Sandstrom and Samuel Ersson both have great chances of cracking the lineup, with the latter stopping 57 of 60 shots he faced in four preseason appearances.
The Flyers’ roster has to get trimmed down to 23 players by next Monday, so expect more players to be cut out of camp in the coming days.
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