Mike Yeo and the Philadelphia Flyers have announced a few lineup changes ahead of their weekend back-to-back set against the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers. With the Flyers having 3 off-days in between games, today’s practice has brought about a few questions, but Yeo stated that tomorrow’s practice will have more implications towards the lineups for both weekend games.
These were the lines today at practice:
Noah Cates – Joel Farabee – Cam Atkinson
Hayden Hodgson – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippett
Patrick Brown – Nate Thompson – Zack MacEwen
Ivan Provorov – Cam York
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler – Ronnie Attard
Martin Jones
Felix Sandstrom
Missing: Oskar Lindblom, Keith Yandle, Carter Hart
Oskar Lindblom had a maintenance day since he has been dealing with a nagging injury as of late, just as recently as a few games ago he was forced to sit it out. Keith Yandle is dealing with an illness today but still plans on playing Saturday night and extending his iron-man streak to 990 games. Carter Hart did not practice again but is expected to hit the ice tomorrow in an attempt to make a return from his one-game absence.
Nate Thompson is set to make his return as he has finally been medically cleared after being sidelined with a shoulder injury since late November. On the season he has played 19 games and has recorded one goal with zero assists, while averaging 11:39 of ice time and playing a vital role on the penalty kill, and is expected to reprise his fourth-line centre role.
Yeo also announced that Ronnie Attard is expected to make his NHL debut on Saturday against the Maple Leafs at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers and Attard reached an agreement on a two-year, entry-level deal on Tuesday. He is expected to take over for Nick Seeler on the third pair with Keith Yandle as the Flyers continue to implement more youth to their roster by the day.
Yeo also said he isn’t fully committing to all the new young faces on the roster right now and that if they hit a wall, they will come out of the lineup, but if they continue to impress they will remain in place. Even with the season lost and the Flyers officially eliminated from playoff contention, he still wants healthy competition between the veterans and the young prospects.
It is currently unknown whether or not Lindblom plays on Saturday, so for now Thompson will return in his stead. If Lindblom does in fact play, then expect a scratch coming for either Patrick Brown or Hayden Hodgson. The Maple Leafs (42-19-5) and the Rangers (44-19-5) represent tall tasks for the undermanned and relatively inexperienced Flyers (21-35-11) but it’s always exciting to see touted prospects making their NHL debut.
Interesting side note: Flyers prospect and Denver forward Bobby Brink was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, which is given to the top player in the NCAA. He is battling it out with Dryden McKay of Minnesota State and Ben Meyers of Minnesota, both of whom are unsigned free agents. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Flyers are believed to be looking at Meyers pretty hard as well. One would have to think that Brink, who leads the college circuit in points, is the favourite to bring home some important hardware.
