Philadelphia Flyers

[Zorro]

Keep an eye out for Matt Read or possibly even Jason Akeson sneaking into that position. We won't know until after training camp to see who wins the Giroux linemate lottery.

Its very intriguing nonetheless!!

[petegreg21]

Huge boost to Schenn's value if he steals that spot.

[ASquared]

Huge boost to Schenn's value if he steals that spot.

Schenn seems to be the most likely choice. I wouldn't be surprised if Berube shuffles the deck throughout the season, though.

[Zorro]

A lot of talent in that top 9.. The team loses because of its horrendous defense..

[5hole]

I see the top 9 as:

Schenn-Giroux-Voracek
Raffl-Couturier-Simmonds
Umberger-lecavalier-Read

But the may start out Umberger on line one to try to make it look like they thought rj was a 1st line player...lol, then Drop him to two until they see he should be on three

[Atomic Wedgy]

They know exactly what they are getting with RJ and it is not a 1st line player. He will be 2nd line tops. I hope they give Simmonds a good look at the top line. Give it some grit like Hartsey did. He could bang in a lot of garbage goals if they put him there. Anyone know if he played the off wing much at all?

I also think that Laughton could surprise and hold down a 3rd line job over Vinnie.

[vitun-tyhmä]

Lecalir on Hextall:

“I think he’ll do a great job,” LeClair told ESPN.com in a telephone conversation this week. “He was a great teammate. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a smart guy who knows what he’d doing

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/i...-under-hextall

[Axeman33]

Flyers trim 22 from camp.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/i...om-roster.html

The Flyers, who host the New Jersey Devils in their fourth preseason game on Thursday, trimmed 22 players from their roster Wednesday.

Three were assigned to their CHL junior teams, and 19 players were assigned to the AHL Phantoms, including Anthony Stolarz, Nick Cousins, Mark Alt, Robert Hagg, and Petr Straka.

Scott Laughton, Sam Morin and Shayne Gostisbehere are among the prospects still in the big-league camp.

[Atomic Wedgy]

Here are some of my thoughts from the Rags-Flyers preseason game on the 30th.

Sam Morin - huge kid who can skate. He was put into all situations and did not look out of place. He's also got a mean streak, which I like. He does have to learn how to choose when to let the mean streak out, but I do appreciate his keen play.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - skated well and was dangerous more than once. He's 29 so I dont know how much upside there is there, but I did like the things he was doing out there.

Read - Couts - Simmonds line was quite good. There seems to be some chemistry there. I have hopeful for this line going forward.

PP - The first unit had Vinnie taking faceoffs. I was surprised by this. It was Vinnie, G, Voracek, Simmonds and Streit. They didn't seem to get much going. Giroux seemed to want to let Streit shoot rather than taking one timers from the faceoff circle like you love to see him take. Not sure I like that. Streit was pretty good, but I would much rather Giroux pounding those one-timers. Hopefully he will shoot more once he gets going. Its his first preseason game.

Anthony Duclair - first time I've heard of this guy. He was a 3rd round pick in 2013 (80th overall). He as dangerous the entire night. Scored a great goal which showed good hands and a quick release. I'm gonna watch this kid. Might be a good one.

[Axeman33]

Thanks!

I know Read and Couturier had some good chemistry last year too. Add Simmonds on that line and it could be quite dangerous.

[Axeman33]

Flyers return Sam Morin back to Rimouski

http://www.csnphilly.com/hockey-phil...-team-rimouski

"VOORHEES, N.J. – Sam Morin was so impressive through preseason and training camp that Flyers GM Ron Hextall came close to acting against his philosophy. Very close, actually.

The 19-year-old defenseman looked NHL-ready. Hextall had plenty of discussions with coach Craig Berube about whether Morin could make the jump to the Flyers -- and whether it would be the right move for both the player and the team. Hextall, it's well known, wants to give his prospects time to mature before introducing them to the NHL.

And in the end, he did what he said he would all along on Friday, and sent Morin back to his junior team, the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic.

It just wasn’t exactly an easy decision.

“It gets a little tempting,” Hextall said. “And then you kind of hit ‘refresh’ and think about reality, which is these are preseason games and there's a lot of young players in the lineup, and a lot of the older players in the lineup aren't necessarily bringing their good stuff.

“There are two more levels that the play goes up between the preseason and the regular season 15 games in. So, in the end, we felt like it was the right thing to do.”

Morin had 10 shots and was a plus-2 through five preseason games. He appeared poised and confident, with both his shot and his skating abilities, particularly, impressing the Flyers’ coaching staff.

He was the last of the organization’s young defensive prospects to remain with the team before being cut. Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hagg were both sent to the Phantoms last week. Morin was even the subject of trade rumors, though Hextall denied the club was trying to make room for him (see story).

Morin is returning to the QMJHL because he is not yet eligible to play in the AHL; CHL players cannot play in the AHL until the season during which they turn 20 by Dec. 31. Morin turns 20 on July 12, 2015.

The decision, Berube says, makes the most sense for all involved.

“I had input, but it’s more of a philosophy that Ron Hextall talked about and has,” Berube said. “I believe it’s the right thing, too. I think that Sam played really well, as close to cracking the lineup as you can get, I think.

“But for his development, the player that we think he’s going to become and he thinks he’s going to become, going back to junior’s the best thing for him.”

The Flyers selected the 6-foot-7, 220-pound defenseman 11th overall in the 2013 draft. The Flyers have high hopes for him; Morin leads the way, as far as restocking a farm system that has been less-than-successful in developing defenseman for years.

“We're extremely excited about Sam,” Hextall said. “The kid had a great attitude. I probably sat with him for a half-hour or so there ... but he had a great attitude. His first question was 'Can I get to Rimouski tonight to play?' So it's a credit to the kid that he wanted to get right up and play with his junior team. They're the No. 1 rated junior team in the Canadian Hockey League right now, so he's going to a good situation."

Even while he's back in the minors, the Flyers will keep tabs on Morin. Hextall has already had conversations with his coach -- and has already been frank with the young defenseman about what he wants to see from him, as well as what he doesn't.

"The biggest fear with Sam, for me, was he goes back to junior and thinks he's something he's not -- a skilled type of player," Hextall said. "He's got some skill, he's got a big shot. But he's got to continue to play the same game that he's played here. So the coach is on board and big Sam said 'I'm not changed.' So he knows what he is as a player."

Morin’s departure means that the Flyers will carry 14 players, and 22 overall. Goalie Rob Zepp, forward Chris VandeVelde and left wing Jay Rosehill were all waived with the intent of being sent to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms."

[Atomic Wedgy]

I love Ron Hextall.

[CaptainK]

From preseason action, where do you guys see brayden schenn slotting in? I'm hoping for a shot with G, but i hear names like read, raffle and even simmonds also mentioned for that position.

[Atomic Wedgy]

I would expect all of the guys you mentioned to be playing there for a time. G and Voracek are a pair and the other winger will rotate depending on who's hot and who's not.

[Atomic Wedgy]

Thoughts from tonights game....

The Flyers have an atrocious transition game. I cannot count how many times we coughed up the puck in the neutral zone. It was disgusting. The were many lackadaisical and sometimes reckless plays in the neutral zone. It really pissed me off.

The powerplay was terrible, just terrible. Maybe things will come together, but the terrible power play along with a gross transition game might mean this will be a long and disappointing season. Only got about 2 shots on net for 3 PPs and never looked dangerous. Let's hope they just need to shake off the rust.

Best player on the ice tonight for the Flyers was Mason and it wasn't close. The score really should have been worse than 2-1. He kept us in the game and I was really surprised that we were still in it with 2 minutes left.

Couts was really good as well. I really like him. Plays in all situations and is really steady.

Simmonds was a ghost, except for one really nice drive to the net where he made a slick move between the legs. Maybe he's still hurt?

Brayden Schenn was not impressive. He had a partial breakaway and hit Rask's "B" in the middle of his chest. Maybe he was caught in two minds, but he should have done better with that opportunity. I found that offensive opportunities kept breaking down when he got the puck. Not good.

Schenn - G - Voracek didn't get much going. Not even sure if G got any shots on net.

Simmonds - Couts - Read were better than line 1, but didn't get much going either.

Vinnie - Umberger - Raffl were ok. I did like the look of Vinnie tonight. He seems ready to prove that he's still got some gas in the tank. I'm looking for a modest bounceback for him. I think he will improve on his numbers from last year.

Bellemare - Akeson - Rinaldo line was good. Everything you expect from the energy line and more. They were actually dangerous.

Del Zotto is showing a bit of promise. He played ok tonight. He also played over 20 minutes and had 2nd PP duty. I think they really want to see what he can do.

Streit could show better judgement, but he also had a pretty good game.