4 bubble names to monitor throughout Flyers Training Camp

It is about that time once again. Summer has started to fade into a cool breeze, and the feet shuffling around the rink starts to get louder and louder as we approach another season of Flyers hockey. It\'s a year of potential in Philadelphia, and as the first first rookie games wrap up, training camp has started to kick into gear.

There are a lot of question marks surrounding the Flyers opening night roster, and potential for stiff competition for a bottom-six wing role or a 6th defenseman spot with the big club come October 11th. The Flyers have amassed quite an intriguing group of individuals who could fill those roles, and here are four names that could catch eyes with their contributions throughout the early camp.

Massimo Rizzo

The 23-year old from Burnaby, British Columbia is simply a natural born winner, he was a champion in the BCHL, and a two-time national champion at the University of Denver, including last season, where he returned for the Frozen Four semi-finals to help DU over powerhouses Boston University and Boston College. Rizzo is coming off back-to-back point per game seasons in Denver, and if not for an injury in Feburary that left him sidelined for 14 games, would have easily set his best marks as a Pioneer in his Junior season.

Rizzo reached the 100 point mark in just 87 games as a Pioneer, and was named assistant captain in his final season before signing his entry-level deal in Philadelphia. At 23, he is older than most of the Flyers prospects, but also comes ready to compete for an NHL job out of the box. Rizzo is never going to excel as a goal scorer at the pro level, but he has some dynamic playmaking chops that he showed off in spurts at the college level.

He isn\'t a speedster, but he also isn\'t sluggish to the point where it would inhibit him from reaching his potential at the next level. It\'ll be interesting to see how Rizzo stacks up throughout camp and the preseason, as while it can be hard to fully grasp the level of competiton that upper class college players face when going up against peers sometimes three years younger than them, his production remained fairly steady throughout all three of his years in the NCAA. Playing alongside some speedy wingers may unlock another level to Rizzo\'s game, and the Flyers and Phantoms should have those in spades.

Bobby Brink

Speaking of former Denver Pioneers, Bobby Brink may have a fork in the road facing him heading into his third season as a Flyer. While the 23-year old currently is projected to slot into the Flyers lineup come opening night, his inclusion is not yet set in stone. Despite some decent numbers during his first real NHL campaign last season, where he put up 23 points in 57 games, Brink never truly seemed to fully earn the trust of John Tortorella, who preferred options like Ryan Poehling and Noah Cates if needed in key moments. This led to Brink being healthy scratched on occassion, and eventually being demoted to the AHL in late January. He would return after putting up 13 points in 13 games with the Phantoms, but despite that he struggled to find opportunities to make an impact.

While Brink did sign a two-year, 3 million dollar deal in July to keep him around until 2026, he does find himself in a bit of predicament with a slew of young prospects vying for the spot he currently occupies. Brink deserves and has earned the opportunity to start with the big club again, but if he falls out of favor with Torts again, and a replacement is found that better suits the role that the coaching staff wants to fill, Brink could end up in a situation similar to Wade Allison, where he gets lost in the fold and ends up moving on.

Brink is better than Allison though, and he has the requisite skill and pedigree to be a consistenly positive offensive force in the NHL. It remains to be seen if he is given the opportunity to do so, however.

Samu Tuomaala

Tuomaala has had an up and down last two seasons. After moving to Finland\'s top division in 2022-23 with Jukurit, Tuomaala went pointless in 14 games, which ended up getting him demoted to the Mestis, Finland\'s second-tier. While there, Tuomaala unsurprisingly thrived amongst weaker competition, but it tempered expectations as he prepared to make the jump for his first full AHL season in Lehigh Valley.

However, Tuomaala surprised with his play during his first full pro season, putting up 43 points in 69 games with the Phantoms, placing himself third on the team in scoring, just behind a pair of seasoned AHLers in Tanner Laczynski and Cooper Marody. His speed and shooting ability stood out, and in comparison to other AHL debutants like Elliot Desnoyers and Jon-Randall Avon, Tuomaala looked like he got acclimated much better.

He has the tools to become an impactful middle-six forward, that\'s why he was drafted 46th overall in 2021, and while he isn\'t physically imposing, he does fit the sort of rush-centric, speedy team dynamic that the Flyers seem to be building towards on forward. Realistically, he more than likely will be on the outside looking in to start the season due to the fact that he really doesn\'t fit the profile of a Tortorella fourth liner, but he could definitely play a role throughout the season if he continues to build on what was a strong first pro season.

And while it doesn\'t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things, he did pot the game-winning goal in the Flyers\' rookie series win over the Rangers. Can\'t hurt!

https://twitter.com/NHLFlyers/status/1835100840769601894

Ronnie Attard

Attard has had so many cups of coffee with the big club at this point, it\'d be surprising if he could even sit still. The 25 year-old defender made another 12 game cameo towards the end of 2024, tallying two points as the Flyers struggled with injuries and limped to the end of the year. The 2019 3rd rounder is intriguing because while he did trail only Emil Andrae for points by defensemen in Lehigh Valley, he has struggled to really make his mark as more than an occassional injury replacement. Names like Egor Zamula and the aformentioned Andrae have surpassed Attard as more trusted depth pieces, and it\'s starting to feel like if he doesn\'t make a strong push out of training camp, he may be forever stuck as a AAAA tweener who only sees the NHL roster in the case of injury trouble.

At 6 foot 3 and just a hair under 210 pounds, he has a stout frame that does allow him a bit of grace when compared to someone like the smaller Andrae. But on the flipside, Attard doesn\'t necessarily have the same sort of puck carrying abilities that makes the latter a potentially unique commodity. He isn\'t a mess out there, but at times he does look like nothing more than a defenseman trying to play above his level. He has struggled to retain the confidence he clearly had at the AHL level with the Flyers, and he never really made a strong case to stay in the lineup.

An appearance with Team USA at the World Championships in 2022-23 was a good sign, as was his AHL All Star Game appearance that same year, but as he continues to age and more players like Oliver Bonk progress through the ranks, a standout camp would be pivotal to securing Attard\'s future in Philadelphia.

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4 bubble names to monitor throughout Flyers Training Camp

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