The Game: 3:00 p.m. EST on NHL Network
The day has finally come! After a long and arduous rookie camp and opening to training camp, the Flyers are finally off to playing some real and (sort of) meaningful games. The preseason is upon us!
The Flyers are kickings things off with a matinee showing down in Washington, seeing the Capitals for the first time since they effectively dealt the Flyers their elimination from playoff contention last spring. But it’s a brand new season and the stakes are different, and while we’re certainly hoping for a win and a beginning to the building of some momentum to carry into the season, today feels more about seeing how some of these bubble players fare in actual game action.
Players to watch
Matvei Michkov
Now, while Michkov is certainly not one of the bubble players who’s going to have to beat out a bunch of other players if he wants to make the NHL roster to start the season, we do still want to see him have a solid showing in this preseason. He looked really good in the one game he got during the rookie series, but he still has quite a bit of adjusting to do to the North American game, and this is the next step in terms of ramping up the intensity and difficulty of opponents for him. We’re trying to keep our expectations reasonable, but he already has show well and built up a bit of momentum, and it’ll be interested to see if that carries on into today’s tilt.
Ivan Fedotov
Speaking of players still getting acclimated to the North American game, this brings us to Fedotov, who’s scheduled to make his preseason debut this afternoon. We remember well what a strange end to the season it was for him — thrown right into the fire as the Flyers had no other option, right into a heated race for a playoff spot, and while he showed some flashes of brilliance in that span, he also showed moments of looking a bit out of his depth. It’s hard to fault him for looking unsteady at times, but now that he’s had a taste of action to help set his expectations and full summer to train, this is when we’re going to be looking to see how quickly he’s able to settle in and show what he’s really able to do. We’re giving him some grace as well, it’s not an overnight process, but the clock is starting, as it were.
Olle Lycksell
There are some exciting very youngsters in action this afternoon, but perhaps more interesting is the group of slightly older young players — more experienced, shall we say — who should have a leg up in that race for one of the very few roster spots up for grabs. One such player is Lycksell who, after getting his seasoning in the AHL and a couple short cups of coffee with the NHL squad, finally got a longer look last season, and when placed in a top-9 role with some linemates who better matched his skill level, was able to make an actual positive impression. Despite that, though, he remains a bit on the outside looking in, and one can’t help but feel like this is something of a make or break year for him. He’s certainly already on the radar of the management group — Danny Briere shouted him out in his last availability as a player who he sees as having a legitimate shot at making a run for a roster spot — but it’s up to him to get off to a good start and start chipping away at the gap between himself and the main group.
Emil Andrae
Fellow Swede Andrae finds himself in a similar situation, and it’s also something of a familiar one — we recall, he came into last camp pretty comfortably on the outside, but he flat out worked himself into a spot on the roster to start the season, and now he’s looking to do that again (and really make it stick this time). And while it’s going to be something of an uphill battle, between the work both he and his coaching staff have acknowledged that he still needs to put in on his game and the sheer number of bodies ahead of him on the depth chart, the door is still pretty well open for him. After all, Briere did say in that same availability that, if they feel they have no other choice based on the players’ performances, they would be very comfortable carrying eight defensemen on the roster into the season. This one is going to be an interesting saga to watch for sure!
The rosters
Philadelphia Flyers
Forwards: Bobby Brink, Olle Lycksell, Jett Luchanko, Rodrigo Abols, Noah Cates, Matvei Michkov, Sawyer Boulton, Morgan Frost, Rhett Gardner, Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee, Brendan Furry
Defensemen: Helge Grans, Jamie Drysdale, Adam Ginning, Nick Seeler, Emil Andrae, Spencer Gill
Goalies: Carson Bjarnason, Ivan Fedotov
Washington Capitals
Forwards: Jakub Vrana, Sonny Milano, Taylor Raddysh, Terik Parascak, Mike Sgarbossa, Andrew Cristall, Hendrix Lapierre, Ethen Frank, Alex Limoges, Henrik Rybinski, Riley Sutter, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Eriks Mateiko.
Defenseman: Vincent Irorio, Hardy Haman Aktell, Ethan Bear, Alex Alexeyev, Leon Muggli, Cam Allen, Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Goalies: Hunter Shepard, Clay Stevenson
