The Flyers’ annual Development Camp is kicking off this morning, and it’s certainly a big one. We might not be seeing the full compliment of their prospect group at this one (more on that later), but there will be a number of big names skating over at the practice rink this week, and it’s a great opportunity to both get introduced to some of the new faces added through the draft this past weekend, as well as check in with some of the more established players in the pipeline. There’s a lot going on here, to be sure, but here are a few players who might be worth giving a little extra attention to this week.
Porter Martone
Martone is bringing together a bit of the shiny new toy syndrome, as well as the excitement around joining the organizational depth chart and immediately skyrocketing towards the top as one of the most high-end players, and he’ll be hoping to make his first introduction to the Flyers staff, as well as their fans, a good one. Now, every year it’s emphasized that Development Camp isn’t about evaluating in any sort of sweeping way, it’s about learning, so we’re trying to keep expectations manageable here, but this is a big moment for all parties involved. The Flyers are looking to begin to push into the next phase of their rebuild, and Martone should be a big part of tipping them over the edge into it. Now, this obviously won’t be happening in just one development camp, but this is a good time to get a sense of where he’s at with his game, and begin to get a feel for whether he does truly have a legitimate shot at making the team this year, or if he’s better served going back to juniors for one more year. It’s about learning for us, in a way, as well.
Jack Nesbitt
Somewhat conversely, the trade up and pick of Nesbitt so early in the first round on Friday was a bit of a head-scratcher to some, and time will be the big decider of whether the cost to get him was justified for the player that everyone has been hearing about. That is, to be sure, a lot of baggage to be brining in right off the bat, and we want to give Nesbitt some grace here as he still is very young in his development. But this week will still be a big one to give those of us who have only seen him in clips a chance through some live and in-person viewing to get a better sense of just what he is as a player, and how far he’ll still have to go to reach a level equal to his draft pedigree. It’ll be a long development process, but as they say, you have to start somewhere.
Jett Luchanko
Luchanko is coming into this season at an interesting crossroads — we all recall that he made the Flyers on more or less a tryout basis to begin last season, and showed some flashes before ultimately being sent back to Guelph for the rest of the season, before closing things out with a stink with the Phantoms, where he also showed well, and the Flyers are approaching decision time once again on where Luchanko should spend this season. With the AHL still not a full-season option for him, a decision will have to be made on whether he’s made enough progress in his game to warrant a full-time graduation to the NHL, or if he’d be better served to continue tinkering with his game against junior level competition. There’s still a while to go before that decision needs to be locked in, but Luchanko’s work over the summer will go a long way towards informing it, and it will be interesting to see where he stands this week.
Now a bit of a wrench has been thrown into this one, as Luchanko has already been held off the ice for Day 1 as he’s deal with a “minor groin issue,” and it remains to be seen just when he’ll make it back into the mix. So, in that way, he’s also worth watching to see when he’ll be available again for watching.
Alex Bump
Like Luchanko, Bump is another player coming into main camp who looks like he might just have an inside track on making the big club to start the season. Now, there are a lot of bodies in that mix, but Tyson Foerster’s uncertain status opens the door a bit wider for a player like Bump to make a real run at a lineup spot. He’s certainly coming in with some momentum — after a huge season with Western Michigan which ended with a National Championship win, and some real flash shown in his postseason stint with the Phantoms (before he seemed to run out of a steam, understandably) — and will be looking to keep that rolling this week. This is a learning camp, as we said, but all the same, Bump will all but certainly be one of the players most highly motivated to show well and effectively begin his campaign for a roster spot early. And, as we’ve seen, a highly motivated Bump can be a real force, so he’ll surely be a fun one to watch this week.
Hunter McDonald
McDonald, too, is coming into this camp in an interesting spot. It’s been a bit of a year for him — he was getting talked up a lot around this time last year, but that waned pretty significantly as his first full season in the AHL went on, and as he struggled at times to get adjusted to that level. He certainly made some progress from start to finish, to be sure, but there were also elements of his game (particularly in the reads and discipline departments) where he didn’t, and they still manifested as trouble spots for him even into the postseason. But McDonald is still a player that the organization seems to really value, who they want to give the best shot to develop into a useful piece at the NHL level. After a disappointing end to the season, McDonald will surely be motivated to get things moving in the right direction again, and this week will be an interesting test of that.
Bits and bobs
You might notice some notably absent names from that list — Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, Alexis Gendron, and Carter Amico — and we assure you, these aren’t slights or oversights, rather, the Flyers made note that these players (along with Austin Moline) will be present at camp for the off-ice activities, but they won’t be skating, as they’re all still nursing minor injury situations (or, in Amico’s case, have not yet been cleared post-surgery). So we’ll have to catch up with that lot at another time. So it goes.
