Manning Hopeful To Be Fully Recovered For Season Opener
- Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning resumed skating last month as he recovers from back surgery from April and is hopeful to be 100% for the regular season opener, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. With Philadelphia expected to carry a couple of rookies to start the season, Manning may be in line to start as their seventh blueliner. He has been in that role at times over the past few seasons but saw action in a career-high 65 games last year.
Flyers, Predators Reduce Training Camp Rosters
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced two cuts to their training camp roster today, sending Anthony Salinitri back to the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, and Frank Hora to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Salinitri was a sixth-round pick by Philadelphia in the 2016 entry draft, but put up a solid age-18 season and should be considered a legitimate prospect. Playing on a pretty average Sarnia team, he trailed just blue-chipper Jordan Kyrou in scoring with 58 points in 66 games.
Hora on the other hand was an undrafted free agent, who spent time with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL at the end of last season on an amateur tryout. Now he’s headed to the Phantoms on an AHL deal, and will try to continue his development as a mobile two-way defender. The 21-year old was the captain of the Kitchener Rangers last year, putting up 22 points in 53 games.
The Nashville Predators have also reduced their roster by two, sending Pavel Koltygin and Jacob Paquette back to junior. Koltygin, a sixth-round pick this year, was a standout during his rookie campaign with Drummondville of the QMJHL, scoring 47 points in 65 games. He’ll likely challenge for the team lead this season.
Paquette was the Predators’ seventh-round pick, and is a big left-handed defensemen from the Kingston Frotenacs. He’ll wear an “A” as an alternate captain again this season, logging big minutes against the opponent’s toughest competition.
Dean Lombardi Hired by Philadelphia Flyers
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweets that Dean Lombardi was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers to do some work under general manager Ron Hextall. Lombardi won two Stanley Cup Championships as general manager of the Los Angeles Kings but was relieved of his duties this spring after the team’s continued struggles both in the win column and with their salary cap issues. The Kings replaced him with Rob Blake.
Many wondered what would happen to Lombardi. He was rumored to go to Philadelphia back in May, but nothing had come out of it until now. What his position will be remains unknown, but Lombardi and Hextall go way back as Hextall was an assistant general manager for Lombardi and the Kings before he got the Flyers GM gig. LeBrun writes that the Kings, who still owe him money for this season have signed off on the deal.
Lombardi also has a history with the Flyers as he served as a scout in 2003 until 2006 before becoming general manager of the Kings.
2017-18 Primer: Philadelphia Flyers
With the NHL season now just a month away, it’s time to look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Today, we focus on the Philadelphia Flyers.
Last Season: 39-33-10 record (88 points), sixth in Metropolitan Division (missed the playoffs)
Remaining Cap Space: $4.9MM per CapFriendly
Key Additions: G Brian Elliott (free agency, Calgary), F Jori Lehtera (trade with St. Louis), F Nolan Patrick (entry draft)
Key Departures: F Nick Cousins (trade with Arizona), D Michael Del Zotto (free agency, Vancouver), F Roman Lyubimov (CSKA Moscow, KHL), G Steve Mason (free agency, Winnipeg), F Brayden Schenn (trade with St. Louis), D Nick Schultz (free agency, unsigned)
[Related: Flyers Depth Chart From Roster Resource]
Player To Watch: F Claude Giroux – Giroux has been Philadelphia’s front line center pretty much full-time since 2010-11. However, after hovering at a point-per-game or better for three straight years (2011-12 through 2013-14), his production has dropped for three straight years with his output last season (14 goals and 58 points) checking in well below his career averages.
Giroux is still just 29 and shouldn’t be on the downswing just yet but it’s fair to question if his decline is a sign of things to come or are better days on the horizon? With no real help being brought in offensively over the course of the summer (Schenn to Lehtera is a bit of a step back), the team is undoubtedly counting on Giroux to pick up his play.
The Flyers have their top line center of the future in Patrick but he’s still a few years away from realistically being ready to ascend to that role. Their other internal options (Lehtera, Valtteri Filppula, and Sean Couturier) aren’t capable of being top liners so expectations are going to remain high on Giroux for this season and well beyond. If he can get back to even around the 70 point mark, Philadelphia will be much better off for it.
Key Storyline: There aren’t many certainties around the league from year-to-year but one of them is the annual question of whether the Flyers have good enough goaltending and this season is no exception.
Elliott did not play particularly well with Calgary last season and his numbers were only marginally better than what Mason put up as the starter in 2016-17, a level of production that wasn’t good enough. If Elliott plays similarly this year, starting goaltending will likely be a problem once again. That said, there is upside here based on his play with St. Louis over the previous few seasons. If Elliott gets even close to that level of performance, then Philadelphia will have a reliable starter.
Michal Neuvirth is still in the fold as well and will be looking to push for more playing time as well. He’s also coming off of a down campaign but is only one year removed from a strong year with Philly. However, he hasn’t been able to hold down the number one role for long in the past.
In a perfect world, both veterans rebound and provide the team with above average goaltending but if they repeat their performances from last season, their play between the pipes will be problematic once again. One of these years, the Flyers will find themselves with some stability in goal with a proven, high-quality starter but 2017-18 isn’t going to be the year it happens.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Philadelphia Flyers Send Four Players Back To Junior
- The Philadelphia Flyers have sent four players back to junior, cutting Morgan Frost, Isaac Ratcliffe, Matthew Strome and Maksim Sushko from their training camp roster. All four took part in the rookie camp, but will now head back to their respective OHL teams to continue their development. Frost was the team’s second first-round pick this year, and is coming off a breakout season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Undersized but already a capable two-way player, he’ll try to improve his offensive game and come into next summer’s training camp with something to prove.
Patrick Aims To Make The Roster Out Of Training Camp
- The Philadelphia Flyers’ Nolan Patrick is going to be okay Philadelphia Inquirer writer Sam Carchidi assures a nervous fan base. Patrick had another surgery this summer for abdominal issues, which marked a second consecutive summer he spent rehabbing from an injury. The 19-year-old second overall pick did say he felt totally healthy three weeks ago–which should calm concerned Flyers fans. Patrick spoke about training with Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who Patrick called a “really intelligent guy” and one who helped him with nutrition and training advice. He also noted that he’s been playing at 100% while on the ice, and that his goal remains to make the Flyers roster out of training camp.
Flyers Have Yet To Make PTO Offer To Any UFA Defensemen
- The Flyers don’t have any PTO offers in place for defensemen yet, GM Ron Hextall told reporters, including Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). However, Hextall is still looking around so that may not be the case for long. Philadelphia projects to have at least a couple of young blueliners start with the team so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team look to add a little bit of veteran competition for training camp.
Evening Notes: Giroux, Nash, LA’s Goalie Pipeline
The Philadelphia Flyers have spent quite a bit of time pondering how they didn’t make the playoffs a year ago. The team finished with a 39-33-10 season, including a 10-game winning streak, but their 88 points was not enough to propel them into the playoffs. In fact, their 88 points wasn’t even enough to place ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. Nor 10th. Their record notched them an 11th place finish with the Carolina Hurricanes in 12th only by a point. Granted, the Flyers weren’t really that close to the Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning, who each finished with 94 points, but the team is driven to come back this year.
Of course, Sam Cardichi of Philly.com writes that they will have to do that while integrating four to five rookies into the lineup this year, which likely would include Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom and defenders Samuel Morin and Robert Hagg. That doesn’t even include breaking in a new goaltender in Brian Elliott.
Cardichi writes that he believes the team will be looking for veteran Claude Giroux to have a bounce-back season. After averaging 25 goals over the previous three seasons for the Flyers, the 29-year-old center scored just 14 last year. If he can return to his old form, the Flyers have a much better chance to rebound this year.
- NBC Sports Cam Tucker writes that Rick Nash is also looking to bounce back this season. The New York Rangers’ veteran, who has been a goal-scoring machine in his career is closing in on 500 goals for his career, but has seen the last two years hampered with offensive struggles and numerous injuries. With two seasons in which he combined for just 38 goals, well below his career average, he must come up big this year, before he hits unrestricted free agency after this season. “Every year I want to have the best year possible. But this year, it’s an important year for me personally,” said Nash.
- Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes that the Los Angeles Kings have finally accomplished their goal of building up their goaltending pipeline with three key acquisitions this summer. The team brought in former Minnesota Wild backup Darcy Kuemper to backup veteran Jonathan Quick this year on a one-year deal. That was step one. However, the key acquisitions were signing Notre Dame goaltender Cal Petersen on the first day of free agency in July and then drafting Matthew Villalta in the third round of the 2017 draft this summer. According to Rosen, that stocks the pipeline for the next few years. Petersen was the first goalie to be named captain in Notre Dame’s history and finished with 23 wins, 2.22 GAA and a .926 save percentage in his junior season, taking the team to its third Frozen Four appearance. He also was among the top five finalists for the Mike Richter Award, which goes to the top collegiate goaltender. The 18-year-old Villalta was a third-round pick in the 2017 draft, picking up 25 wins and a 2.41 GAA and a .918 save percentage for the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Minor Transactions: 9/8/17
The last 24 hours has been a busy one in hockey. There continue to be more and more PTO’s as well as a few traditional contract signings as well, both in the NHL, and the following minor league deals:
- The New York Ranger’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, have signed 2016-17 AHL All-Star Joe Whitney to a one-year contract, the team announced. A Boston College alum and former captain of the Eagles, the 29-year-old Whitney has had a fine AHL career and has played an important leadership role for many teams, but has not lived up to the potential many saw in college. Whitney spent the first half of his pro career with the AHL’s Albany Devils, eventually earning an NHL contract with New Jersey and appearing in five games with the team between 2013 and 2015. More recently, he has been more of an AHL gun-for-hire, signing one-year deals with the New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche to be a veteran mentor for their young minor leaguers. Whitney was traded to the Arizona Coyotes for Brendan Ranford at the trade deadline this past season to help support the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners down the stretch. However, the Coyotes and seemingly all other AHL teams weren’t interested in a two-way deal for Whitney’s services this season, leading to his AHL deal with the Wolf Pack. Whitney will still be a valuable research in Hartford, bringing leadership and guidance to a locker room with developing young scorers like Ryan Gropp and Adam Tambellini.
- Like Whitney, another former Boston College captain has found AHL employment in Chris Calnan. The big, two-way winger has signed with one of the AHL’s newest teams, the Binghamton Devils, the relocated affiliate of the New Jersey Devils. The announcement of the deal by Binghamton received excited recognition from both New Jersey and ECHL-affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. The whole chain of teams hope that Calnan can bring the same character, tenacity, and leadership that he showed at BC to his pro game, regardless of what level he plays at. Calnan, 23, was a 2012 third-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, but became a free agent in August after failing to reach terms on an entry-level deal with the team after four years in college. In Binghamton, Calnan will look to show that he has the intangibles to be a reliable bottom-six forward at the NHL level. He may not be his uncle, Jeremy Roenick, but Calnan looks like he may have pro chops.
- Unlike Whitney, a pair of fellow former Coyotes have been unable to lock down even an AHL job this off-season. Branden Troock signed on with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits earlier today, while Henrik Samuelsson came to terms with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads yesterday. Samuelsson, 23, was a first-round pick of the Coyotes back in 2012, but never came close to reaching his potential, beginning with a scoreless three game stint with the ‘Yotes in his first pro season in 2014-15 and only going downhill from there. The team ended up trading Samuelsson to the Edmonton Oilers last season for Mitch Moroz, who signed with none other than the Idaho Steelheads this summer. Samuelsson has just 55 points in his three-year AHL career and will have to work if he wants to add to that point total any time soon. Troock, on the other hand, is neither an Arizona draft pick nor an NHL veteran. The 23-year-old was a 5th-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2012 and was traded to the Coyotes this past February alongside the aforementioned and quickly flipped Brandon Ranford for veteran goalie Justin Peters. Arizona did not make any attempts to re-sign Troock, who was a -7 in 20 games with the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners to close out the season. Troock is more familiar with the ECHL than Samuelsson, having skated in 28 “AA” games over his three pro seasons.
- A player with similar luck is former San Jose Sharks prospect Patrick McNally. A 2010 fourth-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks and a standout at Harvard, the bruising defenseman just couldn’t find any production at the pro level, scoring 18 points in two seasons with the AHL Barracuda. McNally today signed with the ECHL’s Worcester Railers, who ironically play in the former home of the Barracuda, then the Worcester Sharks.
- A pair with better fortunes today was Alex Wideman and Tyler Sikura. The ECHL forwards are now AHL forwards, after inking deals with the Rockford Ice Hogs today, as per a team announcement. Wideman, the younger brother of Ottawa Senators defenseman Chris Wideman, is back in the AHL after two full seasons of ECHL playing following a quick stint with his brother on the Binghamton Senators in 2015. The 25-year-old scored 55 points in 70 games last season, the best offensive production of his entire career. Sikura is on an AHL contract for the first time, having only played in the American League on loan after signing with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye out of Dartmouth College in 2015. The former Big Green captain has yet to record an AHL point yet, which will surely be his “goal” when he first hits the ice with Rockford.
- Journeyman goalie Mark Dekanich will be staying stateside this year. He has re-upped with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. The 31-year-old Dekanich is a ten-year pro; a 2006 draft pick of the Predators, he made one NHL start in Nashville and many more starts with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, then jumped overseas to the KHL before returning to minor league duty in North America. While Dekanich could end up playing much of the season down in the ECHL, as he has the past two seasons since returning from the KHL, Dekanic’s veteran presence could prove helpful for promising young Flyers goalie prospects Alex Lyon and Carter Hart, especially while Anthony Stolarz remains sidelined. However, between that trio of up-and-coming keepers, the veteran duo of Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth in Philly, and Leland Irving and John Muse also on AHL deals, there may be a few too many goalies in Lehigh Valley and Reading this season.
Anthony Stolarz Undergoes Knee Surgery; Out Indefinitely
- Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Anthony Stolarz underwent meniscus surgery on his left knee yesterday and will be out indefinitely. The operation explains why the Lehigh Valley Phantoms signed another goaltender last week, inking Leland Irving to an AHL deal. Stolarz, who has flashed huge amounts of potential but has been unable to stay healthy, will now have to work his way back from an injury that can take quite some time to recover from. For the time being, Alex Lyon will take the starter’s duties in the AHL, something he’s more than capable of.