1. A regular season dress rehearsal... sort of
After Monday's game, Flyers head coach John Tortorella said he'd largely use the final preseason game as a dress rehearsal for next week's regular season opener in Columbus. On Wednesday, Tortorella said that the same plan was still in place, "sort of."
There are still a few personnel decisions to be made before opening night rosters must be filed with the NHL by Oct. 9 at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. The Flyers must decide whether they'll enter the season carrying the maximum 23 players. If they do carry 23, the organization has to decide whether to enter the season with 14 forwards and seven defensemen or 13 forwards and eight defensemen.
As part of these considerations, the Flyers and all NHL clubs must weigh the factors of which players are subject to waivers and which ones are waiver exempt.
For Philadelphia, power forward Wade Allison would have to pass through waivers, while rookie hopefuls Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink are waiver exempt. On the blueline, where the Flyer still have eight defensemen in camp, rookie Emil Andrae is exempt from waivers while Egor Zamula would have to pass through waivers if he doesn't make the opening night roster.
The last game of the preseason will be the final opportunity for the Flyers' hockey operations triumvirate of Tortorella, General Manager Danny Briere and Hockey Ops President Keith Jones to evaluate the candidates in game action. It's also not set in stone that a more veteran player (more likely a defenseman than a forward) won't be waived to open a roster space for a younger player. The Flyers currently have 15 forwards and eight defensemen remaining in camp.
“It kind of confuses you, But confusion is good when you’re in a process. We’ve just got to unconfuse it sometime by Monday," Tortorella said.
2. Flyers line play
On a related note to the final roster battles and the semi-rehearsal lineup the team will feature on Thursday night, the Flyers held an hour-long practice followed by an off-ice workout on Wednesday.
Wednesday's practice combinations were as follows:
Joel Farabee - Sean Couturier - Bobby Brink/ Tyson Foerster
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Cam Atkinson
Scott Laughton/Wade Allison - Noah Cates - Travis Konecny
Nic Deslauriers - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway
Cam York - Rasmus Ristolainen
Marc Staal - Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler - Sean Walker
Emil Andrae - Egor Zamula
Carter Hart
Samuel Ersson
Felix Sandström
At Thursday's morning skate at the FTC, these were the lines:
Farabee-Couturier-Foerster
Tippett-Frost-Atkinson
Laughton-Cates-Konecny
Deslauriers-Poehling-Hathaway
York-Ristolainen
Staal-Sanheim
Seeler-Walker
Hart
Ersson
Sandström
3. Defense: A juggling act
After Wednesday's practice, Tortorella spoke at length about the need -- and key organizational priority -- of getting ample NHL ice this season for the younger defensemen in the organization. Simultaneously, veteran defensemen will still have important roles to play in terms of leadership, mentorship and on-ice responsibilities
.Tortorella admitted that it will be a difficult juggling act and that, at times, the team may have to "take some lumps" in the name of younger defensemen navigating the learing curve at the game's top level.
Veteran defensemen Marc Staal and Nick Seeler are both veteran defensemen whom Tortorella knows and trusts from having coached them in the NHL. Staal, who dressed in every regular season and playoff game for the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers last season, has already been told by Tortorella that he will not start every game for Philly over the course of 2023-24. Seeler, meanwhile, started 77 of 82 games for the Flyers last season under Tortorella.
Walker, meanwhile, has not previously played for Tortorella but the 28-year-old veteran has twice started 70 games in NHL regular seasons. He moves the puck well, has a right-handed shot and some bite to his game.
For the preseason finale, Tortorella indicated on Wednesday that Staal, Seeler and Walker would all be in the lineup against the Islanders.
4. Hart to go the distance
Flyers number one goalie Carter Hart played the full game on Saturday against the Devils. He looked sharp in a 3-2 overtime loss. Tortorella indicated on Wednesday that Hart would also play the entire game against the Islanders.
Additionally, Tortorella confirmed that Samuel Ersson has won the number two spot on the Flyers goaltending depth chart, and he'll be on the opening night roster. However, Felix Sandström is still in training camp with the team. Sandström is subject to waivers beforehand if the Flyers elect to send him to the Phantoms.
5. Behind enemy lines: New York Islanders
The Islanders are playing their next-to-last preseason game. Their exhibition slate ends on Friday at home against the New Jersey Devils.
Veteran forward Kyle Palmieri returned to practice on Wednesday. He had missed four preseason games due to injury. He should be ready for the regular season,
The Islanders had a split-group practice. Group A, clad in blue practice jerseys, consisted largely of NHL players. The second group, in white, had players likely headed for the AHL's Bridgeport Islanders. Per the Islanders' official website, this is how the groups were arranged:
BLUE GROUP
Forwards: Mathew Barzal, Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, Pierre Engvall, Hudson Fasching, Julien Gauthier, Simon Holmstrom, Bo Horvat, Ross Johnston, Anders Lee, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson, JG Pageau, Kyle Palmieri, Oliver Wahlstrom.
Defensemen: Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc, Noah Dobson, Paul LaDue, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Alexander Romanov
Goaltenders: Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov
WHITE GROUP
Forwards: Jackson Cates, William Dufour, Arnaud Durandeau, Ruslan Iskhakov, Karson Kuhlman, Eetu Liukas, Kyle MacLean, Matt Maggio, Reece Newkirk, Brian Pinho
Defensemen: Dennis Cholowski, Aidan Fulp, Grant Hutton, Travis Mitchell, Calle Odelius and Robin Salo
Goaltenders: Ken Appleby, Jakub Skarek
