Meltzer: Reviewing Camp Week 1

The Flyers have hit the one-week mark in their first training camp under new head coach John Tortorella and the midway point of their six-game exhibition slate (1-2-0 record). There have been no miracles worked, nor expected. The teamwide work ethic has been fine thus far but it's very clear that there's a lot of work ahead.

It is foolish to read too much into preseason games and especially into scrimmages. The No. 1 focus in camp so far has been on conditioning with skating-intensive daily sessions. The only meaningful systems-implementation work so far has been via video sessions. On-ice x-and-o work on breakouts, offensive zone and neutral zone forecheck, coverage responsibilities for forwards defending opposing entries, etc., lies ahead as the roster gets further reduced and there is a little more space between games on the back half of the exhibition slate.
Here are 6 observations on camp so far: three areas of encouragement and three of concern. Additionally, I will look at players who have stood out positively in camp and three who are looking to unlock a little higher level.
Needed Improvements before the season
1. Scoring chance creation
In the bigger picture, the Flyers are coming off a 2021-22 season in which the team ranked 31st in the NHL in goals per game (2.56) and 27th in goals against average (3.59).
The team did not add any high-caliber goal-scoring forwards or top-tier playmaking forwards in the offseason, so any bump in scoring is going to have to come from internal improvements. Goals against average improvement is easier to obtain through adherence to structure and teamwide commitment to shot suppression and puck support contributing to a strong season by the goaltenders.
In and of itself, the fact that the Flyers have scored just four goals through three preseason games (2-1 win over Boston, 2-1 loss to Buffalo, 3-1 loss to Washington) is not a huge deal. Lineups are staggered and most teams have a big disparity of game-night roster quality from line to line early in camp. Players are still recovering their timing and playing with assorted different linemates.
More important right now than goal totals is the fact that the number of high-quality scoring chances the Flyers generated in the last two games -- and even in portions of the opening win -- have been quite modest for long stretches of the game. It's one thing not to finish a lot of scoring chances during the preseason and something else when the chances are barely coming at all for entire periods.
This needs to be corrected, at 5-on-5 and especially on the power play.
The Flyers cashed in on a 5-on-3 power play in the preseason opener against Boston. However, a lengthy 5-on-3 against Buffalo on Tuesday was poorly executed and the team struggled in general in going 0-for-3 on the man advantage in that game.
In the Washington game, the Flyers had only one power play and never threatened to score. The paucity of power play opportunities in that game was largely due to the Flyers not skating very well, moving their feet sufficiently or winning enough puck battles that lead to chances; the things that result in power plays.
The Flyers did a little bit of power play practice in a morning skate environment but there has not been in-depth systems work done in camp yet. Generally, special teams success or struggles in the preseason have very little to do with what to expect in the regular season. For one thing, the personnel changes from game-to-game until the last exhibition game or two.
That said, the Flyers have a dire need to improve the power play under new assistant coach Rocky Thompson compared to their horrific showing on the man advantage last year. In 2021-22, the Flyers had their worst power play success rate in franchise history since the NHL started officially recording power play opportunities and conversions in 1977-78..
Based on historical box score research, the 2021-22 campaign was the second worst power play year in Flyers team history. Only the team's inaugural 1967-68 season (12.3 percent, 33-for-269) came in lower than the 12.6 percent (30-for-239) that the Flyers posted last season.
2. Puck support and defensive zone exits
The Flyers can -- and must -- do a more consistent job at supporting the puck in the offensive zone and at getting the puck out of the defensive zone --preferably by breaking out with puck possession but at minimum by successfully clearing the puck out of the D-zone when there's an opportunity.
Failed clearing chances and/or breakout opportunities were a chronic problem the last two seasons and reared their ugly heads at key junctures of each of the last two losses. Ditto neutral zone turnovers.
Why did the Flyers' generally solid two-way play in the first period against the Capitals fall so dramatically in the second period on Tuesday?
"I thought it was with puck support. I thought we got a little too far away from the puck. Got checking with our eyes instead of our legs and I thought we got outskated for about a good 7-to-8-minute part of that period. We just seem to never get our game back," said assistant coach Brad Shaw, who served as the acting head coach behind the bench for that game.
Keep an eye on second periods. In each of the last two games -- Tuesday night in Buffalo and Wednesday at home against a Washington Capitals team that mainly featured Hershey Bears players and NHL role players -- the Flyers had a decent first period but dropped off considerably in the middle frame.
Last season, the Flyers had chronic problems with second periods. In his postgame media availability on Wednesday, Shaw did not sugarcoat the fact that this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
"Second periods are reflections of good teams. The teams that are feeling like they are up at the upper echelon, they tend to have good second periods and so if we want to become a good team, we have to clean up our second periods," Shaw said..
"That's a puck management issue. To some extent that's recognizing the pulse of the game a little bit, being a little bit more plugged in that recognizing that most of the elements of the game are more important because you're margin for error is slimmer. You can get caught on a long shift. You combine all those things, and it is a test for teams that aren't feeling that night so that's definitely something we want to improve on. We recognize that if you can weather the storm in the second period and get through it a lot of time, you get that second wind or third wind in the third and away you go. I thought there were a few minutes in the third period where we did get going again and we just never seemed to be able to put enough good plays together and enough good shifts together to really generate that type of momentum we needed to take over the game."
3. Dealing with injury absences
Every NHL team copes with injuries. That's where depth comes in. The Flyers are still trying to unlock greater depth within their lineup.
Sean Couturier remains out week-to-week, although there was good news in terms of the fact that he will not need another back surgery. Cam Atkinson has been practicing daily but remains day-to-day with an upper body injury. Carter Hart (lower body) is likewise day-to-day. He is on the ice daily but has yet to play in the preseason. Joel Farabee (offseason neck surgery) hasn't been cleared yet for contact but practices daily and is aiming to be cleared to play by opening night or at least by shortly thereafter.
Even under ideal conditions, this group represents multiple key players who have yet to appear in a preseason game. Atkinson played in a scrimmage on Day 2 as did Hart but Farabee is not cleared for scrimmaging yet and Coutuier is, of course, not cleared to skate for a yet-to-be-determined length of time. Ryan Ellis (various midsection/ core issues) remains off-ice for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, tryout veteran center Artem Anisimov (lower-body injury) is listed as day-to-day. He finished the preseason opener after painfully blocking a first period shot and briefly leaving the game. However, he missed the next several days on the ice.
Even under ideal circumstances, having all these key players plus a potential veteran role player candidate (Anisimov) unavailable to play is going to severely test a team's depth. The flip side of this issue, especially during the preseason, is that it creates expanded opportunities for other players.
Thus far, to put it bluntly, the lineups the Flyers have iced in all three preseason games to date have been quite shallow (especially up front). A few of the younger players have stepped up in camp so far but more help is needed.
There will be a little better barometer of this Flyers team when Atkinson and Farabee return. Couturier's status is still too nebulous right now to bank upon a near-range return date to play or currently feel confident in his sustained good health until it is demonstrated upon his eventual return.
In the interim, the Flyers still need a wider array of players to step up and show their ability to keep the team competitive on a consistent basis. One week of training camp is insufficient evaluation time. However, there is room for improvement on what's been demonstrated so far, and a need for upper lineup players and potential depth players to start picking up the pace.
Hopeful signs in Training Camp to date
1. Goalie play
Make no mistake: Carter Hart's health and full-season consistency are crucial elements of the upcoming season. The Flyers need him healthy and playing at his best if they are to be a more competitive hockey team this year. He's the team's No. 1 goalie and he has to be a workhorse. There's no way around it.
Entering camp, the depth behind Hart was a major question mark. The jury remains out on who will emerge as the team's immediate and long-term No. 2 goalie on the depth chart. Based upon play in training camp so far, however, goaltending depth has been an early bright spot.
Felix Sandström has played well overall in his two preseason outings to date as well as in scrimmages. Veteran AHL goalie Troy Grosenick hasn't played poorly -- he was strong in the third period of the preseason opener in particular -- but the younger Sandström has been the better of the two.
However, the biggest goalie standout in camp in lieu of Hart has been Samuel Ersson. Highly touted as an incoming Phantoms rookie last season, his campaign was ruined by recurring groin injuries that forced him to miss the vast majority of the 2021-22 season. Now fully healthy, he excelled both in Rookie Camp and in 40 minutes of preseason game action so far.
It's way too early to draw any conclusions based on such a small sample size. Nonetheless, the goalies have been a bright spot so far even as the Flyers sorely need Hart to be the backbone of the team.
2. Penalty kill
The Flyers opened the 2022 preseason by going 10-for-10 on the penalty kill before yielding a Dylan Strome one-timer goal on Washington's second power play of Wednesday's game. Philly subsequently killed off the Caps' third power play, bringing the Flyers' preseason PK to 11-for-12.
Last season, the Flyers were over 80 percent on the PK up through the leaguewide Christmas break but the bottom dropped out in the second half of the season. Nonetheless, to start the preseason on a strong note on the penalty killing end of special teams -- with various players worked into the rotation and not much time spent on special teams at practice -- is a positive.
What's gone right so far: The goalies have been strong in making saves, and the skaters have done a good job at pressuring entries and, if the opponent does get set up, taking away cross-seam passes and generally giving the goalies a clear line of sight to track the puck,
3. No cheating
Apart from being a stickler for conditioning, Tortorella is going to hammer home all year the need to play with structure. He'd do that anyway, because it's fundamental to the team identity he has tried to instill wherever he coaches. But team-wide buy-in for this is especially crucial for a Flyers club that will likely need to scratch out 2-1 or 3-2 types of close-checking wins with regularity to stay competitive.
Systems work, as noted, has not begun in earnest yet. But there has been noticeable effort by the players to back-check and for players not to cheat out of the defensive zone too early. The club still needs a lot of improvement from last year in moving the puck up ice and in "defending less by attacking more". But the players are at least showing that they understand the need to do a better job at staying below the puck.
There have been a few lapses, but the parameters are at least understood to everyone. It's a baby step.
Selected Player Notes
Kevin Hayes:Like most of the Flyers, Hayes did not have all that good of a game on Wednesday against Washington although he scored the Flyers' lone goal of the game. The bigger story in camp is that he is healthy and reported in the best physical condition of his career. Hayes fared well during the grueling skating test on the first day.
Travis Konecny:Konecny has been flying in camp so far and appears to be in outstanding physical condition. He's been arguably the Flyers biggest offensive standout in the two scrimmages and the one game's played. He's getting chances off the rush, getting to the scoring areas and finishing plays (including the lone Philadelphia goal in the Buffalo game.
Morgan Frost: It has been a good camp for Frost so far. Not spotless but strong overall and encouraging. For the second straight offseason, he added some muscle. He's played 20-plus minutes across all manpower situations in two preseason games, recording an assist in each game (including a nifty backhanded setup to Noah Cates on a 5-on-3 power play goal). He's killed penalties. He's blocked shots. He's shown more willingness to shoot the puck. He's generally kept his feet moving. He's bounced right back after a couple of miscues. While intrasquad scrimmages don't reflect much, it's certainly better that he has four points (1g, 3a) across the two scrimmages than not being noticeable. In Tuesday's game in Buffalo, Frost had the Flyers two best scoring chances apart from Konecny's goal: a breakaway opportunity and a deflection on net from the slot after an initial clean faceoff win.
Noah Cates: The younger Cates brother looked like he instantly belonged in the NHL during his late season look in 2021-22 after finishing his senior year at Minnesota Duluth. After what seems to have been a very diligent summer of training along his brother, Jackson, Noah has stood out positively each and every day on the ice in camp so far. He's a smart all-around player who consistently goes to the right spots, makes correct reads and also executes subtle but effective plays with the puck. There's a high work ethic in all three zones and he also has good hands. He's been building a very strong case thus far to be part of the NHL roster come opening night.
Jackson Cates:The elder Cates brother struggled through an injury-marred 2021-22 season with the Flyers and Phantoms. He's been a pleasant surprise in camp by how well he's shown both in Rookie Camp and overall in main camp. Especially when playing alongside his brother, Jackson seems to be playing with a higher degree of confidence. He's facing a numbers game for the NHL opening night roster but, at minimum, is boosting his stock as a callup option on the depth chart.
Olle Lycksell:The crafty Swedish forward was one of the biggest standouts in Rookie Camp (not unexpected because he already had several years of pro experience in Sweden's SHL and is a skilled player). He also stood out on the first scrimmage day at NHL Camp. Since then, he's had some shifts where he's made clever plays with the puck or otherwise made himself noticed with his hockey smarts but not to quite the same degree.
Cam York: York still has the inside track to a full-time NHL roster spot but there have been hints that the coaches would like to see a bit more than he's demonstrated in camp. Ian Laperriere and Shaw both noted York's obvious puck skills and ability to jump in the play up ice. However, Laperriere publicly stated that York can demonstrate greater consistency in executing routine plays routinely, while Shaw said that he'd like to see York made shift-long impacts in all three zones. After Sunday's scrimmages and practices, Tortorella took York aside on the ice. The dialogue was calm and seemingly instructive in nature. These are not negative things; it's what coaching is all about and it shows there's a belief that York has barely scratched the surface of his potential.
Tanner Laczynski:Laczynski is now healthy after surgeries on both hips during the 2021 calendar year. With Patrick Brown (offseason back surgery) still unavailable, Laczynski has a golden opportunity in camp to stake down a starting spot come opening night. The details of his overall game have been fine so far. He just hasn't had those "jump out" moments that he's shown when healthy at the AHL level; there's more offensive game to him, for example, than he's shown in camp. Without the puck, he's been diligent.
Wade Allison: Allison always gets himself noticed on the ice; more often for positive things than negative. The big thing with him in camp is that he's been healthy so far. He still can play a little out of control at times, but he can also be quite effective in puck battles to go along with his heavy shot.
Ronnie Attard: Big and strong with a huge shot and a naturally aggressive style, Attard has had mixed results so far in camp. Some misreads and overplays but also a high degree of persistence and competitiveness. Attard lacks an inside track for an opening night NHL roster spot but his positive attitude, work ethic and natural gifts all work in his favor in the bigger picture.
Isaac Ratcliffe: Ratcliffe played in both Tuesday and Wednesday's games. The waiver-eligible fourth-year pro has played OK in two exhibitions and two scrimmages but has not, as yet, picked up to the level he showed in his 10-game NHL trial last season or stretch drive AHL run with the Phantoms. There's still time for the hulking winger to state his most emphatic case for an NHL roster spot. His outing thus far have not reached the level where he'd make himself "uncuttable" in latter-camp roster decisions.
Owen Tippett:Tippett, playing his off-wing for the first time in about two years, contributed a nice assist in the Washington game. Otherwise, he didn't make much of an impact in the game. However, he's had several scoring chances in camp between scrimmages and the first game of the exhibition schedule but has yet to pot a goal. Getting scoring chances has not been a problem in his still-young NHL career but finishing them has. He's been a goal-scorer at lower levels. Tippett has pledged to focus more on just getting pucks on net rather than trying to make perfect shots (and winding up missing the net or hitting the post). The Flyers need Tippett to be one of their better goal-producing wingers this season. Having a few go in for him over the rest of camp, if for nothing else but his confidence and peace of mind, would be a positive sign.