After a whirlwind first four days of training camp -- John Tortorella's infamous skate test, two days of dual scrimmages, practice sessions, and two road exhibition games -- the Flyers had a complete day off on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the team reconvened in two practice groups at the Flyers Training Center.
The first practice group was the "NHL group", for lack of a better term. These players are either locks for the eventual opening-night NHL roster or are players whom Tortorella and the Hockey Operations staff wants to take an extended look at in camp. The main line combinations were as follows:
Owen Tippett -- Morgan Frost - Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster - Sean Couturier - Matvei Michkov
Joel Farabee - Noah Cates - Bobby Brink
Scott Laughton - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway
Note; Jett Luchanko took various reps in place of Couturier, Nicolas Deslauriers alternated with Laughton, and Olle Lycksell (who played in both Sunday's and Monday's exhibition games) spelled Frost on some reps. Although typically a winger, Lycksell took reps skating in the middle.
The main defensive pairings were as follows:
Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler - Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula - Rasmus Ristolainen
Adam Ginning - Erik Johnson
With the goalie numbers in camp now reduced to four -- the projected NHL tandem of Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov and the likely AHL duo of Cal Petersen and Eetu Makiniemi -- the two NHL netminders had the nets to themselves in Group 1.
Tortorella said after practice that he hasn't made up his mind yet about with personel and line combinations will play against the Islanders the next day.
Wednesday News and Notes:
- Hockey Operations, namely general manager Danny Briere, has set the lines he wants to take a look at in camp, per Tortorella. Based on Wednesday's combos, seemingly wants to gather a bit of information on Michkov with a variety of linemates. This was likely why the 19-year-old Russian prospect skated with Couturier and Foerster after playing the scrimmages and the first exhibition game with Frost and Tippett.
- During practice, there was a five-man defensive positioning drill with the three forwards and two defensemen establishing the correct position with the puck controlled by an "attacker" directly behind the net.
- None of Konecny, Sanheim, York or Ersson played in either of the first two preseason exhibitions. WIth the Flyers hosting the New York Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday, it's likely that most or all will be in the lineup.
- Ristolainen dropped Luchanko with a clean hit during the Phantoms' rink portion of the practice. Luchanko popped right back up to his feet.
- The Group 2 session featured the following players on the ice, including goalies Makiniemi (newly signed to a one-year contract) and Petersen. Forwards: Rodrigo Abols, Cooper Marody, Oscar Eklind, Rhett Gardner, Massimo Rizzo, Elliot Desnoyers, J.R. Avon, Garrett Wilson, Anthony Richard, and Brendan Furry. Defensemen: Emil Andrae, Ronnie Attard, Helge Grans, Hunter McDonald, Oliver Bonk, and Louie Belpedio.
- In case you missed it, the Flyers made 14 roster cuts on Wednesday.
