Over the opening portion of camp, practices are divided into three groups: A, B, and C. Group C skates the earliest and is composed primarily of junior-aged prospects in their first NHL camp and likely Philadelphia Phantoms or Reading Royals players who are coming back from injuries.
On Day 1, Groups A and B each held 90-minute sessions divided between 45-minute segments on the two rinks at either end of the Flyers Training Center. A similar arrangement is planned for the second and third days of camp. In terms of line combinations, the groups were organized this way:
GROUP A
Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom - Derick Brassard - Cam Atkinson
Isaac Ratcliffe - Tanner Laczynski - Tyson Foerster
Ryan Fitzgerald - Cal O'Reilly - Gerry Mayhew
Ivan Provorov - Ryan Ellis
Keith Yandle - Justin Braun
Egor Zamula - Nick Seeler
Linus Högberg - Brian Zanetti
Carter Hart
Samuel Ersson
GROUP B
James van Riemsdyk - Morgan Frost - Joel Farabee
Nate Thompson - Scott Laughton - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Connor Bunnaman - German Rubtsov - Linus Sandin
Garrett Wilson - Jackson Cates - Max Willman
Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York - Adam Clendening
Mason Millman - Wyatte Wylie
Jackson van de Leest - Logan Day
Martin Jones
Felix Sandström
As per usual in training camp, each of the two main groups do the same drills in the same order. A portion of the first day was spent on breakouts. Various other systems aspects will be covered in the days leading up to the exhibition game opener next Tuesday. Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said on Tuesday that he plans to keep most of the lines together for the first five days of camp to see if they develop chemistry.
The coach's post-practice assessment of the first day of camp: "It felt good for me. One of the things that stood out was new players and a lot of new guys wanting to get to the front of the lines during drills. People that were brought in. A lot of them were leaders, part of the core group in their teams prior to coming here and paying attention to the video, paying attention to the pre-ice, going out on the ice. Even though it was our first practice together, a lot of the guys wanted to go to the front of the lines and do it the right way so that's a very positive sign."
Some notable happenings on Day 1:
* Team captain Giroux was matched up several times against the defense pairing of Yandle and Braun. At one point, Giroux knocked Braun down hard. The veteran defenseman was fine afterwards. Giroux said afterwards, "It wasn't meant for him to go down, but I guess I got him on the chin. Me and him went at it in camp last year and we told each other we weren't going to do that this year. He's a fun guy to be around and it's always fun to compete against Justin."
* Hart looked sharp and confident on the first day of camp. Hart was asked how long he thinks it will take to get back on top of his game after a very disappointing season last year. He replied, "Right away. Just needed a break after last season. Took some time off from the ice and had to recharge the batteries a little bit. It was good to recharge and relax for a little bit. Had a good summer of training also."
* There were no injuries on the first day, after the team entered camp beset with injuries to Kevin Hayes (abdominal surgery), Samuel Morin (right knee surgery), and Wade Allison (high ankle sprain to his right ankle). At one juncture on Thursday, Provorov went down in a heap in the corner but got up and was OK.
* Oskar Lindblom had an especially strong opening day of camp. The two-way left winger was very active down low in the offensive zone and got to the net with regularity. Lindblom had an erratic season in 2020-21 in which he sometimes struggled in the bread-and-butter areas of his game. The players has said his goal is to get back consistently on the forechecking and offensive sides of his game to the caliber of performance he showed in the second half of the 2018-19 season (when he scored 12 of his 17 goals) and first half of 2019-20 prior to his Ewing Sarcoma diagnosis (team-leading 11 goals over the first 30 games).
* Frost has worked together in the past, albeit not on a sustained basis, with both Farabee and JVR. On the first day of camp, the playmaking center was in a 1-on-2 situation in the right circle. He threaded a backhanded pass through a small seam right onto the tape of Farabee for a golden scoring opportunity. After practice, van Riemsdyk observed how much more confident and assertive Frost has seemed early in camp. Said van Riemsdyk, "I think as you go in your career and have some more experience, it shows in the confidence and the different things you can try and what makes you the player you are. I think you definitely see someone more confident in what they bring to the table as a player and what they need to do out there to be effective. He is definitely someone who has all the skills that you need to play. I always like playing with guys like that."
* Although Ellis is new to the Flyers, he was one of the players who took the lead from the outset of his first day. Yandle also came out trying to set a tone. This was not lost on Vigneault, who said after practice, "Both those guys played a lot of hockey, lot of games. They have a lot of experience. They played in big games and I know Yands personally. I know I've said this a few times: everything about him and the relationship with his teammates, everybody just loves him. Ryan Ellis, from what I can tell from him right now, he's a pro. He does it the right way, and he's not afraid to use his experience to come in and help whether it would be a young player or an older player."
