With an exciting team scrimmage behind them, and the start of the season just hours away, the Flyers have already made their first round of cuts in order to start trimming the roster down to size, and this includes placing Chris Bigras (D), Andy Andreoff (C), Tyler Wotherspoon (D), Alex Lyon (G), Nate Prosser (D), Derrick Pouliot (D), Samuel Morin (W) on waivers. With still more to cuts to come, the decisions will only get harder from here.
With that being said, there still seems to be one more roster spot up for grabs for a forward. The most obvious candidates that are still in the running for this spot are: Flyers’ free-agent acquisition from last spring, winger Linus Sandin; the team’s former first-round pick, Morgan Frost; and two players that made the Flyers; opening-night roster last season: winger Carsen Twarynski, and center Connor Bunnaman.
However, none of the previously mentioned potential candidates did anything in the intra-squad scrimmage to really set themselves apart from the pack. Frost at times looked to be on the cusp of doing something special with his stick handling but (much like a running back that dances around in the backfield) was quickly met with some hard contact and cleared completely off of the puck. Flyers’ broadcaster Jim Jackson rarely called out Sandin’s name as he had only showed us a glimpse of something worth mentioning when he clanged one off the cross bar during the shootout.
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Rather, it was the play of an unexpected, newly-signed prospect that seemed to stand out amongst the masses to this writer. No, it was not the Flyers’ first-round pick Tyson Foerster from the last draft (who was seemingly a ghost as well during the scrimmage), but he did come out of the same draft class. His name is Zayde Wisdom!
Wisdom was one who the Flyers chose to trade up to obtain in the 4th round of the 2020 draft when they saw that he was still available. In return, he showed during this scrimmage just why the Flyers chose to sign him to an entry-level contract so soon after just selecting him earlier on in the summer. If you were lucky enough to get a chance to view this telecasting of the Flyers’ intra-squad scrimmage you would have seen that Zayde started out the night as an extra, filling in on a line every couple of shifts, but quickly impressed the coaching staff enough with each shift he took to the ice to receive more and more playing time as the game went on. Wisdom was noticeable every shift on the ice. Whether it be for a play he made thanks to his strong skating ability, coming out on top during a board battle versus one of the Flyers top-four d-men, or when he managed to finish EVERY checking opportunity that came his way by completely taking someone 6” to 7’ inches taller than him off their feet and placing them on their rear ends! Zayde’s play was simply astonishing: So much so that the Flyers’ Head Coach Alain Vigneault had this to say about Wisdom after the game:
“I’ve been impressed by him. His skating ability, his feistiness in one-on-one battles. We saw a lot of that tonight. I liked what this young man has brought on the ice every time. He has come here and worked extremely hard and is competing.” – Alain Vigneault
In just a few months’ time, Zayde has gone from someone who most scouts did not even have on their radar to someone that is on the verge of possibly making an NHL roster one day really soon! It’s amazing how someone who stands at just 5’10 can play with such grit and tenacity to their game. More inspiringly, Zayde’s energy while on the ice and in the locker room seems to reinvigorate his teammates- a quality that was visible during the scrimmage and empowered his own play. Unfortunately, the likelihood of Wisdom making the opening night roster this year is marginal at best, but while he may not have the offensive skill of Frost, the height of Morin, or the prestige of a first-round pick like Foerster, he does play with more heart than all of them combined! Which is the reason why you will see this talented young prospect playing with the orange and black on a full-time basis soon enough.
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