Photo Credit: Our very own Michael Reaves
A young 22-year-old Flyers prospect Emil Andrae was the Captain of Team Sweden for a reason at the WJC in 2022. Andrae is a 200 foot player, that is as fast as they come, plus he has a blistering shot. He can play in any situation the coaching staff asks of him, and that became evident when he made the Flyers roster on opening night. Andrae has shown flashes of being a very good defenseman in the future, and he proved that time and time again.
Andrae needs a bit more seasoning and growth, true, but he is proving that he is a viable option as a top four pairing defenseman. He’s only 22-years-old, look at all he has accomplished thus far in his short professional career. Andrae was a “Healthy Scratch” for Egor Zamula the past few games, until Cam York was benched last night against the Los Angeles Kings.
Unfortunately, he did not play very well against the Kings, and it appeared every mistake he made, it ended up with the puck in the back of the net. It looked like he was pressing a bit, and just trying too hard, if that makes sense. After all, he should be giving some leeway here, after just coming back from being a “Healthy Scratch” or being benched due to nursing an injury.
His defensive partner was Egor Zamula against the Kings, and this was not one of the most formidable defense units on the night. This pairing struggled to transition out of the zone at times, and they just lacked cohesion. This is going to happen from time to time, as the Flyers are a young team, who are embedded with young defensemen.
Andrae plays a bit physical, believe it or not even with his size. He logs minutes, and can be trusted in all facets of the game. After making the roster on opening night, he appear to be timid at times, or rushed to make a play at times. This is all evident that he is a young defenseman that will have some growing pains. However, this is to be expected from a young defenseman, and it shows growth in his game to make mistakes and bounce back from them. John Tortorella has said on multiple occasions that he makes mistakes, but he doesn’t get scared to make the right play shortly thereafter. There’s a lot of potential with Andrae.
He only stands at 5’9 and only weighs 176 pounds, but he is still a talented left-handed shot defenseman that is not afraid to get physical. Andrae suckered punched a Bruin on Tuesday night, showing that he is not afraid to get feisty. “Such a smart player, I’m really excited to see him with some NHL players,” Brent Flahr said of Andrae following the completion of Developmental Camp. “To me he’s pretty close.”
Just don’t write Andrae off Flyers fans. He’s a good player, who had a bad game. This won’t be his last bad game, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not a good young defenseman.
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