The Flyers continue to trim down their roster, as they inch closer to the 23 player mark. Their training camp roster now sits at 26, so there are only a few cuts left. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
John Tortorella has his backup goaltender to Carter Hart. Samuel Ersson has won the job, and Cal Petersen looks to be the guy in Lehigh. Petersen cleared waivers as expected, and was sent to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms yesterday.
Now what did this does this mean for Felix Sandström? Sandström will be part of the group somehow, as Tortorella alluded to yesterday. He said “Sandy” will remain with the team. I firmly believe that the Flyers could carry three goalies into opening night. The problem herein lies, Sandström is no longer waivers exempt, so he requires waivers to be sent back to Lehigh. Goaltending is one of those positions that requires a lot of depth, much like the defense position.
One key injury to a goaltender could really alter some plans for the organization, so it’s always better to have more goalies than not. At some point Sandström could be waived, but this organization appears to be in no hurry to do such. Monday is a key day as rosters have to be submitted by 5:00 p.m. to the league, so keep an eye out for the waiver wire until Monday.
Tortorella said multiple times yesterday and his press conference to the media that the waivers is important, and it does factor into some decisions. That leads me to believe that the organization loves Emil Andrae, however, due to him being waiver exempt I actually think he will be one of the last cuts on Sunday or Monday. Andrae has had a great camp, and has opened some eyes, but it’s a numbers game….
The Flyers have praised Egor Zamula this training camp, and they appear to be in the feeling of “Let’s give him a chance, and see what happens.” My main reasoning behind this is if that time ever does come about to cut ties with him, then the organization can fully say, “We gave him every chance.” Zamula requires waivers to be sent back to Lehigh, whereas, Andrae does not. I’d rather see Andrae play 20 to 25 minutes a night, as opposed to sitting on the bench or receiving limited minutes. He would not be in Lehigh very long, and Andrae could be recalled within the first month or two (Like Cam York last season). Unfortunately, there’s just a numbers game right now, however, it is good to have depth at that position.
Due to the numbers game (Andrae will be sent back), I envision the pairs this way to start the season:
York – Ristolainen
Staal – Sanheim
Zamula – Walker
Seeler
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag.
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