There are some intriguing key positional battles that will ensue at Flyers Training Camp

With NHL teams rosters now all but formed after the addition of free agents, completed trades, and this year’s entry draft now behind us, the focus will begin to shift to training camps. With that being said, two key positions that the Flyers’ organization has plenty of depth in, that will be perhaps the most intriguing of all to watch throughout training camp are the Goaltending and defensive positions.

Danny Briere had a max exodus of players that he deemed were doing his team a disservice (like Kevin Hayes and Ivan Provorov), there looked to be a very real chance for one or more of the team’s prospects to be gifted the opportunity to not only make the big club right out of camp but sustain a spot on the Flyers’ roster for the entirety of the season. 

Let’s start with one key positional battle throughout training camp, the backup Goaltending position to Carter Hart. Samuel Ersson, Cal Petersen, and Felix Sandström. All three netminders will vie for one spot behind Carter Hart. Petersen was brought in via the Provorov trade. Of course, he played for Los Angeles last season, but he is a veteran so to speak in this role. He will be given every shot to earn this role, or he could be waived to possibly be a starter with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in AHL.

Flyers fans are accustomed to seeing both Ersson and Sandström. It did appear that Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella favored Ersson at one point in the season, after Ersson was given an extended look following Sandström getting hurt. Both Ersson and Sandström will battle for the backup goaltending role to Hart, or one could to see time with the Phantoms this season. Sandström is no longer waivers exempt, so if the Flyers went down that road they would waive him and send him to the Phantoms if he cleared waivers. It will be interesting to see who wins this key positional battle, but it will be fun in the same process.

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Another key positional battle will be at the defensive position. Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and Marc Staal we’ll round up the top four defensively for the Flyers this season, at least on paper. The 5th, 6th, and 7th defensive positions could be up in the air possibly. It depends on how many prospects the Flyers trust. Veterans like Victor Mete, Nick Seeler, and Sean Walker will do everything in their power to secure these spots, but young prospects like Emil Andrae, Egor Zamula, Adam Ginning, and Ronnie Attard will do everything in their power to impress the top brass, to secure a spot outright of camp. Zamula is no longer waivers exempt, so he would have to clear waivers before heading back to Lehigh if he didn’t make the club outright. He also is 100% healthy to start camp after recovering from a shoulder injury that transpired late in the 2022-23 season. Zamula was also in Voorhees, NJ all Summer at the Flyers practice facility.

There will always be a need for some help in this position over the course of the long, grueling, NHL season. The defensive position is one tough position to secure in this league, depth wise, but Briere and company did a good job this season to make sure that there was enough depth at this position, in case one or more of these young prospects aren’t ready yet for the next level of competition.

They compromise just two of the most important key positional battles that will ensue at Flyers training camp, however, there is one last positional battle that will ensue at Flyers training camp. The fourth line Center position on paper is currently filled by Ryan Poehling. Poehling signed on one year deal with the orange and black in the off-season, a make It or break It type deal, but current Flyer Tanner Laczynski says not so fast, don’t forget about me.

26-year-old Tanner Laczynski was drafted by the team back in the 6^th round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Tanner also saw time last season with the Flyers, playing in 32 games with the orange and black but, to his credit, was able to tally two goals and two assists for four points during that time. Although Laczynski may have taken the long road to reach pro status, he has excelled at every level he has played in up to this point. In the United States Hockey League (USHL) he was a standout star for the well known Chicago Steel team. Following his tenure with the Steel, Laczynski decided to attend the Ohio State University where he spent the last four years playing for the Buckeyes and was able to average a point-per-game (or better) for half of his time there. Once turning pro last season, Tanner has spent a total of 44 games playing for the team’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Lehigh High Valley Phantoms. While playing for the Phantoms Laczynski has posted 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points in the AHL. Tanner seemed to make a smooth transition to the AHL ranks though he has struggled to stand out when given the opportunity in Philadelphia with the Flyers. Now knowing what is to be expected from him at the professional level look for Tanner to come into camp with a renewed focus and knowledge gained for what’s ahead of him in the coming season. 

With all these names vying for only a handful of roster spots. I don’t envy the tough decisions that are to follow for specifically Head Coach John Tortorella and his staff when deciding who to keep and who to cut. In the same token it is a much better feeling now to have too many to choose from, rather than the previous years problems of having too few. This upcoming camp is set to be an interesting one to say the least.