Photo Credit: Rebecca McCormick
The Philadelphia Flyers opened their 2022 Pre-Season with a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. The game featured fights, misconducts, and a mountain of penalty minutes. A lot of the Flyers’ young players and rookies played heavy minutes in the game. John Tortorella watched from above as the team Chuck Fletcher and his staff assembled for the opener. The most important takeaway from the game was the fact that the Flyers’ kids found a way to win. Let’s dive into some observations and things to keep an eye on as the rest of the Pre-Season unfolds, especially with a bout tonight against the Buffalo Sabres.
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1 – Goaltending
Felix Sandström and Troy Grosenick held the Bruins to one goal on 32 shots. Sandström kept a clean shot, stopping all 17 of the shots he faced, including 16 in the first period. Sandström’s rebound control, especially early, was a bit chaotic, but he still played very solid overall. Grosenick also played well, only allowing one goal on a shot from Jakub Lauko.
The position battle here is definitely something to keep an eye on over the next two-and-a-half weeks as the winner will presumably be the backup to Carter Hart. So far, Sandström seems to have the edge, and that was reinforced against the Bruins is he ready to play 30 games in the NHL this year? Probably not, but the Flyers have to see what they have in him and I’d bet they would rather do that instead of giving the position to a journeyman goalie with very little NHL experience.
2 – The Cates Brothers
Noah and Jackson Cates might give the Gretzky brothers a run for their money when it comes to the most points scored by a sibling duo in NHL history. Just kidding. But what I’m not kidding about is the likelihood they both make the team out of camp. Noah seems like a lock at this point. After playing in 16 games last year, and both rookie games this year, he looks ready to be a full-time NHLer. A few games in the AHL won’t hurt, but I’ve seen enough to put him on the team already.
Jackson Cates also continues to impress. He scored the game-winner against the Bruins deflecting Egor Zamula’s point shot into the back of the net. With the lack of depth the Flyers have down the middle on the NHL roster, he has a pretty decent chance to be on the opening night roster if he continues to play well. If Couturier’s injury does end up keeping him out long-term, Jackson could play bottom-six minutes every night for this club. He would have to beat out the likes of Tanner Laczynski, Patrick Brown and Artem Anisimov, but he has given himself the chance to do that.
3 – Morgan Frost
Frost played a really strong game against the Bruins. He made a beautiful pass to Noah Cates that helped open the scoring and he blocked a shot with mere seconds remaining in the game to seal victory for the Flyers. Frost has been talking about wanting to shoot the puck more this season which is a good sign that his confidence is up. He finished the game with 19:58 TOI, which led all Flyers’ forwards. He helped the Flyers kill all six penalties, he had an assist on the Power Play goal, and he won eight of 12 faceoffs. The faceoffs might be the most underrated stat he accumulated tonight as the Flyers had always been one of the best faceoff teams in the NHL, thanks to Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux’s skills in the circle. Frost winning 60% of draws tonight is a great sign.
4 – Tyson Foerster
Foerster and Ronnie Attard led the Flyers with five shots apiece against the Bruins. Foerster played very well defensively, too. His stick was in the right spot all night, except for when he was called for slashing. He displayed his quick release, soft hands, and high hockey IQ last night, which is all the Flyers need to see from him. Still, another penalty, but this one in the third period of a tie game, is something he needs to cut down on. He had a couple in the rookie series and added another one tonight. Every other part of his game has been strong, but right now, he’s giving the Flyers a reason to send him down.
The Flyers will be back in action tonight in Buffalo when they matchup with the Sabres.
Flyers Update:
Flyers Training Camp resumes today at 10:00 a.m. it’s free and open to the public. I expect the next round of cuts to be Wednesday or Thursday following one or both Pre-Season games. The roster sits at 67, with Captain Cal O’Reilly earning a PTO with the big club.
