With only 11 days until the 2020-21 NHL season kicks off, the Philadelphia Flyers have finally announced their training camp roster and schedule.
Between now and Jan. 13, the Flyers will have to squeeze in a lot of work as general manager Chuck Fletcher and the coaching staff, led by Alain Vigneault, will have to trim the 41 players invited to training camp down to 23.
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Beginning on Monday, Jan. 4, the Flyers will hit the ice in two groups, practicing separately and joining together for several scheduled scrimmages. They’ll finally re-enter the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday, Jan. 10 for their last practice sessions in separate groups, culminating in a final intra-squad scrimmage that night.
All in all, there aren’t too many surprises on the Flyers’ training camp roster, but there are some noteworthy players who could shape their roster heading into the new season.
The 41-Man Roster
The Flyers have invited 41 players to their near two-week training camp, including 22 forwards, 14 defensemen, and five goalies. The following 41 players will compete to earn their spot on the 23-man opening night roster:
Forwards:
Wade Allison (RW), Andy Andreoff (C/LW), Nicolas Aube-Kubel (RW), Connor Bunnaman (C), Sean Couturier (C), Joel Farabee (LW), Tyson Foerster (RW), Morgan Frost (C), Claude Giroux (C), Kevin Hayes (C), Travis Konecny (RW), Tanner Laczynski (C), Scott Laughton (C), Oskar Lindblom (LW), Samuel Morin (LW), Nolan Patrick (C), Michael Raffl (LW), Linus Sandin (RW), Carsen Twarynski (LW), James van Riemsdyk (LW), Jakub Voracek (RW), Zayde Wisdom (LW)
Defensemen:
Chris Bigras, Justin Braun, Mark Friedman, Shayne Gostisbehere, Erik Gustafsson, Robert Hagg, Philippe Myers, Derrick Pouliot, Nate Prosser, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Tyler Wotherspoon, Wyatte Wylie, Egor Zamula
Goalies:
Brian Elliott, Carter Hart, Alex Lyon, Felix Sandstrom, Roddy Ross
Again, there are not too many head-turning surprises. The most interesting detail of the training camp roster is the recently-announced positional switch from defense to the wing for 25-year-old Sam Morin. Recent draft picks Tyson Foerster and Zayde Wisdom will participate in their first Flyers training camp along with offseason signing Linus Sandin.
Nolan Patrick will also join the Flyers in camp, however, there’s no guarantee he’ll be a part of the opening-night roster. Regardless, it’s a positive sign for Patrick’s recovery that he will be at camp and one that’ll hopefully raise hopes for his return in 2020-21.
Additional Roster News
In their training camp release, the Flyers also noted fairly significant injuries to two well-known prospects. Goaltender Kirill Ustimenko will miss 4-5 months recovering from hip surgery, and forward Isaac Ratcliffe will be out at least four weeks recovering from a fractured rib he suffered during training.
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They also announced that four players, led by forward David Kase, as well as Linus Hogberg, German Rubtsov, and Maksim Susko, will remain with the European clubs they’ve been loaned to.
The only other notable change that might take some getting used to is Joel Farabee’s new number. He wore number 49 throughout his rookie season but will make the change to 86 this season.
All eyes are on the Flyers heading into the 2020-21 season, and the expectations are high. Only the players and staff are physically allowed at training camp, fans will have to follow the action online, via the Flyers’ website and various social media accounts.
Be sure to stay tuned for more news to come out of the Flyers’ training camp over the 11-day haul leading up to their opening night tilt against their longtime divisional rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.