Flyers make some surprises in next round of cuts
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
The Flyers have announced their next round of cuts and there are some big surprises in here.
The Flyers have loaned the following players to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms:
Linus Sandin
Morgan Frost
Tyson Foerster
Isaac Ratcliffe
Linus Hogberg
In addition, the following players have been placed on waivers for the purpose of being assigned to the Lehigh Vally Phantoms:
Adam Clendening
Gerry Mayhew
Connor Bunnaman
German Rubtsov
And finally, Cal O’Reilly has been released from his PTO and will report to the Phantoms.
The Flyers’ training camp roster now sits at 24 players (excluding those who are injured), and you can see that full roster here.
So, where does this leave us? The Flyers have eight defensemen now, and Cam York is still hanging around. And this is a little bit of a surprise — it had seemed like it was more likely that York would start the season with the Phantoms, given all of the additions on defense in the offseason, then he could at least get playing time rather than sitting in the Flyers’ press box as the extra defenseman.
It’s still possible that York ends up being sent down after the Flyers’ final preseason game on Friday and that path remains in play, but the door to making the Flyers out of camp does still seem to be open.
The really big surprise, though, is that Morgan Frost was sent down to the Phantoms.
It’s curious considering where he’s at in his development, as well as considering how thin the Flyers are at center at the moment. It was clear the Frost wasn’t just going to be handed the 2C job once Kevin Hayes got hurt, but he was also clearly the best and most skilled option to fill in that role. And to start the season without him, even if he only had a fine training camp, is certainly an interesting choice.
Instead we’d be looking at Jackson Cates — who may very well might struggle with the pace of play at the NHL level — reasonably having a spot on the opening night roster.
We should not be very worked up right now, either. Alain Vigneault made a point in saying this week that Frost hasn’t been playing poorly, and has actually been getting better with each game played, but still has some work to do to get his timing and confidence all the way back after all of the time he missed, and that’s just going to take time.
The Flyers only have one more preseason game on Friday, and then they’re off until the following Friday, but the Phantoms on the other hand will play four preseason games between tonight and next Wednesday, and it’s possible that the Flyers want Frost to get in for those games, let him continue to build momentum, and then call him back up when they’re ready to start the regular season.
Is it a sure thing that this is what they’re doing? No, but we’re hopeful that it is, because otherwise, well, that sure is a curious choice.
The Flyers can still make more roster moves between now and next Friday, so we’ll see how this all shakes out.
