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January 5, 2021 Meltzer reports today's Day 2 Camp lines/pairings: GROUP A (Flyers Rink) BLACK Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Linus Sandin Oskar Lindblom - Nolan Patrick - Nicolas Aube-Kubel Egor Zamula - Phil Myers Robert Hägg - Shayne Gostisbehere Carter Hart ORANGE Michael Raffl - Kevin Hayes - Zayde Wisdom James van Riemsdyk - Morgan Frost - Joel Farabee Ivan Provorov - Mark Friedman Travis Sanheim - Derrick Pouliot Brian Elliott GROUP B (Phantoms Rink) BLACK Carsen Twarynski - Scott Laughton - Wade Allison Erik Gustafsson - Justin Braun ORANGE Samul Morin - Connor Bunnaman - Travis Konecny Tyler Wotherspoon - Justin Braun WHITE Tyson Foerster/ Max Willman - Andy Andreoff - Jakub Voracek Chris Bigras - Nate Prosser GOALIES: Alex Lyon, Felix Sandström, Roddy Ross The first 20 minutes of the scrimmage was played on the Flyers' rink, with the second half on the Phantoms rink. Wisdom made a nice play in the neutral zone, and Hayes cashed it on with a goal from the left circle. Gustafsson tied the game at the other end with a shot through some traffic. There were no scoring in the second half. During the shootout, after Giroux hit the post and Couturier lost the puck to open the first round there was a run of goals: JVR (high glove), Hayes (over the glove) and Konecy (glove). Giroux ultimately went 1-for-5, as did Voracek, Konecny, Hayes, Gustafsson, JVR and Patrick. Couturier, Frost,Gostisbehere and Lindblom were unable to score. Frost had Elliott beaten on one attempt but tucked a backhander wide. He tried the same move the next time, but was stopped. Couturier hit the post on his third attempt.

We are all pulling for the highly skilled Nolan Patrick. Every day in Camp AV will end with shoot-out practice. He said that every standings point is very important, especially in this shortened 56-game season. Here is Patrick: (Go to double 'full-screen')

@SCFlyguy Read carefully. I'm suggesting that highly regarded prospects Allison and Sandin are the motivator to promp Kekalainen to think about it. I posted Voracek is not probable. IMO, don't offer Farabee or Frost. Reportedly PLD wants out for 2 reasons: - he wants to get out from under Coach Tortorella - during his RFA period, PLD learned of teams willing to give him a long-term deal where Columbus was not and he settled for a 2-year contract Are you suggesting giving a rostered young player? And who?

Big Game tonight Tuesday Jan 5 at 9:30 PM ET. Team USA vs Team Canada for the GOLD medal. Of course we all are rooting for our Flyers' Cam York and Bobby Brink and therfore Team USA - - even those of us from Manitoba, Ontario, BC, etc! Right?

PLD, 22, plays both Center and LW. "In the playoffs over the summer at the Toronto bubble, he had four goals and six assists in 10 games. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound forward can play both left wing and center as he played both spots for coach John Tortorella in the postseason. There is no question that Pierre-Luc Dubois is a rising star in the league and will be sought by many teams if Columbus does make him available." Do we like this? - Lindblom-Couturier-Voracek Dubois-Hayes-Konecny Giroux-Patrick-Farabee Laughton-Bunnaman-Aube Kubel (ideal AV 4th line) #13-Raffl JVR out somehow If Patrick not healthy, then Frost at 3C. With Dubois (a proven NHL forward) with our Flyers long-term as a LW, and Farabee moving to RW, that sets-back a RW prospect (where we are deep) such as Sandin, Allison, Foerster, Brink, Wisdom, Sushko, etc. Even with Voracek and Giroux's careers winding down soon, we could afford to move a promising winger in a package to Columbus. Reported: "When the Columbus Blue Jackets exited the 2020 postseason, the roster had an abundance of NHL-caliber defensemen but lacked proven centers. By the time the 2020-21 regular season begins, the team will have a decidedly different look. With the trades of long-time Blue Jacket Ryan Murray and his occasional D partner Markus Nutivaara, the blue line got thinner. Signing centers Max Domi and Mikko Koivu substantially improved the roster down the middle. The Blue Jackets could use a scoring winger…but who? " Therefore, would we consider a 3-element trade like this for 22 year old LW PLD? - - 1) a defenceman - Columbus choice of one defenceman: Gostisbehere, Hagg, or Friedman (RH) (Hagg may be taken by Seattle in July). 2) a RW - Columbus choice of Voracek, Sandin, or Allison. (This is the motivator for Columbus.) Columbus certainly knows Voracek from his Blue Jacket days. We should be so lucky if they wanted him. Cap relief for our Flyers. Not probable. (IMO Voracek will be exposed in the July Expansion draft.) 3) a mid-Round draft pick PLD has excellent size and great offensive instincts. Can play both wing or center and owns excellent strength. He has some physicality and energy to his game. He plays all 3-zones. He is only 22 and has not peaked - - has upside. I agree with those here that posted that PLD is more desired for our Flyers than Laine.

Day 1 of Camp report by Charlie O'Connor of the Athletic - Excerpt: Don’t read too much into the line combinations As Vigneault acknowledged after practice, some teams hit the ice Day 1 with their favored line and pairing combinations for the first game of the season — which is understandable given the shortened camp. The Flyers? Not so much, unless you expect 18-year-old Tyson Foerster to be on the top line with Sean Couturier, or Twarynski to skate with Konecny and Patrick, or Wade Allison to flank Kevin Hayes on the opposite side of Claude Giroux. Yeah, this was a slightly different Day 1 strategy. “I know we don’t have a lot of time to get ready, and each team has their own philosophy,” Vigneault said. “A lot of teams have gone with their set lines and set units and their sub group right away. I wanted to look at the big picture. I wanted to see some of our younger guys right away with some of the veteran guys.” So no, Frost centering Voracek doesn’t mean the young center is looking like a lineup lock. The line of Michael Raffl, Connor Bunnaman and Joel Farabee isn’t the Flyers’ first attempt at constructing a fourth line; neither is the trio of Samuel Morin, Scott Laughton and Linus Sandin. The coaching staff clearly wanted to make this a day for new looks, experimentation and a bit of fun. In fact, Vigneault explained that the decision to put Foerster with Couturier and James van Riemsdyk was largely driven by a feeling that the first-round pick didn’t get the usual “big moment” on stage at the draft, and he felt that getting a day on the top line might make up for it, just a little. “I’m going to mix and match for the first two days, forwards and defense,” Vigneault said. “Come Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5, moving forward, we’ll obviously take a look at a couple different options.” Key forward lines: Van Riemsdyk-Couturier-Foerster Giroux-Hayes-Allison Twarynski-Patrick-Konecny Lindblom-Frost-Voracek Raffl-Bunnaman-Farabee Morin-Laughton-Sandin

Bill Meltzer's Report: Training Camp: Day 1 Report January 4, 2021, 1:30 PM ET The Flyers conducted the first day of on-ice work on Monday during their abbreviated training camp at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. First came simultaneous Group A and Group B practices on the rinks at either side of the complex. That was a followed by an "Orange" vs. "Black" scrimmage. At the end, the "skills group" of players did a shootout practice on the Phantoms rink and the remainder skated on the Flyers rink. PRACTICE GROUP A ORANGE Claude Giroux - Kevin Hayes - Wade Allison Oskar Lindblom - Morgan Frost - Jakub Voracek Ivan Provorov - Justin Braun Robert Hägg - Erik Gustafsson BLACK Carsen Twarynski - Nolan Patrick - Travis Konency Michael Raffl - Connor Bunnaman - Joel Farabee Travis Sanheim - Mark Friedman Shayne Gostisbehere - Phil Myers Goalies: Hart (Orange team), Elliott (Black Team) Notable: * Nolan Patrick looked very good for a player who hasn't played or been in a full-fledged practice since April 2019. He skated well, handled the puck well and had zip on his shots. Elliott robbed him with the glove in close at one juncture. * Even from the pressbox level, it was easy to tell that Oskar Lindblom has regained most or all of the muscle mass he lost last year during his chemotherapy treatments. * At one juncture of the practice, Morgan Frost turned Elliott inside out and scored. At the other end on the same rep, Frost turnstiled Gostisbehere but wasn't able to finish the play. * Neither Zayde Wisdom nor Tanner Laczynski (core muscle injury recovery) participated in either side of practice. However, both skated before the practice began. GROUP B James van Riemsdyk - Sean Couturier - Tyson Foerster (Black) Samuel Morin - Scott Laughton - Linus Sandin (Orange) Max Willman - Andy Andreoff - Nicolas Aube-Kubel (White) Defensemen: Egor Zamula - Derrick Pouliot, Tyler Wotherspoon-Nate Prosser, Chris Bigras-Wyatt Wylie Goalies: Alex Lyon, Felix Sandström Notable: * Converted defenseman Morin went to the net and scored a rebound goal at one juncture of the session. At another juncture he got away with a low percentage cross ice pass that created a scoring chance for his side. * Wotherspoon, an AHL veteran, faired well one-on-one with several of the NHL roster forwards. * Zamula still looked like he needs to add muscle to his frame but he passed, defended and skate well on Day 1. SCRIMMAGE The Hayes, Patrick, and Frost lines listed above comprised the Orange team, along with the Provorov pairing with Braun and the Hägg-Gustafsson pair atop the rotation. The Couturier and Laughton lines were the most notable atop team Black, along with the Gostisbehere-Myers pairing. Hart started in goal for the Orange side, Elliott for Team Black. The Phantoms' goalies came in for the latter part of the scrimmage. Team Black scored first. Willman scored on a odd-man rush, beating Hart from the left dot. Team Orange then scored back-to-back goals. Giroux took a pass from Hayes in the slot. His shot missed the net but caromed right back out Giroux, who scored on a rolling puck from the right side. Shortly thereafter, Konecny gave Orange a 2-1 lead on a seemingly stoppable shot. That was it for the 30-minute scrimmage: Orange won, 2-1.

Open the sound, and go double full screen, guys. Puck music to our ears - - we are ready forsome hockey !

Wow! Put Sam Morin on the 1st line!

Group 1. Don't get worried. It's just Camp groupings for day 1 and 'even groups' for scrimmage competition. The real lines/pairings will shape up near the latter part ofthe 9 day Camp

Take note of Number 86 above.

First Camp report at 10:30 AM ET Monday Jan 4 -

Good news. Per this tweet this morning, Patrick passed his physical yesterday. NOLAN PATRICK C, PHILADELPHIA FLYERS Nolan Patrick (migraines) is expected to be at Flyers practice Monday. That's great news for the center who missed all of last season with migraines as it means he passed his physical on Sunday. Patrick has been skating of late without any problems and has been sleeping better as his headaches have diminished. Look for the Flyers to take their time with the former second-overall pick from 2017 as they do not want any setbacks. SOURCE: Sam Carchidi on Twitter Jan 4, 2021, 8:34 AM ET

Flyers Camp on-ice starts today Jan 4. Nine days with lots of scrimmages. First game is Jan 13 vs Pens. What are the top questions to be answered over these 9 days 'in order of importance'? I would suggest these questions [and my opinions]: 1) Who to play on the right side defence 1st pair with Provorov? [I say Gus] 2) Will Patrick's health hold up as the 3C over these 9 days? If not, Frost as 3C? 3) Will the optimism for a strong Lindblom prove out, and what line? [I say yes, and 1LW] 4) Who will win the vacant 3RW job? [I say Sandin or Laczynski] 5) What will be the status of JVR? [I say #14 forward, pending a trade if possible] 6) What will be the satus of Ghost? [I say #7 defenceman, pending trade soon, before Expansion Draft] 7) Who will be on the 6-man Taxi Squad in addition to goaltender Lyon? [I say Frost (C) Laczynski (C/LW/RW) - or - Sandin (RW/LW) Morin (LW/LD) Friedman (RD) Zamula (D) Lyon (G)] What key roster questions have I left out? What are your opinions?

Good stuff BCF16. Exciting Flyers future on defence. The impressive 20 year old Zamula, 6'-4", 185, is next up. At the present time, Fletcher/Flahr have the 19 yo York on the Prospect Defence Depth Chart here: Egor Zamula Cameron York Wyatte Wylie Linus Hogberg Emil Andrae Ronald Attard Mason Millman Adam Ginning John St. Ivany Valeri Vasilyev I guess this assumes Friedman is already considered NHL experienced. In a few seasons, our Flyers may have one of the best mobile 3-zone quality defence groups in the NHL. We may be looking at something like this: 2020-21 Season Provorov - Gustafsson Sanheim - Myers (RH) (don't break them up) Hagg - Braun (RH) #7 - Friedman (RH) Ghost - traded soon before the July Expansion Draft 2021-22 Season Provorov - Gustafsson (will stategically be re-signed as a UFA after the Exansion Draft) Sanheim - Myers (RH) Hagg - Zamula or Zamula - Friedman (RH) #7 - Hagg or Braun (Hagg may be taken by the Kraken in Expansion Draft) 2022-23 Season Provorov - Gustafsson Sanheim - Myers (RH) York - Zamula #7 - Hagg or Friedman (RH) Dynamic 6-man defence.

More thoughts, and info, on the Sam Morin move to LW - including mention of the Taxi Squad which we already discussed - Good stuff from Stephan Frank at Philadelphia Sports Nation: This decision from the organization symbolizes one last creative dart throw to salvage the career of Morin and bring a sense of old school Broad Street Bullies toughness to a lineup that was lacking it in the 2020 playoffs. For the most part, the Flyers mostly got pushed around and outplayed in last year’s playoff series with the Islanders specifically by left winger Matt Martin. The best-case scenario for Samuel Morin on the wing is to be a Matt Martin type player, where the expectation is to essentially be a robot vacuum on the ice and just hit everything on the ice. On Thursday, Morin actually said that he’s been studying Matt Martin’s tape and stated “The puck is always behind the D-man and he always finishes his hit. His shift is honestly in like 30 seconds, he just goes change, then [Mathew] Barzal is on the ice and they are just buzzing in the offensive zone because of just the little details he does. He finishes his check on the D-man, it’s so annoying. I’ve been looking at his shifts a lot.” Now Matt Martin does have 11 NHL seasons under his belt so it would be unrealistic to expect the off-the-puck results of Martin out of Morin in his first season at forward especially since his playing time will most likely be limited. Although the sample size is small, Morin has shown a better ability to shoot the puck than Matt Martin. In his 5 years of pro hockey, the 6’-7", and 230 lb Morin has never shown a fear of dropping the mitts and dusting-up with the opposition. Thus, the fist-flying services of Morin will come in handy in the Flyers’ intense short regular season where old metro foes like the Penguins, Rangers, Capitals, and Devils will become familiar faces. The heat is already turned up against in division games but an added element of 8 games against each division team and baseball-esque back-to-back series will surely cause some tempers to flare. When in the lineup Samuel Morin will look to fill the gritty role left by the departure of Wayne Simmonds. In his time with the Flyers, Wayne Simmonds never backed down from a fight and the same can be said for Morin especially with a quick Youtube search of his name where there are plenty of Samuel Morin fight videos. Another one of the main motivating factors of the switch appeared to be the fact that the AHL season is still kind of up in the air and there’s honestly not really a spot for him in the defensive group with the Flyers. The team was left in a situation where they could either have him potentially play in the AHL and give it another shot at defense or sit in the press box like he’s unfortunately been subjected to for the past couple of seasons during his call-ups from the Phantoms. The organization is banking on Morin adding value and getting ice time as a pain-bringing forward instead of another season of having him sit in the press box. There is a taxi squad for the 2020 season where teams can keep a group of four to six players so it’s likely that he will most likely be put on the taxi squad at the end of training camp. The taxi squad players can practice with their NHL team, join team activities, and travel with the team but may be subjected to waivers if loaned down to the minors. After having 2 ACL surgeries and knee surgery all in the past 3 years, the once highly-touted prospect is fighting to keep his NHL career alive especially since he becomes a restricted free agent in 2021-22. Though if there are two things that Philadelphia sports fans love the most it’s an underdog and a fighter, which are two things that new left-winger Samuel Morin will embody heading into the 2021 season.

You guys need to adjust to thinking 'outside-the-box'. Remember this for next Saturday's Photo Puzzler. Who amongst us would have known defenceman Sam Morin would convert to Left Wing? That is some 'outside-the-box' stuff. Who amongst us would have projected that our Flyers would win the Stanley Cup in July 2021 vs the Colorado Avalanche with Nolan Patrick scoring the winning goal after a 27 goal regular season?

@Podein25 Where you been dude? Out in the Manitoba wilderness? You missed the Flyers Mystery Photo Contest this Saturday. Your continued absence jeopardizes your 1st Place standing. But, don't bother for next Saturday at 12 Noon. You will not know it, not guess it !

This Flyers Forum is fun. Good guys here. Sharp - - know your Flyers stuff. Thx for accepting a new rookie.

You guys are toooo sharp. It takes challenging Contest Photos to make it interesting. Next Saturday's Flyers Photo test will also require some 'outside the box' thinking. Are you all up to it? Study-up all this week. Tune in at 12 N Saturday January 9.