The Philadelphia Flyers summer development camp got underway Thursday, and (nearly) all their big name prospects were there
In one of the last major events of the Philadelphia Flyers offseason, the team’s development camp got underway Thursday in New Jersey. 34 Flyers prospects were slated to attend, and there were plenty of eyes on the activities going on there.
Absent Players
Due to contractual issues with the KHL, Flyers recent 1st round pick German Rubtsov is not in attendance. Also not on the camp roster is rising prospect Philippe Myers. As expected, the Flyers confirmed he is not participating due to recent hip surgery from an injury he picked up in the Memorial Cup Final.
Activities
The Flyers previously announced the schedule of activities, which includes separate, twice a day on-ice sessions for skaters and goalies. The camp will wrap up with a 3v3 tournament Monday afternoon, with 4 teams of players drafted by the players themselves.
#Flyers' prospects at development camp today. pic.twitter.com/eNh23qISlt
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) July 7, 2016
Other Health Issues
Sam Morin, a towering defenseman (1st round, 2013), missed this day of activities due to illness. Furthermore, goalie Carter Hart (2nd round, 2016), briefly left the ice due to an apparent injury, and returned later.
Bulking Up for the Pros
Both Travis Sanheim (1st round, 2014) and Travis Konecny (1st round, 2015) discussed putting on weight to prepare themselves for playing against men in the pros.
Provorov Confident
Ivan Provorov (1st round, 2015) exuded confidence, both in his abilities and in hopes of making the team. Most CHL observers think he is definitely ready, and the only shred of doubt comes from Hextall’s philosophy that it’s better to “overcook” prospects than bring them up too early.
Hextall Talks About Call-up Philosophy
Speaking of Hextall’s philosophy, Hextall also was around to deliver a few more comments about prospects at the camp potentially making the team. If his philosophy can be summed up in one remark, it’s this.
"If a young kid makes us a better team, and we don’t think we’re going to hurt him long-term, I’m going to keep him. If not, we’ll go with what we have."
That two-part test is primarily important when it comes to Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov. Both 1st round picks last summer, they each had sparkling junior seasons this year. Many believe them to be NHL ready this fall, but because of CHL rules, they cannot play in the AHL. That leaves the choice between them playing junior hockey in the CHL, or top tier hockey in the NHL, a huge disparity in level of play.
Hextall spoke specifically about this standard as applied to Konecny last season, defending it even in situations when it seems as if a player has nothing left to learn from more time in junior hockey.
"Any player can be the best player in junior hockey if they go back. We want all our players to be better than they were last year. Look at Travis Konecny. He is a better player last year than the year before, which is exactly what we wanted to see.If we had kept Travis last year, he had a pretty good camp and stuff. Would he have been as good a player right now? No way in hell he’d be as good a player as he is right now."
At least for the moment, Hextall is prioritizing prospect growth over a modest boost to the NHL club. No Philadelphia Flyers fans are complaining about that, again, at least for the moment.