The Philadelphia Flyers winger has continued to move his way up the organization’s depth chart.
After suffering injury after injury to their forward core a couple of weeks back, the Philadelphia Flyers are finally starting to get healthier in that department. Travis Konecny and Tyler Pitlick have already made their way back to the lineup at separate times, and it seems Scott Laughton and Michael Raffl‘s returns are also imminent if the team’s recent roster move has anything to say about it.
The Flyers announced on Saturday morning that they’ve placed forward Andy Andreoff on waivers, with the likely purpose being to send him back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. General Manager Chuck Fletcher made this transaction in order to clear enough roster space for Raffl, who is slated to be activated off of Long Term Injured Reserve ahead of Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. For those wondering, Philadelphia didn’t have to make room for Laughton, as the roster would’ve stood at 22 if Raffl hadn’t been ready to return. Fletcher opting to waive Andreoff has another implication on the team, and it’s that they have grown to like Nicolas Aube-Kubel more than they initially showed to start the season.
As you may recall, it took several injuries for Aube-Kubel to earn a call up in the first place as the Flyers brass opted for names like Andreoff, Mikhail Vorobyev, David Kase, and others before bringing the Alberta native into the forward group. Some fans, including myself, wondered why they took so long to give him a look, as it’s fair to say he never really got a genuine opportunity with Philly last year, playing in just nine games while averaging under ten minutes in ice time.
NAK took this recent chance from Fletcher and ran with it, scoring three points in five games since the recall. He’s also proved his worth in the defensive zone, boasting a tenacious forechecking ability and a knack for being in the correct place when covering an attacking rush. With the exception of Vorobyev, all of the players I mentioned above are now back with the Phantoms, showing that Fletcher and company have liked what they’ve seen from the former second-rounder and moved him up their organizational depth chart.
Though anything can happen from now until seasons-end, Aube-Kubel and Vorobyev will probably stick with the squad for the near future. Flyers beat writer Dave Isaac pointed out on Twitter that they’ll have enough cap space with Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom, and Samuel Morin on LTIR to keep both forwards up when Raffl’s activated. Unless Patrick makes his season-debut at some point this year, which is still a question mark at this point, expect Vorobyev and Aube-Kubel to stay in the City of Brotherly Love for the time being.