After spending the first week of training camp and their opening preseason game at home, the Flyers are finally set to hit the road. They’ll be traveling to Boston for their second preseason game this evening. A majority of the lineup will be those who did not appear in Tuesday’s loss to the Islanders.
There are two players who will be getting a chance to impress once more. Tyson Foerster and Nick Seeler will dress for the second time this week. Alain Vigneault mentioned a few days ago that he had a list of players he wanted to see at least four times before making a decision on their future. Foerster has impressed throughout the entire camp and while it’ll be tough for him to break through to the NHL, he’s proving he is a lot closer than expected.
A depth defensemen, Seeler certainly endeared himself to the team on Tuesday night. He blocked a few shots, one of them going off his cheek on the penalty kill. Vigneault saw a lot of fight in Seeler.
"“I saw a lot of fight and a lot of bite. He comes to play. When he doesn’t have the puck, he fights hard to get it. He blocked quite a few shots tonight. For me, getting a first impression of seeing him in a game, I liked what I saw.”"
With another injury hitting the team, this time to Egor Zamula, Seeler will be fighting for likely the seventh defensemen role. If not, he’ll be heading to Lehigh Valley.
The Flyers will get a good look at Morgan Frost this evening. He is expected to be on a line with Joel Farabee and James van Riemsdyk. The latter two have played together before, skating slightly over 300 minutes together. Without Kevin Hayes for the first few weeks of the season, Frost will be getting his opportunity once again.
It has been a solid few weeks for Frost as he has gone through Development Camp, Rookie Camp, and now the Flyers main training camp. So he has been working on his game for quite some time after missing almost the entire 2020-21 campaign. He is eager to get going and spoke after the team’s rookie game scrimmage on what he can show to earn himself a spot.
"“I think just that I got stronger. I can win battles and hold my own out there. The offensive stuff can come on its own for me. I think if I can show that I can play out there against the other team’s top lines and win face-offs and be strong in the zone. I think that’s the major thing that’ll get me to the NHL and hopefully keep me in the NHL.”"
The team will also get their first look at Samu Tuomaala. He had the opportunity to skate in warmups on Tuesday evening, but he did not dress for the game. He’s looking to try and make the jump to the AHL, but he could be sent down to the OHL as well. He will definitely be tested in his first NHL game and this will be a good sign to see where he is at. He’ll also get a chance off to show his speed, something that has been evident in camp.
A camp invite in Jackson van de Leest is expected to be in the lineup as well. After coming to development camp as an invite, he is looking to earn an entry level contract at the Flyers main camp. He’ll try to join Jon-Randall Avon, who signed his entry-level deal before being sent back to juniors.
Martin Jones will play the first two periods and Felix Sandstrom is expected to play the final period. Sandstrom will be fighting with Kirill Ustimenko and possibly even Samuel Ersson for the number one role in Lehigh Valley.