Flyers claim Zack MacEwen off waivers from Vancouver
Another day and another waiver claim from Chuck Fletcher. A few days after the team snagged Patrick Brown, they have made a move for what is likely another depth forward. The Flyers have claimed Zack MacEwen as the Canucks were trying to shuttle him down to their minor league system.
This move had briefly put the Flyers into some cap trouble. According to CapFriendly, the team had a total of $136 in cap space after acquiring MacEwen. Following the move, the team put Kevin Hayes on Long Term Injured Reserve to open up space. The earliest he can now return is November 10th as players on LTIR have to miss 10 games. This will give Philadelphia much more breathing room.
With the move to add in another depth player, there could be some thought that Nate Thompson is banged up. He and Egor Zamula collided during a drill that sent Thompson hard into the boards. He was slow getting up but remained on the ice. Once the team ended practice with some conditioning reps, Thompson left the ice as he had been seen flexing his right leg. It could have also been a precaution as well.
That said, it looks like they're concluding practice with a bag skate, and Thompson looked to me to be flexing his right leg after going down. So maybe the coaches just told him not to push it at the end of practice.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) October 12, 2021
Time will tell on that as well as the Flyers had an off-ice day on Wednesday. They’ll be back on the ice on Thursday ahead of Friday’s season opener.
As for MacEwen, he was originally waived due to the Canucks signing Alex Chiasson. After working his way up in the organization during the last four years, MacEwen was forced to find a different role for himself. The offense that he showed previously with Vancouver wasn’t there. He scored five goals in 17 NHL games back in the 2019-20 season. However, he only managed two points in 34 games this past season.
The competition also got stiffer and MacEwen didn’t show much during the preseason to earn himself a role with the Canucks. The Chiasson signing was just the final dagger in his chances. So he will have an opportunity with the Flyers to prove that he can stick in the league.
If he does play on opening night, it will almost certainly be on the fourth line. Brown is already expected to be in the lineup and could serve as the center for that line. Nicolas Aube-Kubel should also be plugged into that line on the wing. The status of Thompson will get clearer when the team practices on Thursday.
Another thing made clear by the moves of the last few days is that the Flyers are looking to not get pushed around as much. They showed some fight during the preseason and it has been clear they want to stand up for each other more than before. Both Brown and MacEwen play with a gritty, hard-nosed style that seems to be exactly what the team is looking for.
The Flyers open up against the Canucks on Friday so MacEwen could have an immediate way to show his former team what he can do if he is in the lineup.