Flyers add Cal O’Reilly on PTO, cut five players from camp roster
After four days of training camp and preseason action, the Flyers have made some changes to their camp roster. They have cut five players, while adding a familiar face to a PTO. Their camp roster now stands at 67 players with a little over two weeks to go until final rosters must be submitted.
The Flyers have added another veteran to their training camp roster as they’ve signed Phantoms captain Cal O’Reilly to a PTO ahead of their preseason matchups this week. While it is likely only to give the team enough veteran players in the matchup, it is certainly a reward for a player who has paid his dues at the AHL level.
O’Reilly, the brother of Blues captain and Stanley Cup champion Ryan O’Reilly, has spent the last three season with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. There he was lead the team with 23 goals and 53 points. His goal-total was a career high for him while that was the most points he recorded since 2018-19 when he was with the Wild’s AHL affiliate.
It’s been a long time since O’Reilly has been in the NHL, his last action coming with Minnesota in 2017-18. And that was only a one game call up. He has also had stops with the Nashville Predators, Arizona Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Buffalo Sabres. In 145 career NHL games, O’Reilly has posted 16 goals and 49 points. Most of his career has been spent in the AHL.
In 826 career AHL games, he has recorded 151 goals and 686 points. He is the 10th players in AHL history to reach 500 career assists in the league. He reached that mark after recording three assists against the Binghamton Devils on April 26th. He also reached 1,000 professional games played during the season as well. His 46 games in the KHL help make up that total.
Signed to an AHL contract for this upcoming season, O’Reilly will almost certainly be back with the Phantoms. He is likely replacing Artem Anisimov, another player on a PTO, who is day to day at the moment. But this could also be the Flyers seeing if O’Reilly still has anything left in the tank as a potential call up option. Though, he would need to be signed to an NHL deal if that was the case. Unless Ryan Ellis is placed on LTIR, which is an option, the team doesn’t have much room to play with cap wise.
But this is a nice reward regardless for O’Reilly even if he is only here for a few days.
Flyers Cut Five Players From Camp Roster
To start off, two players were released from their amateur tryout contracts. Those were Mikael Huchette and Tyler Savard. Huchette was a 19-year-old center from the QMJHL. With the Quebec Remparts, he posted 12 goals and 33 points last season. That is where he will be again this upcoming season.
Savard is a 19-year-old winger from the OHL. With the Soo Greyhounds, he posted nine goals and 28 points in his first season with the team. After not playing in the 2020-21 campaign, this will be his second year with the Greyhounds. It’s clear that he will need more time after losing an entire year of his junior career. But no doubt this was still a good experience for him.
The other three players cut from camp are Flyers prospects, but they were all sent back to their junior teams as well. Those were Alexis Gendron, Ethan Samson, and Brian Zanetti. The former is a forward while the latter two are defensemen.
Gendron was a seventh round selection for the Flyers this past summer. He will be heading back to Blainville-Boisbriand of the QMJHL. Gendron is coming off a breakout season, though his season was cut short in 2020-21. Still, in a few season he posted 30 goals and 46 points in 66 games. This will be his third season, but second full one, in the QMJHL.
Samson was a sixth round pick of the Flyers in the 2021 NHL Draft. He heads back to the WHL for what could be his final season the Price George Cougars. He is coming off his best season with the team, recording 15 goals and 43 points in 68 games. It was only the second full season he played in the WHL, though. The prior season, he only played in 22 games.
Zanetti was also drafted by the Flyers in 2021, selected in the fourth round. The Swiss defender is coming off his first season in North America with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL. He put up four goals and 26 points in 56 games. He also appeared in four games for Switzerland at the World Juniors, grabbing two assists in four games.