PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 5: Owen Tippett #74 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates with Tyson Foerster #71, Travis Sanheim #6, and Cam York #8 after scoring a goal against the New York Islanders in the second period of the preseason game at the Wells Fargo Center on October 5, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The Philadelphia Flyers triumphantly closed out their 2023 preseason campaign with a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders, but with less than a week until opening night, the club still has some difficult decisions to make.
The Flyers still have Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Emil Andrae, and Felix Sandstrom loitering on their roster, and they’ll need to cut two of them in order to get down to the maximum roster size of 23. The problem, though, is that Sandstrom requires waivers, and the other three have all impressed.
The Flyers could opt to keep Andrae over one of the forwards, but that will leave them with eight defenseman. This makes the signing of Marc Staal seem a little silly, given that Yegor Zamula also requires waivers. In terms of roster composition, Philly has only hamstrung themselves.
Prediction: Flyers cut Andrae, trade Sandstrom
At the end of the day, the Flyers have to make the tough choice and send Andrae down. The 21-year-old has impressed in stretches during the preseason, but ultimately could work on his consistency a little bit as well. Honestly, if Philadelphia hadn’t signed Staal or traded a pending free agent like Nick Seeler, Andrae walks into this team. Instead, the Flyers play it safe and bide their time until later in the season where the young Swede can then make his belated 2023-24 debut.
Sandstrom is more of a curious case given his very limited experience in North American hockey. The former SHL shot stopper has only 25 games of NHL experience, 25 games of ECHL experience, and 64 games of AHL experience. None of his results have been particularly encouraging, but he’s looked OK this preseason.
Would some goalie-needy team throw a dart at Sandstrom and see if he can stick? It’s within the realm of possibilities, and if he doesn’t work out, he’ll go right back to this square one: staring down waivers.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 2: Bobby Brink #46 of the Philadelphia Flyers looks on against the Boston Bruins during the preseason game at the Wells Fargo Center on October 2, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
Very bold prediction: Brink and Foerster make the Flyers
Well, given the other two were cut and traded, this isn’t much of a surprise, is it? These two have played their tails off in the preseason on the heels of an uninspiring rookie camp for the Flyers. Brink was the most impressive of the two – no doubt – but the Flyers simply won’t be able to play both him and Foerster all of the time.
The reality is that each is waivers-exempt and can be sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL at any time. There will probably be times where Andrae comes up and replaces one that isn’t playing, or one is just sent down to get minutes. Perhaps one of Brink or Foerster hits a slump and heads to the minors to pad the stats.
If John Tortorella has been clear about anything during his tenure as Flyers head coach, it’s that he picks his lineup based on merit. Philadelphia was never ‘playing the kids’ just to play the kids, notwithstanding Tortorella’s recent comments acknowledging the next stage of a full-fledged rebuild. This is the same coach that made the Flyers play with five defensemen against the Boston Bruins because he was so vehemently opposed to watching Tony DeAngelo play hockey for this team.
Next. Flyers miss out on former first-round pick. dark
Ultimately, it would be a near impossibility for neither Brink nor Foerster to make this team, but they might not play as many games as we think. The Flyers have a lot of mouths to feed and not a lot of food, but let’s wait until the restaurant officially opens before passing judgement.
