Anthony Richard is Making Most of Flyers' Opportunity

You never want to see a player hurt. When it happens, you hope that the person who is called up can hold down the fort for now. However, there are times when the "call up" plays in such a way that you hope they can stick around for a while. Such is the case with Anthony Richard and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Richard was called up last week from the Phantoms. Ryan Poehling had been injured and Richard came in to take his spot on the roster. And if you are not familiar with Richard, don't be surprised. He was a depth signing made by the cash strapped Flyers this offseason. Before this season, he had appeared in just 24 games, most of that (13) in 2022-23 with Montreal. So, if you didn't expect a whole lot from him, you can be excused.

The thing is, just because a man hasn't had a lot of opportunity in the past so far, doesn't indicate he can't be valuable. After being called up, head coach John Tortorella was asked about what Richard can do for Philly.

"Had a very good camp, skates well. I want him to take a chance offensively."

If you've been reading the stat sheets lately, Richard has done just that. In four games, he has two goals with two assists. One of those goals was a power play goal.

More than that, look at who he is lining up with: a healthy Poehling and rookie phenom Matvei Michkov. Tortorella had hoped that Richard's craftiness and speed would pay off with these two and boy has it. Meanwhile, Morgan Frost has played in 16 games and has just one goal with six assists. Richard’s four points has placed him in 14th place on this team's stat leaders and he has just played in just four games.

Right now with Sean Couturier down, Richard has a safe spot in the lineup. If he keeps on producing, it could be really hard to take him out of this lineup. This is what you want to see. You want to see someone who is hungry, wants to play, and is going to fight for every opportunity given to him. Let's see where he can take this.