Roster Decisions Loom as Flyers Finalize Line-Up

To paraphrase a famous one-liner, “I watched the Philadelphia Flyers preseason with low expectations and I left disappointed.”

No one ever likes to make excuses, but the final record for the 2013 Flyers’ team could legitimately be chalked up to “bad bounces.” The team had virtually no training camp, substantial injuries up-and-down the roster and an aggressive 48-game schedule that provided them little to no practice time to correct their mistakes.

None of these cases can be argued for why the Flyers wrapped up their seven-game preseason schedule with a 1-5-1 record. None of these can explain why, as HockeyBuzz columnist Bill Meltzer wrote today, the team held a lead for just 13:29 of ice time in 430:00 played.

There are no excuses for why, in back-to-back games against the New Jersey Devils, it appeared as if nothing has been changed from the last two years to address the Devils’ relentless forecheck. Even if they lost both games (which happened anyway), why not try something different to see if there is a way to exploit their system? Instead, it was the same song-and-dance routine (which in this case, would be the Ice Capades).

On Friday evening, the Flyers announced that forward Michael Raffl and defenseman Oliver Lauridsen have been sent to the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL. Lauridsen was expected to return to Glens Falls, but Raffl, a 24-year old Austrian winger signed as a free agent this past Spring, was expected to be one of the finalists for the third line left winger position.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, between Raffl, Tye McGinn, and unsigned free agent Chris VandeVelde, no one particularly stood out to “take” the position. Even if Raffl had popped in a few goals, giving him more minutes at the AHL level to become adjusted to North American style of hockey was in the organization’s best interest. If he excels quickly, it probably won’t be long before he earns a call-up.

Max Talbot appears to be penciled in to start the season as the third line left winger, with Sean Couturier and Matt Read filling the other 2/3 of the line.

VandeVelde, somewhat surprisingly, remained with the team past Friday. The 26 year-old winger is only signed to an AHL deal at the moment, but that contract could be torn up if the Flyers felt he would be a good fit for the big club.

In 28 games with the Edmonton Oilers, VandeVelde scored 1 goal and 3 points. In 194 AHL games, he scored 26 goals and 60 points.

He would be a reasonable addition as a fourth liner, but would only be signed if the Flyers felt that they’d rather send former first round draft pick Scott Laughton back to juniors for another year of development and physical maturity. Although they have been somewhat successful with converting Brayden Schenn from a center to a winger, they don’t appear to have any interest in doing the same with Laughton. It’s pretty much “center or bust.”

On defense, the organization has to decide what it’s going to do with 38-year old Hal Gill. It doesn’t seem as if an NHL contract is in the cards just yet, but the Flyers still appear to be weighing their options. Gill did not have a particularly impressive preseason, and even general manager Paul Holmgren joked about his foot speed with reporters, but he is still hanging around the locker room.

The wild card at the moment is Andrej Meszaros. The organization is reportedly “shopping him” around the NHL, with few buyers.

One rumor is that the Colorado Avalanche may be willing to part with third line forward John Mitchell in a trade. I have no idea how many organizations would actually take a Flyer (no pun intended) on Meszaros, but with the salary cap dropping for this season and Meszaros owning a $ 4million cap hit, it seems like receiving anything in return should be considered a “win.”

Mitchell, 28, falls somewhere between a third and fourth liner. He has shown that he can hit double digits in goals at the NHL level before, but a better estimate of his production in a full season would be around 8-10 goals and 20-25 points.

Mitchell’s contract is worth $1.1 million and expires at the end of the season.

NHL teams have until 5:00 p.m. on Monday to finalize the 23-man roster. The regular season begins on Wednesday, October 2, with the Toronto Maple Leafs coming to the Wells Fargo Center as the opponent for the home opener.