![]() ![]() ![]() For many veterans at camp, including 27-year-old goalie Alex Lyon, practicing at the team facility and potentially participating in Phase 4 are ideal ways to maintain sharpness in a world of lockdowns, even if they never get into games. Some of the guys that we’re bringing there are younger players that we’re going to be really on top of to make sure they’re doing the right things.”īut not all of the projected extras are traditional prospects, looking to use Phases 3 and 4 to impress the organization and ultimately realize their NHL dreams. “If they’re not playing, they’re going to use this time to become better players. “If you are not one of the regulars, you are going to have a very strict program that we expect all our guys to follow,” Vigneault said, “just like if they were in the summer going through their program, getting themselves ready for training camp. The scratched players will be expected to adhere to extremely high training standards to help their development and ensure readiness if the coaches call their number. Vigneault said the team’s video and strength and conditioning coaches will travel to Toronto and be in close contact with the players, including the “Black Aces,” those who won’t be in the lineup nightly. ![]() The Flyers don’t plan to ignore their extras in the bubble. “I’m here for the learning experience,” Mark Friedman said. And it surely didn’t go unnoticed that he’s been in the Philadelphia area for three months and was a regular at team facilities since the start of Phase 2. He’s skated on a pairing with roster lock Gostisbehere throughout camp and impressed the organization enough in 2019-20 to earn six NHL games of action. Toronto native Mark Friedman has one of the strongest cases among the bubble players and appears to be close to a cinch to head to his hometown with the team. That leaves 12 players in competition for nine spots, and if you believe Vigneault’s offhand comment Sunday that the Flyers are “probably” bringing just 30 players to Toronto, that means only eight slots remain for the “extras.” We’re going to do all the right things, but just in case something happens, you need players to be ready.”īarring injury, 22 of the 34 players at camp are locks to make the final 31-player-maximum roster: 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies. We’re going to be in a very safe environment, as far as I’m concerned. Some guys, for whatever reason, might get it. The other injury that is not really an injury (is) the virus factor. “Any time a team goes for a long playoff run, obviously one of the things that usually happens is things have to fall into place and you have to stay healthy. “Those players have to stay ready,” Vigneault said Sunday. Nevertheless, head coach Alain Vigneault has ensured the bubble players are aware of the importance of their role in Phase 4. As for the winners? Their reward is to be locked away from their family and friends, potentially for months, with no guarantee of a playoff game appearance. That means at least three players on the roster bubble will head home and not accompany the team to the NHL bubble in Toronto. But what about the players who aren’t in direct competition for nightly spots in the lineup? What about those who spent the first week of camp toiling on the sixth forward line or the fifth defensive pair, functioning largely as practice fodder for the regulars?Īt the Flyers’ Phase 3 camp, only 31 spots are available for the 34 players practicing in Voorhees, N.J. ![]()
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