Hello and welcome to the Saturday edition of Between the Pipes. The Flyers are one week into training camp and well on their way towards finalizing their roster for the regular season. Let's take a look at a few headlines that are making the rounds this weekend.
Travis Konecny picks up where he left off in return to juniors – [Mike Davies – Peterborough Examiner]
Konecny, the 24th overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft had a great camp. He possesses all the skills that will eventually make him a successful pro. While he wasn't expected to crack the Flyers lineup at age 18, he certainly opened enough eyes with his solid play and enigmatic ability. After being returned to his junior club, the Ottawa 67's, Konecny wasted little time jumping back into action as he scored two goals against Peterborough and was one of the more dynamic players on the ice. Flyers GM Ron Hextall and Co. will be looking for him to continue his development and improve upon his 68-point performance from last year. For a franchise that is suddenly loaded with legitimate defensive prospects, Konecny represents the future on the opposite side of the rink. If he continues to progress and play like his did in camp this season, he will be suiting up for the orange and black in no time.
GM Ron Hextall not overly impressed with Sam Morin and Travis Sanheim’s camp performance – [Randy Miller – NJ.com]
Make no mistake about it, Sam Morin and Travis Sanheim are two of the top prospects in the Flyers system. The club's brass speaks very highly of them and both have managed to improve in each of their respective junior seasons. Although Ron Hextall admitted that they had stronger camps last year, he still firmly believes that they are on track to man the Flyers blue line for years to come. In Sanheim's case, his return to Calgary guarantees that he will spend at least one more season playing junior hockey and will hopefully get a crack at playing in the World Junior Championships in Helsinki. Morin, on the other hand, will begin his first professional season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. Depending on his play and the need of the team, he could very well see time with the big club as an injury recall or replacement for an ineffective blueliner. Either way, both players remain on the fast track to NHL success and will be mainstays in Philadelphia for years to come.
Scott Laughton making strong push to crack Flyers lineup – [Sam Carchidi – Philadelphia Inquirer] [Randy Miller – NJ.com]
While playing on a line mainly with Chris Porter and Brayden Schenn in camp, Laughton has been one of the team's best forwards thus far. Laughton has made quite an impression on coach Dave Hakstol, dating back to development camp in the summer. While his road to breaking camp with the team appears somewhat bumpy due to a numbers game, he is quietly playing himself onto the roster with a strong preseason. Laughton's speed and two-way play may very well give him the edge in the middle over somebody such as Vincent Lecavalier. This upcoming week will paint a better picture as to how the roster will shake out as the Flyers would prefer to have their opening day lineup intact to close out the exhibition season.
Zach Hopkins is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @healedbyhockey.
