(Photo: Kate Frese)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Flyers wrapped up their annual prospect development camp on Monday. While the purpose of the camp is not for evaluation and for simply honing skills and improving in certain areas of the game, it is an opportunity to see many of the team’s prospects and get a look at what skills they possess.
In the first of a three-part series, we review the Flyers prospects at development camp. We start with the forwards.
Morgan Frost – Frost was obviously the focus of camp among forwards, being one of the forwards with the potential to be in play for an NHL roster spot at training camp. All-around, he had a strong camp, showcasing strong skating ability, excellent skill and strength on the puck. He’s noticeably built his size, up to 184 pounds as compared to 172 as a draft pick a year ago. Ron Hextall says he still needs to add size, but his skillset sure seems close to NHL ready in that area. Frost’s camp came to an end on a high note, as he is on Team Canada’s World Junior camp roster and as long as he’s in juniors next season, should be part of the World Junior Championships.
German Rubtsov – The former first-round pick shows off his skills during drills, but these are just drills to provide a learning experience. The object of camp is to take the lessons learned and apply them to your game. Rubtsov hasn’t been much of an offensive player in juniors, where two years from his draft year, you would expect him to be excelling. Hextall said that, much like Sean Couturier, Rubtsov has a dedication to taking care of his own zone and that the offense will come around. He’s got the skills, but it’s got to come around soon for him to be a consideration for the NHL. The good news is that now he can shift his attention to the AHL and work on those skills as a pro.
Mikhail Vorobyev – Vorobyev was one of the veteran forwards at camp and it showed. Coming off his first pro season, Vorobyev was able to use his size and strength to his advantage and showed signs of how professional play had helped mature his game. He’s a candidate for an NHL spot based on the prospects at camp, but he may be a bit behind a few other AHL vets such as Mike Vecchione or Nicolas Aube-Kubel at this point.
Isaac Ratcliffe – Two things jump out at you right away with Ratcliffe. Obviously, he’s big at 6’5”, but he’s got great hands and puck skills for such a large frame. Secondly, the kid just loves the game. He’s always got a smile on his face and clearly shows a passion for the little things and the camaraderie with teammates. He’s probably not a guy who gets on the radar this season, but he’ll head back to juniors, get one more season under his belt there and most likely be a top prospect at next year’s camp.
Joel Farabee – There is a lot to get excited about with the Flyers first-rounder at 14th overall. Farabee has a tremendous shot with pinpoint accuracy. It just goes exactly where he wants it to. His skills were on full display as well. Hextall specifically noted that Farabee has a deceptive quality. He can mask if he is shooting or passing and that allows him to create opportunities and be a finisher. There really was a lot to like in his game. Even for his size, he’s competitive and handles himself well, but his 164-pound frame is noticeable and he needs to add size to reach the NHL level.
Jay O’Brien – The Flyers other first-round pick also had a good showing in his first camp. O’Brien has a little more size than Farabee, but it doesn’t jump out at you, so he’s got some work to do there. If anything, the kid is as determined as they come. He holds his own in drills against bigger players and already was showing signs of a tremendous work ethic that will help him overcome any size obstacles. The skill level isn’t as outward as Farabee, but there is skill there. He’s a solid stickhandler and can finish at times, but as a center, his responsibilities will certainly be different with a great focus on two-way play and setting up teammates.
Pascal Laberge – Laberge reminds me a lot of Rubtsov in the sense that the skills come out at development camp and show you the potential, but the numbers just were not there in juniors. Laberge suffered through concussions during his time in juniors, so it’s understandable that he has to recover and lost time to show his skills at the junior level. You see him at camp and see a really strong shot that was beating netminders left and right. He had the scorer’s touch at camp for sure, finishing the camp with five goals in the 3-on-3 tournament to lead all players. The concern here is that his first pro season won’t be much different than in juniors and that he’ll end up lost in the fold. That happens to many prospects with every team, but the Flyers traded back in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft to acquire the pick they selected him with, so this is one that you would like to see come to fruition.
Carsen Twarynski – The definition of an energy player. Twarynski was hitting everybody at this year’s camp, showing his physical edge and grit. He’s not a flashy player by any means and won’t be a standout on the scoresheet, but he’s got all the makings of a role player.
Olle Lycksell – As you start to reach later-round picks from this year’s draft and those in years past, it’s difficult to get a feel for these prospects because there isn’t much information on them and they aren’t the primary focus. Lycksell was one that seemed to stand out among those players. His drills were very smooth and polished. He’s a good skater, has a good determination level and is active in drills.
Gavin Hain – As a later pick, the Flyers may have gotten some good value here. He’s got a determination to his game and has the makeup of an energy player with some offensive upside. Another smaller kid, he needs some size and experience as well, but you could see what the team saw in him to make him a pick.
Noah Cates – Cates reminds me a lot of Hain in the sense that he was selected as a high-school kid that had a bit of a road ahead of him. Cates does have some good offensive skills, but they seem raw and he’ll need to continue to work on things as his next season progresses.
Matthew Strome – Obviously the knock on Strome is still his skating and while it has improved to a degree, he’s still not great. Strome didn’t stand out in the other drills, but that may be because his focus is so heavily on improving his skating and not so much offensive skills, that they just weren’t showcased.
Maksim Sushko – The more I see Sushko, the more I like him as a value pick. I thought he had a solid World Juniors tournament, and he’s got a solid all-around game, reliable in two-way play, but good offensive awareness and ability.
Marcus Westfalt – The final pick of the 2018 NHL Draft for the Flyers has the potential for great upside. Westfalt has an edge to his game, very good size and can put the puck in the net. He was one of the better players in many drills.
Wade Allison, Connor Bunnaman and Tanner Laczynski did not participate in on-ice drills due to injury, but were in attendance at camp.
