Justin Braun
Following an off day from on-ice activities on Monday, the Flyers will take the ice on Tuesday night for their first preseason tilt on home ice against the New York Islanders at 7 p.m.
The competitive juices were flowing with the first scrimmage of Flyers training camp, as the team looks to build more chemistry ahead of the preseason opener on Tuesday.
The message at the start of Flyers training camp is that the team has “something to prove,” words written on t-shirts worn by Alain Vigneault and several players. That message rang loud and clear as the team gets to work in training camp.
Joel Farabee and the Flyers have agreed to a six-year contract extension worth $30 million, an average annual value of $5 million, Fletcher announced on Thursday. The contract begins in the 2022-23 season.
The Flyers appear to be done for the offseason, outside of re-signing Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim, and are hoping a majority of their acquisitions turn out to be wins on “quality bets.”
Another veteran defenseman has been added to the mix. The Flyers have signed Keith Yandle to a one-year deal worth $900,000.
For the better part of a decade, the Flyers have utilized the same core group and struggled to consistently put together successful seasons. After their most frustrating one to date, Fletcher knew action was necessary. “We just can’t keep bringing the same players back year after year and expect different results. We had to make changes this year,” Fletcher said.
On the Flyers end, the selection by the Seattle Kraken was rather surprising. While many focused on names like Jake Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Braun and Robert Hagg, who were left unprotected, the Kraken selected forward Carsen Twarynski as their pick from Philadelphia.
Who will it be? Will Seattle simply select a player or is there a side deal that could be in place? There are three potential outcomes for the Flyers in Wednesday night’s expansion draft, and we’ll detail each possibility and how it could impact the Flyers offseason plans.
The Flyers have protected forwards Claude Giroux, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Oskar Lindblom, Scott Laughton and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. They have also protected defensemen Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim and the newly-acquired Ryan Ellis, as well as goalie Carter Hart in the upcoming Expansion Draft.
