PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Hayes was a popular guy around the Flyers locker room last week and not just because he’s the resident newcomer, signing a seven-year, $50 million contract in the offseason. He’s also the only one on the roster who’s been coached by new bench boss Alain Vigneault for more than a couple weeks.

Hayes played for Vigneault with the New York Rangers and it went well enough that he chose to sign with the Flyers after the coach was hired in April.

“I had talked to Kevin about that prior to coming in,” Vigneault said. “He knows my demands and the pace that I want out there. There’s no doubt in my mind that he had a lot of players ask him what they should expect. He’s a smart young man. He’s a good role model and I’m sure he’s been very helpful to the players and he’s been helpful to me by doing it the right way.”

“It’s funny,” Hayes said. “Yesterday he was explaining drills and four years ago or five years ago, this is exactly how it was. I started laughing at myself a couple times. He likes to win. I think as a player, that’s what you want. He doesn’t want any part of a rebuild. He wants to win and he wants to win now. That’s what you want as a player.”

Together they embark on the starts with the Flyers and it began with a 3-1 loss in the preseason debut against the New York Islanders.

With the Flyers still having a full roster in training camp, it wasn’t close to what they’ll have come regular season. At that point Sean Couturier will be the team’s top-line center but on this night it was Hayes, who finished with an assist on James van Riemsdyk’s first goal of exhibition play.

“We’ve known each other for a while,” van Riemsdyk said. He and Hayes’ brother Jimmy played together growing up. “Obviously never gotten the chance to play on the same team together in the past but it’s been fun. He’s a cerebral player, really skilled, responsible 200 feet. I’m just looking forward to keep trying to build some chemistry and go from there.”

Here are four more takeaways from the preseason debut…

First look at the Gostisbehere-Braun pairing

Vigneault said that in camp and the first two preseason games he deferred to general manager Chuck Fletcher and assistant GM Brent Flahr for line combinations and pairings. One that has been constant every day and continued into the game was the defense combination of Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Braun.

Fletcher described Braun as “seaweed” over the weekend because he always seems to have his stick on a body or puck to break up a play. Braun chuckled when he was told of the GM’s words, saying that in San Jose he was used to hearing “octopus.” That style of play could mesh well with Gostisbehere, who takes a few more risks with the puck on his stick and may be even more motivated to do so after last season not going his way.

“It’s been good,” Braun said. “You want to try to get some chemistry with any of the guys you’re paired with and getting a few extra days with him before the game, I thought we were pretty good out there. We were breaking out pretty clean and that’s tough to do when you don’t know how a guy plays very well. I was happy with how quickly we were breaking out.”

A wake up for Farabee

Joel Farabee was on a higher level during rookie camp. Even though there were some of those players in the lineup Monday that were in last Wednesday’s rookie game, he found there was a big difference in play.

“There was a lot less time and space out there,” said the rookie right winger hoping to start his career in the NHL. “A lot of the play was below the goal line. That’s a huge part of the NHL style of play. I think they just won more battles down low and gave them more chances for their D men. We’ve got to clean up a few things up in the D zone and go from there.

“I was pretty nervous heading in so I thought I was fumbling pucks a bit. I don’t know, when I got it I was a little nervous with the puck. I gotta be better.”

Farabee was on a line with fellow rookie Isaac Ratcliffe and center Cal O’Reilly. Morgan Frost was supposed to be centering the line but was sidelined by a tweaked groin. He should return to practice in the next day or two.

“I think everyone can see the skill set,” Vigneault said of Farabee. “I didn’t think he was as good tonight as what I’ve seen but some of that had to do…I think the opposition did some good things. But I like that kid. I like his skill level. I like that he can play in tight. I think we’ve got a good, young player there.”

Zamula makes another strong impression

The word most spoken about undrafted defenseman Egor Zamula in the Wells Fargo Center press box was “smooth.” It wasn’t his first time. Last year he was in camp with the Flyers on a tryout and got a long look because of it, including two NHL preseason games. He earned himself a contract and put up big numbers for the first time in his career. He ended up seventh in the Western Hockey League and tops on the Calgary Hitmen for points among defensemen with 56 in 61 games.

He'll go back to Calgary at some point during this training camp, but next year when he turns pro he could be a real nice player in the Flyers’ system.

Chris Stewart’s debut

Wrote about Chris Stewart’s comeback attempt the other day and how his best friend, Wayne Simmonds, played a small role in his tryout with the Flyers. Monday was Stewart’s debut in a Flyers uniform and he got a chance to show some of the intimidation that Simmonds used to have.

It started because he got caught with his head down looking at the puck and Kyle Burroughs dropped him with a big hit. Stewart asked Burroughs to fight when he got back up and the Islanders defender obliged.

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Dave Isaac joined the Courier-Post in April 2012 after covering the Flyers for three seasons elsewhere. Contact him on Twitter @davegisaac or by email at disaac@gannett.com.

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