Development Camp Wrapup; Fletcher, Flahr and Kjell Commentary June 30, 2019, 8:29 AM ET [348 Comments] Bill Meltzer

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Team Orange Downs Team White, 3-2



On the final day of the Flyers 2019 Development Camp in Voorhees, Team Orange defeated Team White, 3-2, in a five-on-five scrimmage. The contest was tied, 2-2, with about 7:30 remaining when Bobby Brink took a picturesque cross-slot pass from Morgan Frost and stashed the puck home from a sharp angle on the left side to put the Orange team ahead to stay.



Earlier, undrafted camp invite defenseman Will Mackinnon (University of New Hampshire) gave Team White a 1-0 lead with just over 16 minutes left in the first period. Matthew Strome scored for Team Orange to knot the game at 1-1 late in the first period. Mason Millman earned the lone assist on the Millman tally.



The scrimmage format had the teams play two 30-minute periods with a running clock with the exception of the final three minutes of each period, which had normal stoppages of play. A penalty brought about a penalty shot opportunity rather than a power play. Team White's Joel Farabee was unable to convert a breakaway attempt after intercepting an ill-advised Millman diagonal pass attempt in the neutral zone.



In the second period, undrafted camp invite Jackson Cates took a feed from his brother and University of Minnesota Duluth teammate (and sometimes linemate), Noah, to restore a 2-1 lead for Team White. Team Orange re-tied the game at 2-2 when Isaac Ratcliffe rumbled through the slot to score an unassisted goal. That set the stage for Brink's scrimmage-winner, with Connor Bunnaman picking up an assist in addition to Frost.



Felix Sandström and Roddy Ross were the goaltenders for Team White. Kirill Ustimenko and Samuel Ersson split the work for victorious Team Orange.



Following the scrimmage, the two teams engaged in a full-roster shootout to wrap up camp. Team Orange prevailed, 6-5. For Team Orange, Millman, Ben McCartney, Bryce Brodzinski, Strome, Maksim Sushko and Frost (on a between-the-legs move and then a backhanded chip upstairs) scored for Team Orange. Pascal Laberge, Jackson Cates, Carsen Twarynski, David Kase and Farabee converted their attempts for Team White.



Sushko left the scrimmage during the first period but later returned to the ice to finish out the event.



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FLETCHER, FLAHR, AND SAMUELSSON ON 2019 DEVELOPMENT CAMP



Courtesy of the Flyers, here are transcripts of general manager Chuck Fletcher, assistant general manager Brent Flahr and development coach Kjell Samuelsson discussing this year's Development Camp. Fletcher also discussed a few matters concerning the current NHL roster.



CHUCK FLETCHER



On the hiring of Nick Schultz as a development coach.



Nick’s a quality person. He’s been out for a little bit now and I know he’s been coaching his son’s hockey team and enjoying life, but at some point I think he thought he wanted to get back in the game. This gives him an entry point to get in and share his expertise and work with our young defensemen. We’ll start a little slower and build and just see what he wants to do. At some point I can see him being a great coach in this league. That’s down the road. For right now, I think Nick loves the Flyers and can add a lot of value to our organization.



Did somebody step down?



No, just adding him. We ask a lot of Kjell and all of our guys. In the past we’ve had John (Riley) and Brett (Hextall) handling the forwards, and Kjell handling all the defensemen. We’ve got a lot of defensemen. They’re on the West Coast, they’re in Sweden, they’re in Canada, they’re in college. Just having another quality hockey person involved, we could get him hired in time to get here this week so he could get to know the players and how we do things. It’s a big job now. We’ve drafted a lot of great players and now we have to make sure we develop them.



There’s a lot in college now, too.



It seems to be going that way, yes. There’s more and more college teams and more and more quality players going to college. And it’s a weekend league, so it’s not like you can college games during the week and then go see junior. It really does take a lot of time to get out and see all these kids and spend the right amount of time with them.



On drafting Bobby Brink and Fletcher’s longstanding relationship with his family.



First of all, I want to comment that our scouting staff puts the list together. I certainly know some of the players and occasionally will give my opinion, and ultimately I have to make the decision, but I rely on the scouts to put the list together. Bobby was a player that our entire staff scouted and very much liked as a hockey player. Certainly, I’ve known Bobby and his family for many years. His dad Andy coached my son and also taught him in school. So there’s a long relationship there certainly. In terms of the background, I felt comfortable giving my opinion to the staff that he’s a quality kid from a quality family. Watched him play at every level, and it’s remarkable – he was a star player in squirt and peewee, and he’s a star player in the USHL. He’s a high-quality prospect.



On re-signing Brian Elliott.



First of all, we took full advantage of the shopping period, as I believe he did, too. We spoke to quite a few goaltenders this week, quite a few agents for goaltenders this week. We did a lot of due diligence looking into everyone’s background and medical histories, stats, everything we could do. We talked extensively to both Cam [Talbot, who opted to sign with Calgary] and Brian. I will just comment that Cam indicated to us through his agent that he was looking for a situation where he felt he might play a little bit more than he anticipated playing here. He’s hoping to become a number-one goalie again and do that. So we certainly respect that. We had good conversations with Brian all along. Once you get to the shopping period you never know what’s going to happen. We looked at everything and at the end of the day, we know Brian as well if not better than everybody. We know his medical history, we know how he fits in the room, we know how he fits with Carter, and we know how well he plays. The more we dug, the more we felt comfortable coming back to Brian, and this morning we were able to make it happen.



Will Carter take the lead role?



Carter’s said this repeatedly We believe strongly that Carter’s our goaltender of the future. At times last year he was our goalie of the present. We certainly anticipate him being one of two goaltenders. But it’s no different than anybody: he’s going to have to come in and earn his ice time. We do have 17 back-to-backs this year. You guys know how difficult the NHL schedule is with travel. I anticipate both guys playing. I think the days of a 65- to 70-game goaltender are probably gone. Somewhere in the 30 to 50 range for each guy It’ll depend on performance, health, schedule. Alain Vigneault and the coaching staff will come up with a good plan. It’s nice to have two quality options and two guys we know can work together. I think that certainty was important to us.





What makes you confident that Brian can hold up?



Well we know his medical history better than anybody. He battled for a while there, but he came back healthy at the end. I thought he played quite well. Our team started to struggle a little bit down the stretch. I don’t think we gave an awful lot of support to whatever goaltender we put in the net; particularly the last 10-15 games, we got a little loose defensively. But physically, he looked good. He moved well, he felt good, he played some great games for us. At the end of the year, knock on wood, he was healthy. I spoke to him again today and he feels great. This is the best he’s felt in a while. He has a full summer of training. He’s not just rehabbing, he’s training. I think there’s always risk for any player for injury in the NHL, it’s a physically-demanding league. But I think we feel we understand the risk really well.



Was this year’s time he missed related to the surgery he had the previous February?



I’m assuming. Everything’s kind of tied together. All I can tell you is coming out of it, he feels much better. He had indicated to me there was about a year, year and half there where he didn’t feel great. He pushed through and played hard and helped our club get into the playoffs a couple seasons ago before I was here. Now I think he feels very good. He takes care of himself, he’s a high-end competitor and he’s a good teammate. For us, it made a lot of sense.



Back in April you said you might add two goalies. Is that still the case?



We have a lot of confidence in Alex (Lyon), as well. I think Alex is a good goaltender. A couple seasons ago I know he came in and I think he won five or six hockey games for the Flyers. Last season, he was battling a couple things early, but the second half he played really well down in Lehigh Valley. So we have a lot of confidence in Alex as a [third goaltender]. I guess it may depend on the market a little bit. We’ll see what’s there in a few days, what’s left. But young Sandström and Ustimenko are quality goalies in their own right. Sandström’s played some professional hockey [in Sweden], went in and won a big game in Providence at the end of the season. So we’re just going to try to weigh everything and balance everything, look at the opportunity of who may be available versus what we have here, but we’re certainly comfortable with Alex.



Do you think you’ll have enough money to add a right winger or will that have to come from who you have here?



Well, our priority right now is on our [restricted free agents]. We were fortunate to get Travis [Sanheim] on a two-year bridge deal, which I think will work well for both parties. We have plenty of cap space to bring our players back; whether we have enough to go add another player, I’m not sure about that.



Going into the summer we had certain priorities – obviously re-sign our own RFAs, find a goaltender to play with Carter, get a No. 2 centerman and add one or two quality defensemen. We were able to achieve a lot of things. Whether we’re able to add another winger or another forward, well certainly we’re going to have to add some forwards here for depth and to compete in our bottom six. But whether we go after another high-end player, that wasn’t a very big priority for our team. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I think our wings are right at the top of the league in terms of production.



Even with the way Oskar [Lindblom] came on at the end of the year, we have five real good wingers, certainly better wingers than any team I’ve been a part of. To me, that wasn’t an area of weakness. But we’ll see. We’ll also see what comes out of training camp. Just watching this development camp, there’s a lot of young kids, and ideally they all get some time in the American league, but there’s a lot of high-end talent here. It’s been impressive to see.



Our scouting staff has done a tremendous job. This is the most talent I’ve seen in a development camp in my whatever number of years I’ve been in the business, both in terms of quality and quantity at every position. So it’s a deep group of prospects and many of them will be playing pro hockey this year. At some point there’s certainly players in this camp right now that could impact our roster in a positive way.





On the acquisition of role-playing winger Tyler Pitlick in trade for Ryan Hartman.



Tyler has been mainly a bottom-six player. He’s played third line, he’s played fourth line. He brings good size, he’s a good skater. Pretty consistent north-south, physical game. Brings a lot of energy. Shoots the puck pretty well and he can certainly score a goal, but his bread-and-butter is that puck-pressure, forechecking type of game. The size and the speed fits well with what we want to try to create in terms of our bottom six.



With Travis Sanheim now signed, any other RFAs close?



We’ll talk again to the agents of a couple of the players this week, so it’s hard to predict. Scotty Laughton has the ability to file for arbitration, and if that happens that would speed up that process, whether it gets done right away or gets done at the end of July. But with the other two that are non-arbitration eligible, it may take some time. Just looking around the league, it seems to be a common theme.



Duration of qualifying offers on the table?



They all automatically expire on July 15. And that’s in the CBA, so it’s not a team rule, it’s league and union.



On not tendering a qualifying offer to Justin Bailey.



I had a good talk with Justin [earlier in the week], after acquiring Pitlick in particular. Justin’s worked hard his whole career. To me, he’s right on the cusp of playing. I just feel like we have a couple more roster tweaks coming here in the next few days. With the depth that we’ll have at that point, I just felt in fairness to Justin, let him go free and find the best situation for him. We have a lot of young talent down in Lehigh Valley, and I just didn’t feel confident that he would start the season with us. Just in fairness to him, let him have a fresh start and move on. He did a great job for us last year. I think this year we’ll have significantly better depth and more competition. Sometimes for a player like that who’s been battling, it’s the right thing to do.



On Ryan Hartman’s quick departure after being acquired at the deadline.



We just made the move for cost certainty. Ryan’s a good player. The cap coming in at $81.5 (million), at one point there were projections that it would be 83, and you’re making plans all year. I think the $81.5 was a little bit of a curveball at the 11th hour, and we had to adjust. We’re just trying to keep as much flexibility as we can here to get all our RFAs signed, and to make sure we can accrue as much cap space as possible going into the season, and keep as much, and during the season you can accrue it quickly It was just to give ourselves that opportunity whether it’s the summer, the fall or next winter to have opportunities to improve our team.



Do you want to leave space for bonuses?



Yes, and for injuries. If a player has a long-term injury, obviously, you have the long-term injury exemption. But often times injuries are 10, 12, 14 days, and you have to have enough space to recall players assuming you don’t have enough healthy ones on your roster already. We feel we’ve made some key additions. We’ve filled some holes, and we have some pretty good young kids coming, too. I think our depth will be significantly better, and hopefully on July 1 and 2, we’ll have some more announcements to make on some players that can come in and help our organization, whether it’s Lehigh Valley or Philadelphia. I think we’ll be in a good space in terms of having good players but also having sufficient depth.





How tough is it to add somebody as a UFA on Monday without the RFAs signed?



As I mentioned earlier, it’s not really a front-burner issue for us at this point. I just know every summer you put your roster together and when you come to training camp, inevitably there’s players that surprise you and there’s players that maybe are a little bit disappointing. So you don’t always know the holes you may end up having.



If we start the season with what we have now and knowing we have a pretty good chance of adding a few more players for depth, we’d be fine, we’d be happy. We’d be a significantly deeper team, I think a more talented team. We’ll certainly have opportunities whether it’s next week or training camp. There will be roster decisions every team has to make, and obviously during the season you can make tweaks as well. We’ll have opportunities, and sometimes it’s better [to wait] before you lock in too many players with term to maybe see exactly what you have.





On Joel Farabee turning pro at 19.



First of all, that was his family’s decision. BU is a great program, and if they had decided to stay for another season, we would have fully supported it. Joel made the decision that he felt he was ready to turn pro in consultation with the people around him, and that’s a personal decision.



Is Farabee ready for the NHL now?



He’s a hockey player. He’s still a young man that has to get stronger and probably put on a little more weight to fully handle the rigors of an 82-game NHL season. But in terms of hockey sense, skill, skating, passion to play the game, he has all those elements already and it’s just going to be a question of time, and really, maturity. Watching him out here, his talent stands out. It wouldn’t take you many drills to pick him out as one of the better players on the ice.



On German Rubtsov and his health.



From what Jim McCrossin and our medical staff tell me, he’s doing well. He’s full-on training right now. He’s sort of past the rehab stage. Now he’s working on strength and speed and quickness and his hockey game, and that’s exciting. He’ll essentially have a full summer here to get ready for next training camp.[The shoulder injury] was before I got here, but he showed very well at the beginning of the season, in talking to Scott Gordon and the people that were around Lehigh Valley. He still only has about 13 games of pro experience, or somewhere in that range. He's another young guy that needs time and experience. But again, he's a smart hockey player, physically strong, has good skill and we believe has a bright future.





BRENT FLAHR



Has anyone made a surprising showing so far or is it tough to tell when you’re just doing drills?



No, I think the players we expected to show well here have and some of the young guys like just drafted sometimes nerves get the better of them in their first camp, but I think all those kids have played very well.



With York and Brink, Attard and Millman, those guys have all come in here and showed very well for themselves. They bring a lot of energy and are learning, so they’re exciting. First time we set eyes on them with the other guys. And then the other guys who have been around for a little bit, they’ve taken strides physically and a lot of them have really shown well from where they left off. They’ve obviously been busy training and have put themselves in good position to have a good camp, and hopefully challenge for a spot.





Chuck said that he thought this was probably the deepest development camp he’s ever been a part of. Would you agree with that?



I think so, yes. We had one group there in Maine one year we had numbers. This group you go down the list of kids that are here and there are a lot of players that have a chance. There is obviously a certain, some higher guys that are clear cut top end prospects that if they don’t play in the NHL we would be really disappointed, but there are a lot of guys that have the tools to find a role down the road. For us, that is very exciting. Now we have to do our work and they have to put in the time to help them get to where they need to get to over the next few years.



What goes into deciding on an over-age guy like Attard, how do you figure it’s not fool’s gold because he’s older than guys he’s playing with?



There are a couple of ways you look at it. I think if we have drafted him in the third round two years ago and you watch him play this year, you would be very happy that he was our draft pick. At some point they’re just good hockey players.



Obviously, sometimes you have to take the numbers into account. They are two years older. But you see where he was a year or two ago to where he is now, his mobility, he’s gotten a lot stronger, he’s gained a ton of confidence, especially on the offensive side of things. He’s always been a competitive kid and a hard-going kid, but to see where his overall game has come, it hits you in the face when you go to watch him play. Obviously, we’re not expecting him to score 30 goals a year in the NHL, but that stat you can’t hide from either. You score 30 goals in any league in 48 games you are doing something right.



Jay O’Brien has had kind of a tough year physical health-wise, so where do you see him at and do you think it was a good decision for him to go to the BCHL?



Actually, that’s even up in the air right now. But I think for him, it was a tough year. I think he is a guy who has been training with a group in Boston and from what I saw from the beginning of the year to now, he’s made significant strides strength wise. I think they are petitioning to be able to transfer to BU this year. I know it’s under process. I think if things don’t work out, he’s going to Penticton, but there is a chance he might be going to BU.



So he’s petitioning, or who is petitioning?



You’d have to ask him. I am not sure how it works. But it is nothing to do with us.



Going back to Attard and just the over-age guys in general who were drafted, do you see them in their draft year and you don’t take them but file them away in the back of your head and see if he develops in the future or do they just pop in their year?



Well, we’ve had reports of him for years. A lot of times when you look at Swedish kids or some kids coming out of high school or nontraditional hockey markets, physically they are nowhere near developed. They haven’t played high level hockey so it takes them some time. Some of these kids they are 150 lbs and no leg strength and in two years they put in the time and they can skate and play, and they start having success. When you’re drafting 17-18-year-old kids, it’s tough to project because you are projecting kids 5 years down the road an then after a couple of years of being more physically and mentally developed, you can evaluate them clearer and in this case we hope we get a good hockey player.



Are there any guys out there these last couple days that you watch and say they can potentially make the NHL team out of camp?



I think there’s guys that can challenge. Watch Joel Farabee. You watch the way he thinks the game, especially the small area hockey games out there. He’s a guy that I can imagine you put him with NHL players, he can play. Whether he’s physically ready or mentally ready to handle the grind of an NHL season, I’m not sure that’s realistic.



Morgan Frost’s another player. You can see the way he thinks the game and sees the ice. He can make plays. Again, whether he’s ready physically to handle the rigors of the NHL, training camp will dictate that.



There’s a lot of guys. German Rubtsov’s a guy that you watch him in certain drills, defensively. Our coaches, they like a lot of things he can bring. Maybe won’t watch first glance, but he’s always above the puck. He’s always responsible. He’s always in position. A lot of those things young players have to learn, he does well. He missed most of last year. Whether that’s the right thing to do, that will be our job to evaluate training camp to see where he’s at. If he needs more time, great. If he’s ready to go, great. That’s up to them. Their play will dictate that.



What is about O’Brien’s game that you like, about his attitude here at this camp?



One thing he is, is a lot of energy. He’s always been a competitor. Second, he likes to play with pace. A lot of things for him that he needs to work on is strength related. He’s not the biggest body. Stepping from high school into the college level, it’s a challenge. It’s not easy. It doesn’t matter how good you are. I think he learned that. It’s probably the first time in his career that he went through any adversity at any level. Obviously, he’s not happy. He battled through some injuries, but hopefully that’s behind him. He can put his best foot forward here. Now, whenever he ends up this year whether it’s back in junior or at Boston University, he’s a lot more confident, stronger and ready to go.



What about his skill set?



He’s got quick hands. He can really shoot it. His skating is going to be real good. He’s quick, probably more than fast right now, but that’s strength-related. In order for him to play against bigger bodies in the NHL, he’s going to have to be quick. That’s going to be a work in progress.



You and Chuck didn’t draft these guys. Were there any guys here that you wanted to get in Minnesota, either Flyers grabbed them before you guys or they went higher than you thought?



There’re always guys like that, yeah. A kid like [Noah] Cates was right in our backyard. One thing in Minnesota when you are there, you hate when Minnesota players, especially the good ones, go ahead of you. He’s a kid that’s obviously smart. Physically, he was never a big kid. He’s a skinnier kid. He’s a smart player. Anyway, Nick Pryor did a good job. He was right near his house. [The Flyers] got him. He looks like a real good prospect for us.



The seventh-rounder, Bryce Brodzinski: How often did you guys watch him? Or how often did your scouting staff see him and see him as a potential prospect?



We’ve seen him for years. Obviously, living out there his brother’s been good, but he’s been a good high school player for years. He’s won Mr. Hockey out there. He stepped into the USHL at the end of the year and was almost a point a game, which says a lot. That’s a hard league to score in. Footspeed’ is going to have to improve, just watching him. But he’s well built. He’s got a really good shot and he knows how to score. He’s always scoring. Just that ability alone gives him a chance. He’s going to a good program [at University of Minnesota]. They’re excited to get him at the U there. For a seventh round, I think there’s upside there. Hopefully, he can work on his game and keep getting better.



You guys have quite a few camp invites here. Are any of them on the radar for a training camp/rookie camp invite?



Yeah. We’ve got to talk about the numbers here tonight. Rookie game versus the Islanders [before the start of full NHL camp], so we’ll have to look at numbers and what makes sense. All these kids have come in and worked hard. A couple of them are at different [development] stages with age and whatnot. I think, for sure, a few of them will be here at camp, if not all.





KJELL SAMUELSSON



What was your impression of the D that were drafted this year -- York, Attard and Millman?



All three of them made a very good impression. Obviously, York is a higher profile. He’s a first rounder. It’s in the middle of the summer. Even the four days we skated here, they did very wel,l all three of them. They can move, all three of them. Mobile defensemen, that’s today’s hockey.



Were there any guys compared to last year, came in a lot more physically developed?



Yeah. Bunnaman and Twarynski, they are one year of pro. They are a lot more physical fit and more physical maturity compared to the guys that were drafted. That’s the process. That’s the process we want them to go through.



What did you think of Rubtsov? Obviously with the injury he had, his camp really stood out.



Yeah, he looks good. He’s healthy. He’s just got to try to, with a little luck, stay healthy. He’s fit and he can play. He’s a good player.



Chuck Fletcher said this is the most talent he’s seen in a camp, period. Would you agree?



Yeah, probably. I haven’t really looked at it. You look back. I think we were pretty well off the last two or three years in talent. The depth of the camp right here right now is probably the deepest camp we’ve ever had.



What kind of impression did Will MacKinnon make? He was a camp invite. He scored a goal today.



The [scrimmage] itself is fun. I judge them more when they are in the groups we have them in and when we work on fundamentals. He’s good. I saw Will the first time when he was sixteen. He played in the Lillehammer in the Youth Olympics. He’s changed a lot since then. He’s mobile. Pretty stocky guy. Pretty developed physically. He did really well.



What do you think of Noah Cates' ceiling? Since you guys drafted him, he’s got a lot stronger.



We talk about him every day. We can’t stop bragging about him. He’s quietly gotten better and better every year. Everything we ask him to do, he’s doing it. Same thing in games. When he was in World Juniors, he came in maybe as a bottom half forward and maybe played first line center in the end. It seems like whatever they asked him to do, he did. He scored goals. He’s on the ice when you’re protecting leads. He’s killing penalties. He’s a very well-rounded hockey player.



Anybody surprise you in camp?



No. We’ve got a really good look on everybody. It’s not like ‘OOH! I never thought that of him.’ We get a lot of information before they come in, even the new guys coming in. Even the invites, we know what kind of player they are.



How close do you think Morgan Frost is to being able to make the NHL jump?



I don’t know. It’s a lot of factors in that. You should probably wait a little bit, a couple months to see how the free agency turns out. There’s a lot of factors coming into that.



How about the goalies in general? Not just today, but in camp.



If you look at the practices in the two first days, we weren’t even close to the goalies. I didn’t see them play. When we started practicing, I think all of them made a good impression. Felix, he was even over here playing with the Phantoms. He should basically stand out a little bit. The other three were very good, too. What we want to see is that they listen, they try everything, they get themselves out of their comfort zone and try things we want them to do. It’s like that with all the players. They all have flaws and all have lot of hard work ahead. None of them are a complete player. It’s a lot of time, a lot of sacrifices and lot of work to do.​