Welcome to the dog days of summer.

Most of the scrap heap is gone in terms of the free agent market and the Flyers have already retained their own restricted free agents, signed a goalie and seemingly have a crop of players they are comfortable with going into training camp next month.

A peek inside the mailbag shows that a lot of questions still surround No. 2 overall pick Nolan Patrick and with good reason. He didn't skate in last month's development camp, still recovering from the hernia surgery he had before the draft. A boil on his face kept him from skating as much as he would have liked after the camp.

There's more in the mailbag, but we'll start with Patrick. As always, participate through Twitter using the #FlyersMailbag hashtag.

OK, let's do this in a timeline for Patrick, who hasn't had the smoothest summer after last season from hell where he only played in 33 games because of a misdiagnosed sports hernia.

June 7: Before the draft the Flyers brought Patrick in to evaluate his physical condition. Team director of medical services Jim McCrossin led the assessment and then went to the Naval Yard to see renowned sports hernia specialist Dr. William Meyers.

June 13: Patrick had surgery to repair the hernia injury that he played through in Philadelphia by Dr. Meyers.

June 23: Flyers selected Patrick No. 2 overall.

June 30: Flyers announced plans for their development camp and that Patrick wouldn't take part in on-ice activities.

July 17: Patrick skated on his own at the SkateZone in Voorhees.

July 22: Patrick joined Hockey Canada's summer showcase camp ahead of the World Junior Championships this winter, but again did not participate in on-ice activity.

Eventually, Patrick intends to go home to Winnipeg and work with his skills coach before training camp next month. He is expected to be a full participant at that time.

As for Giroux, not sure when he began training in his summer home in Ottawa.

Sure, there's a chance that Patrick returns to the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League to have a full season there before joining the NHL. Keep in mind, however, that he had 20 goals and 46 points in 33 games last season through excruciating pain while skating. That's not lost on GM Ron Hextall. Certainly a big part of his audition is preseason play this fall, but it sounds like the Flyers will give him every opportunity to make the team out of camp.

My prediction: he starts the season as the third line center and eventually swaps with Sean Couturier and takes the second-line role by the end of the season.

I'd say true. It better be true, anyway.

Last year he had 58 points and clearly was not himself. Looking back past last season he has been in a clear decline, especially at even strength this past season.

Going out on a limb the least, it's pretty clear after his rookie season that Provorov is going to be the keystone of the Flyers' defense corps for a long time. It took him 20 games to become the team's No. 1 defenseman.

In terms of Patrick and Hart, at the very least Patrick should be a very, very good No. 2 center. It's tough to predict much for either of those two because they haven't played one NHL game yet. Carter Hart has a lot to like and my personal belief is that he is the goalie of the future for the Flyers for his mental makeup just as much as his athleticism and physical ability. I think Patrick makes the squad this year and Hart makes it next year.

I'd like to think so, but realistically even if he blows the doors off in training camp I think he goes back to the WHL and the Everett Silvertips. This is the kind of scenario that NHL clubs don't really like the CHL agreement where players who are in the CHL at the time of the draft have to stay in that league until age 20 or go right to the AHL.

I agree that Hart doesn't have much more to prove at that level. He was the CHL goalie of the year two seasons ago and had even better numbers last season. They'd much prefer to see him with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms than play in front of an Everett team that struggles to score (eighth worst of 22 teams last season).

I don't believe they ever did on a serious level. It sounds like Brian Elliott was the guy they had their eye on and I think they were greatly disappointed in Michal Neuvirth's season last year. Among goalies who played at least 15 games in the NHL, Neuvirth's .891 save percentage was dead last.

Elliott had a down year last year as well with a .909 save percentage. It sounds like the biggest attraction the Flyers had with him is that he was willing to play in a platoon scenario (Steve Mason was decidedly not), can handle the NHL level and could be a veteran presence in the room.

I'll say this: Hextall loves Neuvirth. Clearly he has talent, maybe even top-10-in-the-league talent, but he can't stay healthy. That's why he wasn't comfortable with Anthony Stolarz being the backup in a league where he has only seven career games of experience. I think Neuvirth will get the first crack at being "the guy" next season, but both will get a fair share for sure and the Flyers have 15 back-to-back scenarios. If Neuvirth can bounce back I'd say he plays 45-50 games and Elliott gets the rest.

My guess would be Jake Voracek, but it's early.

I'd think the 2019-20 season isn't out of the question. In my mind the defense corps will have had time to grow and Carter Hart would be in his second season (and likely ready for a big workload).

Odds of that are very good. In Hextall's mind it's just covering his bases. Tryouts don't cost anything so he can bring in a veteran and not necessarily have to give him a. contract just to make sure the prospects who should be ready to take the next step don't fall on their faces.

Who would be available? I thought Brian Campbell might be an option, but he retired recently. If no one else picks up Cody Franson, he would make a lot of sense and it helps that he's a righty shot. But again, it's no risk on the team's part. A pro tryout does not mean the player is guaranteed to get a contract and the player knows that.

See, that's the other side of the coin. What if Robert Hagg, Sam Morin, Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers all look terrific? The Flyers will already likely have Patrick and Oskar Lindblom as rookies up front and they're penciling in two open slots on the back end. To have four instead of two makes them dangerously young.

If that scenario plays out, I think Myers goes to the AHL because he hasn't played at that level before and one other would stay behind also. My guess is they'll take one puck-mover (my early guess is Sanheim) and one two-way defender (Hagg or Morin), but camp will tell.

A couple names to watch up front are Corban Knight and Cole Bardreau. In the case of Bardreau, he would have had a real shot last season of making the roster in a fourth-line role, but an injury kept him from taking part in training camp at all. Knight has some experience in the NHL and played for Dave Hakstol at North Dakota. He also told Tony Androckitis of InsideAHLHockey.com that being on a two-way deal this season (he was on an AHL deal last season) and seeing the turnover on the roster has him eyeing opportunity.

OK, big finish. Here's my guess. Remember that things can change and with all the centers the Flyers have, Hextall would likely look to make a deal if another team falls upon poor injury news in September or early October.

Travis Konecny — Claude Giroux — Jake Voracek

Jordan Weal — Sean Couturier — Wayne Simmonds

Oskar Lindblom — Nolan Patrick — Dale Weise

Michael Raffl — Scott Laughton — Valtteri Filppula

Extras: Jori Lehtera, Matt Read

Ivan Provorov — Andrew MacDonald

Sam Morin — Shayne Gostisbehere

Travis Sanheim — Radko Gudas

Extra: Brandon Manning

Michal Neuvirth

Brian Elliott

Thanks for reading along and be sure to follow on Twitter and on Facebook for Flyers coverage all season long.

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479); disaac@gannettnj.com