VOORHEES — It could have been an awkward week and a half on the road for Robert Hagg. The rookie defenseman played in each contest and his roommate, Samuel Morin, sat all four games.

It’s not like Hagg couldn’t bring work home with him to the hotel. Morin was supportive even though he hadn’t gotten a shot. He’s still waiting for his after being sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday.

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“Of course I feel for him,” Hagg said. “We’ve been teammates for two years, know each other for at least four. Of course I’m feeling for him. There’s not much I can do. I’m just trying to play my game. I know he’s going to be up here somehow. Sooner or later he’ll be up here.”

Morin, at 6-foot-7, provides a size that no one on the Flyers’ roster currently has. Radko Gudas is a physical player, but Morin might be even better suited to clear the front of the goal crease. The issue for the Flyers is that none of their defensemen are that similar in their skill set so every decision has been a tough one.

Hagg isn’t huge like Morin or flashy like Shayne Gostisbehere or punishing like Gudas. He’s steady and does everything well without having one overwhelming strength to his game.

“Just a real sound player,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “I think he empowers his partner, in this case Ghost, to go out and do the things that he does well. I think the two of them competed hard. I thought defensively they had a little bit of chemistry, which is really important. I like the composure of Robert’s game.”

An extra bonus to having Hagg is that the Flyers can use him on the right side of the ice despite being a left-handed shot. The only righty on the Flyers’ defense is Gudas. Andrew MacDonald is the other defenseman playing his off-side.

Not everyone feels comfortable doing it, but Hagg and MacDonald seem to be fine with it.

“Whenever you’re a lefty on the right and you have the puck on your forehand it’s exposed to the middle,” MacDonald explained. “A backchecker or a forward on their side of the ice can easily expose it. When you have it on your backhand you can protect it better and give yourself an extra half second to make a play to get it out. It’s not the easiest at times, but you adjust to it and try to play to the strengths of it.”

While MacDonald started that process in his junior hockey days, Hagg started doing it on a regular basis last season. He started the season with Will O’Neill on the left, then was on a pair with Moorestown native T.J. Brennan.

Hagg doesn’t think it helped him make the team, but when Gostisbehere asked him if he’d play the right side he obliged.

The Flyers don’t expect to ask Morin to move to the right side just for the sake of making the roster. He’s NHL ready, but the depth the Flyers have pushes him to the minors.

For now.

“He’s got to do his part to show us that he’s the most ready to come in and help us when called upon,” Hakstol said. “When that is, I can’t answer that for you. Whether that’s sometime in the near future or a little more in the distant future down the road, but most likely it will be sometime this year.”

No challenge fallout

By Thursday everyone in the Flyers locker room was calm, a much different picture than after Tuesday’s loss in Nashville. The game came down to an offside challenge from Hakstol. Nashville scored the winning goal on the ensuing power play — to miss a challenge now results in a penalty.

“It was Game 4 of the season. There’s plenty of season ahead,” MacDonald said. “Looking forward to moving on.”

One of the factors to Hakstol making the challenge was interesting. Part of it came down to the pure numbers and probabilities of challenging the call on the ice. Last season, 39 of 117 coach’s challenges for offside in the NHL were overturned and deemed no goal.

“It has to weigh into your decision, especially in terms of the probabilities of the calls that are reversed in terms of the offside challenge,” Hakstol said. “That has to come into it. That’s something I’m very aware of coming into the season.”

Snider statue to be unveiled Oct. 19

On the 50th anniversary of their first home game, the Flyers will pay tribute to the man who founded the team.

A statue of Ed Snider will be unveiled at Wells Fargo Center near the Broad St. entrance at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 19. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Team president Paul Holmgren, Comcast Spectacor president Dave Scott and Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney are all scheduled to speak, as well as members of Snider’s family.

Snider’s lengthy battle with cancer ended April 11, 2016 and the team wore patches on their jersey in his honor last season. The nine-foot, 1,300-pound bronze statue outside the arena’s executive entrance will immortalize him forever.

Dave Isaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com

Up next: vs. Washington Capitals

When: 7 p.m., Saturday

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