The Philadelphia Flyers have not made any formal announcements on how they are planning to cope with the losses of both Scott Hartnell and Vinny Lecavalier, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t made plans yet.
Diane C. Nearhos of the Post Star reported this morning that Adirondack Phantoms forwards Tye McGinn and Michael Raffl have left Glens Falls and are headed to Detroit for tonight’s game against the Red Wings.
McGinn and Raffl have each been playing on the top two forward lines for the first three Phantoms games of the AHL season. Kris Newbury had been playing on the top line with McGinn during the preseason, but was recalled by the Flyers before the AHL season began.
The Phantoms have gotten off to a 1-1 start, scoring eight goals and allowing eight goals. The offense has been much more visible and is spread among several lines, but the defense still needs improvement. Oliver Lauridsen was ejected from last night’s game between the Phantoms and the Hartford Wolfpack (formally the Connecticut Whale, who were formally the Hartford Wolfpack) after a dangerous hit against Wolfpack goon Michael Haley.
Raffl has one goal and three points in two games played and was an early favorite to make the Flyers’ line-up out of camp. Originally slotted for the third line left winger position, it’s anyone’s guess where head coach Craig Berube will insert the young Austrian with so much roster upheaval.
McGinn’s competition for the recall was forward Petr Straka. Both players have the “power forward” playing style that would be ideal to best fit Hartnell’s role, but McGinn has two years of professional experience (including 18 NHL games last season) under his belt while Straka is just beginning his pro career.
This promotion is ultimately McGinn’s to lose, though. Straka has three points in two games so far and is a +3, while McGinn has just one goal and is a -3. It’s an incredibly small sample to be reading from, but if Hartnell misses a substantial length of time and Straka excels in the AHL in the meantime, the organization could easily make a switch.
Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.
everyone is on the trading block right now. McGinn, Raffl, Straka, Lauridsen, are not only on injury tryout but perspective throw in trading chips. Holmgren, Hextall and Snider are going to have to do something to shake this roster up.
No much Trade Value along this Flyer Roster
Half their Rostet is Minor Leauge level Players..
Flyers lose 5-2 to Detroit Red Wings
This is going to be a long Winter Season for the Fans
At least they scored 2 Goals tonight..
here is the main problem for the Flyers…. Claude Giroux is NOT a franchise player… he is the perfect compliment to a franchise player…. once they named him captain and put him the the spotlight, they choked! They keep adding a “#2” to him …a la Vincent L… “…. .they need a franchise player to pair with Claude if they are ever going to complete for a cup….however, with Paul “Braindead” Holmgren using up all the cap money on 36yr old players, they will never afford it.
Flyers were always a better Team without having any Superstars Players,
but instead, having a strong nucleus of 10-12 Players who were solid 2-way Players and good Defensemen (which they haven’t had in a while)
I see about 4-5 Solid 2 Way NHL Players on this Roster and that’s about it and not enough to compete with the top half Teams of the NHL
How did McGinn not make the roster out of training camp? he goes from AHL to 1st line and is succeeding? Same thing with Scott Laughton, he doesn’t deserve to be in juniors. Paper pushers are suppressing better talent for God knows what reason. Winning should be the reason for everything.
Coburn strikes again! 2 goals 2 wins. The key to victory,
maybe they should just put him on the power play, LOL.
***Flyers GM Holmgrem announces a New Contract for Coburn to lock him up for the remaining of his Career 6 Years total of $72 MIllion ….