At long last training camp has officially opened, and the long and arduous offseason that felt like an eternity, has come to an end with the regular season fast approaching for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Excitement for the new season ranges from fan to fan as the Flyers continue to push through their rebuild. Recent comments from Dan Hilferty and Keith Jones make it sound like we are in the stretch run, as the latter mentioned several times that the Flyers will be in the business of making additions over subtractions.
As for training camp, it has offered us a glimpse into the new coaching staff’s plans with line combinations looking a little different than what we saw last year, or what we were expecting to see heading into camp.
On Day 1, Group A featured newcomer Trevor Zegras down the middle with Travis Konecny and Alex Bump on his wings. Captain Sean Couturier was centering the next line alongside two budding Russians in Matvei Michkov and Nikita Grebenkin.
Recent first round selection Jack Nesbitt was with Lane Pederson and Garnet Hathaway, while Jacob Gaucher was with Rodrigo Abols and Devin Kaplan.
Defensively, the Flyers had Nick Seeler with Jamie Drysdale, Travis Sanheim with Spencer Gill, Ty Murchison with Luke Vlooswyk, and Dennis Gilbert with Austin Moline.
Group B featured Tyson Foerster and Denver Barkey on Christian Dvorak’s wings, Jett Luchanko centering Owen Tippett and Alexis Gendron, and Noah Cates and Bobby Brink with a rotating winger.
Defensively for Group B we saw Cam York with Helge Grans, Emil Andrae with Yegor Zamula, Noah Juulsen and Hunter McDonald, and Adam Ginning with Ethan Samson.
Fast forward to Day 2 and the lines remained relatively the same for both groups. The lone changes for Group A came on defense with Sanheim skating next to Gilbert and Moline switching with Gill.
Whereas Group B had a bit more fluidity with their forward lines as Nicolas Deslauriers saw time with Cates and Brink, and Anthony Richard, Matthew Gard, and Samu Tuomaala completed the forward lines.
Defenseman Oliver Bonk and forward Karsen Dorwart were missing in action due to injuries but neither seem too severe moving forward.
A key and immediate takeaway was seeing Grebenkin and Bump playing in prominent roles on the first 2 days. Their lines remained unchanged on Day 3, which goes without saying that a third consecutive day bodes well for their chances, at least heading into the pre-season slate.
The much maligned power play is going to be a key topic of conversation after the Flyers failed miserably under Rocky Thompson’s watch. After coming in dead last the previous 3 seasons, the Flyers improved to 3rd worst last year, all the while running the same schemes that became more and more predictable.
So far, Yogi Svejkovsky’s power play has Sean Couturier, Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, and Jamie Drysdale running the top unit with Bobby Brink, Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, and Travis Sanheim saddled on the second unit.
They did rotate Christian Dvorak and Cam York onto the second unit at the behest of Cates and Sanheim but the first unit remained untouched, which could give us a glimpse into what we should see throughout the pre-season.
Moving from the power play to the head coach, Tocchet’s main message early on in camp has been very different than what we saw with John Tortorella. He understands that he and his coaching staff don’t have a lot of time to get their concepts instilled before the games get going but he also knows that they’re professionals who are eager to learn.
“I expect them to work hard; I don’t have to get it out of them. I need to get these guys in concepts, what we want to do. We need to hold onto pucks, we don’t want to throw pucks away, we want to be a better possession team, so we’ve got to work on that stuff.”
What the Flyers have lacked over the years is puck possession, legitimate offensive zone pressure, and the ability to just enter the offensive zone with momentum, especially on their power play. His philosophy is holding onto pucks, making the right read, and then executing the right plays.
“Obviously they were a good team last year off the rush, but can we hold onto pucks down low and then there are some offensive concepts. You can’t throw the playbook at them right now, but there are certain things that you want to see, which you start to see.”
Under Tortorella, the Flyers dumped and chased quite a bit to generate their aggressive forecheck, which worked quite well in the early stages of the 2023-24 season. Their bread and butter became their rush attack, and to their credit they were one of the better teams at it, however they were pretty poor in every other facet of their offensive game.
Tocchet wants to change that by making sure they possess the puck for a longer amount of time and make the right reads in the offensive zone, rather than hoping for the odd rush here and there.
“I think there’s not a lot of time, so you want to make sure that the guys know their system opening night. It’s going to take some time, they’re going to have to get used to some of the stuff that we’re going to do. But they should be working hard; I shouldn’t have to demand it out of them. And if there are times when I have to, I will.”
And so far the players have been very receptive to his coaching techniques, including Couturier, who seems to be more than happy with the recent changes.
“Day 1, we’re actually getting into some systems and playing hockey, so it’s different than using a rope and skating laps, that’s for sure. Every coach has their way of building things. Tocc seems to want to get into systems right away, get going right away and not waste any time on that part. It’s fun to see and I thought the first day was good.”
Konecny is also appreciative to the openness of Tocchet’s coaching style and how he’s receptive to feedback from the players.
“If I make a play or see something a certain way, I might be able to explain it to him in a different way than other coaches, where he might be able to understand what I’m saying or he kind of sees it. Without even reacting, he kind of understands what’s going on or how my legs are feeling after a back-to-back. Whatever it may be, he has legitimately been there, so he knows exactly how we’re feeling.”
As for Michkov, Tocchet is extremely impressed with his young pupil and a bit blown away by his competitiveness, spirit, and feistiness.
“We did a 2-on-2 boxout drill and he’s trying to get to the net. I love that. And I was told that he loves to be around the net. It’s a tough drill, you’re boxing out and you’ve got to spin off, and he wasn’t shy about that.
“The kid loves to score goals. If you look at the great goal scorers in the league, they score around that net. I think he knows that because I saw that today.”
Michkov enjoyed a fantastic rookie season in which he scored 26 goals and 63 points and found himself atop of many statistical categories amongst his rookie peers. He’s expected to take an even bigger step in his sophomore season and just based on the first few days of camp, he looks to ready to make his impact as soon as possible.
Sunday marked the first of 7 preseason games that the Flyers will embark on before they set their sights on the season opener against the Florida Panthers on the 9th of October. Michkov scored both in regulation and the 11-round shootout to help the Flyers come away with the victory in their preseason opener against the New York Islanders.
There will be several key roster battles to keep an eye on as we get closer to the opening night roster deadline date, primarily with the three youngsters in Bump, Grebenkin, and Luchanko.
It seems likelier by the day that at least one of them will start the year with the Flyers but if they continue to impress, it will surely give the key decision makers a harder time in reassigning them back to the minors or juniors.
