Prior to Wednesday’s preseason game in Allentown, general manager Ron Hextall suggested the team would continue its next wave of cuts on Thursday – a scheduled full day off for the players.
Hextall didn’t disappoint, cutting the roster from 49 down to 39 players in one fell swoop. Were there any surprising cuts among the group?
First, let’s look at the list:
Forwards: Nicholas Aube-Kubel, Radel Fazleev, Tyrell Goulbourne, Corban Knight, Danick Martel, Mark Zengerle
Defensemen: Robert Hagg, Reece Willcox
Goalies: Alex Lyon, Anthony Stolarz
Well, the initial look goes right to the guys who remain: Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Sam Morin, and, yes, Philippe Myers.
The first two players aren’t surprising, they could very well be on the opening night roster. Morin has had a nice camp to date and has played well in his exhibition games. Sanheim, too, has been really good so far.
Myers is the biggest head-turner this camp. He’s gone from a camp invite a year ago to earning minutes through his eye-popping play. He’s survived another wave of cuts, and while he’s destined to be returned to juniors for another season, the organization is rewarding Myers for his commitment by keeping him around.
The goalies being let go aren’t big surprises, either, as Michael Neuvirth looks to return on Saturday. He and Steve Mason will go back and forth the rest of the way.
The 10 players will be at the start of Phantoms training camp on Friday.
This is the Flyers third separate group of cuts. The first one came on Tuesday when Connor Bunnaman (OHL), Samuel Dove-McFalls (QMJHL), Carter Hart (WHL), Pascal Laberge (QMJHL), Anthony Salinitri (OHL) and Carsen Twarynski (WHL) were returned to their junior teams. Along with that batch, the Flyers released Garret McFadden (OHL) and Brennan Menell (WHL) from their amateur try-outs.
On Wednesday, the Flyers assigned seven guys to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms: Mark Dekanich, Chris McCarthy, Maxim Lamarche, Martin Ouellette, Jesper Pettersson, Steve Swavely and Kevin Sundher.
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