With the season right around the corner the Flyers rookies are set to take the ice September 6th as a part of there annual Rookie camp. The Flyers prospects will practice Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees before heading down to play the Washington Capitals prospects Monday at 3:00 PM. The game will be played at the Capitals practice facility and will be streamed live on the Flyers website.
Players taking part in Rookie camp:
Forwards: Brandon Alderson, Tyler Brown, Nick Cousins, Kyle Flanagan, Tyrell Goulbourne, Stephen Harper, Tyler Johnston, Scott Laughton, Taylor Leier, Matt Mangene, Derek Mathers, Marcel Noebels, Andrew Ryan, Petr Straka.
Defensemen: Mark Alt, Jared Hauf, Tyler Hostetter, Matt Konan, Maxim Lamarche, Colin MacDonald, Samuel Morin, Mark Nemec.
Goalies: Carsen Chubak, Cal Heeter, Anthony Stolarz.
I assume there is a rule that prevents college and college bound players from attending this preseason camp. Hence why drafted players like Shayne Gostisbehere, Reece Willcox, Nick Luukko and college bound draft picks Merrick Madsen, Terrance Amorosa, and David Drake aren't attending.
Additionally most European teams have already begun pre-season play so Euro players like Robert Hagg and Valeri Vasiliev couldn't attend camp either.
A couple things too look out for at camp are the development of guys like Laughton, Morin, Cousins, and Mark Alt who all stayed and trained in the area over the summer. That included taking the ice with current Flyers in informal practices run by Claude Giroux. Training with the Flyers staff and working with the Flyers regulars might have done a lot for their game and I'm excited to see how they improved.
The Flyers actually brought in more camp invitees to there preseason camp than they're summer camp (usually it's the other way around). The most interesting name is again Stephen Harper. Harper was ranked the 30th best prospect in the 2013 Draft, but over the course of the season he slipped down the board and eventually out of the draft completely following a disappointing season with the Erie Otters in the OHL. Still, I think Harper performed very well at Flyers camp over the summer and I think he could earn himself a contract if he plays well this time around. Last year a lot of people thought camp invitee Chris Clapperton could have been offered a contract after the pre-season rookie camp if that camp wasn't canceled because of the lockout. Harper could be a great steal if he turns into the player that everyone thought he could be at the start of the season.
Other Flyers Notes
I mentioned earlier that the pre-season is already under way in Europe. Flyers prospect Robert Hagg is off to a great start, scoring 2 goals in his first 3 pre-season games. Check out Bill Meltzer's article from today where he talks about Hagg. Valeri Vasiliev has been taking a regular shift in the pre-season with Spartak Moscow and even scored a short handed goal in a game against Dinamo Minsk. He is skating solid minutes and playing in important situations. He also played with team Russia at the U20 4-Nations tournament and is currently playing for the Moscow Mayor's Cup with Spartak.
2012 4th round draft pick Fredric Larsson will be playing with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL next season.
Finally, something interesting that may be brewing. This isn't even a rumor, just speculating on my part. You may remember Tomas Hyka who played with Flyers during the pre-season in 2011-12. The Flyers were reportedly very interested in signing him but were prevented from doing so because of a rule that requires a European player under the age of 20 to enter the league through the draft. The Flyers weren't allowed to sign him and he went on to play in the QMJHL with Gatineau and was drafted by the Kings in 2012. He played great in Juniors and starred on the Czech world junior team with top prospects like Tomas Hertl, Radek Faksa, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Martin Frk.
After leaving the Q after the 12-13 season Hyka opted to sign a Try Out contract and go play with Farjestad in the Swedish Hockey League. That is where things get interesting. Why would Hyka not go to the Kings minor league team. Their team, the Manchester Monarchs, aren't flooded with new prospects, Hyka would have gotten the same or better opportunities, playing time wise, with Manchester as he would with Farjestad. The Kings also have recently had a great run of graduating players from the AHL to the NHL. So why would he go to Europe? It wasn't for money. If he wanted money he definitely wouldn't have gone to Sweden which has a massive tax on income. If he were to sign a $100,000 contract (which he probably wouldn't, the average salary in the SHL is around $250,000 he probably wouldn't get anywhere near that considering he's on a try out contract) he would still make less than money than he would make in the AHL rookie max salary is $70,000 but he would be able to keep it all because New Hampshire (where Manchester is) has no income tax. Also, if he really wanted money he could probably find a job in the KHL. The league expanded by 2 teams this season which would open up a bunch of spots in a higher paying, lesser taxed league. The only reason that I can think of is that he doesn't want to play for the LA Kings.
Come July 1st 2014 the Kings' rights to Hyka will run out and he will again be a UFA free to sign with anybody he chooses. I think the Flyers could go after him. The Flyers like him and the Flyers new Assistant GM and Director of Hockey Ops Ron Hextall was part of the team that drafted him in LA. Hyka has been playing well in the European tournament, right now he has 3 points in 4 games with Farjestad (the only 4-0 team so far in the tournament). His try out contract expires on September 30th and I expect him to play the full season with Farjestad. There is a chance that he lets his contract expires than re-signs with LA before the start of the AHL season but I don't think that's likely. If he becomes a UFA after the season I expect the Flyers to make a play for him.
