Minutes after the Flyers' loss to the Bruins Monday, the remaining rookies had their equipment packed up and carried out of the Wells Fargo Center dressing room as if they had played their final game.
For Philippe Myers and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, it was an omen.
The Flyers announced Tuesday afternoon that both guys would return to the Phantoms, who began training camp in Allentown, Pennsylvania, two days ago.
Myers started off with a strong camp, displaying the agility and physical presence working against Claude Giroux and other skilled forwards in 1-on-1 drills (see story). Myers looked fresh, battle-tested and ready to handle whatever the Flyers could throw his way.
Still, Dave Hakstol wanted to test the 21-year-old defenseman’s mental and physical fortitude. Myers dressed in five of the six preseason games while playing some solid minutes on the penalty kill and the power play. While he looked at times as if he belonged, Myers' play also didn’t jump off the page like we saw out of Travis Sanheim a year ago.
The right-handed defenseman’s most glaring mistake of the preseason came Monday night when he blindly threw a backhanded pass into the middle of the ice, teeing up Lee Stempniak for a one-time goal and a 4-0 Boston lead.
“I thought I heard somebody call for it," Myers said. "It was a bad read by me. I've got to learn from that and turn the page."
NHL
It wasn’t necessarily the nail in Myers' coffin to make the opening night roster, but perhaps the return of Andrew MacDonald was. MacDonald’s original prognosis from a lower-body injury put him out for the first six to eight games of the season, but his impressive recovery coupled with Sanheim’s return to practice meant only that Myers would be an extra defenseman relegated as a healthy scratch to start the season.
The Flyers may have expected a little bit more out of Aube-Kubel entering his third year of professional hockey.
Equipped with an impressive blend of speed, a hard, quick shot and a strong, physical forecheck, Aube-Kubel couldn’t bring all of those elements together consistently. There were flashes of high energy and a blue-collar work ethic when Aube-Kubel was paired with Giroux and Jordan Weal on the top line, but that excitement appeared to be lacking against the Bruins playing together with Jori Lehtera and Dale Weise.
According to general manager Ron Hextall, Aube-Kubel had been experiencing soreness, which may have contributed to his lackluster effort Monday, but there was room for him only as a fourth-line right winger. Since he wasn’t part of the PK rotation, which has become a vital role for any fourth-line player (see story), Aube-Kubel’s contributions to the Flyers would have been very limited.
Now Myers and Aube-Kubel will start the season with the Phantoms, where they’ll both be counted on to play some big minutes, and if they continue their AHL progression, there's a very good possibility we will see both guys with the Flyers at some point this season.
The Flyers' roster is now down to 33 players:
Forwards (19)
Travis Konecny, RW, No. 11
Michael Raffl, RW, No. 12
Sean Couturier, C, No. 14
Jori Lehtera, C, No. 15
Wayne Simmonds, RW, No. 17
Nolan Patrick, C, No. 19
Taylor Leier, LW, No. 20
Scott Laughton, C, No. 21
Dale Weise, RW, No. 22
James van Riemsdyk, LW, No. 25
Claude Giroux, RW, No. 28
Corban Knight, C, No. 38
Tyrell Goulbourne, LW, No. 39
Jordan Weal, C, No. 40
Mikhail Vorobyev, C, No. 46
Oskar Lindblom, LW, No. 54
Pascal Laberge, C, No. 75
Carsen Twarynski, LW, No. 81
Jakub Voracek, RW, No. 93
Defensemen (9)
Radko Gudas, No. 3
Samuel Morin, No. 5
Travis Sanheim, No. 6
Robert Hagg, No. 8
Ivan Provorov, No. 9
Christian Folin, No. 26
Andrew MacDonald, No. 47
Shayne Gostisbehere, No. 53
Mark Friedman, No. 59
Goaltenders (5)
Michal Neuvirth, No. 30
Alex Lyon, No. 34
Brian Elliott, No. 37
Anthony Stolarz, No. 41
Carter Hart, No. 79