VOORHEES, NJ – Brent Flahr would agree with Ian Laperriere, that some of the Flyers’ best prospects could be better than they showed in a pair of rookie games against the Rangers over the weekend.
“I think there’s another level,” said the assistant general manager of the Flyers last Monday at the rookie training camp.
But Flahr and the Flyers won’t lose sight of the big picture. The main camp starts this week. That’s where jobs are won and lost. That’s where the real evaluation comes in.
Patrick Sharp, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and now special advisor to the Flyers’ hockey ops, helped provide some of that perspective from his own personal experience in the games of rookie.
“He said the first one he played he was excited and the second and third were really hard to play because your focus is more on the main camp,” Flahr said. “I think there’s a little bit of it.”
The Flyers were swept by the Rangers in two rookie games at the PPL Center. Last September, the Flyers took two games from New York and Noah Cates jump-started his push for the club’s big roster by clearly separating himself from the rest. Tyson Foerster also stood out, scoring an overtime winner in the first game.
But this year, Foerster, competing for the Flyers’ roster, is scoreless against Rangers prospects. After winning a few games with the Flyers last season with Foerster, Elliot Desnoyers also went scoreless. Bobby Brink, one of the camp’s rookie headliners, also finished with a power play assist in both games.
“I thought Tyson was disappointed. He worked, he competed,” said Flahr. “Brinker, the same, I think his execution is gone. Desy looks at me a little but I know he’s in good shape, he’s been here a lot this summer and worked hard. I’m sure that he ‘ I’ll think about it. I’m not worried about any of them.”
Laperriere coached all three players with AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.
“Hopefully this is a wake-up call for some of them,” he said Saturday. “At the end of the day, they want to make a great team, but they need to do a little more.
Flahr said the Flyers’ evaluation of prospects began when head coach John Tortorella’s camp began and exhibition games began.
“It’s all a big camp, to be honest with you, for guys who are on the edge,” he said.
Foerster may be the best prospect in training camp. He opened Tortorella’s eyes during his eight-game audition last season and is now aiming for a full-time job with the Flyers.
“I think that’s the goal of everybody here, is to make the Flyers,” the 21-year-old winger said Thursday. “That’s definitely my goal and, yes, I think I’m ready.”
If Foerster needed an extra mark of enthusiasm, he probably had it.
“Tyson, I think he’s worked really hard on his skating for one, but I think it’s natural that you think everything just happens out there and I think it’s a little bit of a wake-up call,” Flahr said. . “I think his skating has really improved but the pace when you get up with the big guys, especially when you get to game time, the pace of the games is a lot faster and he can adjust, he’s a smart player.”
