Today the Flyers shortened their preseason roster even more by cutting a total of 18 players. Thirteen of them are heading to the AHL to prepare for the Phantoms season, and five will head to their respective CHL teams.
Two of the biggest names from this group have to be Philippe Myers and German Rubtsov. It was not expected for either of them to make the opening day lineup, but we now know for sure that at least to start the season, we will not see the two in orange and black heading to the AHL and QMJHL respectively.
For Myers, while he wasn’t bad in his short stint this preseason, he did not get off to the greatest of starts and still showed some minor flaws in his own zone that would have played an impact in the decision to send him to the AHL. It also simply comes down to a numbers game, we’re going to be lucky if we see Travis Sanheim make the team and it would have been almost a miracle to see Myers squeak his way onto the opening day roster even with a good preseason. Now, he will get the opportunity to learn more and develop in the AHL, just as Sam Morin, and Robert Hagg have done the past few seasons.
As a sidenote, the Phantoms defense should be incredible to watch next year even with the loss of Hagg and Morin most likely. It will consist of Sanehim (assuming he doesn’t make the roster), Myers, fellow roster cut Mark Friedman, and AHL superstar T.J Brennan. Those three alone create excitement for Lehigh’s blue line.
As it was with Myers, Rubtsov faced the same numbers game dilemma. The depth at forward for the Flyers is so deep at this stage that it only made more sense to have him return to juniors, and play a full season for the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. According to eliteprospects.com, he 22 points in just 16 games for them last season, now let’s see what he can do in a full season at the still tender age of 19.
Some other notable cuts include our hopeful goalie of the future in Carter Hart. He will return to the Everett Silvertips of the WHL for his fourth full season there in hopes of his third straight WHL Top Goaltender award. Ivan Kosorenkov, brought in as an UDFA and after making a solid first impression, will head to the QMJHL to play with the Victoriaville Tigres.
For the full list of cuts, click here
