Gostisbehere injury leaves roster full of rookies
PHILADELPHIA » As the No. 2 overall pick in the last draft, Nolan Patrick had an idea that someday he would make an NHL roster. That day was Sunday, when Ron Hextall assured the 19-year-old center that he would begin the season with the Flyers.
“Obviously, it’s very exciting,” Patrick said after a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders in the Flyers’ final exhibition game. “Growing up, my goal was to play in the NHL. So to hear that news was pretty exciting. I know my family is pretty excited for me.”
In part because Shayne Gostisbehere left the game with about seven minutes to play with what Hextall called an upper-body injury, Patrick will have plenty of rookie company when the Flyers next surface Wednesday night in San Jose for the regular-season opener.
Hextall said it would require a “day or two” to make a full determination on Gostisbehere’s situation. His defense thus temporarily scuttled, the general manager said that rookie defensemen Robert Hagg, Samuel Morin and Travis Sanheim all will make the trip to the West Coast. Also, left wing Taylor Leier made the team, giving the Flyers five rookies on their Opening Day roster for the first time since 1992. That year, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, they began the season with rookies Eric Lindros, Viacheslav Butsayev, Jason Bowen, Tommy Soderstrom and Dmitry Yuskevich.
The Flyers could have made it six, but rookie left wing Oskar Lindblom was a cut-down victim.
“When you are the last player sent down, that should tell you something right there,” Hextall said. “So now, keep that standing. Go up there (to Lehigh Valley and the AHL Phantoms) and play well. Callups are always a fit. But if the fit is you, make sure it’s you that we are looking at. And I’m sure Oskar will do that.”
Lindblom, 21, of Sweden, signed a three-year, entrylevel contract with the Flyers in May. He appeared in four preseason games, generating one goal and one assist. There was an expectation Sunday that Hextall would also ship a defenseman to Allentown. But the Gostisbehere injury kept that suspense going, at least for a while. Given Hextall’s one-to-two-day timetable, speculation raged that the Flyers may be checking Gostisbehere for symptoms of a concussion.
“I would say my best guess, right now,” Hextall said, “is that they will all make the trip to California.”
With the Lindblom demotion, the Flyers’ roster was at 24. The roster limit of 23 must be reached by 5 p.m. Tuesday, with 20 permitted to dress for games. Though all three young defensemen remain involved, the Flyers would need to make one more decision. When Hextall hedged, the speculation was that he was uncertain that Gostisbehere would be healthy enough to begin the season.
“We’re going to keep you guessing,” Hextall said.
Sanheim, Morin and Lindblom were known to evacuate the Wells Fargo Center in the same car Sunday before Hextall shared what he could about his decisions. Hagg, though, was unable to mask his delight.
“I was pretty happy,” said Hagg, 22. “I was kind of nervous when I went in there, but after the meet- ing I was extremely happy to have made the team.”
Patrick was similarly relieved, though he had surfaced in the preseason as the center of the second line with Jordan Weal and Wayne Simmonds. His father and uncle both having had NHL careers, his excellence with the Brandon Wheat Kings and mostly his draft status suggested that the center from Winnipeg was destined for the NHL.
“It was pretty exciting,” said Patrick, who provided three assists and no goals in seven preseason games. “Now, I am looking forward to the first game.”
*** The Flyers finished the preseason at 3-2-3. They took a 1-0 lead Sunday when Scott Laughton fed Michael Raffl for a goal at 2:21 of the first. Leier added an assist.
Simmonds scored on a tip-in of a Gostisbehere shot for a power-play goal at 6:32 of the third.
“It would have been nice to have ended on a positive outcome tonight,” Dave Hakstol said. “But when you dig into this thing, there’s an awful lot of good play out of this game tonight. Now, it’s the real thing, though. Immediately, we have to flip the switch and go to the real thing.”
*** The Flyers will play in San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Nashville before playing their home opener Saturday, Oct. 14, against Washington.
“You can always get better and work on some stuff,” Claude Giroux said. “I think during camp, we touch on pretty much everything. We’re going to have to keep getting better as a team as the season going. To start the season, I think we are ready to go.”