Read all about it: veteran forward waived, headed for AHL
PHILADELPHIA » By NHL rule, the Flyers needed to reduce their roster to 23 names by 5 p.m. Tuesday. By Monday, the haze over that decision had cleared.
A day after being scratched from the final preseason game, seventhyear forward Matt Read was placed on waivers. With his production declining since his 22-goal peak in 2014, Read is expected to clear waivers and join the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
That Read was waived, and not one of the three still-surviving rookie defensemen, was an indication that the Flyers remain unsure of the status of Shayne Gostisbehere. He did not play in the final seven minutes of a 5-2 exhibition loss to the Islanders Sunday after being involved in an onice collision. General manager Ron Hextall reported Gostisbehere had an “upper body” injury, with speculation bubbling that it was a concussion.
Gostisbehere, however, was on an afternoon flight Monday to San Jose, where the Flyers will open the regular season Wednesday night at 10:30. Should Gostisbehere be cleared to play, there will be more available blue-line time for any combination of three rookie defensemen, Robert Hagg, Samuel Morin and Travis Sanheim.
As for Monday, when he was cornered by the Flyers at a team event, Morin was pleased to be on that flight.
“I am very excited,” he said. “I think I have a pretty good chance and I deserved it. And we’re going to see what happens and take it one day at a time and enjoy it. But I am really excited to be in the NHL.”
Morin, 22, was the 11th overall pick in the 2013 draft. He played one game with the Flyers last season. At 6-7, 224, he is expected to provide welcome bulk on the blue line. “At the end of the day, it is my defensive game that is going to bring me to the NHL,” he said. “And it is my physical and defensive game that is going to keep me in the NHL. So I am really excited.”
Read played in four preseason games but did not produce a point. He had 10 goals in 63 games last season. He was a candidate to join rookie Taylor Leier on a fourth line centered by Scott Laughton, but was beaten out by Michael Raffl, who scored a goal Sunday.
The Flyers did not practice Monday but plan a Tuesday workout in San Jose.
Even with their roster at 23, the Flyers will be allowed to dress only 20 for the games. Hextall will be careful not to diminish the value of his rookies in the nightly swirl of scratches.
“Well, you don’t want any young players not dressing on a regular basis, as we saw last year, with (Travis Konecny) and Ghost (Gostisbehere),” he said. “Young players can sit out from time to time and it can actually do them a world of good. I would say it should be a part of the process. But we aren’t going to keep a young player to sit on the bench the first 30 games.”
Paired with Gostisbehere Sunday, the right-handed Hagg appears to have nosed ahead of Morin and Sanheim. But as for Monday, Morin was just delighted to be heading west as one of eight defenseman with the team, not south in the plans.
“It has been a dream of mine to play in the NHL since I was 3 years old,” he said. “Now I realize that I am in it. I did realize that last year, in my first game. But starting the season with the team is a big deal. It makes me realize that I have achieved my dream. Now, I have to keep going.”