Morin might soon get a forward shot
The Flyers’ big defenseman has joined their mellow taxi squad ahead of Saturday’s rematch with the Bruins at TD Garden in Boston.
Samuel Morin, the 6-foot-7 first piece of what turned out to be a long-term Flyers blue line rebuilding project when he was taken by them in the first round (No. 11 overall) in 2013, has only played 11 games between the AHL Phantoms and the Flyers over the past two seasons, due to repeated knee problems. The club was trying to convert him into a fourthline forward but a coronavirus camp that only yielded several precious official work days wasn’t enough time for him to pick up his new job well enough to make the big club.
Now on the taxi squad, he has a better chance of being inserted into the lineup, primarily because that’s what Flyers coach
Alain Vigneault wants.
“I believe with Sam, we’re going to stick with our initial program,” Vigneault said of the effort to convert Morin into a basketballsized forward. “We’re giving him an opportunity up front. He’s working extremely hard at improving, obviously, a new aspect of his game; spending a lot of time on the ice with the coaches. I believe sometime in the near future, he’ll get an opportunity to play.”
Vigneault said he didn’t know if that opportunity might come as soon as Saturday night’s game in Boston, but he didn’t discount the possibility.
“I’m not decided on tomorrow night, but he is an option,” Vigneault said. “He did take warmup yesterday. We need to see what the status of our (other) injuries are first. We’ve had some bumps and bruises, but probably not (enough) to keep people from playing.”
That said, the Flyers are without Phil Myers, who fractured a rib and is officially listed as “week to week,” while Shayne Gostisbehere will finally get back to practice Monday but it’s unknown how much his layoff of more than a week due to COVID-19 might have impacted his conditioning. Vigneault expects one of the “bumps and bruises” crowd, Mark Friedman, to be ready to go for that battered defense Saturday.
On Gostisbehere, Vigneault said: “He’s going to need a little bit of time here to get himself back in condition. He was basically at a standstill there for what I believe was close to seven days. Since Wednesday he’s been skating and working out. The reports that I’m getting is that he’s feeling all right.
“COVID hits individuals differently. Some don’t feel the effects, some have the effects and feel a little bit more tired. In Shayne’s case, I believe he was feeling much better and working out with more intensity day by day.”
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Vigneault said Carter Hart will be in net
Saturday . ... This has been the Flyers’ first road trip, which is a challenge for the players to find something to do in less than crowded hotel rooms when they’re not allowed to mix outside of their own group. That hasn’t been easy for some other teams, such as the Capitals and their currently quarantining four Russian players, including Alex Ovechkin: “I think a few guys brought their Xboxes on the road,” Joel Farabee said. “We have the lounge at the hotel where we can hang out pretty safely. So we’re staying busy, and it’s not too bad. We’re enjoying it and we’re just looking forward to playing hockey.”