Defenseman Emil Andrae could grow into a bigger role for the Flyers

A little over a week ago Flyers coach Rick Tocchet began a pregame press conference by stressing that Emil Andrae did not get sent to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League because of his play.

At the time, the Flyers needed a center and had to recall Jacob Gaucher, and Andrae is one of the three players who is waiver exempt on the NHL roster. However, the Swedish defenseman was back in Philly soon after, recalled for a third time this season on Nov. 3 when Tyson Foerster went on injured reserve.

“I think I’ve been doing better and better every game here. . ... I think I’ve tried to start my game a little bit more simple, hard,” Andrae said. “There’s a new coaching staff, so you’ve got to build up your trust, and I’ve got to be more reliable and consistent. And I think I’ve done a good job so far.”

Across five games at the NHL level, Andrae doesn’t have a point but has four shots on goal and is averaging 12 minutes, 7 seconds of ice time. In the AHL, he had five assists in seven games.

Andrae has been playing on the third pairing with Noah Juulsen, and he gave a lot of credit to the veteran for often getting him the puck and for putting him in good situations with his defensive acumen.

Tocchet has liked Andrae’s game and understands that he is “chasing minutes” right now as assistant coach Todd Reirden, who is in charge of the defense, is heavily using the top four. Andrae played 13:10 Saturday in the Flyers’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators, but the bench boss acknowledges he’s someone who could be seeing more time on the ice.

» READ MORE: Flyers claw back to fall in overtime to Ottawa Senators, snap two-game winning streak

Tocchet wants his club to use the wheel breakout more. It involves a defenseman carrying the puck behind the net and passing it up to the wing as the center and the other winger curl to receive the pass or provide support.

“He is one guy who can do that,” Tocchet said of the puck-moving blueliner. “The only thing he’s got to be careful of, I told him, is he can skate himself into trouble. That’s one thing he’s got to understand, before the trouble comes, to make a play. But I haven’t really seen that in the last three or four games. I haven’t seen him get in trouble the last game a couple of times, but I think for the most part, he’s been pretty good.”

On Friday, Tocchet talked about how vocal and positive a goalie Dan Vladař is, comparing him to the goalie in the movie Slap Shot, Denis Lemieux.

“Vladdy, he’s a pretty positive guy and likes to encourage his teammates and be vocal,” said Sean Couturier, who has seen the movie and knew the goalie’s name without prompting. “So I guess I could see the resemblance between both of them.”

Vladař has not seen the movie, but several of his teammates have. Owen Tippet has seen it and said that the Czech netminder is “one of the more vocal goalies I think I’ve played with, just in terms of communication, both during the play and TV timeouts when he comes by the bench.”

His teammates like his positivity even if he’s chirping them on the ice.

“In the practices, he definitely likes to talk or chirp guys when he makes a save,” Couturier said. “Or when you score on him, he’s definitely telling you it’s a nice shot or whatever. He just finds a way to make it fun to go to work, and that’s a huge quality in him.”

Wing Carl Grundström made his Flyers debut on Saturday. The team acquired Grundström and defenseman Artem Guryev from the San Jose Sharks for Ryan Ellis’ contract and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick in early October.

“Really cool,” Grundström said of skating for the first time in front of the fans at Xfinity Mobile Arena. “Always love playing there, and it’s a good atmosphere and passionate fans, so it’s a lot of fun.”

The Swede skated 10:17 and had one missed shot, threw two hits, and blocked one shot. He said his debut “was all right” and felt it took him some time to get going but “got better and better.” He played primarily on a line with Travis Konecny and Noah Cates.

Grundström has 293 NHL games and 76 points (43 goals, 33 assists) under his belt, including 56 games with the Sharks last season. Skating with Lehigh Valley this season, the 27-year-old forward had three goals (two on the power play) and six points in 11 games.

Defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Cam York and forward Christian Dvorak did not participate in practice Sunday. According to Tocchet, York and Dvorak had maintenance days, with York “playing a lot of minutes, a little banged up, and Dvo the same thing.” Tocchet said that Drysdale has been dealing with ”a little bit of a bug."