Flyers recall defenseman Emil Andrae from the Phantoms ahead of home opener
Andrae was cut from training camp on Sept. 30, several days before the Flyers had to submit their final 23-man roster.
He’s back.
The Flyers returned from a two-game road trip south to start the season, and have recalled defenseman Emil Andrae from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League ahead of the season opener. Dennis Gilbert, who cleared waivers on Oct. 5, has been sent to the Phantoms in a corresponding move.
Andrae was shockingly cut from training camp on Sept. 30, several days before the Flyers had to submit their final 23-man roster. A puck-moving defenseman, the Swede had a good camp but didn’t pop enough, and in two preseason games, he had one shot on goal and was minus-4.
“Emil is still young. Emil had some struggles in camp, but we still believe in him. He’s still a very good prospect for us,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said Oct. 6.
“I think the best thing for him is to play a lot of heavy minutes rather than sit on the sideline and watch at the moment. At his age, it’s better for him to go down and play hopefully 22, 24 minutes a night. Find his game again and build off of that, get the confidence to make plays, carry the puck, and become an everyday serviceable defenseman.”
Although he may have had “his struggles,” Andrae clearly appeared to outplay the other defensemen vying for a roster spot.
But the issue appears to be focused on the fact that he is 5-foot-9, 189 pounds. The Flyers already have two smaller puck-moving blueliners in Jamie Drysdale and Cam York, the latter of whom started the season on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. On Oct. 6, Brière said of York that it was, “at the moment it’s a day-to-day thing” and was waiting to hear more.
On the same day Andrae was cut at the end of September, coach Rick Tocchet said that Egor Zamula would likely be the fifth defenseman and that the sixth blueliner needed to be a penalty killer.
“If Zamula is the fifth — we don’t know quite yet — but Z holds the fifth, [usually] that sixth spot, it has to be a penalty killer,“ Tocchet said. ”It’s got to be a guy that can defend, and if he’s big, yeah, that’s even better. But saying that, it doesn’t mean that a smaller guy couldn’t go in. It’s just that you’ve got to be really good at something in those situations. But a PK guy is something that should dictate the sixth spot.”
But it was clear that Zamula needed to play better, according to Tocchet, Brière, and the eye test.
“He’s got to step up his game,” the GM said on Oct. 6. “He’s going to be in a battle to stay in the lineup, probably for most of the year unless he steps up his game and plays the way he’s capable of.”
In all likelihood, Zamula would be the odd man out if Andrae is slotted in for the home opener on Monday against the Florida Panthers (7 p.m., NBCSP). The Flyers lost 2-1 to the Panthers to open the season.
Whether Andrae would have been the sixth defenseman is up for argument — he probably should be at least top five with his talent. In the Phantoms’ season opener, the 23-year-old had two assists and made an impressive defensive play on a two-on-one that led to Karsen Dorwart’s goal the other way.