Samuel Morin finally will make season debut as Flyers try to avoid playoff elimination

At last, Samuel Morin, the Flyers’ 6-foot-7, 227-pound defenseman, will make his season debut Wednesday night against visiting Toronto.

Morin said that, because of a grueling rehab from knee surgery, he was more excited for Wednesday’s game than when he made his NHL debut in New Jersey on April 4, 2017.

“I think it’s bigger,” he said after Wednesday’s morning skate in Voorhees. “It’s kind of weird, right? My first NHL game, there was a lot of hype. ... My last year was pretty hard, mentally. I made the club at beginning of the year and then get sent down after a really good camp.”

After being sent to the Phantoms at the start of last season, he played in just 15 AHL games because of a core-muscle injury. He then tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the playoffs.

“It was just a tough year, and it translated into this year because of my knee,” Morin said of the long rehab from ACL surgery.

“It’s been a long road back for him, and it’s great he’s able to get in — and all the hard work he’s put into it and to be able to get rewarded and play some games this year,” interim coach Scott Gordon said, adding it would “ease the burden” for Morin in the summer and help him get ready for training camp in September.

The Flyers will play a Toronto team that is second in the NHL, averaging 3.57 goals per game.

Gordon will dress seven defensemen and ease Morin into the action.

“I’m just going to play my game and have fun,” Morin said. “I can’t try to do too much; it’s been almost two years since I played [regularly]."

Morin, 23, the Flyers’ first-round draft pick in 2013 (11th overall), did play two games with the Phantoms on a rehab stint this season. But after the stint ended, he has been with the Flyers and has been a healthy scratch. They could not send him back to Lehigh Valley because he would have been claimed off waivers.

“My road to recovery is pretty weird,” he said. “There’s going to be a story to tell later — just don’t give up, right?”

Morin is looking forward to facing the Leafs.

“I just need to play simple. In practice, I was going really hard against some good players like 'G' [Claude Giroux] and Jake [Voracek] and all those guys," he said. "I think I’m ready.

“Obviously, I know it’s not going to be easy. I’ll try my best and, for sure, have fun.”

Morin is hopeful the knee shows it is sound in the remaining games of the Flyers’ season.

“If I can feel good after that and have a good summer of training, [I’ll] be ready for next year — that’s for sure,” he said.

The Flyers will be eliminated from the playoff race if they lose in regulation ... Over the first 22 games, the Flyers’ penalty kill was 30th in the 31-team NHL, clicking at just 69.7 percent. Since then, the PK is fourth (84.9 percent) in the last 54 games. ... In his NHL debut two years ago, Morin was paired with Shayne Gostisbehere, who finished with eight shots on goal. Morin played two games with the Flyers last season. ... Gostisbehere, who underwent knee surgery early in his career, on Morin’s comeback: “It’s awesome. I’ve been there before. He’s been battling, and he probably had one of the toughest jobs of all of us: working alone [during his rehab] and working his butt off to get back. ... We’re going to do everything we can to make him feel comfortable out there.”