Flyers forward Brayden Schenn changing positions and lines -- again

After three straight games as the third-line center, Brayden Schenn is moving back to the top line and will play left wing Friday in Toronto.

Give Schenn credit. He keeps getting moved around in the lineup, but never complains.

"It doesn't change what I try to do on the ice," Schenn said after Thursday's practice in Voorhees. "It is what it is. They're looking for balance, looking for chemistry. I'm the guy that's kind of been tossed around a little bit all over the place so far, but it doesn't bother me."

He will be reunited with Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds.

"Hopefully we get 'er going early on and stay together for a period of time," Schenn said.

Thus far, Schenn has played left wing on the top line six times, left wing on the third line twice, and center on the third line three times.

Schenn, 25, has nine points in 11 games. He missed the first three games because of a suspension.

Moving forward, coach Dave Hakstol said he would like to keep Schenn in one spot.

"I really wanted to look at him up the middle," he said. "He was there for three games, and the first two games I thought he did a good job and our team played well."

Hakstol said the 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit on Tuesday was "a tough one to evaluate. It wasn't a great performance for him, but certainly it wasn't a great performance by our team in terms of our overall play and energy."

Hakstol said there were a "lot of positives" to having Schenn at center, but we need him up on the wing. He, along with G and Simmer, proved to be a very good line down the stretch last year. They have some pretty good chemistry, and, yeah, in a perfect world, I'd like to see that group stay together and rebuild the chemistry."

In Tuesday's loss, Matt Read played relatively well as the top-line left winger, but he will drop down to the fourth line Friday, alongside Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Roman Lyubimov, who returned to the Flyers Thursday. Lyubimov had a one-day demotion to the Phantoms, apparently for cap reasons.

Goalie Steve Mason will make his second straight start Friday and will face a Toronto team that is trying to rebound from Tuesday's 7-0 loss to Los Angeles.

Friday's matchup will feature six of the NHL's top rookies (see story), including Toronto forwards William Nylander,  Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.