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Flyers’ roster battles heat up after preseason game vs. Capitals
Sep 26, 2025
Ryan Gilbert and Jacob Russell are LIVE after the Philadelphia Flyers' preseason game against the Washington Capitals are Thursday, September 25. They discuss the roster battles at forward and defense, the goaltending situation, and more takeaways from the game and beyond!
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0:17
[Music] Ohoo.
0:26
Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. [Music]
0:41
[Music]
0:53
Hello and welcome to this Broad Street Hockey preseason postgame. I am your
0:59
host Ryan Gilbert. Joining me tonight after what was definitely 60 minutes of hockey action is Jacob Russell. How we
1:07
doing tonight, Russ? I've had more fun watching games in person uh 20 or less minutes from my
1:15
house than I did watching whatever that was. Yeah, that that was uh not good. I mean,
1:21
ultimately final scores don't really matter, but a 5-1 final there for could have been eight. Watched
1:28
much issue. There was one called back for high stick. There was one that they said hit the post but was definitely in the net
1:34
but it's a but it's an AHL arena so they couldn't they didn't have the camera angle I guess I don't know
1:40
and also we don't have we don't have time on ice for uh today's game or anything like that so we can't go into that but uh Jacob Gocha with the only
1:47
goal Rodrigo Ables another point an assist uh his his rebound set him up
1:52
there and you know we we we titled this Flyers roster battles heat up after
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preseason game versus Capitals but like And we expected something. I was like, "All right, let's either stream Friday,
2:03
maybe do a postgame, whatever." Like, "All right, let's do this." Lucenko's playing, Bump's playing, Rebankin's playing, got Barky, maybe he he'll do
2:09
something fun. Jet. Jet. Yeah. And, you know, Grinning. Let's see see what these guys got. And
2:16
it was also in in addition to having, you know, like those exciting forwards, there were a lot of defensemen who look
2:22
like they're going to be on the bubble. Um, you know, the Gilberts of the world, the jewel,
2:27
the jewel, the jewel, the crown jewel. uh himself uh was also on the ice tonight. Um none
2:34
of them look good. I'll be honest. I'll just go to the defense first. I'll go to the defense. Uh they were all bad. They
2:40
all didn't look good. Five of them looked like they weren't necessarily NHL hockey players.
2:46
Um yeah, the only regular NHLers that dressed were Cam York and Igor Zamula
2:51
playing on a pair. Zumula was on the second power play unit that gave up a pretty much a twoon0 rush that um one of
2:59
the Capitals scored on a short-handed goal and I believe it was uh Conor Mcichael.
3:04
I think it was Mcichel 24 had the shortand goal there. Yes, it was. He's a good player. He's a
3:10
good player for the Capitals. And you have to remember the Capitals are like a good organization too that their their
3:16
Hershey team where this game's great is always good. Their prospects are good. So like it's a preseason game. They didn't dress
3:22
Oie or Wilson or Carlson or anyone, but they had, you know, Leonard Stro both protoshapierre.
3:31
There's a bunch of Miro Nachenko. There's a bunch of roster players there. It's a lot sexier. Stevenson's like a was a pretty good AHR
3:38
goalie, I think, for the Bears last year. I was just thinking of Wayne Stevenson. I was thinking of Chandler Stevenson. I
3:43
was like, wait, they traded him. He doesn't didn't even play Wayne Stevenson played in like 1977. I
3:49
don't know why I was thinking of Wayne Stevenson, but um yeah, it was a mess out there. An
3:56
absolute mess. Yeah, in the thumbnail is uh Luchenko, Bump, and Gbankin, but I think we have
4:02
to talk about the defense first as you mentioned. But before that, we are presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. And uh
4:08
if you're a believer that Jet Link Jet Lujenko should make the NHL roster still like me and he could somehow work his
4:14
way up the lineup uh 300 to one to win the Card Trophy, Jet Luenko is on FanDuel. So you put down one dollar. If
4:20
he wins it, you win 300. Um so thanks to uh FanDuel and Believe for sponsoring us
4:26
there. But yeah, uh let's just get right into the the complete show that was
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the defense here. the the Gilbert Jolson pairing I think in particular we have to
4:38
start with because they are they're the bar they are the bar for the sixth seventh defenseman and they just look
4:46
they just look awful out there like Jules Jules Jules Jules is like
4:51
he's a joke he's a joke he's been a joke he's never been a very good hockey player um
4:57
his entire NHL career yeah he's like he's like an he's like an he's like a uh Victorian
5:04
I don't know if you noticed that. He's out there wearing 47 like Oh, no. Oh, wait. No. What is he
5:10
wearing? No, you didn't notice that. He He's wearing 47. Yeah, 47. Yeah, it was him. He's taking a neon knee penalty because
5:16
the guy that he is going up against looks like he's playing in a different He's playing in NHL 2. Jules's an NHL
5:24
one and whoever he nailed, I don't remember who it was. Neon knee. Yeah, he's in NHL too. He looks like he's in
5:31
in slow motion. Gilbert, very similar. Uh, Adam Guin, Jenning,
5:36
Jenning, Adam. Let's Let's focus on the two the two veterans first, then we can talk. Okay. Okay. Then we can talk about
5:42
Jinn Jinning and Grimes because he had the best night. That was horrible. They deserve plenty of hate, too, there.
5:48
But yeah, another neon knee hit for Jules. This time he takes a penalty. He's like a Victorian teenager when he
5:54
sees an exposed knee. He just goes crazy out there and goes goes right for it there. But he's he's Tockets. He's
6:00
Takets boy. He came over from Vancouver. I talked about it on the podcast with Italy and Joe. Like he has not played in
6:07
the AHL the past two seasons. He's making the NHL whether it's the or the seven. And hopefully it's the
6:14
seven. But I guess just because Tet likes him because Gilbert's been just as bad, but
6:21
I guess less bad because we've seen him less. I I think they're at this point. I'm
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just hoping that it's not both of them. If it's both of them, then there's no
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chance. You don't have a chance. Like, if you put them on the same pairing, it's a black hole. But it's almost worse
6:37
if you split them up because then you got two guys who are absolute anchors out there. It looks Noah Jules's never
6:43
been up to the pace. Dennis Gilbert maybe at one time he was he wasn't horrible in Buffalo if I remember
6:49
correctly, but like they they did like him there. He was healthy scratched a ton there. He was healthy scratched a ton in Ottawa.
6:54
Like there's there's something going on there. He's not a good hockey player. Like
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career average time on ice is is 12 minutes per game. Like he's hasn't been trusted anywhere. He played a careerhigh
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15 minutes. He's not playing for good. If I imagine if you're playing for good teams, if you get a guy who was scratched in Florida,
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you get a guy who was scratched in Tampa Bay. That makes sense. He's getting scratched for the Sabres and the Senators. like
7:19
Mhm. you know, I just I it it doesn't make much sense to me how you can view him as
7:25
an asset and you've got like you've copy and pasted him all over the damn
7:32
organization at this moment. Yeah. Dennis Gilbert 6'2, 216 pounds. um
7:38
how he is a left-hand shot and uh Jules is a right-hand shot which I think is a
7:44
big another big reason why he'll get cuz you're looking for they're looking for a right-hand shot. They got they got their
7:50
top four with York Sanheim Dale and Steeler. They're locked in and then Zamula Zamula is going to be the five or
7:56
six. He just is he's definitely staying on the roster. He's going to be playing but maybe he shifts to the right side
8:03
and they you know Andre could impress. We'll get to him after we discuss these four here. But like like Jules at
8:10
least last year played 16 minutes a night. His career average is 16 minutes. Uh you know 1450 for Vancouver the year
8:17
before. Like he's an NHL defenseman I guess in like the
8:23
lowest value of of the work of the term there. But I don't know if you can have
8:29
him with Zamula or with with any with anybody. But I don't know who else can be the six and seven. Well, th this is
8:36
the issue that I I'm seeing arise like as I keep watching these games and keep
8:41
watching who comes in. If you have Jules, if you have a rotation in the bottom pair, bottom three defenseman,
8:48
let's say like bottom half of the defense, that's like Gr Zamula, Jules,
8:54
Gilbert, Andre, um Hunter McDonald, maybe. Let's throw
9:01
him in there. it. He's looked better than these four. He he yeah at least he's bringing something right. these guys aren't bringing a
9:07
specific trait that is good like the positive play like uh you know back to
9:14
what I was saying like the positive play of those like that group of six guys like Emil Andre at least has some
9:19
offensive touch right he's got some skill Zamula has shown flashes Jules Gilbert
9:27
you know like these guys are just very very fringe NHLers and you're and you're shaping up to have about three of them
9:35
in the lineup at a time if there's injuries, right? Like if there is at least one injury, you're going to have a
9:40
few of them in there. I don't think there going to be three. I mean, you have if if there's one injury, yes, but are we counting as one injury
9:46
or we counting like is he just like whatever and then if it's one of your
9:52
dryer? Yeah. Yeah, he's four. And then you're going to have Zamula. Zamula is locked in on the third
9:59
pair. Yeah, I'm a bigger fan of Zamula than the other three that played tonight. I think
10:05
he has some heights at least, but yeah, at the same time, it's not
10:11
anything to write home about. And Zamula's fine. He's never someone that you look out there as like, "Oh, why why
10:16
is Amula doing that?" He's just like, "Okay." Well, not too much. Not too much. Not to the same extent as the other
10:22
guys, honestly. No. And it's only been, you know, a few games for for Drillson and Gilbert, but they they have had a ton of low lightss.
10:28
I don't know if there's any highlights, you know, besides the knee on knee hit in the first game that wasn't called on
10:34
uh on Jolson. I think the Flyers may have gotten a a power play out of there. But yeah, let's talk about the uh the
10:40
younger pairing there. That's, you know, the door was wide open. Jolston and Gilbert, you know, crashed into each
10:46
other, opened a huge lane for for Hug GRs and Adam Jenning to to go through. And, you know, Jenning had an assist uh
10:54
on the Flyers only goal. who's a plus one somehow in a 5-1 loss. Yeah,
10:59
but neither of them like I I want Grounds to make it. He's right-handed. He's 6'4. He He's, you know, has to be
11:07
better than Jules. But yeah, he just does not look ready for the NHL yet. Well, Helga Gr was in the Cal Peterson
11:13
trade and that probably tells you a lot of what you need to know about Helga Gr. Like the Kings were more than willing to
11:19
give him up. He just doesn't seem like he has much of a ceiling really, honestly, right? Like he could play, you
11:25
could put him in the lineup, sure, if you wanted to. I don't think it'd be that detrimental, but I I don't know
11:31
exactly what he brings. That's the thing. I don't think he's a shut down guy. I don't think he's offensive. I don't think he can move the puck that
11:36
well. So, what is he doing? It's just like, you know, it's the same it's the same sort of thing that we're running
11:42
into. And and and Jinning um yeah, plus one in a 5-1 game is impressive. He took
11:48
a really stupid penalty on Sunny Milano. just bow him down from behind where like Sunny Milano weighs less than me
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and you are Adam Jenning. Like you're going to blow him up if you hit him from behind, man. Like it's just how it is.
12:02
And it's it's just one of those things you look at and it's a microcosm of like his game in general. It's like this guy doesn't have
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the the sense the hockey sense to really play a meaningful meaningful role in the
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NHL and and like make sorts of decisions like that. You see that with a lot of guys. I don't even know who it was, but
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there's a play late in the game, which we'll get to the end of the game. I want to get to the end of the game um later
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on, but there's a play near the end of the game where one of the defenseman walks up, he's got all the time in the world, breaches his own zone, crosses
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the blue line, looks up, picks his head up, picks his pass, and it's just right on another capital stick like direct
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tape to tape. And it's like, what are you looking at? Where was that supposed to go? What was
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the good outcome for that? Did you Cuz you didn't fan on it. He It was a hard pass. It's just directly on the opposing
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team's tick. Yeah. Yeah. And like puck possession is a huge thing. Like you can dump and chase short, but like what? Why? Don't
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just give it to the opponent and because you don't know what to do. Like slow it down. They they just seem No, they seem
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overwhelmed. A lot of these guys I would describe like their play as overwhelmed. Like Jules
13:09
gr at times with the puck. Without the puck he is pretty solid relatively. But
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that's that's what I think it just they look like they're a little bit too too
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jumpy with the puck or jumpy in general. Yeah. For a lack of a better comparison for Flyers fans, Grans almost seems like
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a a right-handed Zamula. Like he's big but doesn't play big enough. No, he doesn't do anything too well. He's
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not horrible. Like you want him to use their his body more. He has a big frame and doesn't.
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And um Adam Jenning I did not realize was a second round pick. Did you remember this? The second round pick in
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2018. 38th uh 50th overall. But here's some here's some names taken after him. Um
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I don't want to hear this. In three and four picks later, you had Shawn Dery, Kaylin Addison, uh Kevin
13:56
Ball was five or six picks later there. Um Jack McBain down there in the third
14:01
round. And then after that, you know, you're getting your I thought it was going to be better than that. I'm not No, no. I mean,
14:07
missed out on Kevin Ball. No offense, Kevin. It's K Carell Marenko was taken one pick ahead of him which is you know
14:14
cool. Yeah. No like Sean Shawn Dery's a good defenseman. He's played Yeah. So
14:19
Shawn Dery you know Adam Jinn was not the pick. I'm not arguing about that. No but yeah there it's not like uh it's
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not like the 2017 draft but you look could have been worse. I was I was ready for it to be like
14:31
Yeah. No really bad. It was It wasn't that bad. But Jenning just looks like he has no NHL future. It looks like he's a guy
14:37
destined to, you know, bounce around a few teams, maybe go home to Sweden, play in the SHL. That's just moto written all
14:44
over him. He's got jer gardens all over him, man. There's there's nothing for him to do here. I don't know why,
14:51
especially when you get more and more young defenseman coming up through the NCAA as the Flyers are going to Bon's
14:56
going to come through as well this year even, right? And Adam, Adam Jenn, we've moved past need
15:02
for Adam this. Yeah, Adam Jenning. Yeah, he'll go back to the SHL, but and and Grimes like Gr's
15:08
left-handed, so Grimes is right-handed. He's 6'4, so teams will at least give him a chance.
15:13
I Yeah, I think Gr is he has a longer leash. I think he's decent enough to stick around. I um I don't know if it's at the
15:21
NHL level full-time, but I could see him doing something with the rest of his
15:27
career in in North America or in in the NHL. So, he's he's 23. He he's under contract for
15:34
one more year after this one. Like play another year with the Phantoms. If there's injuries and you got to call him
15:39
up, you do it. But um yeah, Jinning and Grimes don't look like they should make the team. Jules and Gilbert are the bar
15:47
and the bar is lowering with every bar's on the ground. The bar's rattling on. Yeah, the bar the bar. Yeah, completely.
15:52
And you mentioned him in passing there. Like he's been dayto-day with an injury.
15:58
Could he somehow work his way into the the third pair right side job?
16:04
Well, here's the thing. I don't want him to just come up to the NHL and play with Noah Jules. So,
16:10
well, he'd play with probably Zamula or maybe they do Zamula Dale and put him with Caler.
16:16
Not that that's a lot is better. Caler. No, Caler is more insulated if you put
16:22
him up there with with Caler. But that's more so the point of I was talking about is like I don't know if you have a guy to usher him in right now at this age
16:29
like maybe he needs an I would like to see him have an AHL seasoning like just not a season maybe
16:36
even it could be like 40 games if he was really good like I have no problem with that but I I think you need to to let him
16:43
marinate in the AHL a little bit more before you throw him into the fire because there you can blink and Bonk would be
16:50
the number three defenseman on the depth chart, you know, and I don't want him to be thrown into that uh immediately right
16:56
now, especially with what what the teams looked like uh right now. It doesn't look like they're going to be scoring much.
17:01
Yeah, get them down on the Phantoms. Phantoms are probably going to be a better team in their league than the Flyers are in their league. So, get them
17:08
down there. Pair them up with a Jenning or an Andre. Maybe not Andre, that's too offensive there. But like, yeah, there's
17:14
guys down there to pair them with. And does that mean Andre then could get the
17:19
have a third pair of Andre and Zabula and then have Dale and Caler as a second
17:25
pair? Well, for me, I think it's just like at this point from what you've seen from the other options, it's hard to not just
17:34
believe that Andre would be doing better than whatever, you know, Jules, Gilbert,
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uh, GRs bring, right? like he's going to at least try some stuff out there and
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the other guy's giving up chances anyways. So, from my standpoint, like
17:51
yeah, bring him up, give him a shot, see if he can be, you know, the PP2 quarterback or something of that nature,
17:58
right? That's it. His archetype is still necessary on the team. like you don't need to just stop getting offensive
18:03
defenseman uh just because you got two guys who can hypothetically score or or or put up
18:10
points. But um I don't know if it's going to happen for Andre. I don't know what it
18:15
is. I just I still don't feel it this year. Um, I I felt the same last year,
18:21
and it's nothing to do with his play, but it just doesn't seem like he's going to ever jump over that threshold where
18:29
he is he's not affected by those third pair bets that teams bring in like Jules
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or Gilbert to play the third pair. Um, especially on bad teams, right?
18:42
Yeah. I don't know if he'll be able to do it and I don't know if it's going to be this year again which would suck for him
18:47
because I don't know how many more chances he's going to get. Yeah. A few things there. Like first of all like Andre it's like it's like okay
18:54
he could definitely play on a third pair with the Flyers or most teams in the league but will he gain more playing top
19:01
pair of minutes with the Phantoms? And also like like you were saying there at the end, it just doesn't seem like Andre
19:07
is ever in the conversation. like he's never just mentioned off-handedly like by Briier or Keith Jones. He's never
19:14
like oh you know like when they mentioned mentioned him with the small guys while they didn't draft boo him or whatever but
19:19
they mentioned all these guys like in rookie camp and in in training camp and whatever and like there's just not a lot
19:24
of hype around him for whatever reason. I don't know if he disappointed a bit too much last year. Maybe he sked a bit
19:30
when he went to the like I I have no idea. I'm completely speculating here. like he he does seem like a guy that um
19:39
deserves a bigger chance. Could very well play play on the third pair. And you know what? It might just be that
19:44
he's 5'9. He's 5 foot n and like if you're not six foot, they don't care about you in today's NHL.
19:51
Yeah. I I I also wanted to talk about just like
19:58
in the third period and specifically, right? Because the entire game was pretty malaise. It was pretty boring.
20:03
Yeah, the like from the seven minute mark to zero zero's on the clock in the third
20:10
period, it was essentially a Capitals practice.
20:16
Like it was them for I I specifically I clocked from like probably 8 minutes
20:22
left in the game to about 4:30. There was no Flyers touching of the
20:28
puck. They would clear it out, get a change, and then the Capitals would come back into the zone again, and then just
20:34
they wouldn't even shoot because they're up 5-1. I don't even know if they were even like trying to score at that point
20:40
necessarily, but they're it's just these these guys just swinging it around back and forth behind the net and and cycling
20:47
and and creating zone time. And I'm just sitting there like, what are is anyone
20:53
trying to make the NHL? It it it doesn't look like it. Like not like I'm not worried about the veteran.
20:59
This player looked like Travis Kney. Travis Kaknney was out there drawing penalties. Like he he was he was great
21:05
out there. Like there was a point during the game I was like, "Oh, I poke Rebankin on the graphic. Is he playing
21:10
tonight?" Then I saw him a few times in the in the third period, but like he was with Luchenko and Tippet. Like that
21:16
should have been a huge opportunity for those two. I liked a lot out of Tippet. I like him on the PK. I like him on the
21:22
power play. I like him shooting more. I think he's going to have confidence under Rick Tocket, but like these guys
21:28
are going to soon find out just exactly how much of a player's coach Rick Tocket is a after these past few preseason
21:34
games. Yeah. No, I like it's it's one of those things you're you're watching them and it's just like
21:41
not even necessarily the guys who are the guys who are young young, right?
21:46
Like the guys who know they don't have a chance to make make the team. Why is
21:52
Rodrigo Ables like the standout player of the preseason? That's my boy. That's my boy there.
21:57
I love I I'm always a fan of Latians. I will always thumbs up for Latians in the
22:02
NHL. I like small Eastern European nations or not even Eastern European nations in the NHL. I'm big fan. Uh
22:10
congrats to An Kopitar on a fantastic career. But like he's not like he looks like
22:18
he's quicker. He looks like he's anticipating the play better than other guys and he's Rodrigo Ables.
22:24
Well, yeah. I I want to bring it up. I was listening to PHY I think the episode
22:29
after the last game and Charlie brought up how he talked to Rodrigo. He was like, "You look faster out there." Like,
22:35
was that a focus of your off seasonason? He was like, you know, the first half I was resting up. The second half was I'm
22:41
going to work on my speed to get that first depth. You know, I'm never going to be fast, but now I know what I have
22:46
to do. and he's looking a lot better. He looks much better. And that brings us to the conversation
22:52
that we wanted to have for most of the show is the forwards because Rodrigo Abbles right now I think is my is my 4C.
22:59
Like I've been banging the Jet. Luteno needs to make the NHL team. Uh I I think
23:05
he still does and then you could have Ables on the on the fourth line with him and Haway. I think that could be a
23:10
really fun fourth line. But Ables is like here and he's like, "All right, I I'm going I'm going to be 30. Like I've
23:17
played in the SHL. I played in the NHL last year. I want to stick around this time." Yeah. No, he like it's noticeable out
23:25
there that he does, it's funny that you say that because he does look like he has a bit quicker of a first step. It
23:30
looked like he was kind of in mud sometimes last year. And he's a fourthline center like we said, like he's not necessarily going to have the
23:36
greatest foot speed in the world. we know what type of player he is um from his time last year, but he does look
23:44
like he's improved. And to that same like end guys like Devin Kaplan, you
23:51
know, like guys like Grabbank, how'd you get there to record after playing in Hershey or
23:56
Yeah. No, it was a tight It was a tight turnaround. Yeah, it was a tight turnaround on that one. Um wasn't very
24:03
tired evidently. I didn't do much out there. was saving my energy uh to talk to you.
24:09
Um but yeah, it's it's like these guys who are on the fringes. It's it's just not
24:15
there the same way where you know Rodrigo's out here like setting goals
24:20
and hitting them and he's going to stay in the NHL and we're like hell yeah. And then the guys who are supposed to be top
24:27
six forwards are like yeah he looks the same as he did last year basically.
24:32
Yeah. Rodrigo does not want to go back to Lehigh Valley. He does not want to go. No, Rodrigo does not want to go back.
24:37
That hotel that that that Kolaf, he does not want to go back to Lexand's if
24:43
definitely does not want to go back there. And I think he'll stick around. I think someone in in the Slack mentioned like he wants to be the next Bomar,
24:49
which I'm not sure if he said that or be cool. Just bounce around on good teams. Love Pebbles. So that would be a good
24:55
thing there. But yeah. So then you had Bump, Grabben, and Luchenko. I I guess
25:00
out of those three, Bump, I like Bump. Bump may have had the best.
25:06
He had he had the post. He was it was offensive flashes back back post on the power play. He
25:11
just missed. Flyers had another five on three for the second straight preseason game, I think. And did not convert this.
25:17
Did not convert. So that that's you know very very Flyers there, but also didn't really have too many of their power play
25:24
pieces besides connecting and tippet. Um but yeah, Gbankin,
25:29
was this his third game at the preseason? Do you do you know off the top of your head? Grabbankin. I think it's his it's his second, I believe.
25:36
Was it just Was it just the third for Obless, maybe? I think it might. It's definitely the third for Obless.
25:42
Yeah, I I don't know if it's Gankin or not. No, I think he probably had I think No,
25:47
he played the first game with Mechov and uh Zegris and then I think he was off on I think he was off, but
25:54
I think he was off last game. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah, I believe. So, so w with you know bump Gbankin and Luchenko
26:01
like who do you think out of those three has the best chance of making the roster
26:07
and before camp I probably would have said Gbankin because I liked I watched a
26:14
fair amount of him when he was with the Leafs last year when he made his little cameo and he was running around on the fourth line and just being in his
26:21
delightful self just all over the place just he's just such a joy to be around it seems like. Um, but uh I thought
26:28
about Gbankin because he does have more of that sort of style that can play down the lineup, up the lineup.
26:34
He will throw his body around. If you tell him to play more of a bottom six game, he will he will throw his weight
26:39
around and he'll get into it and he'll he'll jump head first in whatever role he try to play. But he has had this
26:47
problem where sometimes he does just kind of go missing and he's not necessarily taking the game by the horns
26:53
or or doing anything particularly noticeable. Um so at this point I think
26:58
it's it's probably got to be bump. I mean he's shown some
27:04
flashes. I mean, Gerbankin's probably, you know, bump bump and Luchenko I Jet I
27:11
don't think is making we'll say we'll save Jet for a I think we're having a feature video next week.
27:17
Yeah, we'll save where Jet's going to go. If he's not if he's sent down by then.
27:23
I'm not sure about Jet because I think Jet and Bump they have more of a long-term development path for
27:29
Grabbankin. I think is Grabbankin. He just has to find like his rhythm. Um,
27:34
and he can do that in the AHL too, right? Like he can, but he's played AHL games. He's looked good in the AHL.
27:39
He's played AHL games. He's played over a hundred games in both the KHL and NHL. Like he has hundreds of pro games under
27:46
his belt. He's played He's not a new face uh in pro hockey, right? So, I I would I would
27:53
think it's Grabbankan still, but you know, Bump's got a little he's got a
27:59
little bit to him where I like it, but it it it's not frequent enough. and the full ice game is still kind of lacking.
28:07
I just a Jet I love Jet, but I think Jet has another level to get to. Um, if Jet
28:14
ends up being what he is now and you stick him on the third, fourth line, I don't know how it goes. Um, but he's
28:21
still he's looking fine. I think it's still just going to be Gbankin because it's the easiest to have Gbankin start
28:27
in the AHL and the other guys start uh in the NHL, excuse me, and the other guys start in the AHL. Yeah, I mean I
28:33
agree. Rebank and I I've had pencled in as a fourthline left wing for a while. Like Bump I thought when you know you
28:39
know people thought Forester was going to be out for however long Bump could take that role. But yeah, but you have your top nine pretty much
28:46
set especially if D'vorax playing on the wing like that that's your top nine. Like you have your group. So you have
28:52
Haway fourth line, you got the 4C open for Ables or Luchenko and then the left
28:57
wing. I just don't want Bump playing fourth line minutes. I'd rather have him go go to the AHL. Like you saw how the
29:04
Bears locked him down in the second in the second round of the playoffs. See how he deals with a month of of pro
29:10
action teams focusing on him and whatnot. And you know, if he lights the world on fire, call him up and you can
29:16
move the Vorak down to 4C. Like that's where I am with Bump. Luchenko is
29:23
interesting because I I just think they need him in the NHL so they know kind of
29:29
more what he has heading into next off seasonason. Like heading into next off seasonason if you know Ziggers can be a
29:36
2C, Luchenko can at least be a 3C. Couttoriier can hold his own. Like you're set up pretty well. Maybe you go
29:42
out for a winger instead of a center. I'm not sure if it's going to matter that much, but I I just think they need
29:48
to see more out of Luchenko. and he plays a very safe conservative game. He
29:54
does not have, you know, enough puck skills or a good shot yet, but I think he also knows that he knows he doesn't
30:00
have it. So, he circles with the puck, he keeps possession, which is smart. And like if you put him with a winger like
30:07
Tippet who has speed and then another scoring winger and he's just like more of like a like a defensive midfielder in
30:13
soccer, he just plays like a defensive center position. Like, I feel like that could work. And also, I just think he
30:20
has room to grow throughout the year. Yeah, I I agree. It's it's it's
30:27
difficult to for me to accept Luchenko being on the fourth line. Um, just in
30:35
principle, I wanted him to start on the third ideally. Um, he can work his way
30:42
up there obviously. They're not going to be the the lines are always going to be fluid. They're not going to be static. There's not like there's one you got to
30:49
keep these guys together line unless Brink Kates Forester turns it back on again and like they never left uh one
30:56
one each one one other sides. But it's
31:02
it's a it's a matter if you think Jet's going to develop better in the NHL just
31:08
playing and getting used to the speed of the game and how he can manipulate it uh
31:14
with what with his skill set he has now or if you want to send him back to the A and then have him work on the things
31:20
that he still lacks and and create some that some of that decisiveness like get
31:26
to the spots and do something with it instead of just like Mhm. try to defer to somebody else because
31:31
you don't believe in your abilities or you're you're trying to play the safer option. You're trying to play the more
31:37
conservative game, right? Um you can learn that in the AHL because it is a
31:42
bit lower skill, but at the same time, it is still pro hockey and it's still difficult. So, I can see
31:49
why putting him with maybe some better linemates would help him expedite that process. I
31:55
just don't know if he's going to get that playing with Garnet Hathaway and and Rod the Bod. I don't know.
32:01
Yeah, cuz and none of the other Flyers forwards feel like they could maybe drop
32:07
down to the fourth line and still be as effective as they could. Like they h the Flyers have a bunch of like second
32:14
middle six wingers. They have a bunch of middle six wingers and a few middle stick centers and like
32:20
Luchenko's ceiling is probably second line, third line center, which is perfectly fine for for what he's doing.
32:26
But yeah, I I guess maybe you can send him back to the OHL. You see how he does at juniors, but like I don't know.
32:34
Lenko, I think, is a different conversation. But yeah, I I I just think Bump
32:40
I don't know if he's I don't know if he even has like a chance right now. the guy would not be like I'm almost confident to say I don't think there's a
32:46
chance he makes a roster. No, I don't I don't think it's going to happen right out of the gate for him. I
32:51
think he's going to need a 20 game sample in the AHL of being like good of of excelling or at least looking like
33:00
um one of the better players in uh Lehigh Valley. I think that's what it's going to take for him to get up. I I
33:07
agree with you. But at the start, I I thought for a time that Bump would be the one because he just seems like he's
33:13
got a bit more of an X factor as it stands than Gbankin and Luchenko necessarily do offensively. And the
33:20
Flyers, you know, they got D'vorak, they got Hathaway, Aballs. There's a lot of responsible guys out there. Even
33:27
Forester, Kates, like these guys are all defensively responsible. You need a guy who can put the puck in the net. A guy
33:33
who has 30 goal potential uh potentially Um, but
33:41
that's what you wanted with him. But if it's not going to be there, yeah, he's going to need a little bit of a of of a
33:47
trial period down in the A and and see if he he can put some numbers on the board and then you you give him some
33:54
good linemates in the NHL and see if he can he can keep it rolling. Yeah. He seems like he'll be a streaky guy. I
34:00
I think I can get that. like he's either going to be dominant or he's going to be
34:06
um a pretty streaky guy who scores from a specific spot. Yep. Fans fans are going to absolutely
34:11
be be furious with with some of his his he goes through. Maybe. Yeah, that might that might
34:17
happen. I could see that maybe happening. Yeah. So So yeah, Bump probably not making it. Rebankin probably has the
34:23
best chance. And then Luchenko is I think there's still what three or four more preseason games. Maybe he gets
34:28
better. We'll see what happens. I could still see it if he has a good second half of the preseason or the second
34:33
little part of the preseason. Luchenko, they want him to make the team. I I think that's obvious. I think they want
34:39
him to be on the team. So, yeah. Uh whenever he knocks down the door, um
34:44
he's going to be on the team. Yeah. Um you want to talk a little? Uh I just want to do this question here the
34:50
top of the chat. They asked first came on. Uh uh they asked, "Do you think that'll be the last game we'll see from
34:56
Jack Nesbbit in a fight?" Oh, that was exactly what I was going to say. Is after where you're going? Well, you you and Thomas talked about it um
35:03
sometime earlier this week, last week. I I don't think so. I think they will give him a home game, you know, first round
35:10
pick, high high pick. I think they'll give him a home game probably on Saturday and then send him back down,
35:16
but it's possible they send him back down in the next round of Cuts. Yeah, I mean it's it's clear that he's not up to
35:22
the pace. He had the one giveaway that led to that great power play 210 uh that
35:27
we all were uh had on our scorecards, on our bingo cards. Um so, right, like it's
35:34
not necessarily like he's a guy who has NHL skills right now. It's just one
35:41
of those things like, did you think he was going to jump out there and shock
35:47
people and use his body and be physical and get in on the fore? And the answer to that is is not really.
35:53
No, he didn't. It was like it was like, all right, is he not exceptional degree? Is he gonna go out there and be like amped up and ready
36:00
to go or is he gonna go out there and be a little bit like hesitant little, you know, light lights too bright for a lack
36:06
of a better term, like you know, playing against all these actual NHL players and, you know, it looked more like that.
36:11
Like he looked fine. He had that one turnover like you said, but I feel like he looked he looked fine for a
36:17
18-year-old playing in his second preseason game. Yeah, he was okay. He he had some good
36:22
moments where he's trying to get to the middle of the ice trying to get some shots off. But there was one uh later on
36:28
in the third period. It was one of the only chances that they really had in the third period towards the net. He tries
36:33
to cut to the middle. He tries to do a little stick handle in front of the defenseman, but the shot that he tries
36:38
to get off, it's like that's not NHL speed of release there to be able like the defenseman's going to get his stick
36:45
in front of that nine times out of out of 10. And even you get it through there, it's really it it probably wasn't
36:50
doing much, right? It's top of the circle, but it's just the fact that he you see him loaded up and and the
36:55
stick's already there before he's ready to release the puck, right? So, um he is a bit behind the the pace, but that's
37:01
not necessarily surprising. Yeah. So, you know, good to see him out there. We'll see how he does another
37:07
year in juniors. Um is it Windsor? Is that where he's at? Yes, Windsor. The Spitfires.
37:13
The Spits, baby. Spits there. So yeah, Dez bit, good to see out there. The NEZ spits, if you will.
37:18
The NES Spits, you're that's why they pay you the big bucks. Yeah. Um, any other notes you got? Like
37:25
I feel like I liked what I saw from Tippet and Kknne. He said um Kate Kates
37:31
and Kenkne run the PK together. It was usually in before he got traded. So that's um to see there were two guys in
37:38
front on the power play. Two guys in front of the net. Love to see that. Get some traffic in front. Yeah. Try anything at this point.
37:45
Why not? But uh um I wanted to touch on the goalies quick maybe.
37:50
Yeah. No, go ahead. Kolasov and Vladar started uh this one
37:56
and then gave way to Alexi Kolasov after the first period who played the rest of
38:02
the way. Uh eight saves on nine shots. Flur for Vladar in his first period. And
38:09
then Klesaw comes in, allows four on 20 shots. Uh, you know, usual under 900
38:17
save percentage for Flyers goending. Um, run-of-the-mill day in between the
38:23
pipes. Uh, but did you like anything you saw from them? I Kasov, I mean, I think
38:30
we all know he's not good at hockey. Uh, he's quite a poor goalender. I think there is room for Kolosoft to grow with
38:37
the right attitude, get a full year with the Phantoms. I think there is room for him to turn into a a a 1B, maybe just a
38:45
backup, but I don't think he can be a starting goalie. No. Yeah, I I don't even know if he's a
38:52
backup really. I don't really know. Does he have the does he have like the
38:59
has anything we've seen from him like depict that he is going to be good
39:05
when you play him like once a week you know not not really and now that you
39:11
mentioned it and I'm thinking about it like I don't know if he has the temperament to be a backup either that's the thing
39:16
nothing we we've seen from him says that he would have that I can't remember one good game he had
39:23
last year I'm looking now here that is game log. He he allowed one goal on 25 shots in a
39:30
4-1 win against the Red Wings. Um he came in against the Sharks and closed it out on New Year's Eve when Sam Harrison
39:38
got hurt, but um allowed four goals or more in nine of his 17 games.
39:44
Yeah. And you look at even even Fenotov had like some amazing games where he kept the flowers and had
39:51
that was that one. played against the Leafs against Dennis Hilderby. Yes, the Hildies. That was the That was the Twin Towers.
39:57
Oh, I can't That was the double towers. The the the the leaning towers out
40:02
there. The double double duplexes out there. Yeah, it's still September. I can't get that off. Um
40:08
Yeah. So that like I I thought Fedtov had games where he was um way way like
40:16
he showed he showcased a higher ceiling than Kasaw did. Yeah. It's just Fettop had days where he
40:21
looked like he couldn't even stay in the net. He was just on his stomach and is hoping that his long legs just covered the
40:27
entire net. Um Vladar looked like him a little bit there in the first period. Yeah, Vladar,
40:35
I want to be positive about Vladar, but the the real like if you've watched him,
40:40
it's not like he's one of those guys who came from the Western Conference, you're like, "Oh, but if you watched him, if you like stayed up late and watched it,
40:47
you could see." No, he's fine. He's He's like Sam Ersen realistically. He's
40:52
probably a little bit worse, you know? Career He's an 895 goalender. That's
40:59
what he is. Yeah. Like that's not You want a bigger role, you want a starting job, so do I. So do I. Like
41:06
love the love the attitude, but until we see it, I I just No, you really you're expecting
41:12
turnarounds from a ton of people. Like it's just
41:17
gh it's it's it's tough. I was watching today and honestly it was hard to like I
41:23
was thinking a lot of negative thoughts. I was just watching the people on the ice the last couple games and um you
41:30
watch and it's just like man like what there's not a lot of great options outside of what you got right now. No,
41:39
like there's no We say the roster battles. How many battles are really there? These guys don't look like
41:45
they're fighting for I've been thinking the same thing. The roster battles. Who's going to lose it? It's it's it's a complete sham. It's a
41:51
complete sham. The roster battles. It's Obles and probably Gbankin and then it's Jules and Zamula for on defense. Like
41:58
maybe on regular. At this point, I'm almost leaning towards they just put Delore in
42:04
the lineup and then all of them go to the HL. Like you're all you've all been Why do any of you really deserve
42:10
an NHL job right now? I haven't seen um anyone take it. And that was what was we
42:16
were looking for, right, going into preseason thus far and there's still a long way to go. And really, does the
42:22
preseason matter? No. Training camp opened what, like a week ago. Like we're Yeah. But at the same time, it's like,
42:28
bro, what what what are what are we doing out there right now in the terms
42:34
of effort? I'd rather you just see effort and and mistakes. rather than just like you got a shot in the third
42:40
period like in a preeason game where you're already losing by by four like why are
42:48
the Capitals still dominating you at that point they should be checked out this is most outside of Ovuchkin
42:53
obviously that's most of their roster out there on on Ford yeah I I don't want to make like excuse
42:59
here for the team but like I I don't know what their travel situation was today um if they bust out there if they
43:06
they probably flew blew into some uh Hershey airport, but like fly like traveling day of NHLers aren't used to
43:13
like even AHLers aren't probably used to that. So that could be an issue. But yeah, you you want to see something like
43:19
even on Tuesday night in Montreal like you saw them get better playing a little bit though. That's the
43:25
thing. It was capacin is why they got two goals, but yeah, a little better. That's
43:31
it. It's not like any of those. Even the Islanders game was like a It was not a
43:38
good hockey game. It's not like they're out there classic Flyers Islanders game.
43:43
That was a snoozefest. It was Flyers Islanders Flyers Devils at 2 p.m. on a Sunday during football season. That's
43:49
what that game was. Yeah. Good comment here in the chat from Gigi. Uh they say, "I think I've seen
43:56
enough. Time to put out the set guys and start to rotate the bubble guys in. Cut time." Yeah. Yeah. You gotta see what uh
44:02
you gotta see what all the all these guys got. Get those guys in there. Like Jacob Gocha at this point. Like
44:08
Jacob or or Alexi Jean Drron. Alexi John. Get him. Jean Jean Drron. Yeah. Like those guys
44:15
like at this point in time, what what would you like? You'd be doing them a
44:22
disservice. It wouldn't be fair as an organization not to give those guys a longer look when you're giving guys who
44:27
haven't necessarily given you anything along Tony Dick. Put Tony Dick on the fourth line with Tony always brings some energy. I
44:35
wouldn't I I even last year I wasn't mad when he was in the lineup especially when you play him with a defensively
44:40
minded center which he will and then Garnet Hathway I got no problem with that. If none of the guys are ready
44:46
they're not ready. Yeah, exactly there. And yeah, it it it's saying a lot when the biggest
44:52
winner from this game in terms of roster battles is just people who did not play like like Tony Dick, Emil Andre, guys
45:00
that were on the sidelines like they were in the clubhouse and these guys were hitting double bogeies out out
45:05
there as they were trying to chase him down. Like it was it was just it's just bad stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's um it's one of
45:13
those things you expected a little bit a little bit more to talk about like from the roster like the battles like oh this
45:20
guy scored tonight I wanted to talk about this guy did did good this guy also played well which one
45:26
did better not which one smells smells less bad like yeah like I you look throughout you just
45:32
look up and down the roster if you look at the box score which I had up I have the game sheet up okay
45:38
you look up and down the roster and I See who and I can think of like who had a good game. Okay, connecting
45:43
had a good game. Was a minus two. He had a good game. Dash two. Ables
45:49
good game. I think he had a good game. Kates I Noah Kates was never going to
45:54
have a bad game in my eyes. He'll never have a horrible hockey game, right? Like but he wasn't good. He didn't do
46:00
anything. He was Noah Kates. He was Noah Kates. He's Noah Kates. He's he's low-end Noah Kates. Gbank and Deloreier Barky Nesbit.
46:06
Tippet Gocha. Tippet had a few good Tipp tip but four shots on goal. That's good. Good for him. Get good get good get shots on goal the power play.
46:14
May have even had a short-handed shot. He uh using his speed and body out there. I like that a lot.
46:19
But that's just sparks, you know. Yeah. And you extend it beyond to the guys who
46:24
played the game before and even the game in in Long Island. Like how many like
46:30
really solid 10-minute stretches are you getting from these guys that you can
46:35
look at and say, "Okay, this is something that I can latch on to and say
46:40
he has improved at this at XYZ." It's literally Ables.
46:45
Yeah. For me, like right now I even I was even watching Cam York tonight and you know
46:52
it's not again not a bad game but he he has this drive to the net even on
46:57
the twoon-one and it's just like he's just not like it's not like the the lean in and
47:04
dig towards the net. It's just sort of like I'm going to put my stick I'm gonna put my stick out there and try to like deflect it and angle it into the top.
47:11
You're playing shinny. May maybe maybe my it touches my stick. And that's that's that's what I'm saying
47:16
like and he's not making York is the one guy returning on the roster I want to see good things out of
47:23
in the preseason. I want to That's what I was going to say. He's not making the team. And Tippet. Yeah.
47:29
Yeah. He's not making the team, but like you're going to be on the first pair if you're even decent.
47:35
You'll end up with Sanheim again. Yes. So, or if he's or if he's good enough, maybe
47:41
he carries the second pair and he's the number one on the second pair. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but again, it's you're not
47:49
seeing much from any of these guys. And I I don't want to get worried in the preseason. I don't want to get upset about the preseason, but like at a
47:55
certain point after all the this that we've been like talking about and
48:01
and all of the just turmoil within the locker room that we'll never know about that happened around uh the the torch
48:09
years and and everything that went on there and the falloffs in the second half of the season every year and the
48:16
goalending woes. It's like it's it's looking very very very sy right now.
48:22
Like the exact same sy like we didn't have an off season. This is the same
48:27
group of guys and then Rodrigo Abels has a quick first step now. Yeah. It's like it's like instead of
48:34
I'm going to lose my mind a little bit. Instead of oh can Frost and Faraby take that next step. It's like oh can Ziggris be good? Can can these guys do do this?
48:41
Like it's it's the same questions and they're not I mean is a lot better than Morgan
48:46
Frost. Yeah. With guys like Zegris and D'vorak like they're going to take a bit to to gel in the regular season anyways.
48:52
That's whatever. It's the guys who are here. It's the guys who have been in Lehi Valley. It's the guys who have came up and are stuck
48:59
in the limbo of third fourth line bouncing in and out when there's an injury.
49:05
Like you know it it's it's not good. It just didn't look good tonight. And it it
49:10
didn't give you any positive feelings and like at all. I can't even think of anything.
49:15
I I I have one, but I want to shout out uh Daniel Linsky first. They they said they saw the coach interview and the
49:21
team bust in today. So that makes sense. Take the bus out to Hershey. It's about what two hour drive or so probably
49:26
something like that. Yeah, probably definitely really destroy my my entire sleep cycle. My remm my
49:34
metabolism just just shattered by that bus ride to Hershey.
49:39
Yeah, I I I wish uh I could be next to Travis Connectnney on that bus. See, to see what he was uh getting up to there.
49:45
But my my one positive takeaway from us right now is is is we're back. It feels
49:50
good to be back and talk for 50 minutes about a meaningless preseason game and Rodrigo Abul and Adam Jinning and all
49:58
these guys out here. It feels good. A week ago, even the beginning of this week, I I didn't have the hockey hockey
50:04
hockey juices flowing yet. Now I do. It feels good. Yeah, it's uh it's hard in the summer because it seems
50:12
like mid from from after the draft to training camp. There's nothing like
50:18
everyone goes on vacation. Every single person involved with the NHL goes on vacation. Yeah. So, it it's it's tough to get through
50:24
those times and get psyched up for it, right? Especially when it's still nice out and everything. But, um yeah, the
50:30
boys are back. Um I don't know if they're fully back yet. I don't know if they know necessarily if they're back,
50:36
but they are playing. Uh, so it is it is good to see them out there again and kind of dream on some guys even if
50:43
they're not giving you much to work with right now. Yeah, absolutely. There. Um, all right.
50:49
We're I'm not letting this get to an hour. We're wrapping this up now. Uh, Jacob, thank you. Thank you for joining me here. Anything you want to plug
50:55
socialwise? You recently wrote a good uh good article remembering Bernie Parat there. Um, anything you want you want to
51:01
plug here? Yeah. No, just go check out bsh.com. We're gonna have so much stuff going up
51:08
uh at the start of the season especially um as preseason wraps up. We're gonna do
51:13
some previews and yeah um rest in peace Bernie.
51:18
Yeah. All right. I am Ryan Gilbert. You can follow me on Twitter or on Blue Sky,
51:24
Ryan Gilbert. Shout out FanDuel for sponsoring us. And of course, make sure you check out the
51:29
website, subscribe on YouTube, and leave us a fivestar rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Uh, until next time, thanks
51:36
for watching.
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