Forgetting Kevin Marshall: Flyers ship kids home

Former QMJHL star Kevin Marshall is a member
of the first group sent back to the Phantoms
despite a great showing all summer long.
 

Nearly half of the original training camp roster for the Flyers has been trimmed as 29 players head for other teams or back out into free agency. Among these training camp cuts are defensive stand-outs Kevin Marshall, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Oskars Bartulis, and Joonas Lehtivuori. All four will be competing for playing time on the Flyers, possibly as soon as next year, but none looked as good this summer as Kevin Marshall who has a long QMJHL career as well as a championship under his belt. His game is one that would likely transfer well immediately to the NHL level, but the organization is playing it safe.

Still on the roster though is Randy Jones who at a $2.7 million cap hit for his one more season under contract. Jones is one of, if not the most overpaid number six defenseman in the NHL. Fans critical of his sloppy play since the injury during the 2008-09 preseason, and often long before, are still wondering if Jones' cap hit could cost them some cap room for call-ups in case of non-LTIR injuries this season.

To say the least, Jones has not performed very well in the preseason. Seventh blueliner Ole-Kristian Tollefsen has not either. It is something to remain minorly concerned about, but the Flyers' poor performances so far can be washed away knowing that their only preseason losses. The effort, or lack there of, is glaring when looking at the orange and black take the ice, but they are playing better in each game. Detroit is up next at home on Tuesday.

There are other interesting points on the return list as well. Tomas Sinisalo, who had a very strong rookie camp as an invitee, was sent to the Phantoms instead of being released. It's possible that he gets an AHL contract. Jonathan Kalinski and Andreas Nodl, both of which spent time on the Flyers last season, have been sent back to the AHL. Tyler Hostetter of the OHL was invited to camp and then sent back to Erie with a three year entry-level contract. Mark Bell, a former 20-goal-scorer who the Flyers invited to camp, was let go. Paul Holmgren mentioned that the organization had seen enough of him to be confident in their decision to release him.

After performing so well with the Flyers during the preseason, especially on the penalty kill, it still remains likely that Blair Betts could walk away from camp with an NHL contract in Philadelphia.

The following 19 players have been sent to the AHL affiliate Phantoms:

Josh Beaulieu, Rob Bellamy, Matt Clackson, Ryan Dingle, Jonathan Kalinski, Garrett Klotz, Jonathan Matsumoto, Andreas Nodl, Tomas Sinisalo, Oskars Bartulis, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Joonas Lehtivuori, Kevin Marshall, Mike Ratchuk, David Sloane, Logan Stephenson, Jeremy Duchesne, Nic Riopel, Michael Teslak.

The following 8 players have been sent back to their respective junior teams:

David Labrecque, Zac Rinaldo, Mike Thomas, Eric Wellwood, Tyler Hostetter, Brennan Yadlowski, Adam Morrison, Jacob DeSerres.

The following 2 players have been released from their try-outs:

Mark Bell, Adrian Foster.

The following 32 players are still active in Flyers' training camp:

Arron Asham, Blair Betts, Danny Briere, Dan Caricllo, Jeff Carter, Riley Cote, Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Lukas Kaspar, Krys Kolanos, Ian Laperriere, Patrick Maroon, Darroll Powe, Mika Pyorala, Mike Richards, Jared Ross, Jason Ward, James van Riemsdyk, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, Sean Curry, Randy Jones, Joey Morimina, Ryan Parent, Chris Pronger, Danny Syvret, Kimmo Timonen, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Johan Backlund, Brian Boucher, Ray Emery.