1. Miami Herald - Florida Panthers sign Tim Thomas, get new owner 2. Miami Herald - Florida Panthers new owner Vincent Viola: We will win here

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1 Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips September 28, 2013 FLYERS Headlines 1. Philadelphia Inquirer - Capitals light up Flyers in exhibition 2. Philadelphia Inquirer - Flyers: Breaking Bad 3. Philadelphia Inquirer - Flyers Notes: Flyers demote Raffl and Lauridsen 4. Philadelphia Daily News - Flyers juggling salary-cap situation 5. Philadelphia Daily News - Vande Velde not just a long shot for Flyers 6. CSNPhilly.com - Holmgren after preseason: 'Got to be better' 7. CSNPhilly.com - Holmgren talks roster moves, what's to come 8. CSNPhilly.com - Flyers Notes: Laviolette disappointed with effort 9. CSNPhilly.com - Flyers send Raffl, Lauridsen to Phantoms 10. Delco Daily Times - Flyers' preseason ends with yet another loss 11. Bucks County Courier-Times - Holmgren still has some tough decisions 12. Courier-Post - Flyers defense getting closer after cuts 13. Courier-Post - Ovechkin helps Capitals beat Flyers Courier-Post - VandeVelde hoping to make the cut 15. HockeyBuzz.com - Meltzer's Musings: Poor Preseason Comes to an End, Quick Hits 16. PhiladelphiaFlyers.com - Flyers loan Lauridsen, Raffl to Phantoms 17. NHL.com - Ovechkin scores two as Capitals beat Flyers 18. NHL.com - Flyers send Raffl, Lauridsen to AHL Adirondack Washington Capitals Headlines (FLYERS last opponent) 1. Washington Post - Five thoughts from the Capitals 6-3 win over the Flyers 2. Washington Post - Eric Fehr and Tom Wilson take advantage of opportunities in Capitals preseason win NHL Headlines 1. Miami Herald - Florida Panthers sign Tim Thomas, get new owner 2. Miami Herald - Florida Panthers new owner Vincent Viola: We will win here PHANTOMS Headlines 1. Glens Falls Post-Star - Phantoms have decisions to make FLYERS Articles 1. Philadelphia Inquirer - Capitals light up Flyers in exhibition Sam Carchidi The Flyers' exhibition finale against the Washington Capitals on Friday night was the last chance for the "bubble" players - forwards Scott Laughton and Chris VandeVelde - to make a case for staying on the team's roster.

2 Neither was a factor as they didn't get much ice time in the Flyers' fight-filled 6-3 loss to the Capitals at the Verizon Center. Alex Ovechkin, who left for Greece after the game to take part in an Olympic torch-lighting ceremony, and Eric Fehr scored two goals apiece against Ray Emery, who struggled with his rebound control. The Flyers finished in the preseason, lowering expectations. They open the regular season Wednesday against visiting Toronto, and they need to clean up their defensive coverage. "I don't like our record. I don't like the way we played some nights," general manager Paul Holmgren said. "But I was happy with our effort tonight. I thought we did some good things, and we have to move on now. We've got some work to do." The other Flyers whose job status seems to be hanging by a thread are defensemen Bruno Gervais and Hal Gill, neither of whom dressed for the game. The Flyers must trim two players to get down to 23 before opening-night rosters have to be submitted to the NHL offices by 5 p.m. Monday. Before Friday's game, Holmgren said he might ask Gill if he would accept a minor-league contract, although he would have to clear waivers first. Holmgren has a quandary: whether to keep 13 or 14 forwards or seven or eight defensemen. The Flyers have 14 forwards and nine defensemen left in camp. If they keep 14 forwards, Laughton and VandeVelde will be on the team, barring a trade. There are rumblings the Flyers would like to deal a defenseman for a winger. Jake Voracek, the top-line right winger who led the Flyers with 22 goals last season, missed his second straight game with a lower-back injury. He is expected to play in Wednesday's opener. The Flyers hope Zac Rinaldo can play in that game. The feisty winger got a five-minute elbowing penalty Friday and a game-misconduct for a hit on Mikhail Grabovski. The NHL disciplinary czars may review the play. Washington bolted to a 3-0 lead. Emery made a poor clearing pass to set up the Caps' first goal, scored by Fehr. Ovechkin made it 2-0 by scoring on a power-play, one-timer late in the opening period. The Flyers scored three goals (Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds) in a span of 4 minutes, 45 seconds late in the second period to forge a 3-3 tie, but the Caps answered in the final period. 2. Philadelphia Inquirer - Flyers: Breaking Bad Sam Carchidi This is not how the Flyers wanted to break away from the preseason with numerous defensive breakdowns in a 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center on Friday night.

3 With the defeat, the Flyers ended their exhibition schedule with a record. It s good to get it out of the way, said captain Claude Giroux, referring to the poor record. Hopefully the guys will get a little ticked off about this record and start playing Wednesday. The Flyers open the regular season Wednesday against visiting Toronto. During the preseason, there were some good things we saw, there were some things we need to work on, coach Peter Laviolette said. We ll get there. We ve got three good practices coming up this week. If you re going to get some of the kinks out, this is the best time to do it, losing goalie Ray Emery said. Even by making mistakes, you re still learning. Alex Ovechkin and Eric Fehr each scored twice for the Caps. (See story.) Laughton update. Rookie center Scott Laughton, battling for a roster spot, wasn t happy with his performance. I didn t play the way I wanted to, and it s pretty frustrating, he said. Laviolette wasn t as critical. There were a couple of times he was a little jumpy with the puck, but for the most part, over the course of the last two games, I thought he played pretty well, Laviolette said. I thought he was probably one of our best players in Thursday s loss to New Jersey. Goalie battle. Emery and Steve Mason had uneven training camps, and Laviolette made it sound as if he was still undecided about his starter for Wednesday s regular-season opener. "I think they both had their moments where they played well. he said. I think we ll continue to look at it through practice here. Offensive woes. The Flyers scored just a total of 15 goals in their seven preseason games. I think that s something that will come, said forward Adam Hall, who was in two of the game's five fights. We ll get more consistent as we round out our game, as we play our system and execute our system more consistently. The way we play defense contributes to offense and vice versa. Consistency is what we strive for. Breakaways. Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers in a 4:45 second-period span to erase a 3-0 deficit The Flyers scored 15 goals in the preseason _ by 15 players..luke Schenn had nine hits and Simmonds had six.the Flyers outhit the Caps, 38-25, and won 59 percent of the face-offs.hartnell had a team-high six shots on goal.on the PP, the Caps were 2 for 5, the Flyers were 1 for 5..Jake Voracek (back) missed the game but will play Wednesday, Holmgren said...flyers are off Saturday and will return to the ice Sunday in Voorhees at 11 a.m. 3. Philadelphia Inquirer - Flyers Notes: Flyers demote Raffl and Lauridsen Sam Carchidi

4 The Flyers got closer to the 23-player limit by sending left winger Michael Raffl and defenseman Oliver Lauridsen to the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms on Friday. The moves left the team with 25 players in training camp. Raffl's demotion was a bit surprising because the Austrian had impressed the Flyers' brass during the preseason. The 24-year-old forward was trying to make a gargantuan leap from a lower-level Sweden league to the NHL. In four preseason games, Raffl was scoreless but was one of the Flyers' most active forwards. "I thought he did something good in each of those games," general manager Paul Holmgren said before Friday's exhibition against the Washington Capitals, "but we want to give him a little more experience on the smaller ice down there, where he can play a lot more minutes and learn the North American game." Lauridsen, 24, who was impressive in a call-up with the Flyers late last season, will be insurance in case there is an injury. Free skate To celebrate the start of the season, the Flyers are offering free skating to fans who dress in orange and black at any of their four area Skate Zone rinks on Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 4. Philadelphia Daily News - Flyers juggling salary-cap situation Frank Seravalli What does Paul Holmgren have up his sleeve? It doesn't take a mathlete to understand that the Flyers are currently over the NHL's $64.3 million salary cap with Chris Pronger on the roster. Pronger will not play again, but the Flyers must retain his salary-cap hit on their roster for the first day of the season before he can be move to the long-term injury list. It's important to note that the first day of the salary cap begins Monday afternoon - and the Flyers' first game isn't until Wednesday against Toronto. Meaning, many expected the Flyers to simply make a "paper transaction" and send waiver-exempt forwards Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier to the Phantoms for the first day and recall them on the second. That might not be the case. "I don't see foresee that happening," Holmgren said yesterday, prior to the Flyers' final preseason game against the Capitals. "Chris will be on our roster on Monday when we file our roster." Does that mean Pronger will definitely go to the long-term injury list on Tuesday?

5 "I guess it depends," Holmgren said. "Probably, but it doesn't have to be that way." There have been rumors all summer that the Flyers would like to move a defenseman, considering their logjam there and that they continue to say they are impressed with tryout Hal Gill. Holmgren said he believes the Flyers have 48 contracts signed toward the 50-contract limit, although Anthony Stolarz, Samuel Morin and even Scott Laughton will slide toward next year unless they play 10 games with the Flyers this year. Oliver Lauridsen, 24, was sent to Adirondack yesterday. Even without him, the Flyers still have nine bodies: Kimmo Timonen, Mark Streit, Luke Schenn, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, Nick Grossmann, Erik Gustafsson, Bruno Gervais and Gill. Gustafsson, 24, isn't going anywhere. "He would have to clear waivers," Holmgren said. "That would be pretty risky. He's a young player that we really like." So, has Holmgren had any conversations with other general managers about moving a defenseman? "I've had conversations with people, but are they specifically asking [about defensemen]? No," Holmgren said. "This time of year, you always ask questions like, 'What are you looking for?' and, 'What do you need?' It's just general talk. "This time of year, waivers everyday, there are a lot of teams slipping guys down to the minors that way. It's a critical time for every team as they try to fill out their roster." Right now, the Flyers are trying to decide whether to keep 13 forwards and eight defensemen or 14 forwards and seven defensemen. The truth is, with Michael Raffl being sent back to Adirondack yesterday, none of the forwards trying to win a spot has knocked the coaching staff's socks off. Chris Vande Velde has remained in camp as a dark horse - but he doesn't even have an NHL contract at this point, which leads one to believe that the Flyers would be rather not risk losing Gervais to waivers if at all possible. "There's a lot of different scenarios," Holmgren said. Holmgren did say, however, that the door is likely closed with free agent Simon Gagne. There was a report earlier this week from Quebec saying that Gagne is skating with his old junior team in Quebec City waiting to hear back from a few teams. Gagne, 33, was very vocal in his criticism of Holmgren in a recent interview, saying that he felt he had been strung along all summer. "I would say so," Holmgren said on the door being closed. "I haven't spoken to his agent in a while." Either way, the Flyers' situation is very much in flux. Don't be surprised if Holmgren has something in the works to create more room before Monday.

6 5. Philadelphia Daily News - Vande Velde not just a long shot for Flyers Frank Seravalli When Chris Vande Velde entered the Wells Fargo Center for training camp on Sept. 12, the only person he knew was Phantoms goaltender Yann Danis, whom he played with in Edmonton. He'd heard of Matt Read before - but that's because he played against Read in college. It's very likely, actually, that most of the Flyers' brass didn't know who Vande Velde was either. Months after playing 11 NHL games, Vande Velde only earned an invitation to training camp because he played hockey at the University of North Dakota with assistant general manager Ron Hextall's son. There was no press release sent out when VandeVelde signed an AHL contract after camp started. There still hasn't been press release distributed about Vande Velde. That's because he is still with the Flyers, lingering among their final 14 forwards. The Flyers dispatched highly touted winger Michael Raffl and defenseman Oliver Lauridsen to the AHL yesterday, trimming their roster to 25 players. It's safe to say, though, that a few more people know about Vande Velde now. "Just being on an AHL contract, to make it this far is something in and of itself," Vande Velde said yesterday prior to the Flyers' 6-3 loss to the Capitals. "I'm not satisfied yet. There's still cuts to be made. "Not a lot of guys knew about me coming into camp. I just came into camp with a positive attitude and worked hard every day and tried to open some eyes. I think I've done that thus far." Vande Velde and rookie Scott Laughton remain, although the Flyers could decide to keep both players on the 23-man roster to start the season. Both players saw limited minutes against Washington last night. Defenseman Bruno Gervais was scratched for the third preseason game in a row, which could mean the Flyers are leaning toward 14 forwards and seven defensemen. General manager Paul Holmgren said he was expecting to make the final two cuts today. The Flyers wrapped up the preseason last night with an unimpressive record. If few people had Vande Velde penciled into a roster spot, fewer had the Flyers sending Raffl back to Adirondack so soon. Raffl, 24, was high on the team's depth chart coming into camp after being signed as a free agent this summer. Raffl was going against long odds, trying to make the jump from Sweden's second-tier league (Allsvenskan) to the NHL without a stop in between. He was a hot commodity and chose the Flyers over an offer from Nashville after scoring two goals for his native Austria in the World Championships last May. "Michael played in four of our games and I thought he did something good in each of those games," Holmgren said. "But I think we just want him to get a little more experience on that smaller ice, where he can play a lot more minutes and learn the North American game.

7 "The difference [with Vande Velde] is that he is a North American player, he's been a 3-year pro and played NHL games." Reading the tea leaves with Holmgren, it sounds as if Laughton, 19, will stay with the Flyers simply because they'd be passing up an (almost) free look at him in the NHL. He can play in the first nine games of the season before they must make a decision to send him back to his junior team in Oshawa, Ontario. Players cannot be sent to the AHL until their 20-year-old season. All it would cost the Flyers is Laughton's hotel stay and per diem. "I think any time young players can spend with NHL players, it's beneficial to a point," Holmgren said. "[Dominating in junior] is kind of a benefit, too. That's kind of what we're weighing in our decisionmaking process: What's best for us, and a little bit of what's best for him, too." End of the road? Veteran defenseman Hal Gill may have played his final NHL game after a solid, 15-year career. Gill, 38, came into training camp on a tryout with the Flyers and has a meeting scheduled with Holmgren today. "I find it hard to believe we can make a spot for him, but I guess you never say never," Holmgren said. "Having him at camp has been a pleasure. He's just full of life. For an older guy that's played as many games as he's played, he's provided enthusiasm in camp." Gill was scratched last night against the Capitals. He has been steady in his own end, but it looks as if his 6-7 frame can't keep up at NHL pace. Gill has played 1,212 games (including playoffs) and won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in "He's a smart, stay-at-home defensive defenseman. He doesn't get beat," Holmgren said. "You could argue that he's slow, but he's been the same player for the last 10 years." Holmgren did leave open the possibility of signing Gill to a minor-league deal if he was interested, to keep around as insurance against injury. Slap shots Capitals star Alex Ovechkin left for Greece after the game. With owner Ted Leonsis' blessing, Ovechkin will be the first Russian torch bearer ahead of February's Winter Olympics in Sochi. Ovechkin will then fly back to D.C. and travel with the team to Chicago for Tuesday's opener... Jake Voracek (upperbody) sat out last night's game but is expected to be ready for Wednesday... Zac Rinaldo was ejected in the first period after a 5-minute major and game misconduct for elbowing. The play will be reviewed by the NHL for any possible supplementary discipline. 6. CSNPhilly.com - Holmgren after preseason: 'Got to be better' Tim Panaccio OK, the preseason is over and so are the games.

8 So how did Flyers look? They lost. Again. This time it was 6-3 at the Verizon Center to the Washington Capitals. Well, their preseason record means absolutely nothing. Yet it also invites concern. I don t like the record or the way we played some nights, general manager Paul Holmgren said. We got to move on now. It s obvious now it s got to be better. We've got some work we got to do and clean up some things for the regular season. In fairness to coach Peter Laviolette, we need to point out that of the Flyers seven exhibition games: Four games saw them with a split roster One game was a B roster minus eight regulars Two games they had a full NHL roster but were missing key players in Luke Schenn (first game against New Jersey) and Jakub Voracek (final game). That said, the Flyers came into this game absolutely goal-starved in the preseason with 12 goals scored and 18 against. They finished with just 15 goals scored from 15 different players. I wouldn t get too worried about it, Matt Read said. I think we have a lot of scoring power on our team. Maybe it hasn t clicked yet. They trailed 3-0 in the second period against the Caps, then scored three unanswered goals in four minutes, 45 seconds from Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds to tie it. Washington scored three times in the third period to win it. Defensively, the Flyers looked out of sync and out of position the entire preseason -- too many uncontested goals between the dots. Also, their third periods, much like last season, lacked comeback ability. Lopsided fight Brayden Schenn, trying to ignite something in the first period after the Flyers fell behind 2-0, got dusted in a lopsided fight against a much larger opponent, Tom Wilson. The potentially bad news is that Schenn took several shots to the head -- his helmet came off. There were five fights in the game -- two involving Adam Hall. No Voracek Voracek, whose lower back (left side) has presumably been ailing him since going into the goal post against New Jersey this week, did not play. He was supposed to play and that also raises a mini-alarm bell. Fortunately for the Flyers, the season does not open until Wednesday against Toronto.

9 Penalty killing The Flyers came into this final preseason game No. 1 in the NHL in penalty killing, having killed off 25 of 26 power plays (96.2 percent efficiency). Washington scored a power-play goal from Alex Ovechkin in the first period. That was actually a fiveminute power play because of a Zac Rinaldo major for elbowing. Rinaldo ejected Rinaldo drew a game misconduct in the first period because of an elbow to Caps center Mikhail Grabovski that drew blood from his mouth. Grabovski was in a vulnerable position on the back boards. Rinaldo appeared to get him with his shoulder, although he left both his feet to deliver the hit. Normally, that would hurt his case with Lord of Discipline, Brendan Shanahan. Except... Grabovski never left the game and had no injury, which is always a factor in supplemental discipline. Sources said the league has already looked at the Rinaldo hit and didn t see an elbow, which would imply Rinaldo will escape any additional punishment. Holmgren said he had not heard anything from the league. When Ovechkin loudly objected to Rinaldo on the ice, the latter told him to, "Shut the [expletive] up." It's important to point out Aaron Volpatti hit Flyer defenseman Nick Grossmann in the head with an elbow that same period without a penalty. 7. CSNPhilly.com - Holmgren talks roster moves, what's to come Tim Panaccio Preseason hockey ended for the Flyers on Friday night with an exhibition game against the Capitals that only serves as a tune-up for next week s regular-season start. The bigger news was the Flyers' roster. Austrian winger Michael Raffl, who appeared to have a spot all but locked up at left wing, was sent to the Phantoms along with defenseman Oliver Lauridsen. By process of elimination, that left Chris VandeVelde as the sole survivor at left wing with Tye McGinn going back to the Phantoms early Friday morning following Thursday s loss in New Jersey. The Flyers still have 14 forwards in camp, including 19-year-old Scott Laughton, who the organization feels has to play center, whereas VandeVelde has played both center and wing. The 25-year-old Raffl was trying to make the jump from Europe to North America without a year on the smaller ice at the AHL level. He nearly succeeded.

10 He played four of our games and I thought he did something good in each of those games, but we want to get him more experience on the smaller ice down there where he can play more minutes, general manager Paul Holmgren said of Raffl. Kind of learn the North American game. VandeVelde has a minor-league deal. He will likely be offered a two-way contract, Holmgren said. The Flyers have 48 pro contracts and a couple of slide contracts, as well. Fifty is the limit. The wild card, once again, is Laughton. Yes, a lot depends on what happens with Scott, Holmgren said. He has the little 'J' [junior eligibility] beside his name unless he plays X-number of games. We kept our options open with Chris. He s played pretty good for us. The difference there is Chris is a North American player and has played three years pro and NHL games. For purposes of sending Michael down, it s important to get him playing more minutes down there. Laughton can stick around for nine NHL games before going back to junior or the clock starts ticking on his NHL contract. Ideally, the Flyers would prefer to place Laughton with the Phantoms, but they can t because of age restrictions. We want to be extra careful, Holmgren said. It s good that he is still here. I thought he was one of our better guys [Thursday] night and it was hard to find a guy who played good. Laughton and VandeVelde both played Friday night in the Flyers' preseason finale against the Caps. Holmgren said he is having difficulty deciding on whether to keep 13 or 14 forwards. As part of this decision, there remains the question on defense -- carry seven or eight? Holmgren admitted he d like to sign Hal Gill, who is on a tryout. Both men are slated to meet Saturday morning. Holmgren said he is considering asking Gill to sign a minor-league deal. The 38-year-old Gill would be a better option as a seventh defenseman rather than asking a younger player, who needs playing time, to sit in the press box as an extra. The Flyers don t like doing that. He doesn t get beat, Holmgren said of Gill. You could argue that he is slow, but he s been the same player for probably the last 10 years. Maybe the game has gotten a little faster. Having him at camp has been a real pleasure. He is full of life. For an older guy who played as many games as he has, he provides enthusiasm. He s a good pro. I love having him around. Complicating this is the fact that the Flyers have seven regulars on defense right now with Andrej Meszaros and Erik Gustafsson vying for the final spot among the top six. Holmgren said he would not put Gustafsson through waivers for the purposes of sending him to the Phantoms for fear of losing him.

11 NHL rosters have to be submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday. Holmgren said he would like to make some roster decisions by late Friday. Holmgren: Gagne not in Flyers' plans Free agent forward Simon Gagne said late Friday that he had not heard from the Flyers. Holmgren said, at this point, Gagne no longer figures in any plans for the Flyers, regardless of what happens with their current roster. 8. CSNPhilly.com - Flyers Notes: Laviolette disappointed with effort Tim Panaccio Even with a B lineup that wasn t expected to defeat the Devils, the lack of competition in a 4-1 loss ate at Flyers coach Peter Laviolette on Thursday. We were competitive in the first period, but it seemed we didn t handle the pressure, the puck or the physicality in the second, Laviolette said. Guys you were looking to respond needed to respond better. That s what I don t get. We re in a training camp, an evaluation period and a process for guys to put their cards on the table, and I was disappointed in that tonight. The Flyers hung goalie Steve Mason (21 saves) out to dry in the second period, with two goals in the crease and one deflection. He played terrific, Laviolette said. What I liked about him, when we were not having a lot of composure with the puck and things were turning over and the attempts were coming at him, he stayed in it. Mentally, he was sharp right to end. Laviolette said there was ample room to improve offensively. The game After having a goal wiped out in the first period, the Devils scored twice in the first 67 seconds of the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Both goals -- from Damien Brunner and Ryane Clowe -- were in the crease area. Keep in mind, eight Flyer regulars weren t in the lineup. It was 3-0 at the end of two periods. Matt Read scored the Flyers' lone goal with a short-handed breakaway against goalie Keith Kinkaid in the third period. The Flyers came into the game with just 11 goals (not counting shootouts) in their previous five exhibition games. Night off Had this been a more normal preseason schedule in which the final two exhibitions were spaced a day apart instead of back-to-back, Laviolette would have played his regulars -- those expected to open the season.

12 Instead, those players will appear Friday night in Washington during the Flyers preseason finale against the Capitals. Those who didn t dress against the Devils: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Vinny Lecavalier, Scott Hartnell, Zac Rinaldo, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Mark Streit, Bruno Gervais and Marc-Andre Bourdon (post-concussion syndrome), who is expected to go on LTIR next week. Defenseman Andrej Meszaros, however, played in his fourth game. The club appears to be showcasing him for a trade, but with his $4 million salary cap hit that is no easy task, even though this is the final year of his contract. Called up from the Phantoms were Nick Cousins, Ben Holmstrom and Tye McGinn. Flyer fitness Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Michael Wolf will issue a proclamation to the Flyers' Face Off for Fitness presented by Virtua program Friday, honoring the work being done to promote healthy lifestyles for children and encouraging participation in youth sports. The presentation will occur at the Holy Rosary School in Plymouth Meeting. The proclamation is endorsed by Governor Tom Corbett. Flyers Ambassador of Hockey Todd Fedoruk will accept this honor and will lead the session with children in attendance. Since its inception in 2009, the Flyers' Face Off for Fitness presented by Virtua program has visited over 150 schools reaching over 10,000 children. 9. CSNPhilly.com - Flyers send Raffl, Lauridsen to Phantoms CSNPhilly.com staff The Flyers on Friday made two roster moves, sending forward Michael Raffl and defenseman Oliver Lauridsen to Adirondack. Raffl, a 24-year-old winger who most recently played in the Swedish Allsvenskan league, was battling with Chris VandeVelde, Adam Hall, 2012 first-round draft pick Scott Laughton and others for the team's final forward spots. He did not record a point in four preseason games. Lauridsen, meanwhile, played 15 games for the Flyers last year as part of the team's depleted defensive unit, registering two goals and an assist. The Flyers play their final preseason game against the Capitals in Washington D.C. on Friday night. 10. Delco Daily Times - Flyers' preseason ends with yet another loss Rob Parent Despite breaking out of their offensive doldrums with three goals in the space of 4:45 late in the second period, the Flyers did enough wrong over the rest of the game Friday night to lose again, this time 6-3 at the hands of the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center.

13 So ends their preseason to forget, which for the Flyers counted out at 1-5-1, scoring 15 regulation goals over the seven games. I don t like the way we played some nights, general manager Paul Holmgren said. I was happier with our effort tonight... we did some good things. We have to move on now. But obviously it s got to be better. We have some work we have to do; clean up some things for the regular season. Obviously I m not happy about... the five losses. That s not good. It s got to be better. A couple of mistakes by goalie Ray Emery Friday exacerbated a generally lousy defensive performance by the Flyers, who fell behind early, got the game tied and promptly fizzled out in the third period. Eric Fehr and Alex Ovechkin scored a pair of goals each, both players getting them in the first and third periods to give the Caps their early lead, then enabling them to win going away. We ve still got work to do, coach Peter Laviolette said. There were some good things we saw and there are things we need to work on. The game was pockmarked by several fights, also natural between two teams that don t like each other, no matter what time of year it is. For his part, Zac Rinaldo was kicked out of the game when he hit Washington s Mikhail Grabovski, a free-agent pickup of the Caps better known as the guy that accidentally hit Chris Pronger in the eye with a stick while a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs a couple of years ago. Rinaldo got a game misconduct and five-minute major for elbowing, which likely will earn at least a look from the powers that be in the league office. I don t expect to hear anything, Holmgren said. I think it was a good hit... and a missed call by the referee. NOTES: Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds scored goals for the Flyers.... Holmgren said Jake Voracek (back) was fine and will be ready for the start of the season. 11. Bucks County Courier-Times - Holmgren still has some tough decisions Wayne Fish The Flyers announced on Friday that they have assigned forward Michael Raffl and defenseman Oliver Lauridsen to the Adirondack Phantoms. General manager Paul Holmgren met with reporters at the Verizon Center in Washington late Friday afternoon to discuss roster moves leading up to the Monday, 5 p.m. deadline when all final rosters must be submitted to the NHL. Here is a transcript of some of the questions Holmgren answered: Question: You sent Raffl and Lauridsen back today?

14 Holmgren: It was strictly a numbers thing with Oliver. We re happy with his development. He continues to improve. I think it s important for him to get playing down there. Michael played four of our games, I think he did something good in each of those games. I think we just want him to get a little more experience on the smaller rink where he can play more minutes and learn the North American game. Question: How does the Raffl move affect your left side? Holmgren: Right now we have 13 forwards here. (Actually 14, including Chris VandeVelde, who is on a minor league contract). Question: Any chance VandeVelde could be signed to a two-way contract? Holmgren: Yes. A lot of it depends on what happens with (rookie) Scott (Laughton, who can play only nine games before he either stays or goes back to junior). We ve kept our options open with Chris. He s played well so we ll see how it goes. Question: Has VandeVelde elevated himself above Raffl? Holmgren: The difference there is Chris is a North American player who has played three years pro now. Question: Have you decided if you re going to keep 13 or 14 forwards yet? Holmgren: No. I haven t decided yet. Question: Is there a possibility Laughton could stay here for nine (games)? Holmgren: There is a possibility. Any time a player can stay in the NHL, I think it s beneficial. Question: He s pretty much done it all in junior. Is there any point in sending him back from a learning standpoint? Holmgren: We want to be extra careful with this. I think that it s good that he stay here. He s played better the last couple games. Question: Cuts on Sunday? Holmgren: Could be late in the day (Saturday). Question: What have you seen from Hal Gill? Holmgren: He s a smart, stay-at-home defenseman. He doesn t get beat. You could argue that he s slow but he s been that player for the last 10 years. He s been a real pleasure. He s a good pro, I would love to have him around. I find it hard to believe we can find a spot for him but we ll talk (tomorrow). Question: Rather have him as a seventh than a young player like Erik Gustafsson?

15 Holmgren: We could put Gustafsson on waivers but that s a risk. That s the nature of the business now, you have to make decisions. I wouldn t feel very safe exposing Erik to waivers. Question: Would you keep Gill if he was willing to start the year in the minors (as an insurance policy)? Holmgren: I don t know what his other options would be. Maybe that s something we ll talk about, it s not out of the question. 12. Courier-Post - Flyers defense getting closer after cuts Dave Isaac Just like the Flyers were one of the first teams to attack free agency, they re also among the first to arrive at some semblance of a final product. According to GM Paul Holmgren, the ink could dry on the final roster as soon as Saturday night. He ll do it fast, but how he gets there that s the tricky part. After sending 24-year-old defenseman Oliver Lauridsen to the Adirondack Phantoms Friday, the team has nine healthy defensemen left in camp. The debate among the front office members and coaching staff is whether to carry seven or eight. Here are the locks formatted by the probable pairings and their cap hits: Kimmo Timonen ($6M) Braydon Coburn ($4.5M)Mark Streit ($5.25M) Luke Schenn ($3.6M) Andrej Meszaros ($4M) Nick Grossmann ($3.5M) Erik Gustafsson ($1M) On the outside looking in are Bruno Gervais ($825,000) and Hal Gill, in camp on a pro tryout with no contract. Holmgren said he would not want to subject Gustafsson to waivers, something he would have to do to send him down to the Phantoms, so he s definitely staying. All the other guys are on one-way contracts, too. Oh, and he really loves having Gill in camp. The GM would love to keep him around. You could argue that he s slow, but he s been the same player for probably the last 10 years, Holmgren said. Maybe the game s gotten a little faster. I don t know. Having him at camp has been a real pleasure. He s just full of life for a guy that s played as many games as he has. He s provided enthusiasm. He s a good pro. It sounds like Gill would be a perfect seventh defenseman for the Flyers, but something would have to give. Holmgren said it s not out of the realm of possibility to ask Gill to sign a two-way deal so the Flyers can keep him in the minors until there s a spot for him. I find it hard to believe we can make a spot (in the NHL), Holmgren said, but I guess you never say never.

16 Even to get him to the big club, a trade would likely be necessary. Except the market sounds rather dry at the moment. Holmgren hasn t been getting many calls about his surplus of defensemen. This time of year you always ask all the questions, the What are you looking for? What do you need? type thing, Holmgren said. General talk. Counting the injured Chris Pronger and Marc-Andre Bourdon, the Flyers spend a league-high $34,228,929 on defense. Who s second? The St. Louis Blues, who are spending $26,421,667 on the blueline thanks to Alex Pietrangelo s new $6.5 million cap hit. So what s the team to do? It sounds like they re not sure just yet. Said Holmgren, There s a lot of different scenarios we re talking about. 13. Courier-Post - Ovechkin helps Capitals beat Flyers 6-3 Associated Press Alex Ovechkin and Eric Fehr each scored twice to power the Washington Capitals to a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night in a preseason game that included five fights. Fehr has four goals in the last two games and a team-high five in the preseason for the Capitals (4-0-3), who blew a three-goal lead but remained undefeated. The Flyers trailed 3-0 before Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds scored in the final 5:55 of the second period. Fehr powered his own rebound past Ray Emery to make it 4-3 just 1:35 into the third. Ovechkin followed with his second goal. Michal Neuvirth made 32 saves for the Capitals. Tom Wilson and Mathieu Perreault also scored for Washington. 14. Courier-Post - VandeVelde hoping to make the cut Dave Isaac Few people knew Chris VandeVelde when he signed an AHL deal and joined the Flyers training camp on an amateur tryout. His connection to the organization was playing with Flyers assistant general manager Ron Hextall s son Brett at the University of North Dakota. I ve heard of Matt Read; I played against him in college, VandeVelde said. (Adirondack Phantoms goalie) Yann Danis was a goaltender I played with last year. Other than that, I didn t know anyone other than Ron.

17 Now might be the time to get to know the 26-year-old forward from Moorhead, Minn., because he beat out Michael Raffl, a free-agent signee in May, for a roster spot, and he s one step away from being on the Flyers final roster. In the Flyers preseason finale, a 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals, VandeVelde was in the lineup, but didn t see much action. I m not satisfied yet, VandeVelde said. There s still cuts to be made. The early favorite for the empty roster spot was Raffl, who came to the Flyers by way of Austria. This will be his first season in North America, but many thought he made a quick adjustment. In four preseason games, the 24-year-old didn t reach the scoresheet. It s a different game, but I m not really happy with what I did, Raffl told the Courier-Post earlier this week. I still think I can do better. It s gonna take some time, I think. Raffl was sent down to the Adirondack Phantoms Friday, along with defenseman Oliver Lauridsen. Those two cuts were half the job for the Flyers, who have at least two more players to cut. The difference is that Chris is a North American kid, GM Paul Holmgren said. He s played three years pro now. He s played NHL games. At least for the purpose of sending Michael down, it s just more important to get him playing more minutes down there. Rosters are due to the league office by 5 p.m. Monday, but Holmgren suggested he would have final cuts made at some point tonight. What he and the coaching staff are trying to decide on is to keep seven or eight defensemen, 13 or 14 forwards. They can only have 23 players on the active roster. One of those tough decisions is whether or not to keep Scott Laughton, the team s first-round pick in the 2012 draft. Ideally, you d like to stick him in the American League, Holmgren said. You can t do that with a 19- year-old. If Laughton plays 10 games this season, the clock will start ticking on his three-year, entry-level deal. He had a five game tryout with the Flyers last year and didn t register a point. If he sticks around, he ll likely be the fourth line center. The alternative is sending him to the OHL for one more year, where he ll likely be the best player. We want to be extra careful, Holmgren said. 15. HockeyBuzz.com - Meltzer's Musings: Poor Preseason Comes to an End, Quick Hits Bill Meltzer Flyers Preseason Ends How It Started In the Flyers' preseason opener in London, Ont. against Toronto on Sept. 15, Philly rallied all the way back from a 3-0 deficit only to give up the next goal and lose in regulation, 4-3. In the Flyers' preseason finale in DC against the Washington Capitals last night, Philly rallied all the

18 way back from a 3-0 deficit only to give up the next goal -- and then two more -- in a regulation loss. The Flyers spent basically the entire preseason chasing games. In posting a record, they yielded the first goal in all seven games, fell behind by multiple goals in five of the games, and played with a lead for just 13:29 of 430 minutes of regulation/ot hockey. The one lead they did hold (in the third period of their Sept. 16 split squad home game against the Capitals) was blown in the final minute of regulation, and the team went to lose that match via shootout. In last night's game, the Flyers dressed pretty much their entire opening night roster with the exception of top line right winger Jakub Voracek (held out for precautionary reasons after his lower back collided with the goal post in Tuesday's 2-1 home loss to the Devils). Nevertheless, the Flyers' porous team defense managed to yield six goals in a chippy and fight-filled game. Eric Fehr and Alexander Ovechkin (two power play goals) notched a pair of goals each for the Capitals, who also individual goals from bruising rookie winger Tom Wilson and center Mathieu Perrault (threepoint night). Michal Neuvirth stopped 32 of 35 shots for the win in goal. It wasn't entirely a negative night for the Flyers, however. Apart from a coverage miscue by Braydon Coburn that led to Wilson staking the Caps to a 3-0 lead, the second period of last night's game might have been the Flyers' best period of the exhibition season. During that segment of the game, Philly carried most of the play in outshooting Washington by a 15-5 margin. The Flyers started to put together some good shifts before the Wilson goal and, importantly, they didn't deflate immediately after it was scored. Instead, Philly kept plugging and got consecutive goals by Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell (power play) and Wayne Simmonds to tie the game before the second intermission. Unfortunately, the opening and final 20 minutes of hockey were not even close to good enough for a win-starved team in a full dress rehearsal for opening night. The lack of discipline Philly displayed, coverage breakdowns by defensemen and forwards alike and frequent inability to generate good backto-back shifts were far more disturbing than the fact they lost the game. All of these aforementioned issues are lingering problems from last season that have gone uncorrected. From the sound of things, Zac Rinaldo will not be suspended for the hit on Mikhail Grabovski that resulted in an elbowing major and game misconduct for Rinaldo. Replays suggested that it was not Rinaldo's elbow that made contact with the Washington forward, who had his head down as Rinaldo finished his check. Working against Rinaldo are his previous rap sheet of OHL, AHL and NHL suspensions and the fact that his skates lifted off the ice as he delivered the hit. Working in his favor are the facts that, well, he didn't actually elbow the opponent and the player did not miss a shift. The Flyers got a pedestrian goaltending performance last night from Ray Emery (24 saves of 29 shots), whose previous play in the exhibition slate had been one of the bright spots. Last night, he had periodic issues with rebound control and lateral movement. Emery also had a pair of giveaways when handling the puck, one of which led to the game's first goal by Fehr just 1:40 after the opening face off. I am not too concerned about Emery. Every goalie has off nights and I thought he was generally solid in his previous outings. His goaltender partner, Steve Mason, also played a bit better than his stats would suggest but Emery was the more likely of the two to come up with tough stops that settled the team down a bit in stretches of in-game adversity. It just didn't happen last night.

19 As I wrote many, many times during Ilya Bryzgalov's tenure as the Flyers starter -- as well as the previous tenures of Sergei Bobrovsky/Brian Boucher, Boucher/Michael Leighton/Emery, etc. -- no goalie is going to look good in the long run if the team allows too many open chances from prime scoring range. Even a team with Vezina-caliber goaltending needs its skaters to be committed to helping defend the house. When a team has average goaltending, that's even more necessary. Bottom line: If the Flyers do not improve defensively as a team -- and I mean by a significant margin -- Peter Laviolette will not last the season as the head coach, because this club will struggle to contend for a playoff spot in the same exact way it did last year. Now for a little ray of hope: Accomplishing this is more a matter of getting commitment than changing on-ice personnel. There have been sporadic stretches of games even in this preseason -- such as most of the second period last night -- where the Flyers got their two-way game going. Late last season, when Laviolette simplified his system by necessity due to a host of injuries on the blueline, the team actually played decent allaround hockey despite icing what was mostly an AHL starting defense. Lastly, if you go back to Bryzgalov's franchise-record shutout streak in March of 2012, a (temporarily) re-emphasized team-wide commitment to defensive support had as much to do with it as undeniably excellent and (again, temporarily) focused play by the goaltender. Sporadic defensive commitment, however, isn't going to be good enough for this team to build a playoff-worthy record in the regular season. If the Flyers carry over into the regular season the habits that caused them to constantly play from behind during the preseason, they are going to have similarly dismal results and the coach will be gone before the calendar flips to That's just reality. ********** SATURDAY QUICK HITS * There are rumors this morning that the Flyers may trade defenseman Andrej Meszaros to Colorado for center John Mitchell. If that is true, it would be a good deal for the Flyers on three different fronts. It would fill the Flyers' need for a grinding, third-line forward with size, and who can also pop a few goals. Although Mitchell is yet another natural center, he is versatile and has played wing in his career. It would save money on the cap (Mitchell makes $1.1 million on the cap to Meszaros' $4 million). Lastly, it would help in resolving the logjam of fifth-to-seventh defensemen the Flyers currently still have on the roster before the opening night roster has to be set on Monday. However, because this trade has not yet actually happened -- and may not come to fruition at all -- the Quick Hits below are based on the status quo. * The Flyers made two roster cuts yesterday, sending Oliver Lauridsen and Michael Raffl to the Phantoms. The demotion of Lauridsen was not a surprise, given the team's numbers crunch on the blueline and Lauridsen's struggles with avoidable penalties as well as ongoing consistency issues with his defensive positioning and footwork. The demotion of Raffl was a bit more surprising, despite his scoreless preseason and decreasing effectiveness after a strong first game. Ultimately, the Flyers elected (wisely in my opinion), that Raffl needed to take the intermediate step of playing in the American Hockey League to better acclimate himself both to the transition of playing the North American game and managing the enormous step up in competition from Allsvenskan to the NHL.

20 * With Raffl being assigned to the Phantoms, Scott Laughton and Chris VandeVelde are two forwards left standing in the battle for a single open roster spot. I thought that VandeVelde played well enough early in the preseason to have his AHL-only contract converted into a two-way NHL contract, enabling him to be called up to the big club if needed to fill in for a few games. Not for a moment, however, did I think the former Edmonton Oiler played well enough to make the Flyers opening night roster. VandeVelde played poorly in Thursday's 4-1 loss in New Jersey; so poorly, I thought, that I was almost certain that he'd be announced as a roster cut yesterday. Instead, he played last night, albeit sparingly (nine shifts, 6:00 of ice time). When the Flyers were ultimately unable to sign Daniel Cleary and elected not to re-sign Simon Gagne, they hoped that an internal candidate among Raffl, Tye McGinn or VandeVelde would step up and grab the third-line left wing spot. Honestly, none of them deserved it. As a result, I think veteran Max Talbot is the team's best option at this point. In Laughton's case, the 19-year-old had a poor first game of the preseason but I thought the team's 2012 first-round pick had a few standout moments in his other outings. His best game -- which I did not see firsthand apart from highlight clips, because I was covering the split squad game in Philly against Washington and Laughton was in the other group playing in Toronto at the same time -- was his second game. The Flyers still have to decide if Laughton is better off getting a nine-game trial as a fourth liner or spare forward with the NHL club or returning to the OHL's Oshawa Generals and logging all-situation ice time. Laughton is a natural center, and the organization would prefer if he stays in that spot. If he does play center, however, he lacks a current lineup spot. The Flyers need another NHL winger of at least third-line caliber, but they are pretty much set for centers. Giroux, Lecavalier, Sean Couturier and Adam Hall as the team's four centers, while wingers Talbot and Read also have some NHL centering experience. Second-line left winger Brayden Schenn, who has yo-yoed between center and wing in his NHL career to date, is a natural center. VandeVelde (if he makes the team) is another natural center. It would seem to me that asking Laughton to play wing for the first time in his fledgling career might be the only way to get him into the lineup. Is that what's best for the current team and best for continuing to nurture his development? I tend to think not, but it's not my call to make. * Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren told Tim Panaccio yesterday that he plans to sit down today with tryout defenseman Hal Gill to discuss the veteran's situation in light of the team's roster crunch on defense. Gill, who has logged 1,102 NHL regular-season games and an additional 102 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, did not play especially well during the preseason. He was never a real mobile blueliner even in his prime and, as the pacing of play has gotten even faster, he's had to rely solely on guile and his knowledge of how to use his size and body positioning to his advantage. However, the 38-year-old is a highly respected and well-liked played leaguewide. He keeps himself in good shape and sets a positive example with his work ethic and mind for the game as well as his off-ice