Flyers Roster Update: Oskar Lindblom Heads to Phantoms, Roster Holds at 24
Flyers GM Ron Hextall updated the Flyers roster on Sunday night following the preseason finale.
As of Sunday night, only one cut had officially been made, with forward Oskar Lindblom heading to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. All other players are still on the roster at the moment, bringing the roster to 24 players.
"Oskar did a good job in camp and it’s the one thing you try to punctuate with young players. You didn’t fail. You had a good camp but right now the best thing for you and the team is for you to go up there and play well," Hextall said. "He was great. He took it very well.
"Oskar is a good player and American League time hasn’t hurt one player in history of professional hockey. So he will be fine. When you say high expectations you are also talking the kid who came from the big rink, played extremely well but came from a big rink and all of a sudden you get into a smaller rink with big guys, fast guys. Oskar played well."
The reason the final roster of 23 was not officially announced was because of an injury to Shayne Gostisbehere in the third period of Sunday's game. Gostisbehere missed the final seven minutes of the period and was being evaluated following the game. Hextall said there would be an update on Monday, but expected all eight defensemen on the roster to travel to California for the start of the Flyers season.
Officially, the team announced that Nolan Patrick and Robert Hagg are going to be on the roster, meaning the final cut is down to Sam Morin and Travis Sanheim.
With Lindblom heading down to Lehigh Valley, the Flyers should be set at forward, meaning that Taylor Leier and Scott Laughton also made the team.
Again, the full roster is expected to come on Monday, but for now, it appears the Flyers may not do anything else with the roster until a full update on Gostisbehere is available, which could keep either Sanheim or Morin around a little longer.
The Flyers open the season on Wednesday night against the San Jose Sharks at 10:30 p.m.
Kevin Durso is Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.