Alain Vigneault

Alain Vigneault announced on Thursday that Rasmus Ristolainen and Patrick Brown will miss Friday's season opener for the Flyers. In their place, Nick Seeler will play and Max Willman will make his NHL debut.

The Flyers claimed forward Zack MacEwen from the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday. To make room for MacEwen on the roster under the salary cap limit, the Flyers placed Kevin Hayes on long-term injured reserve.

On Wednesday, the Flyers made 10 roster cuts, bringing the roster to 24 healthy players and 32 overall. Five players were assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, headlined by forward Morgan Frost. Four more, including Connor Bunnaman, were placed on waivers.

Monday's win for the Flyers over the Bruins required overtime, despite Boston icing their 'B' team. Part of that was quality goaltending. But the Flyers also showed that they are still a work in progress in some areas as the preseason draws closer to an end.

The Flyers defeated the Capitals on Saturday night, but it was more than just the team winning a game for the first time this preseason. It was the players that really stood out and the coming together of a bunch of new faces to show signs that this season could be different in terms of the mood around the team.

Saturday night will present the next opportunity for players to put the drills and systems worked on in camp to the test. As the Washington Capitals come to town, the Flyers will ice a more experienced lineup. Game time is 7 p.m.

You can imagine how the result looked when the Boston Bruins, playing in their first preseason home game, took the opportunity to load up with roughly 90 percent of the NHL roster. It's hardly a way to evaluate how one team looks against another. It did present some early warning signs that need to be addressed and cleaned up with exactly two weeks remaining until the regular season opener.

Thursday’s lineup in Boston for the Flyers second preseason game will feature a bunch of new players who did not suit up on Tuesday night. Only two players will return to the lineup: veteran defenseman Nick Seeler and prospect Tyson Foerster. Foerster had a solid rookie camp and has turned heads so far, clearly drawing the eye of Vigneault to include him among the regulars.

The competitive juices were flowing with the first scrimmage of Flyers training camp, as the team looks to build more chemistry ahead of the preseason opener on Tuesday.

In addition to more work on the ice for the Flyers, Dave Scott, Governor of the Flyers, gave his state of the team in a press conference on Saturday morning.