VOORHEES, N.J. - For the first time Monday night, Alain Vigneault will be behind the Flyers' bench and Kevin Hayes will rock the orange and black sweater at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers open their 2019-20 exhibition slate against the Islanders, starting a stretch of four preseason games in six days.
Let's get into the essentials:
• When: 7 p.m. ET
• Where: Wells Fargo Center
• Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• Morgan Frost played just one preseason game last year.
This year, he was looking forward to a real shot. That opportunity will be pushed back by at least one game. The 2017 first-round pick was slated to center Isaac Ratcliffe and Joel Farabee but will miss the game because of a tweaked groin. Frost is considered day to day and the Flyers don't believe the injury is serious.
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"He was able to finish practice [Sunday]," Vigneault said after morning skate. "Just being on the safe side, giving him today off and we'll see how he is [Tuesday]."
The Flyers play seven preseason games this year. The opening ones are important for players pushing to make the roster because it's early in the evaluation process and a prime chance to make a first impression. Could this hurt Frost's chances? Somewhat, given this was a good opportunity to play between two other talented prospects.
But it's nothing to make a huge deal over. The Flyers know Frost's game, they know his strengths and he'll get his crack at the roster. Tuesday's game is a big one if Frost can suit up.
"Given the fact that it's not serious and it's just day to day, we've got seven exhibition games, so he's going to get a chance to play," Vigneault said. "He's done real well so far, I really liked how he looked at our rookie camp and how he's looked so far. It was better for us to give him today off and hopefully [Tuesday] he'll be able to step back on the ice."
Jakub Voracek, who skated with Frost in the first two days of camp, agreed.
His position is a little bit different than some guys that try to make the team out of nowhere. There's a lot of hype about him and deservedly so. I hope it's nothing serious.
If it's only for a couple days, I'm sure he's going to have time to show up and play his type of game and show them he belongs here.
• The Flyers practiced their power play at morning skate. Here were the units that you can expect to see tonight.
First unit
Hayes, Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, Oskar Lindblom and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Second unit
Farabee, Ratcliffe, Cal O'Reilly, Philippe Myers and Egor Zamula.
Gostisbehere will have a lot to work with running the point and let's see if the size of van Riemsdyk, Hayes and Voracek causes problems for the Islanders.
Ratcliffe has some intriguing net-front potential and keep an eye on Farabee, who has turned heads in camp and can make plays in a variety ways.
• Interestingly, Vigneault is letting general manager Chuck Fletcher and assistant general manager Brent Flahr construct the lineups early in camp and for the first two preseason games.
It's good for Vigneault because he can gather a better grasp of the talent and also get a better feel for what the front office thinks of certain players.
"I've already told Chuck and Brent that they've got full latitude for the first two lineups and then after that, I'm going to get a little bit more involved with them and discuss what I'm seeing," Vigneault said. "But since I'm new, I'm going to trust their experience, I'm going to trust their feedback."
• Some league news:
The NHLPA announced today that the Executive Board has declined to reopen the CBA with the NHL following the 2019-20 season. The current CBA remains in effect through the 2021-22 season. The NHLPA advised the League of its decision earlier today. pic.twitter.com/IdZZT9HXL7— NHLPA (@NHLPA) September 16, 2019
Quotable
One of the things I've found throughout the years is people say that we make the decisions, but we really don't make the decisions. The players make the decisions for us by how they play, how they continue to improve. Tonight is the first test, the first opportunity for those guys to show that they can play at this level.
- Vigneault
Projected lineup
Forwards
James van Riemsdyk-Kevin Hayes-Jakub Voracek
Isaac Ratcliffe-Cal O'Reilly-Joel Farabee
Oskar Lindblom-German Rubtsov-Chris Stewart
Kyle Criscuolo-Mikhail Vorobyev-Maksim Sushko
Defensemen
Shayne Gostisbehere-Justin Braun
Egor Zamula-Philippe Myers
Samuel Morin-Andy Welinski
Goalies
Brian Elliott
Alex Lyon
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