The Philadelphia Flyers are back at the Flyers Training Center, and have had back-to-back practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first time since the Olympic Break.

Both practices were very similar in setup. It began with your typical drills, warm-up, and line rushes. It was then followed by a series of competitive drills, mostly five-on-five, and concluded with some intense conditioning.

On Tuesday, it ended with a conditioning drill of laps around the net. Each net moved slightly farther past the crease to create more space behind the net. Wednesday’s practice concluded with a shuttle skate, going from the goal line to the blueline and back, moving up each line until the drill was done. Each group did it twice.

Following both practices, players stuck on the ice to get some extra work in. Matvei Michkov and Denver Barkey were the last two players off the ice, each working on shots on different nets. On Wednesday, Bobby Brink was on one sheet, working on one-timers. Carson Bjarnason, Oliver Bonk, Hunter McDonald, and Barkey were on the other sheet.

As far as lines go, take everything with a grain of salt. With a week between Wednesday’s practice and the first game, a lot could change. From what I could tell from the two practices, here’s how they lined up.

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Flyers lines & pairs at practices

Forwards

Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nick Deslauriers – Carl Grundstrum – Garnet Hathaway

With no 4C, I would still take these units with a grain of salt.

Defensemen

The defensemen were pretty much a solid rotation away from Cam York and Jamie Drysdale.

That means that for most of the drills, Emil Andrae, Noah Juulsen, Nick Seeler, Hunter McDonald, and Oliver Bonk rotated. Nothing consistent enough to report home here.

Goalies

Sam Ersson
Carson Bjarnason

Flyers prospects practice with the NHL team

Down three players, the team called up prospects Carson Bjarnason, Oliver Bonk, and Hunter McDonald. The expectation is that all three will be sent back to the AHL once the Flyers’Olympians return from Milan.

Practice time gives the Flyers’ staff a chance to get a good look at some of the team’s best prospects in the Lehigh Valley.

“It’s a decision that’s not taken lightly, and something that we talk about organizationally,” said Flyers assistant coach Todd Reirden. “This was a great opportunity for them to be involved in some pretty high-spirited practices with a lot of pace that weren’t easy. [It] allows us to kind of introduce them to the group a little bit more in that type of a setting, but also see where they’re, where they’re at in terms of their own development.”

Bonk had missed a good portion of the season after an injury sustained at training camp. After practice, Bonk said it taught him the traits of being a pro, a valuable lesson to learn early in his career. “Definitely got some a lot more stretching and rehab to do before every skate now, which is sometimes it’s a lot, but I mean, it teaches you how to be a pro early on,” said Bonk.

Reirden said some of the drills were designed to test the prospect’s ability to hang with the NHL. He had nothing but good things to say about Bjarnason and Bonk.

Flyers post-practice

After Wednesday’s practice, the Flyers had the Czechia-Canada game on every TV in the locker room. It was actually pretty cool to see a lot of the guys tuned into the game. It’s not often you get to see a bunch of professional hockey players glued to a TV watching a hockey game. I guess it helps when you have teammates on both benches.

Still, nothing tops the reaction of the three young Canadians, Barkey, Bonk, and Bjarnason, as they enter the room with McDonald and see the shock on their faces at Canada trailing 3-2. The group was also the last off the ice.

Bonk was in a funny spot, as he is a Canadian and has represented Canada. Meanwhile, his dad, Radek, had represented Czechia on the international stage. Looks like Oliver has the upper hand there.

Overall, the Flyers had a great practice, with still plenty more to go before the next game.

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