Flyers finalize roster, send Joel Farabee and Phil Myers to Lehigh Valley

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- In a surprise, winger Joel Farabee was among the Flyers who didn’t survive the final cuts Tuesday.

Farabee, 19, who played solidly in the preseason, and defenseman Phil Myers were loaned to the AHL’s Phantoms, though they could return shortly if the Flyers gain salary-cap space by putting Nolan Patrick on the long-term injured reserve list.

For now, the Flyers, who were up against the cap, will have just 20 players on the roster, including only 11 forwards. Rookies Carsen Twarynski and Connor Bunnaman were among the forwards who earned spots.

The roster:

Forwards (11): Travis Konecny, Michael Raffl, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom, James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Carsen Twarynski, Connor Bunnaman, and Jake Voracek.

Defensemen (7): Travis Sanheim, Robert Hagg, Ivan Provorov, Matt Niskanen, Shayne Gostisbehere, Samuel Morin, and Justin Braun.

Goalies (2): Carter Hart and Brian Elliott.

Morin would have had to clear waivers to be sent to the Phantoms and the Flyers didn’t want to risk losing a former first-round draft choice.

The Flyers also placed Patrick, Tyler Pitlick, and Andy Welinski on the injured nonroster list. Their salaries still count against the cap. It was surprising that Pitlick, who rehabbed from wrist surgery during most of training camp, was not on the roster because earlier in the evening, coach Alain Vigneault said he was making great progress and there was a chance he could play in Friday’s opener against Chicago in Prague.

General manager Chuck Fletcher cleared up the matter late Tuesday, saying Pitlick has not been cleared by a doctor to play in a game and that it was still a possibility he might be cleared for Friday.

The Flyers did not offer bruising right winger Chris Stewart a contract, but he is still with the team. He could be offered a contract down the road if the Flyers have cap room.

According to CapFriendly.com, the Flyers have just $283,811 in cap space.

Hart allowed four goals on 12 shots and was removed from Monday’s exhibition game -- an eventual 4-3 Flyers loss to Lausanne HC in Switzerland -- but his teammates brushed aside the young goaltender’s performance.

Hart had stopped 56 of 57 shots against NHL competition this preseason.

Gostisbehere sounded annoyed when asked if he was concerned about Hart’s confidence level after Monday’s shelling.

“No, it’s one game. He’s a stud,” he said. “He’s got a short-term memory and he’ll be fine. It’s typical of people to panic after one game. He’s a good kid and he’s got a good head on his shoulders and he’s ready to go. ”

Vigneault was not ready to announce his starter for Friday’s opener. He said he would tell the goalies his decision after Thursday’s practice.

As for Monday’s loss to the Swiss National League team, Gostisbehere gave credit to the Swiss, who dominated the first period as the Flyers took a while to get acclimated to the wider rink.

“You have to hand it to them, they played pretty well," he said. "They knew how to play the ice well. I think we adjusted [as the game went on], but it still wasn’t enough.”

Vigneault scrambled his lines and pairings in Tuesday’s practice.

“Have I found yet the right combinations for this team to be successful? I’m still in the process of working that out,” he said. “Have we found the right D pairs? Still in the process of finding that out. Hopefully, it won’t be a long process, but sometimes it takes a little bit of time."

Tuesday’s lines: Hayes centered Giroux and Voracek; Couturier centered Konecny and Lindblom; Laughton centered van Riemsdyk and Farabee/Twarynski; and Bunnaman centered Raffl and Pitlick/Stewart.

The defense: Provorov and Braun; Sanheim and Niskanen; Gostisbehere and Hagg; and Morin and Myers.

Several Flyers said it was fun to see how popular Voracek is in his homeland, the Czech Republic. “You could see it as soon as we were coming off the plane," Raffl said. “People grabbing pictures with him. It’s going to be a zoo out there for that guy.” ... Voracek took the team to one of his favorite restaurants Tuesday night. “Jakey and food, they go well together,” Raffl said.