With trade deadline passed, Flyers experimenting with young players in ‘different opportunities’

ST. LOUIS -- After Flyers morning skate on Thursday in advance of their game against the St. Louis Blues, forward Joel Farabee practiced taking face offs against Morgan Frost.

Farabee, 22, has spent the season — and most of his career — on the wing. But the trade deadline departures of Claude Giroux and forward Derick Brassard gave way to a new opportunity for Farabee.

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On Tuesday, Farabee took shifts at center in the Flyers’ 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Prior to the game, he consulted with Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier on how to master the art of the face off. Two days later in St. Louis, with the drop of each puck, Farabee continued to hone his craft and gear up for an extended look at center.

“In talking with [senior advisor] Dean Lombardi and in talking with [general manager] Chuck [Fletcher], this has been something that, looking at Joel, that they’ve actually had some curiosity to see how he could do in this position,” interim head coach Mike Yeo said.

Yeo said Farabee played “a real solid game all around” in his debut in the middle on Tuesday. He lauded Farabee’s ability to help the Flyers get to their offensive game, whether he was helping the team transition out of their zone or going back to retrieve pucks coming out of defensive zone coverage.

Additionally, Yeo was impressed with Farabee’s ability to defend.

“He’s a guy that’s down low,” Yeo said. “And he has to be in good position. He has to make the right reads. He has to have the right sort outs. And I thought he did an excellent job of that.”

With the trade deadline passed and the Flyers out of playoff contention, the season now becomes about giving young players new responsibilities and trying them out in different roles. While the Farabee-at-center experiment moves forward, players including Frost and winger Travis Konecny will get a look on the Flyers’ penalty kill for the first time this season.

“We want to go out there and try to win hockey games,” Yeo said. “But we also have the opportunity here to see how people respond to different opportunities that they’re given, as well.”

Six hours before the Phantoms’ road game against the Hershey Bears on Wednesday, winger Hayden Hodgson took his typical pregame nap.

After he woke up, he received a not-so-typical phone call from Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière — Hodgson had been called up by the Flyers, Laperrière informed him, and would make his NHL debut on Thursday.

“It’s been a crazy year,” Hodgson said. “It’s just been step after step. I’m very fortunate to be here. It’s a dream come true.”

Hodgson, 26, is tied with Phantoms captain Cal O’Reilly for the team lead in goals this season with 18. In 44 games, Hodgson has registered 29 points. But before his productive year with the Phantoms, Hodgson spent the last four seasons with six different ECHL teams and one in Slovakia.

After participating in Phantoms training camp on a tryout, Hodgson signed an AHL contract before the season. On Tuesday, he signed an NHL contract for the rest of 2021-22.

“I think I’ve always been the player that I am right now and obviously my game’s progressed a little bit,” Hodgson said. “But just being able to get that opportunity at the start of the year and have an organization and a coach that has trust and faith in me, that’s huge for a player.”

Hodgson will slot in on the fourth line at left wing alongside center Patrick Brown and winger Zack MacEwen against the Blues.

“This is a guy, he was just not given anything. He has had to absolutely work and earn for everything that he’s gotten,” Yeo said. “I know Lappy [Laperrière] speaks extremely highly of him and his ability to be an NHL player. So I’m excited to see what he can do.”

On March 10 against the Florida Panthers, Laughton sustained a concussion when he took a heavy hit from Petteri Lindbohm. Although Laughton skated with a few teammates on Tuesday at the Flyers Training Center, he hasn’t been cleared to return to action yet.

On Wednesday, Laughton had a doctor’s appointment in St. Louis to evaluate his progress. According to Yeo, Laughton “didn’t get great news.” Now, the team is shutting him down for the time being.

“Just take things easy here,” Yeo said. “Obviously, his long-term health and just making sure that when he comes back in the lineup, we’re 100 percent guaranteed that — and obviously, you’re never 100 percent guaranteed in the game of hockey — that we’re extremely, extremely confident that he’s fully healed and ready to go.”

Backup goalie Martin Jones (23 games played, 3.36 goals-against average, .902 save percentage) got the start against the Blues. ... Yeo said that winger Oskar Lindblom is a little banged-up and did not play on Thursday. He is day-to-day. As a result, the Flyers went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. ... Flyers prospect Jay O’Brien (2018 Round 1, No. 19 overall) will return to Boston University for his senior season. He will require surgery in the offseason after dealing with injuries throughout his junior year.