Flyers’ roster starts to take shape, as clear groups are formed, team cuts 20 from training camp

Friday marked a shift in John Tortorella’s first Flyers training camp.

When the players walked into the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, the groups on the board were obviously more defined. The second group to hit the ice for practice, Saturday’s game group, looked like an actual opening-night lineup rather than a mash of hopefuls and veterans.

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The 24-person group included forwards Wade Allison, Cam Atkinson, Jackson Cates, Noah Cates, Nic Deslauriers, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Kevin Hayes, Tanner Laczynski, Scott Laughton, Olle Lycksell, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, and James van Riemsdyk; defensemen Justin Braun, Tony DeAngelo, Ivan Provorov, Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, Cam York, and Egor Zamula; and goaltenders Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandström.

“We put the groups up on the board, and it’s pretty simple as far as what the groups mean,” Tortorella said. “I think you can interchange some players as we go through here depending on what goes on as far as practice habits or what we see.”

There still are decisions to be made before the roster is trimmed down to the allowed 23 players, but everyone who was on the ice in that second group is in the running to be on the opening-night roster against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 13. With Sean Couturier and Patrick Brown out with back injuries, there are several players — Frost, Cates, Laczynski, and Artem Anisimov — competing for two open center spots. There also is fierce competition among the wingers, while the third-pair defensemen battle — Braun, York, Seeler, and Zamula — continues to wage on.

Camp also took a shift in terms of drills on Friday. While there still was sprinting and conditioning, the Flyers ran lines, practiced wall battles, and went over coverages. The lines featured a rotating cast of players. Tortorella said there still are a lot of question marks, and he doesn’t expect to have the actual lines set until the week of the season opener.

“I’ve gone through lineups,” Tortorella said. “I’ve gone through what a tentative lineup would be. I had one the other day and then we had an injury that kind of screws things up in my mind. ... So, yeah, I have thoughts about it. But I don’t want to get too far ahead until we get closer to opening night.”

Following practice, the number of players in contention shrank even further when the Flyers announced another round of cuts. A day after releasing veteran Antoine Roussel from his professional tryout and Théo Rochette from his amateur tryout, on Friday, the Flyers assigned 18 players to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, highlighted by forwards Zayde Wisdom and Elliot Desnoyers. Jordy Bellerive, Jacob Gaucher, Charlie Gerard, Alex Kile, Tye McSorley, Cal O’Reilly, Garrett Wilson, Colin Felix, Linus Högberg, Will MacKinnon, Mason Millman, Wyatte Wylie, Cooper Zech, Jonathan Lemieux, Nolan Maier, and Tyler Wall were the other 16 players assigned to the Phantoms. The Flyers’ training camp roster now sits at 45 players.

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The Flyers also placed two players, Isaac Ratcliffe and Linus Sandin, on waivers for the purpose of assigning them to the Phantoms. The 6-foot-6 Ratcliffe not making it past the first major round of cuts was a bit of surprise, as the former second-round pick impressed during 10 games up with the Flyers last season (one goal, three assists). Ratcliffe and Sandin will need to clear waivers before they can report to Lehigh Valley.

Two games in a row, Ersson has had to step into the net after two periods of sitting and observing. Starting goalie Carter Hart said Ersson has looked impressive in his first preseason action.

Despite coming in cold, Ersson has had strong performances in both outings. Against the Buffalo Sabres, he stopped all seven shots he faced, and a night later against the Washington Capitals, he stopped 11 of 12.

Ersson still thinks he has more to show. After the Buffalo game, he wished he had made the stop in the mock shootout (although his teammates also didn’t score). But he’s also pleased with where he’s at, saying he’s further ahead than he anticipated he would be after coming back from injury.

“When you miss that much time like he did last year, he only played four games for me last year, but he’s strong mentally,” Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière said after the Buffalo game. “His biggest quality is that he wants it. He’s a competitor, and he wants to be the best that he can be. He doesn’t want to play for me. He wants to play at the next level. And I think it’s great. He’s got the right mindset, and, with his skill set, the sky’s the limit, for sure.”

Friday morning, Ersson, 22, found his name listed with the players who have the best shot at making the Flyers. Obviously, the goal is to make the NHL roster, Ersson said, but he’s not stressed about spending more time with the Phantoms since he has two more years on his entry-level contract.

“I’m in no rush,” Ersson said. “I’ve got to come back from this injury and in a good way, and I’ve got to play lots of games this year. That’s my main goal.”

The Flyers are in Boston on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against the Bruins. ... Ivan Provorov did not practice Friday because he took a maintenance day. ... Cam Atkinson, Joel Farabee, and Carter Hart were cleared for no-contact practice. Hart told the media he expects to be healthy enough to play at least one preseason game.