Flyers taking a good look at winger Anthony Richard, who could fill a need for speed

The Flyers roster is all but set. Minus the early arrival of Matvei Michkov, It has pretty much been that way since the final buzzer sounded in April.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity for a handful of forwards to pack a bag for a season-opening, four-game swing out West,/, whether that means sneaking into the top 12 or as an extra hand on deck.

One of those guys is someone familiar to Flyers fans: Olle Lycksell.

After playing in 18 games last season, the Swedish winger has found another gear during training camp with his puck pursuit, possession play, and vision on the ice. His confidence this season has impressed coach John Tortorella, who noted that Lycksell has “had a good camp” but is “not sure where it all falls as far as the roster is concerned.” Lycksell does have three points in four games, including finding Matvei Michkov backdoor on the power play Saturday against the Boston Bruins.

But there’s another lesser-known guy who has left an impression: Anthony Richard.

Signed to a two-year, two-way $1.55 million contract on July 2, the forward has flashed speed in the Flyers’ training camp scrimmages and preseason games.

“Richard has had a good camp,” Tortorella said. “He can skate. He has put up numbers down in the American [Hockey] League. He brings offense, [he] has just played good.

“I remember I talked to him early on in camp, and I told him, I said, ‘I don’t care about turnovers. I want you to take a chance to try to bring some offense in a team that needs offense.’ And I think he’s done a pretty good job of that in camp. He has turned the puck over a few times, but we want to play with some risk and try to explain our philosophy to him, and so we continue to evaluate him and look at him. That’s why he keeps on getting these games.”

That conversation, before the preseason game last month against the Montreal Canadiens, has stuck with the forward who is now looking to stick with the Flyers. The former Canadiens player was not expecting the grizzled bench boss to pull him aside, but the message he received was something “that I’ve been waiting a long time to hear from coaches, especially in the NHL.”

The 27-year-old Quebec native has 24 NHL games under his belt across three clubs but is excited to finally feel free to play his game and use his speed to create offensive chances.

» READ MORE: Flyers rookie sensation Matvei Michkov is the real deal. His team is ready to protect the investment

Speaking with general manager Danny Brière and his agent over the summer, Richard was told the Flyers were focusing on speed, checking with a player’s legs, and having a good stick. It’s a system built for his game. Richard signed with the Flyers after playing in the Boston Bruins organization, a team focused on physicality — but he doesn’t shy away from playing physical.

“With the Flyers, it’s nice because there’s teams that, even when you’re a smaller guy, they ask you to play physical,” Richard said. “But here [it’s about] checking with your stick and using your legs. I like that, because it doesn’t mean that I have to hit every time. It puts you out of position to hit bigger guys because sometimes, honestly, when I try to hit bigger guys, they don’t really feel me. So I’m putting myself out of the play.”

At 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, Richard’s biggest asset is his speed. And speed is something Tortorella thinks could help push the Flyers over the edge. A veteran coach, Tortorella says the Flyers need to get faster. “If we’re going to be a good team and a team that’s playing later on after the regular season, we’re going to have to be a faster team,” he said.

But before you think Tortorella is looking ahead to the postseason, think again. He is focused on still building the team properly.

“I don’t want to misconstrue. When you’re building a team that you want to be a really good team in the future and playing in the playoffs, that has to be part of it, the way the game’s played now. That’s all I’m saying,” Tortorella said. “I’m not talking about, we’ve got to have speed right now to get in the playoffs this year. I don’t look at it that way. I don’t give a [bleep] what people think. Everybody thinks you need to say this is the goal, and that’s where you lose sight of how to build a hockey club as far as I’m concerned.”

And then he mentioned the goalies.

“We have a whole new goaltending situation this year. It scares the crap out of me because we don’t start with Carter [Hart]. It’s [Sam Ersson’s] first time really being the guy. As much as I love him, mentally, I don’t know how that all works out. So we can’t get ahead of ourselves here, and I want to make sure you [reporters] understand that.

“I love where the organization’s going. I think guys have improved, but we’ve got some hurdles to figure out here, especially with our goaltending because it’s a whole different landscape to start a new regular season.”

Ersson will make his second start of the preseason in net against the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday night. He pitched a shutout in his first game, a 2-0 win against the New York Islanders last week. Ivan Fedotov, the expected backup for the regular season, played on Monday, with Alexei Kolosov splitting duties.

Richard played his fourth preseason game, one of four Flyers to play that many. He said he was joking with fellow French-speaking players Sean Couturier and Nic Deslauriers “that I don’t think they’ve seen any player in all their years here playing so many preseason games.”

He’s not complaining, however. He joked that playing games saves him from Tortorella’s notoriously hard practices, but he also knows that games allow him to show what he can do. And now he’s hoping to build off his game Monday night when he finally scored. It was not the prettiest goal the speedster has ever scored, he sent a centering pass in off Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov, but he’ll take it.

“I told Rocky [Thompson] on the bench I’ve missed so many chances in the preseason, I could have easily, like, four or five goals,” Richard said. “So sometimes you’re missing a Grade A scoring chance, and you get the lucky bounce like that. So it’s kind of mind-blowing sometimes, because I missed two-on-ones, breakaways, and it’s like the worst goal possible to get. So it’s funny because it’s like a full circle. I was happy it went in. It doesn’t matter, a goal is a goal.”

Jett Luchanko gets another shot to impress on Tuesday night. He will be between Bobby Brink and Richard against the Bruins. ... The New Jersey Devils roster for Thursday’s preseason game at the Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m., NBCSP) is expected to be filled with minor leaguers, as the main group is in Prague, Czechia for the NHL Global Series. According to Tortorella, the Flyers lineup for Thursday will allow the brass to get a final look at the prospects and players already re-assigned to Lehigh Valley.