Flyers send goalie-of-the-future Carter Hart, plus two others, to Phantoms

As expected, the Flyers sent Carter Hart, regarded as their goaltender of the future, down to the AHL's Phantoms on Sunday, along with defensemen Phil Myers and Mark Friedman.

Hart, 20, had the best stats — a 1.87 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage — of any Flyers goaltender in the preseason, but general manager Ron Hextall wants him to get some AHL seasoning.

"Carter had a real good camp. Played enough games obviously for us to get a feel for him," Hextall said. "… These are all tough decisions toward the end."

When the Flyers start their season in Las Vegas on Thursday, Anthony Stolarz (3.00 GAA, .895 save percentage in the preseason) will be the goalie behind starter Brian Elliott. Goalies Michal Neuvirth and Alex Lyon were injured during training camp.

Elliott stopped 26 of 27 shots as the Flyers (4-3-1) ended their preseason with a 4-1 win Saturday in Boston. It was his best outing of the preseason.

"Certainly we feel better about him than we probably all did two days ago," Hextall said. "I thought it was a real good effort by him."

Neuvirth was expected to be the No. 2 goalie, but he is battling a suspected groin injury. The Czech Republic native has been skating and taking shots recently and will make the Flyers' first road trip but won't play in either game, Hextall said.

Hextall hinted that the veteran goalie wouldn't be ready for the Flyers' home opener Oct. 9 against San Jose.

The Flyers need to make one more roster trim to get down to 23 players. Hextall, who said he didn't expect to consummate a trade before the season, plans to make the move Monday. Rosters have to be submitted to the league office by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

In all likelihood, the last roster trim will be either Taylor Leier, Jori Lehtera, or Dale Weise. All had strong camps.

Michael Raffl, who had two goals in Saturday's victory, Scott Laughton, and Jordan Weal appear to have secured spots and could form the team's fourth line.

Rookie Mikhail Vorobyev, 21, has made the team as the third-line center. Vorobyev, a fourth-round selection in the 2015 draft, led the Flyers with seven points over seven preseason games.

"He came in and made an impact, and that's what you're looking for with young players," Hextall said. "He's a real good two-way player."

The Flyers' season-ticket base is 15,500, about 500 fewer than last year. The majority of the decline is because the club reduced the number of seats it allows ticket brokers to purchase, according to Shawn Tilger, who oversees all facets of the Flyers' business operations. Season tickets were renewed by 89 percent of fans, "the highest renewal percentage we've had in several years," Tilger said. … The Flyers traveled to Vail, Colo., on Sunday to start some bonding activities. They will practice in Vail on Tuesday and in Vegas on Wednesday.