Halfway Through Preseason, Flyers Making Progress

Sergei Bobrovsky

The Philadelphia Flyers posted a 3-0-1 record to open their first half of the preseason. Fans had a chance to get a look at some new faces in the organization.

Among them are veterans such as Bill Guerin, Andrej Meszaros, Sean O'Donnell, and Nikolai Zherdev.

While all of these players are familiar in NHL circles, some of the young talent the Flyers have acquired was on display as well. The prospects getting the most attention have been forward Mike Testwuide and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

Bobrovsky, 22, has received high praise thus far due to his agility and focus. That focus has been evident in the shootout where Bobrovsky has a 2-1 record (the loss went 11 rounds). With the severity of the injury to Michael Leighton unknown, Bobrovsky now has a possibility of making the team out of camp.

Testwuide on the other hand, will likely not make the team despite showing brilliant flashes of skill, speed, and strength in the action he has seen. He will be sent to Adirondack to get an idea of what it is like to play an entire professional season.

With all this in mind, here are things to watch for over the final week of preseason:

-Chris Pronger: Pronger has been making progress in his rehabilitation and there is an outside chance he may try to play in Buffalo on Sunday, but do not count on it. Regardless, the Flyers must make sure he is 100 percent and not rush him back. He can afford to miss a couple extra weeks.

-Guerin/Carcillo/Powe Battle: Dan Carcillo did not make his task of retaining his roster spot easier for himself by getting ejected against the Minnesota Wild Saturday night. Head coach Peter Laviolette will tolerate his antics in control, but when he gets out of hand it will be hard to justify keeping him. Guerin had his best game by far on Saturday, seeming to look more comfortable. Darroll Powe still plays a solid role on the penalty kill, but will that be enough to retain his spot? Time will tell.

-Zherdev/Giroux: Nikolai Zherdev and Claude Giroux are already showing an unbelievable chemistry with Zherdev posting three goals in three games. Giroux has highly praised Zherdev's hands and positioning putting to rest for the moment Zherdev's flaws that worried the organiztion when they signed him (attitude, effort, etc.). If Zherdev continues to put the puck in the net, no one will be talking about it.

That's all for now, my first set of team rankings will be posted at the end of the week.