It’s nitty-gritty time in terms of final roster cuts and Brandon Manning is on the fence as the Flyers close out exhibition play Friday night in Newark, New Jersey, against the Devils.
Flyers general manager Ron Hextall wants to move one more skater by the end of the weekend. Goalie Jason LaBarbera will go back to the Phantoms once Michal Neuvirth is fully healthy.
The roster now is at 25.
With eight defensemen still here, it’s now between Manning and Luke Schenn unless the club sends Scott Laughton back to the Phantoms. But Laughton appears to have cemented his spot here.
“All my years as a pro, I’ve tried not to pay attention,” the 25-year-old Manning said. “For me it’s about proving to myself and proving to the organization that I can play here.
“Hopefully I did that last year and hopefully in the last couple of games I’ve done the same thing as well.”
The Flyers' roster must be trimmed to 23 by Tuesday evening.
NHL
Manning has played in three preseason games and is paired with Schenn. They represent the seventh and eighth defensemen. While the Flyers could expose Schenn, his $3.6 million salary pretty much assures no one will touch him.
Manning, on the other hand, might be claimed. Hextall said earlier this week he didn’t want to a put a player on waivers who he felt might get picked up, and as it turned out, Minnesota claimed Chris Porter (see story).
“I kind of wish we had a 25-man roster right now,” Hextall said. “A lot of teams are nervous about losing players. That’s this time of the year and, typically, not very many guys are taken.
“So it’s one of those times where you don’t take a guy now and then a month from now you wish you would have.”
Manning played 11 games with the Flyers last season — one-half the total NHL games he’s played in his career. He is a capable reserve defenseman.
The problem is, he’s young and needs to play. His situation is compounded two ways.
First, he is on a one-way contract making $625,000. Second, he’s among a rather large group of defensive prospects. Never in their entire history have the Flyers had so many talented, young defensemen in their organization at the same time.
It’s a logjam for playing time, not to mention moving them onto the NHL roster, which is already burdened with long-term and/or expensive veteran contracts.
Hextall would like to trade Schenn to make his job easier but that hasn’t happened. Schenn has a direct impact on Manning.
“It’s the same thing as last year,” Manning said. “There’s good prospects behind me, like Ghost [Shayne Gostisbehere], [Sam] Morin, and the first-rounders that come in. It’s been the same thing my whole life.
“It’s about myself and I can’t control the way that anyone else plays or who gets traded. So, if I play good, then hopefully I can sneak in here if something else happens.
“The eight guys that are here are all great guys and it’s fun to be around, so it’s kind of a privilege to be here right now and take it one day at a time.”
Manning played 17:56 in the 4-2 loss to the Devils Wednesday night. Head coach Dave Hakstol and Hextall both say Manning has played well in camp.
He and Schenn are expected to play in Friday's exhibition finale in Newark, as Hextall is going to want one final look before making his cut decisions.
Hakstol likes what he has seen.
“Brandon played another strong, two-way game [Wednesday]. I see confidence in him,” he said. “You see that, you know he’s been a good two-way defender and good two-way defenseman, but you are starting to see him pick his spots and get up ice. It looks like he’s a confident player out there.”
Hakstol did a lot of film review of players this summer, especially those who did not have a lot of tape from game experience last year.
“I didn’t have a preformed opinion,” he said. “What I have seen I’ve liked his camp. His last two exhibition games have been good outings for him, and like I said, you like to see confidence and a guy that is out there and willing to go out and look to make plays in a smart way.”