As the deadline for final rosters looms, many teams have final decisions to make, including Philadelphia, with one seat remaining at their table. Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff writes that Emil Andrae is on the outside looking in and may find himself with a new club soon.
Andrae, originally drafted by Philadelphia in 2020 (54th overall), has flashed legitimate potential over the last three seasons with AHL Lehigh Valley, but seemingly has not made enough of an impression on new Head Coach Rick Tocchet, as well as being surpassed on the organizational depth chart. As is usually a point of emphasis for the black and orange, Andrae’s stature is a downside, at 5’9”, as the Flyers look for more size on their blueline’s bottom half, given Jamie Drysdale and Cam York’s presence.
Di Marco noted that the Flyers’ third pairing was open coming into the season, and especially with Rasmus Ristolainen’s injury, opportunities were plentiful. One by one, certain candidates have fallen out of favor. It is thought that Dennis Gilbert and Noah Juulsen will round out the Flyers’ defense corps, beating out once-promising youngsters Helge Grans and Andrae.
Neither Gilbert nor Juulsen are names that jump out on the page at this point, both in their late-twenties, but both bring over 100 NHL games of experience to the table. Juulsen also comes in from Vancouver, having played for Tocchet for the last three seasons.
Adam Ginning also remains firmly in the mix for Philadelphia, despite just 11 NHL games under his belt so far, but at 6’2”, he may have the upper hand over Andrae, and makes an imposing pair with fellow sizable lefty Egor Zamula.
Di Marco says that although there is no clear market for Andrae, and the Flyers are just “open” to making such a move, they would be likely seeking a third-round pick or a similar defensive prospect. Players in Andrae’s mold appear in the waiver wire often, especially at this time of year. Yet still being just 23, it will be interesting to see if the Flyers can recoup value for their 2020 second-round selection, or if the Sweden native will return to Lehigh Valley as a key contributor and push for another call-up.