
VOORHEES, N.J. – With the Flyers on a five-game (4-0-1) point streak, the decision over which player to call up to replace the injured Ryan Poehling in the starting lineup was fairly easy.
Rather than bring in an untested youngster from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the team chose 29-year-old forward Rodrigo Abols, who doesn’t have any National Hockey League experience but plenty at the Swedish pro league level.
Abols is expected to make his NHL debut on Tuesday when the Detroit Red Wings hit town.
The Latvia native, originally a seventh-round pick of Vancouver in the 2016 Draft, impressed coaches and players alike at last fall’s training camp.
“I played with him a lot in scrimmages during camp,” said Joel Farabee after Monday’s practice at the Flyers Training Center. “He’s a really solid two-way guy. And a bigger dude (6-foot-4, 206 pounds), too.
“You actually get surprised by how big he is, how strong he is on his skates. Just throughout camp, I was impressed with his smarts for the game. How hard he is to get off the puck.”
Abols is a left-handed shot who can play center or left wing.
“I played against him in the World Championships last summer,” Farabee said. “He was really solid there, too. From what I’ve heard, he’s been doing all the right things at Lehigh, so he absolutely deserves to be up here.”
Abols speaks four languages (English, Russian, Latvian, Swedish), so there shouldn’t be any communication issues with teammates or coaches.
“Being in the camp the whole summer helped a lot,” he said. “You’re with the same guys and you’re familiar with them. It’s not like you’re coming into an unfamiliar environment. It’s very easy to fit in here.”
In his first season with the Phantoms, Abols has played in 34 games with nine goals/19 points and a minus-5.
Last September, Abols made a very positive impression in the team’s training camp and that gave him hope he might receive a callback like this one.
Abols cited Olle Lycksell’s recent promotion from Lehigh Valley as an example of how the Flyers make new players feel comfortable up here.
“It’s big,” Abols said. “I can maybe make an example of myself at Lehigh this year. I went down there as one of the last guys and I’ve really gotten to know the guys.
“Once the season got going, you come to the rink every day, you have fun, you feel more comfortable. When you’re in a comfortable environment, you can excel.”
Abols said his game is a rather simple one. That’s a style of play which comes with experience.
“It’s a dream come true to have an opportunity to play here,” he said. “Try to make the most of it. Use the strengths I have and see what happens.”
For coach John Tortorella, it’s simply next man up. He didn’t need to examine a lot of scouting reports.
“I haven’t received a lot of information, just that he’s playing well,” the coach said.
Scott Laughton, who moved back to center for Saturday’s game at New Jersey due to Poehling’s injury, was not at practice on Monday as he attended to a family personal matter. So there’s no official word on which players will be on Abols’ line.
Can a team get a little extra energy from having a new player in the lineup?
“Oh, one hundred percent,” Farabee said. “I think it gives you energy just because the guys will be excited for him. . .first game as a Flyer, pretty cool. He’s played a lot of pro games, so I think he knows exactly how he needs to play. He’s reliable, we trust him to play his game.”
>Latest goalie depth chart
Tortorella acknowledged that Ivan Fedotov has moved back past Aleksei Kolosov for the No. 2 spot on the goalie depth chart. There’s a feeling the Flyers won’t be carrying three goalies (including starter Sam Ersson) on the roster much longer.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on with that,” the coach said. “There’s a lot of communication.”
>Michkov quite coachable
Heading into the third period of the Devils game on Saturday, Tortorella emphasized to rookie Matvei Michkov to simplify his game, be a little safter with the puck. And the young Russian did just that.
The big thing is, he’s been receptive to his coach’s advice.
“From day one,” Tortorella said. “It’s so encouraging what we’ve had so far this year. I know he wants more goals and more assists. I have to look at all the things he’s gone through. I think he’s handled himself really well.
“He has to understand situational play. I talked about it (with him) between periods. I’ll show some clips tomorrow of the adjustments he made. I want him to understand it helps. And he’s listening, I think that’s really important.”