Flyers Rookie Alex Ciernik Opens Eyes vs. Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers fourth-round draft pick Alex Ciernik was one of the goal scorers in Friday night’s 4-2 Rookie Series loss to the Rangers.

The goal came after tenacious forechecking and pleased Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière, who coached the Philadelphia Flyers rookies in Allentown.

“That’s funny but that’s one of the kids in practice I didn’t notice much,” Laperrière said. “Tonight he made a couple of great plays and he did score a nice goal.

“Some guys you don’t notice them in practice but they show up when the puck drops. Tonight, he really showed me who he is … Pretty good start of training camp so far for him.”

Ciernik was the 120th player selected overall in June. He is a Slovakian who has played in Sweden the last three years. Draft experts thought the Flyers landed a real player in Ciernik, who will play in Sweden’s second-tier league this season.

“It was a good thing for my confidence and I felt great [to score the goal],” Ciernik said. “Obviously it’s butterflies at the beginning of the game for first time. But when I go on the ice, I don’t really think about it. I just try to do what I do.”

Knocking off Rust

Laperrière mentioned several other players who had slow starts … but they each showed bursts of excellent play, too.

“You can put Tyson [Foerster] in there [with Bobby Brink], you can put [Elliott] Desnoyers in there,” Laperrière said.

“I felt they were trying maybe a little bit too much. Normal. It’s the first scrimmage. It is a scrimmage. It’s preseason if you want but we had two practices. There is no structure on their side, too, and no structure on our side.

“I feel they will be better [Saturday]. The rust will be off a little bit.

“On the power play he’s [Brink] a threat. He made a great play on that power-play goal [by Matt Brown] and he made a couple of other great plays. He’s a skill guy, it’s the beginning of camp and I’m not worried about those guys at all.”

Saturday’s game will begin at 5:05 and will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.

Notes: Flyers 2023 second-round draft pick Carson Bjarnason is expected to start in goal on Saturday. Defenseman Emil Andrae, a scratch Friday night, is expected to play Saturday. He could be one of the Flyers’ regulars this season. First-round draft pick Oliver Bonk looks like a player. He was poised and didn’t seem over his head.

Trade Deadline: March 8

The NHL announced that the trade deadline will be at 3 p.m. on March 8. The trade deadline will occur with just less than six weeks remaining in the regular season. The final games of the regular season are scheduled for Thursday, April 18.

This date is significant for Flyers’ fans. Rebuilding teams look to trade players for draft picks and the Flyers could be in that very position.