For much of the preseason, the major roster question was who general manager Paul Holmgren was going to decide to keep with the big club — James van Riemsdyk, Mika Pyorala or Blair Betts. But according to Holmgren, the Flyers want all three.
“If we were submitting rosters tomorrow, yeah, (Pyorala, JVR and Betts) would probably would be on it,” said Holmgren.
The news comes as somewhat surprising considering Betts and van Riemsdyk will not be healthy scratches. Betts will take over fourth-line center and special teams duties, while JVR will become a top-9 scoring winger. And with just one roster spot vacant heading into the regular season, logic says that someone on the current Flyers roster will need to be a scratch.
Some point to enforcer Riley Cote as the scapegoat, whiles others believe Arron Asham or Darroll Powe will be the odd-man out. Either way, it appears that the early offseason conundrum of who the Flyers were going to covet — a shut down center or scoring winger — has been answered.
They chose both.
Phila.Bright 