Ian Laperriere acknowledged Thursday that as the coach of the Flyers’ affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he focuses a lot on the players he coached last year, on gauging their improvement, as he presides over Flyers rookie camp in Voorhees.
But there was a new player on the ice for Thursday’s opening practice who drew everyone’s attention, a 19-year-old forward whose presence coaxed a few hundred fans indoors to the Flyers Training Center on a warm, sunny, late-summer day. A few of them even wore Matvei Michkov’s No. 39 Flyers game jersey, something Michkov will do for the first time Friday night on the Phantoms’ home ice in Allentown, against some New York Rangers rookies.
“I’m excited ...
