Eric Wellwood

NEW YORK - Maybe it's partly because of a reputation that started in the 1970s with the Broad Street Bullies. Maybe it's simply because they are too undisciplined. Whatever the reason, the Flyers are the NHL's most penalized team. But their penchant for infractions isn't as damaging as it seems because the Flyers also happen to be one of the NHL's best at drawing penalties. Entering Tuesday's game against the New York Rangers, the Flyers were averaging a league-high 17.2 penalty minutes per game.

FLYERS PROSPECT Eric Wellwood was gravely injured Sunday when he was accidentally cut in the lower right leg by his own left skate blade in a minor league game with the Phantoms in Bridgeport, Conn. Wellwood, 23, has played 31 games for the Flyers over the past three seasons. He was transported to a Connecticut hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and close the wound. Wellwood was bleeding so profusely that the Phantoms' trainer, Greg Lowden, escorted him across the ice and to the locker room while the puck was still in play.

The Flyers announced Wednesday that they will host the Washington Capitals in a preseason rookie game at 5 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Wells Fargo Center. The game will mark the conclusion of a Flyers rookie and prospect camp held before the main Flyers camp, which will begin with on-ice workouts Sept. 17. Prospects scheduled to participate in the camp and game include recently acquired center Brayden Schen; 2011 eighth-overall pick Sean Couturier; 2011 draft picks Nick Cousins, Colin Suellentrop, Marcel Noebels, and Derek Mathers; and Jason Akeson, Oliver Lauridsen, Zac Rinaldo, and Eric Wellwood.

The Phantoms will play Albany, the New Jersey Devils' AHL affiliate, on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. It is open to the public and free. The Phantoms' lineup will include Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, Zac Rinaldo, Eric Wellwood, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Harry Zolnierczyk and Erik Gustafsson, all of whom spent considerable time with the Flyers last season. The Oct. 11 NHL openers and the first few weeks of the season are expected to be canceled later this week.

BUFFALO - Though signs seem to point toward the Flyers buying out goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's contract after the season, team executives are still undecided on the issue. Teams can buy out as many as two players on June 30. They would be responsible for two-thirds of the remaining salary owed, but none of the money would count against the cap. Bryzgalov has been one of the Flyers' top players this season, but he has a cap-unfriendly contract that has seven more years. The Flyers absorb an annual cap hit of $5.67 million.

If there is an NHL lockout, the Flyers may send a handful of their young players to the AHL Adirondack Phantoms to start the season. Players who are exempt from waivers could be sent down, and that list features Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, Erik Gustafsson, Eric Wellwood, and Zac Rinaldo, general manager Paul Holmgren said on Friday. The Flyers would have to loan the players to the minors before the possible Sept. 15 lockout. The Phantoms will report to camp at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Sept.

SUNRISE, Fla. - Flyers center Danny Briere, who missed the first four games because of a hairline fracture of his left wrist, made his first appearance of the year Saturday night. Before the game, Briere said he had no problems shooting the puck, but faceoffs still gave him difficulties. He began the night at left wing. Earlier in the day, general manager Paul Holmgren said Briere was "probably a no-go" for Saturday, but Briere apparently talked his way into the lineup. Briere played on a line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Jake Voracek.

SUNRISE, Fla. - Flyers center Danny Briere, who missed the first four games because of a hairline fracture of his left wrist, made his first appearance of the year Saturday night. Before the game, Briere said he had no problems shooting the puck, but faceoffs still gave him difficulties. He began the night at left wing. Earlier in the day, general manager Paul Holmgren said Briere was "probably a no-go" for Saturday, but Briere apparently talked his way into the lineup. Briere played on a line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Jake Voracek.

VETERAN FORWARD Michael Nylander will attend Flyers training camp on a tryout basis, the team said on its Twitter feed yesterday. Nylander has not played in the NHL since the 2008-09 season, when he had nine goals and 24 assists in 72 games with Washington. The Capitals signed the Stockholm native to a 4-year, $19.5 million deal that ended after last season. He has played 920 NHL games and has 209 goals and 470 assists. Nylander, who will turn 39 in October, has played for Hartford, Calgary, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Boston and the New York Rangers.

DETROIT - If the Flyers face the New York Rangers or Boston Bruins in the playoffs, they will need short memories. In other words, they need to forget about their regular-season drubbings against those Eastern Conference heavyweights. "The playoffs are a whole new game," Flyers center Max Talbot said. "Everybody starts 0-0. " True, but the Flyers would have a huge psychological hurdle to clear, considering they are 1-7 against the Rangers and Bruins and have been outscored, 32-15.

BUFFALO - Though signs seem to point toward the Flyers buying out goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's contract after the season, team executives are still undecided on the issue. Teams can buy out as many as two players on June 30. They would be responsible for two-thirds of the remaining salary owed, but none of the money would count against the cap. Bryzgalov has been one of the Flyers' top players this season, but he has a cap-unfriendly contract that has seven more years. The Flyers absorb an annual cap hit of $5.67 million.

FLYERS PROSPECT Eric Wellwood was gravely injured Sunday when he was accidentally cut in the lower right leg by his own left skate blade in a minor league game with the Phantoms in Bridgeport, Conn. Wellwood, 23, has played 31 games for the Flyers over the past three seasons. He was transported to a Connecticut hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and close the wound. Wellwood was bleeding so profusely that the Phantoms' trainer, Greg Lowden, escorted him across the ice and to the locker room while the puck was still in play.

NEW YORK - Maybe it's partly because of a reputation that started in the 1970s with the Broad Street Bullies. Maybe it's simply because they are too undisciplined. Whatever the reason, the Flyers are the NHL's most penalized team. But their penchant for infractions isn't as damaging as it seems because the Flyers also happen to be one of the NHL's best at drawing penalties. Entering Tuesday's game against the New York Rangers, the Flyers were averaging a league-high 17.2 penalty minutes per game.

TAMPA, Fla. - When Scott Laughton arrives back in Oshawa, Ontario, this week, he'll return to the familiar faces of his junior teammates with five games of NHL experience and a boatload of stories to tell. "It's every kid's dream," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. The Flyers decided to send Laughton, 18, back to the Ontario Hockey League, preserving all 3 years of his entry-level contract before he played a sixth NHL game in this shortened season. For a first-round pick (20th overall)

SUNRISE, Fla. - Flyers center Danny Briere, who missed the first four games because of a hairline fracture of his left wrist, made his first appearance of the year Saturday night. Before the game, Briere said he had no problems shooting the puck, but faceoffs still gave him difficulties. He began the night at left wing. Earlier in the day, general manager Paul Holmgren said Briere was "probably a no-go" for Saturday, but Briere apparently talked his way into the lineup. Briere played on a line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Jake Voracek.

SUNRISE, Fla. - Flyers center Danny Briere, who missed the first four games because of a hairline fracture of his left wrist, made his first appearance of the year Saturday night. Before the game, Briere said he had no problems shooting the puck, but faceoffs still gave him difficulties. He began the night at left wing. Earlier in the day, general manager Paul Holmgren said Briere was "probably a no-go" for Saturday, but Briere apparently talked his way into the lineup. Briere played on a line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Jake Voracek.

NEWARK - Looking for a spark after an 0-2 start, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette scrambled all four lines Tuesday against New Jersey and inserted newcomer Tye McGinn on a line with Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds. The Flyers, who scored a total of three goals in their first two games, began Tuesday with these lines: Claude Giroux centering Scott Hartnell and Jake Voracek. Voracek replaced Schenn on the top line. Sean Couturier centering Ruslan Fedotenko and Matt Read. Schenn centering McGinn and Simmonds.

Andrej Meszaros, whose health is one of the keys to the Flyers defense this season, passed his first test in Saturday's season-opening, 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. "Actually, I felt better than I thought I would feel, so that's a good sign," Meszaros said. "Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how I felt because we lost. " Meszaros had offseason Achilles ligament surgery, and the Flyers weren't sure until Saturday whether he would play in the opener. Used on the third pairing with newcomer Kurtis Foster, Meszaros logged 19 minutes, 54 seconds - Kimmo Timonen (23:52)

Rookie Scott Laughton is sticking with the Flyers. As expected, the Flyers kept Laughton - the team's first-round pick last June - on their Opening Day 23-man, thanks to extra roster space provided by Danny Briere's wrist injury. According to reports, Laughton will be one of 10 junior players to make the Opening Day cut. Seven other underage players were sent back to their junior teams earlier in the week. "With Danny's situation being as it is, it just gives us a few days to give him a bit longer look," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said.

With the season opener just two days away, the Flyers' lines and defensive pairings are coming into focus. That's not an easy task when roster and lineup decisions have to be made without any exhibition games. "Right now, we're just evaluating them in practice, and that's all we've got," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said after the fourth day of training camp Wednesday in Voorhees. As for the young players battling for spots - such as Scott Laughton, and Eric Wellwood - Laviolette said his decisions would be influenced by what he observed while scouting junior and AHL games during the 113-day lockout.