Philadelphia Flyers Made Right Choice Calling Up Brandon Manning

While the Philadelphia Flyers may have made the wrong choice by starting goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov on Thursday night, they did get one thing right late in the season by calling up prospects from the AHL. The Flyers saw a lot of talent in Oliver Lauridsen after he logged a few games with the team, but they have also added another defenseman to the mix.

Brandon Manning‘s debut with the Flyers on Tuesday night in their win over the New York Rangers is a foreshadowing of the talents yet to come to this struggling team. In his very first game with the team he logged a point by assisting Brayden Schenn in his goal. It’s a pretty good thing when a new rookie gets a point in his very first game of the season, but unfortunately Manning was not that productive on Thursday. We can’t blame Manning for this since the rest of the team flopped, as they were shutout, 3-0, by the New Jersey Devils.

Manning should interest Flyers fans because he’s a defenseman and since the team struggles the most in this area, they have to start looking at the younger players on the blueline. The team needs to find a way to build these kids up so that they have a solid defense to back up their goalie for years to come.

Lauridsen and Manning could become the players that the Flyers need to do that. Bringing Manning up was a great idea, but it is not as if he is completely unknown to the Flyers. Manning did play in four playoff games last season, but unfortunately he did not log a point in any of those games. Getting an assist on Tuesday has already improved his record with the team, and also shows that perhaps he is maturing as a player.

However, he does have a risk factor since he did take a lot of penalties while he played with the Adirondack Phantoms. He had 81 PIMs in 46 games with the AHL team. So that’s not exactly what we want to see in a rookie defensemen, but it just means that he still has a lot to learn and the veteran Flyers can teach him that. I’ve said it before, but Manning is definitely going to be a player to watch in the future.

This season has pretty much been a wash for the Flyers, but bringing up the prospects to let them show the NHL what they can do is the best thing they can do right now. That and start focusing on the upcoming NHL draft.

Deanna Vasso is a Flyers writer for www.rantsports.com, you can follow her on Twitter, like her on Facebook and join her Google network.