Sky is the Limit for Flyers Rookie, Tyson Foerster Scores OT Game Winning Goal Against New York Rangers

From JORDAN HALL

Allentown, Pennsylvania – He skated to the youngster and flipped him the OT-winning puck from the Flyers’ 2-1 rookie game victory over the Rangers.

Nicely done, kid. Both of them.

Foerster is only 20 years old and Friday night was just a matchup of prospects at PPL Center. But the 2020 first-round pick put on display exactly what the Flyers were hoping for when they selected him 23rd overall.

Go win a game with that shot.

With the Flyers’ front office looking on, Foerster didn’t hesitate burying the overtime winner just 39 seconds into the bonus session.

Foerster’s shot had to be a small but sweet reprieve for the Flyers’ brass after the organization went through a 2021-22 season in which little went right. The club is coming off of a 25-46-11 finish and has lamented its need for more top-end talent.

The best and cheapest way to find that talent is through the entry draft. The Flyers believe they have a shoot-first talent in Foerster.

“Wow, that’s how it feels to win in overtime,” AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley head coach Ian Laperriere said with a laugh.

“The sky’s the limit for that kid. He can shoot, that’s great. … But he’s showing me, he’s showing everybody a little bit more with his physicality, he’s winning those battles. It’s impressive.”

Let’s get into observations from the first of two rookie games at the home of the Phantoms.

• The Flyers’ hockey ops booth at PPL Center probably let out a collective “shoot it, kid,” as it watched Foerster gain steam toward the net in overtime.

The club has needed more pure shooters from the circles. Guys that can beat a goalie without help. It’s a significant reason why the Flyers drafted Foerster, who was a winger with some rawness in other areas but had an advanced shot from the flank.

“We don’t have a lot of natural scorers from that area, nor have we for a long time,” Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said Nov. 30 last season. “It’s certainly something we’ve looked to try to address in the draft the last few years going forward.”

Foerster had defenseman Adam Ginning to his right and loading up.

Did Ginning call for it?

“No, no, no,” the Swedish native said with a big smile.

They all know Foerster can shoot and should look to shoot.

“Tys is like that,” Elliot Desnoyers, who assisted the winner, said. “You give him an inch, he’ll take 10.”

Foerster was happy to give up his game-winning puck.

“It was pretty cool,” Foerster said. “I just saw the little kid come out of the stanchions there. I just saw him, gave him a little heads up and he wanted the puck.”

After missing much of last season because of shoulder surgery, Foerster is a safe bet to open this year with the Phantoms. The Flyers will want him pushing, though. He’ll need to continue to work on his well-roundedness.

“I’m sure growing up, that was his main job — scoring goals. That’s why he was drafted,” Laperriere said. “He’s got that big smile on his face, he loves to score goals, which is great.

“But to play at the next level, it’s one thing to score goals, but if it’s the only thing you do, you better do it every night. There’s not too many guys at the next level that do that. They’ve got the guy in Washington, who’s pretty good at it, but even him, he’s physical.

“[Foerster is] still young, we’ve got to help him. Hopefully he makes the big team, I hope he does for his sake, but if he comes here, we’re going to help him become a 200-foot player, help him win those 1-on-1 battles like he did tonight. It’s only going to help him for the rest of his career.”

-30-