Sam Morin returns to Flyers' camp, continues journey toward NHL

Towering Sam Morin has had a tough off-season: First, he underwent hip and abdominal surgery, and then he battled a strep throat, forcing him to miss the first two days of the Flyers' development camp.

But the 6-foot-7, 227-pound defenseman was on the ice for drills Saturday during Day 3 of camp in Voorhees.

"It was my first time out there in two months since my surgery," said Morin, a first-round draft pick in 2013, "so I was feeling a little tired in the beginning, but I was pretty happy to finish the practice."

Morin had four goals, 15 assists and 118 penalty minutes with the AHL's Phantoms last season, his first professional year. He will be at training camp in September, but is probably a year away from seriously contending for a job with the Flyers.

"I played my kind of role," said Morin of his season at Lehigh Valley. "Nothing flashy, but I was playing against the best line of the other team. I got in a couple pretty good fights. I was pretty happy with my season. For sure, I'm closer" to the NHL.

Morin, who turns 21 on Tuesday, says the AHL is "so much different than junior. It's not even close. The guys are way stronger and little things, like in the corners, those guys aren't gliding to the net. They're sprinting. There's just so much intensity and that's the big difference. It was a big adjustment, but I learned from it."

Morin said players his size take longer to develop.

"I've got skills that a lot of people don't have. I've got size and I've got toughness," Morin said. "I just need to be patient and I'll wait for my turn. Big guys like me, it's a longer process, (learning) to move your feet and some other things. I'm just working really hard and I know I'm going to make it."

Kjell Samuelsson, one of the Flyers' player-development coaches and a man who was once among the NHL's biggest defensemen (6-6, 235), said Morin is "right on schedule" and needs to get stronger to be NHL-ready. "In this league, you have to be stronger and be a full-grown man and ready to play," he said. "Sam is coming along and is where I expected him to be."

After development camp ends Tuesday, Morin will stay in Voorhees and work out with Shayne Gostisbehere, Claude Giroux and Phil Myers, three players also coming off surgeries.

Breakaways. Camp will be held Sunday and Monday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, and the final day will shift to Stone Harbor on Tuesday....Swedish defenseman Linus Hogberg, who doesn't turn 18 until Sept. 4, is the youngest player in camp. He was drafted in the ffith round last month.