The last time Philly had two 19-year-olds on the opening-night roster was in 2000.
Now, 16 years later, it’s happening again.
On Monday, Flyers GM Ron Hextall confirmed that the club’s two first-round picks at the 2015 draft -- Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny -- have made the team out of training camp, and will stick with the big club for the duration of the season.
“They earned it,’ Hextall said, per Philly.com. “They’re here. They made our team. This isn’t a tryout. If I felt like either player wasn’t ready to be here the whole year, they wouldn’t be here right now.”
Both players are going to assume big roles right off the bat. Konecny, who led the Flyers in preseason scoring with six points, will skate on the second line alongside Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek.
Provorov will play on a defensive pairing with veteran Mark Streit.
These are exciting times for the Flyers. The club will head into the season boasting some incredibly bright young talents -- Konecny and Provorov are part of a group that includes Calder finalist Shayne Gostisbehere (23 years old), Couturier (23), Nick Cousins (23) and the injured Scott Laughton (21).