Samu Tuomaala was faster now, which Ian Laperrière immediately realized when the Flyers prospect took the ice for the first practice of rookie camp.
Not much changed about his offseason, the 21-year old winger said after the morning skate on Friday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. He said he stuck with his same workout group back home in Finland because "it works for me," though noted that he did try to add a bit of muscle, and on the ice, tried to develop his skating a bit more coming back from a late-season injury.
The hope is that it all comes together over these next few weeks through rookie and then the main training camp, pushing him that much closer to possibly cracking the Flyers' roster.
"That's my goal, to play there this season," Tuomaala said. "I think I'm on the right way for that."
A second-round draft pick from 2021, Tuomaala came into camp last summer and showed off some quick skating and an even quicker shot, although the skillset wasn't quite developed into that of a complete player yet. In drills, he looked great. In scrimmages, he got lost in the shuffle, which landed him in the AHL and Lehigh Valley under Laperrière as the head coach for when the season started.
Once in Allentown though, he really started putting the puzzle together.
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In 69 games, Tuomaala scored 15 goals and 28 assists for 43 points, performing well enough through the first half of the season to earn AHL All-Star Game honors until a cold stretch and then the injury cooled him down in the latter part of it.
He wasn't content to just leave it there.
"They went home and put the work in," Laperrière said of Tuomaala and defensive prospect Emil Andrae on Thursday. "I know it's one practice, and I don't want to get too, too excited, but I noticed a difference in their speed and their quickness…For me, it's great maturity. You realize that after one year pro, you better yourself in the summer, and again, it shows today."
Nick Tricome/PhillyVoice
Flyers prospect Samu Tuomaala gets some extra work in after the team's morning skate during rookie camp on Sept. 13, 2024.
There's only so much that can be taken away from just two skates so far, but in each one, Tuomaala exhibited that same speed and shot that flashed so much potential a year ago, and with both in better shape than they were before.
After each session, he also stayed on to rip a few more one-timers and get just that extra bit of work in.
The exhibitions on Friday and Saturday nights up in Allentown against the New York Rangers prospects, however, will be one of the first true showings of how far he's really come.
Tuomaala said Friday that going back to last year, he tries not to skate with any extra expectations. He's just been trying to play.
"I don't think too much," Tuomaala said. "I just try to do the best I can and see how they like that."
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