The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Riley Armstrong

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

Jeff Marek is joined by Riley Armstrong, the Director of Player Development for the Philadelphia Flyers, for an inside look at the team’s prospects and how they’re performing in training camp.#TheSheet #DailyFaceoff #JeffMarek #RileyArmstrong #BlakePrice #SekeresAndPrice #NHL #HockeyNews #QuinnHughes #Canucks #NHLProspects #TrainingCamp #HockeyAnalysis #NHLContracts #HockeyDiscussionReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ACAS powers the world's best podcasts. Here's the show that we recommend. Hello, everyone. I'm historian David Boris, and I want to let you know that I'm hosting a brand new podcast coming out this fall of 2025. It's called The Conflict and Culture Podcast, and it explores everything and anything to do with military history beyond the battlefield. This season, we have episodes on. on American rock music during Vietnam, the myth of the Clean Vermacht, the Apache Way of War,

and so much more. First episode drops this September. Check it out. ACAST helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcast everywhere. acast.com. Let's get to our first guest. He's something that we've wanted to have

on the show here for a while. He's someone who's named you're going to hear a lot about in the coming years. He is Riley Armstrong, the Philadelphia Flyers, Director of Player Development, joins me on the sheet. Now, Riley, how are you? You look very serious today. There we go. I'm always serious. Listen, thanks for doing this.

And let's read way too much into one exhibition game. Let's read way too much into one preseason game. How many players last night in that game against the Islanders are going to the hockey? Hall of Fame. There were a lot of guys that look good for the Philadelphia Flyers last night. And listen, Trevor Zegris looks fantastic early on. Again, I know the caveat, it's early. He looks good playing with, you know, passing the biscuit back and forth with Jamie Driesdale. But did you take any, like from your position, how much, if anything, do you take out of that one game with the Islanders? I think the one thing that you can look at it from a whole is, I think for,

Z-Zegris to come out there and play the way that he did play. He showed a lot of poise and confidence with the puck. And, you know, I think something that stood out to me during the game was the compete level that Mitchkov, Gerbanken, and Zegris had controlling the puck down low a ton. I think they had a shift in the start of the second period there where they controlled the play for about a minute and a half where they just had the puck the whole time. I think Mitchcove even tried a Michigan there right off.

early in the second too. So, you know, it's definitely something that's really exciting, I think, for the Flyers. I think the skill level through our group last night is much higher than it has been in the past couple of years. So I think games are going to be a lot more exciting. You know, I think it's going to put the Flyers back on the map. It's, listen, there's a lot of interesting stories around the Philadelphia Flyers this season. Zegrois is a major story, the further maturation of Michikoff is the story. I think, you know, can Jamie Driesdale

take that next step? Can Cam York take that next step? But here's a name that fans may, casual fans may not be familiar with. Hardcore Flyers fans certainly are. How good is Alex Bump? Like flat out, how good is Alex Bump? I honestly said this

just the other day. I said, I hope my son plays like Alex Bump. He is so good. And I think there's going to be a learning curve for him going into the pro game, playing against some heavier guys in that night-to-night grind, you know, whether wherever he starts, it's in the American League or the NHL. But he is, he is so smooth with the puck. It almost looks like he's going to get hit every single time he has it and he slips by guys. His second effort on pucks, is second of none.

He always seems to come out with the puck. And I think the last little bit for him is his hockey IQ, the way he sees the game, the way that he processes it. It's pretty incredible to watch him from up top. And then his, I guess his sense on going to areas on where he's going to score goals. I wouldn't necessarily say you can teach that sort of thing, but he definitely has that knack on where to go, the timing of it all, how to get the puck, and then he does score big goals at big times. Pat Fershweiler did some.

outstanding work with him over the past couple of years. And that's probably a name you're going to hear as a head coach in the NHL probably sooner than later as well. One of the things that I found, I think a lot of us found really interesting. And then we stood back and we looked at and we said, oh, man, that's like old flyers. And that was the draft this year where everybody is like six foot four. It was just like, oh, yeah, the flyers are back. Like you're like, this guy's six foot four. Here's part of Maritone.

Here's Jack Nesbitt. Like everyone's six three, six four. Like is that from your. chair is that like a a team mandate now certainly have to be able to play and skate and all those the difference but like is size back for the philadelphia flyers because if you look at last year's draft you say to yourself this is old orange man this is old orange yeah i think it was um something that they wanted to focus on um you know besides the couple of guys that are around that six foot five 11 mark um but myself being at the draft uh as these kids are getting called and coming up

on the stage and doing all that. I was staring up quite a bit. So I think it definitely sets that standard of what we're looking for, not only the size, but when you look at the size that we have and the positions that I think they covered is we've built a lot down the middle of the rink. That's even dating back to other drafts with Jack Bergland as well, Hikey Rahun and some good size centerment.

and then you put Nesbit into the fold there as well. So I think there's like a lot to go from right now. I remember I first got this job and I felt our prospect pool or cupboard was pretty empty. And Danny and Brent Flaher has done a great job at restocking it and keeping me on the road quite a bit during the year. So they definitely keep me busy. It's gotten good really fast. I do want to park a little bit of time to talk about Porter-Martone. But let me break a little bit on.

Jack Nesbitt. First of all, how does he look? He looks great. During our rookie series against the Rangers, he had the puck on a string a couple of times. He surprised me. The way, the way, like how Comey is being put into these situations. You know, you're 18 years old coming in to play against these rookie series against the Rangers, and he definitely stood out in both games. Not only a size, the way he controlled the face-off dot, The way that he carried the puck through the neutral zone, made plays, made plays with guys on his back.

And then watching him last night in the first preseason game, going out against some NHLers from the aisle. And he looked good. And I think a lot of times when you get put into that game when you're 18 and you're nervous and you're a little unsure and you just want to play it safe, you definitely didn't do that. it was pretty cool for me to watch up top and see how he just kind of took control of his situation and I think he made the most of it. He's going to be one guy where I think he probably goes back to junior hockey but he's definitely going to push to stay here as long as he can.

It's on a really good Windsor Spitfire team too. That team has Memorial Cup aspirations this year. Porter Martone, I think raised a lot of eyebrows, making the decision to leave the OHL and go play for Michigan State. Again, like he's one of these players that you look at and you say he looks like a Philadelphia flyer. When you see Porter Martone Riley, what does Riley Armstrong see? I see another young Tyson Forrester. I think Tyson's burst onto the scene the last couple of years.

But when you look at their body away from the rink, they remind me of like the exact same of how their like body is. When I had Tyson with the phantoms, he looked like a little teenager. now I look at Porter he has that same look he still looks like a baby and I think for him the maturity level that he has he can walk into a room he walks into that NHL room with all all of our main guys and he fits right in he's not afraid of of the big the big scene or anything like that so his confidence level just like he like wants that and I think for him to go to college hockey a very mature decision on himself and his family and his agent on taking that step. But I think it allows him to spend more time in the gym, which then in, you know, a year or two

years, it allows him to step more and be NH already at that time. If he came in right now, there would be a lot of uncertainties in that area. But at the same time, what does he have to prove going back to junior hockey for another year? So I think it's a great step. It's a pretty cool rule that they've now put in with Canada and college hockey and major junior. And I think it kind of gives guys a longer time to develop, the longer runway, I guess, is what a lot of people are saying or calling it. I kind of look at it, right. Like, it's an important step to get to the NHL.

Like, you're an old Western hockey league guy yourself. Like, you know how hard that jump is, not just from. you know, junior hockey to the NHL, even the jump from junior hockey to the American League, like that's a jump, man, you know this, you did this. Yeah. It's almost like college is like another step to get to pro hockey. Like, I'm with you. Like, there are some players that just sort of, you know, they, they skill out of junior

hockey and what's next, man, the HL jump is huge, the NHL jump is huge. You can play college hockey for one or maybe two years. And like, listen, this is your bailiwick. development, I think you can only benefit. I really do. Yeah. And, you know, we just touched on Nesbit being in Windsor and Michigan State's right there. So pretty sure I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the Detroit area this summer going out and seeing them. And we also have Shane Van Sagi at Michigan State as well, who's another big body power forward winger. So, you know, I really like what Danny did. He put, has all of our prospects and like little pods. Um,

across the U.S. and Canada. So I think he was trying to help out with my schedule. He did that. I just trying to save some money on the travel budget. That's a veteran move. You know that, trying to keep the cost down. Let me ask you about one of the highlight machines around the NHL, and that's Motfei Mitch Koff.

And you were right there when he joined and started. You've seen all of it. How different is he one year later? How different is Mitch Koff? I would say he, his, like, desire and his compete level to win and want to win is through the roof. And I think maybe with the change of the coaching staff, a little fresh breath of air for him and kind of the way talks approached his style that he wants to play, fits well with Madvei.

And when he's on the ice, this guy just loves to score. He sits out on the ice for a half hour after every single time he's on the ice. and he's doing shootout moves. And I think probably his move from last night's already going around social media, I would imagine. But he makes it look so easy. And I think that just kind of like goes through the whole entire group of guys, whether you've been in the NHL for 14 years or you're a rookie coming in and you just see how hard that he works.

And he works at his craft to score to make plays. And he absolutely just loves the game. He loves being at the rank. And I think that says a lot about him. let me ask about you um as i mentioned you played in the in the western hockey league i think a lot of us have you know wondered you know is riley going to be more on the coaching side because we know you're like you're a hockey life for guy like is he going to be more on the coaching side on the development side on the management side like what was uh i remember when you were uh coaching in the in the echl as well uh with with main for a couple of years and you know like from from your perch i mean everybody has a i a path where do you see yours leading um i think being put into this role and and kind of leaving the coaching scene um i wouldn't say i necessarily left i'm still involved with the coaching staff uh with the flyers and also with the phantoms um so i still get that little bit of uh coaching

and i also coach my son's hockey team too so i'm you know i'm well versed behind the bench Hang on, hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Honestly, not the father's scouting report, but give us the coach's scouting report. Skilled, skilled crafty player. Tends to get lazy at times. Hang on. How old is he for a? How old the child are we talking about? Keep in mind here, folks. We're talking about a 10-year-old.

Give us the full scout report on the 10-year-old. Okay, so shows promise. Hey, show him. He shows promise, Danny, but he lacks focus. Well, yeah, Riles, he's 10 years old. But finish this scouting report for us. He is a very, very skilled player. Definitely, I don't know where he got that from.

Must have been hanging out with Danny a little bit at the rank when he pops down to the training center. Tends to get lazy, has a little bit of a short temper. And I kind of like that part of him. Yeah, I wonder where he gets that. I wonder where he gets that one. I think it's from Uncle Colby, to be honest, not so much myself. But I think he loves the game. And Kelly Chase told me one time, if you love the game, the game will love you back.

And I think that's something that, you know, hopefully for him in, you know, five, ten years that that helps him out as well with how much he loves the game. He loves being around the rank, being around the boys. He thinks he's best friends with all the flyers and phantoms. I'm pretty sure he'll probably venture into the coaching GM world one day, too. Wow. I already got him as a lifer. You know, there's a, there's a great old saying. I'm curious about, you know, what you've learned along the way.

There's a great saying about teaching. And it goes like this. When one teaches to learn. When one teaches to learn, what have you learned? what have you learned by being a teacher the last however many years? I've learned to never stop learning. Even when I'm on the ice with guys and I'm trying to teach them and they come back and it's definitely an open door with me.

I want the feedback from the player or from coaches and the other management personnel that we have and I might have an idea and I think it's good to come with an open mind. and being able to accept other ideas and take them as well and kind of put them all together. So I think that's the one thing I've probably learned the most is just that open line of communication, always being willing to take advice, you know, or jump on other people's backs a little bit

and kind of work more as a team and not just have it your way or the highway. And I think that's something that Danny's put into me over the years of us working together with the main mariners and then joining here with the Flyers as well as everybody's working for the same goal. And I think that's kind of what Jonesy, Dan Hilfordy and Danny have had

throughout this whole thing, this whole process that they're developing is it runs right through the staff. Do you understand goalies? Well, I do spend a lot of, a lot of time with Kim Dillabaw and Brady Robinson here and I'm trying to learn more and more about them.

They are different, but the way that they move and the way that they play the game, I'm always picking their brains. Again, learning. I'm not a goalie guy. I love scoring on goalies. I loved it. And that's what I try and teach our guys how to score more, how to be more creative. And then at the same time, looking at it on the other side,

always trying to learn how they work, what they think, you know, how a goalie reads the game and stuff like that. You know, that's a really interesting point, too. I mean, that's the constant cat and mouse, right? Right now it seems as if shooters have an advantage. Before that, there was a long stretch where goalies had the advantage. It was always like, and you were part of this when you played.

Like in the off-season, goalies would go and work on goaltending. They'd go work on their craft, and the guys would go lift, and then would come back and crack their knuckles and here we go. And guys now are like, no, I got to like work. on, you know, I got to work on my shot, pre-shot movement, all these different types of things that people in your line of work talk about. It seems if right now, more so than in the last 15 years, it's advantage shooter. Would you agree with that? Oh, I think in a way it could be. I also think defending has become such a big part and you see how many guys are blocking shots,

how many guys are in shot lanes. And that's one skill that we constantly work on is how to shoot through a screen, how to pull the puck into an area and shoot from different spots off of your body. And it's a hard skill. A lot of guys just want to grab the puck and shoot it. And definitely that change in the angle part.

You look at guys like Austin Matthews, I think kind of reinvented the changing of the angle of your shot a little bit and guys like that. So definitely something that a lot of skills, work goes into but I think definitely when you look at the skill that you know we're talking about the flyers have we're definitely uh I think we're on the safe side I'd take our shooters over the goalies for sure it yeah it very much I remember I mean I mean Elaine Vino was asked about it once and he said you know because I you know Riley I can't tell you the last time

because I don't remember it and you're probably the same the last time I was ever part of a conversation that revolved around we need to make the goalie equipment smaller like But that conversation is gone now because everybody's realized that, to your point, you can teach goal scoring. You can teach guys how to do this. And the conversation about, oh, we need to make the nets bigger. And the goalie's equipment, like the equipment needs to shrink. That's gone. Like that conversation, when's the last time you had a conversation about the goalie's equipment is too big?

Doesn't happen anymore. They used to dominate every show that I did, every conversation that you probably had. Riley, that conversation is completely vanished. It's gone. It has. And I think the technology of the sticks, too. You know, these companies are coming out. The sticks are lighter.

They bend at different locations. And every player shoots the puck different. Some players have their hands closer together. Some people like it down. You have mid kick, low kick, high kick, all these different things. And players are way more in tune with their stick and like their tool of what they're using to make them the best player possible. The way that they're curved, the way the blade sits on the ice, it's pretty cool

when you're talking to a player and you start talking about their stick. And their stick is like part of their body. Like those good players, like they absolutely love like how their stick sits on the ice, how it looks, the curve, the flex, and all that type of stuff. So we have a lot of banter in the room about that and guys are always talking about their sticks. What was yours when you, uh, when you played in the Western League? What was Um, it was a CCM wooden stick. I know I'm like dating my, like, I don't even think I'm that old, but I had a wooden stick. And, uh, you didn't get to pick your own curve, Jeff. You just said,

oh, wait. Here's this. But we, hang on. Were you one of those guys that like, you know, got into the, got into the workshop early and like you were the, the master of like working on the heel to change the lie? Were you that guy that was like in the room for hours working on his stick oh my my dad would always go we had like some wooden sticks whatever my dad would get the coho or the christian or whatever stick you would get at the five dollar bin out of canadian tire and colby would always just get the stick tape it and it was good and I'd be down there I'd have the blow the blow torch going fiberglass would be cracking everywhere I'd try and bend my blades yeah it was pretty good I was I was always doing that I'd always tape my stick retate my

stick. My dad would always get mad about little balls of tape, always all over the house. And now flip it, whatever years later. And my son, I'm finding tape all over the house here. So, you know, definitely runs in the family. Is he making one of those giant tape balls that he lugs around in the bag? Is he that kid? Yeah, he is that kid until I threw it out. Oh, you're breaking hard. It's weighing the bag down. You got to carry this thing. Dad doesn't carry the bag. Yeah. Yeah. So. One rule, your dad, like, Wayne is one of the great people of the game and one of the nicest of something.

Is he still scouting in the Western League? Is your dad still scouting? He's still scouting for the Moostral Warriors. I think he's in his third or fourth year now with them. So he has a Memorial Cup ring, two WHL championship rings, one back when Kobe played with Red Deer. And he just absolutely loves being at the rank. Around the city of Saskatoon,

I think every single night I call my dad during the winter and there's a hockey game in the background and he's at a local youth rink watching Vantam hockey, major AAA and he definitely gets those players out there and gets them down to those guys in Moose Jaw. You're part of a great hockey family rally.

Listen, thanks for parking time. I know it's a busy time for your organization and for you. Thanks so much for parking some time for me today. Much appreciated. Good luck to the team in Orange this year. We'll check back soon. Awesome. Thanks. Jeff, and I appreciate the ties that you gave me. I've added them to the tie collection.

So I wear them from time to time. Hang on. We got it. Hang on. We're going to tell this story real quick. So when Riley used to coach in Maine, this is the ECHL. And whenever he would come visit me at SportsNet, I would always give him, oh, we'd go to the dressing room and say, Riley, grab some, grab some ties.

And you still have those? You're telling me? I still have them. You used to give me Maine Mariners dry fits for the gym. give you ties. I think you win in that. Great trade-off. Great trade-off. And I don't know if you still wear those Maine Mariners shirts, but I definitely wear these ties. I do. All right. That's a hand-in-love relationship. Awesome. Riley, thanks, man. You're the best. Congratulations on all the success, and we wish you nothing but more success in the future. Thanks, Bell. Thanks, Jeff.

I can't get up my head, lost all ambitions day to day, because you can call it all right. I went to the dark man, he's trying to give me a little medicine. I'm like, no, and that's fine. I'm not against those methods, but new. It's me and myself and how this is going to be fixing my mind. You want to break it? I turned on the music. I do want to break it

I turn on the music That's enough Yeah, up, I don't get you sometimes losing I've been on the days that we're wrong