With the Philadelphia Flyers mired in a miserable stretch of losses and poor play, it seems likely that there had to be at least one injury plaguing the team. New information this morning indicates that the problems run deeper than anyone would have guessed:
RJ Umberger and Mark Streit have been placed on Injured Reserve, while Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has been activated from IR. (2 of 2)
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 14, 2015
This marks the second time in this already young season that Umberger has hit the injured reserve list, but it’s the nature of Streit’s injury that’s the scariest thing about this update:
Injury Update: Mark Streit will have surgery on Tuesday morning to repair a pubic plate detachment. He is expected to be out for six weeks.
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 14, 2015
A pubic plate detatchment sounds incredibly painful, and we wish Streit a speedy and complete recovery. Six weeks without the team’s best defenseman and second-leading scorer sounds difficult, and it couldn’t come at a worse time for the Flyers.
In their stead, the Flyers have recalled Taylor Leier and Shayne Gostisbehere from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Gostisbehere, one of the most prized defensive prospects in the system, played two NHL games last year during his brief call-up before tearing his ACL shortly after returning to the Phantoms. He missed the rest of the season, but has 10 points in 14 games this year– not bad for someone who missed the last year of hockey. It appears that Gostisbehere will be paired with rookie Brandon Manning on defense.
Prized prospect Gostisbehere has 10 points in 14 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season.
Taylor Leier, a 2012 fourth-round draft pick, is being called up to the big club for the first time in his career. He’s got four goals and five assists in 14 games this season and a strong two-way game, beating out Phantoms team scoring leaders like Nick Cousins for the promotion.
Also returning to the team tonight is Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who had been out since October 27 with a lower-body injury. The winger had to be helped off the ice during the game against the Sabres without putting any weight on his leg, and is sorely missed on a fourth line that started the season very strong but has faltered in the last few weeks. (It’s also worth noting that Bellemare, who was born and raised in Paris, has said that he may not be entirely focused on tonight’s game given the events in his hometown last night.)
Comcast SportsNet reports that Vinny Lecavalier, Evgeny Medvedev, and, surprisingly, Brayden Schenn, will all be healthy scratches tonight against the Hurricanes. While Schenn is tied with Claude Giroux for the team lead in goals with five, head coach Dave Hakstol is concerned that Schenn has only scored once in the last eight games, and has assured the media that he’ll only be “out for the night.”
With all these roster moves coming at a time when the Flyers find themselves dead last in the League in goals scored, second to last in the Metropolitan division and losing the momentum from their relatively strong start, hopefully Hakstol and General Manager Ron Hextall will find a combination of chemistry to bring the team out of their slump.