Flyers provide updates on Ryan Ellis, Kevin Hayes

The Flyers were back on the ice in Voorhees ahead of their matchup with the Lightning on Wednesday. It was full participation from all of those involved, included two important names.

Ryan Ellis and Kevin Hayes both took part in practice and appeared to be full participants. Hayes swapped out on the fourth line on both the left wing and center spots. Ellis took some reps on the third pairing with Keith Yandle. Both also took part in penalty kill drills as well.

Making it through a full practice is a positive sign for both players and their potential returns. Hayes is eligible to come off of LTIR ahead of the Flyers game against Toronto on Wednesday. Ellis continues to hold a day-to-day designation despite having been out for much longer than that.

Alain Vigneault provided updates on both players once practice concluded on Tuesday afternoon.

“Both progressing nicely. Ryan, obviously, is ahead of Kevin. Kevin’s not going to play. The earliest I see him playing possibly would be next Tuesday. In Ryan’s case, I said three weeks ago he was day-to-day, so I would say there’s a chance, not sure tomorrow, but there’s a chance here in the near future.”

Vigneault added that if Ellis doesn’t play tomorrow, there is still a chance he could join the Flyers on the road this weekend. But if he’s unavailable for one of those games, he will not travel. This was his first real practice that included situations you would typically see in a game. He did take part in a skills based practice on Sunday.

In Hayes’ case, he has been cleared to practice and has been cleared for contact as well. He is waiting to be fully medically cleared, though that should be coming soon. Previously, Vigneault had noted that Hayes would likely need a few full practices before he was officially ready to re-join the team. Next Tuesday would allow him to get in at least two more practices as well as some morning skates if he travels with the team.

Whenever Hayes does return, the Flyers will have some decisions to make in regards to their lineup. One would assume they would like to ease Hayes back in if at all possible. Patrick Brown and Nicolas Aube-Kubel have been alternating on the fourth line the last few games. There’s an outside chance Vigneault could start him lower in the lineup.

With the Brassard line having cooled off in recent games, it wouldn’t be a hard decision to also have Hayes return to second line center duties as well. Having Hayes return to the lineup at all will certainly help the Flyers moving forward. The same would go for Ellis as well.