Ryan Ellis “ramping up” as Flyers hope for the best
By Scott Cole
One year ago, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher made some moves in an effort to help give the team a needed boost. Among the moves was to trade defender Philippe Myers and forward Nolan Patrick to the Nashville Predators for Ryan Ellis.
Myers was an undrafted player who had performed well in the AHL, but struggled defensively for the Flyers. Patrick was a former second overall pick who has struggled with staying healthy. He would later be flipped to Vegas that same day for forward Cody Glass.
For the Predators, they were acquiring two players under 25 years old who had shown brief glimmers of promise. The cost of that was Ellis, a 5’10” 31 year old defender who has that ability to move the puck, score, set up plays, and shut down opponents. He had just completed the second year of an eight year deal that would pay him $6.25 million annually. He also has been bitten by the injury bug over the last two seasons. The Flyers knew this risk when they traded for him, but felt that the risk was worth it.
It was hoped that Ellis could stabilize that back end of a defensive corps that had been in flux since the surprise retirement of Matt Niskanen. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Ellis played in only four games in his first season as a Flyer due to a injury in his pelvic region. At one point, Ellis admitted to rushing back to play to help a team that seemed to be floundering (it was) and thus made the injury worse. Both Ellis and Fletcher described the injury as “multilayered”. Ouch!
During a recent press conference, Fletcher hinted that the problem is far from over.
"“The bulk of his rehab is still ahead of him….It’s still difficult, if not impossible, to predict where he’s going to be at in three months.”"
So, he’s recovering, he’s better off than he was a few months ago, but we also don’t know where he will be soon. Thanks for the update!
Seriously, whatever the injury is (they’ve never been too specific about it), it has been significant. Ellis has shown that he is a player that Flyers fans want to love as he has tried to rush coming back to join the team. However, that made matters worse. Fletcher said that Ellis is in a position where
"“He could ramp it up, but we’ll just have to see how everything responds.”"
Translation, he could step up his rehab, hit the ice, and start practicing, but that could also complicate things if he is not ready.
Ellis can be a major piece of the Flyers moving forward. But it is not worth rushing him back into the lineup if he is not fully ready to go. I myself would rather have five years of a healthy elite defender than a few scattered games here and there of a broken down warrior.
During the preseason, Ellis looked like he connected well with Ivan Provorov. Then he got hurt. Maybe if he wasn’t injured, the Flyers season could’ve been different. We’ll never know. Either way, a healthy Ellis will be a major improvement for this team and a significant step moving forward. For now, all we can do is sit and wait and hope for the best. If his rehab goes as well as Fletcher is hinting at, then we can hopefully see Ellis suiting up this fall.