The Flyers, in case you haven’t been paying attention, are a bit depleted. They are down Sean Couturier for, likely, the season Ryan Ellis is done for the season. Wade Allison just went down and Patrick Brown just started rehab. James van Riemsdyk may return later in the season, but we’ll see. That’s a lot for one team to have to go with.
The Flyers have tried to replenish the team with some waiver wire pickups. Lukas Sedlak has been one of the more successful ones. Another player Philly is taking a chance on is former star player, Artem Anisimov.
Anisimov had signed a PTO deal during training camp and it looked like he still had some magic left in him. Then the injury bug attacked him and broke his foot while blocking a shot. He was not signed to a deal. After training camps all across the NHL closed up shop, he was left unsigned.
Then everyone on the Flyers got hurt. Anisimov was still available and was healthy enough to start skating again. He is going to be signed to a tryout deal with the Phantoms. If Lehigh Valley thinks he is worthy, they will sign him to a deal. If he can shake some of the rust that has been gathering on him, we might expect to see him at the Wells Fargo Center soon.
Anisimov will join Patrick Brown at Lehigh Valley. Brown is recovering from an injury and is on a rehab conditioning stint.
Anisimov was once a great scoring forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Before that, he was a young stud who played under Coach John Tortorella on the New York Rangers. In three years, he scored 46 goals before being sent to Columbus for Rick Nash. After leaving the Jackets, he played for Chicago and Ottawa before heading to the KHL.
At 34 years old, Anisimov is a great veteran that the Flyers could use right now. If he can regain some of his scoring touch, that can be an asset to a team that could use some scoring. He is also sitting on 771 career points. Reaching 800 would be a goal of his and might incentive him even more. It’s been since the 2017-18 season since he put up more than 20 goals in a year. But right now, the Flyers can use anyone who can find the back of the net.
Flyers Place Wade Allison On Injured Reserve
And the signing comes at a time when Allison has just been put on the IR list to join the rest of his teammates. He has an oblique muscle strain and hip pointer from when he hit Senators defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. Must have been some hit. Allison will probably miss at least three weeks, so maybe his return will be a nice Christmas gift for the Flyers.
Allison also has had two ankle injuries and an MCL sprain over the last two years and spent time in college dealing with an ACL tear.