If you just saw the news, you saw that Travis Konecny is going to be out for about two weeks and Scott Laughton is being placed on injured reserve. At this point, we aren’t watching the Flyers, we are watching the Lehigh Valley Phantoms! Sometimes that’s the way the soft pretzel crumbles.
In addition to learning about the injuries that now face Konecny and Laughton, there were some other bits of information handed out today. Some of our players could be back sooner than later, which will be a Christmas miracle blessing!
Wade Allison
He has a hip pointer and oblique muscle strain. Depending on how quickly he heals, he could be out two to three weeks. Most likely, he’ll have to rehab to regain his strength. Most likely, if he returns before the end of the year, you’re looking around Christmas time…just in time to rejoin Konecny on the ice. Allison has three goals this season. He has often struggled to stay healthy in his career.
Cam Atkinson
This is one of the biggest mysteries this team has faced this season. Where is Cam? Not much has been said about him. He, like just about everyone else has an upper body injury, but they have never indicated what’s wrong. He’s never been moved to injured reserve, but remains “week to week”. He skated a few weeks ago in Columbus, but that’s about it. He was seen rehab skating recently which is a positive sign.
A team source has said he hopes to make his team debut between Christmas and New Year’s. That will be nice. He had some of his best years under Coach John Tortorella in Columbus and the coach could surely use his scoring touch right now. Whatever his issue is, the Flyers are trying not to rush it, as happened with Ryan Ellis last year.
Sean Couturier
Like Atkinson, he’s yet to hit the ice for the team this season. He had back surgery in October and is scheduled to be out for three to four months. If he can come back, you are looking at a trade deadline arrival for Coots. If that is the case, is it good to bring him back? In a previous article, I looked at the problems of rushing him back if this team is out of contention. In short, I’d rather have him out this year and be ready in 2023-24 than bring him back and ruin him. After all, he’s been out since December of last year with these back issues.
James van Riemsdyk
Still out. He had surgery on October 28 for a broken finger. If he comes back soon, it’s likely around Christmas time. We’ll see how much the injury will hurt his shot. He was just starting to get into the groove a little bit before he went down. He has two goals in five games played this year. It was also mentioned he could’ve been moved around the trade deadline, but with the injury, it is doubtful he’ll bring much in return.
Bobby Brink
Remember him? Probably not. He was a rookie call up last year who played in 10 games, had four assists, and dealt out 15 hits. He seems like the sort of player that Torts will love. However, he also has been hurt. He injured his hip last summer in practice. He could be ready five months from his July surgery date. That would place him sometime between Christmas and mid-January.
So, if you are counting, the Flyers could get back four guys by mid January…and that’s not including Konecny and Laughton. If they can rally around each other and stay steady in some of these games, there still is a chance they could contend. If not, the team is getting valuable experience playing under Coach Tortorella that will pay off huge next year.