Flyers recall Elliot Desnoyers, will make NHL debut against Devils

When the Flyers face the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, they will have a new face in the lineup. That comes in the form of Elliot Desnoyers who was recalled ahead of the game.

Desnoyers was drafted by the Flyers in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The fifth round pick will be making his NHL debut. In his first season of professional hockey, Desnoyers has performed quite well for the Phantoms.

He leads the Phantoms with 19 goals and 36 points. He is ninth among rookies in the American Hockey league in points. His 19 goals rank third. Desnoyers is on a hot streak right now, posting 13 points in his last seven games.

It’s not often that Desnoyers is held off the scoresheet for long stretches. His longest pointless streak was four games. Otherwise you can find him putting up at least a point or two for the Phantoms on any given night. He has had a multi-point night on seven occasions, going as far as posting four points on February 19th. That was the first four-point night of his professional career.

We haven’t seen a four-goal performance just yet. He did that twice, both with the Halifax Mooseheads  of the QMJHL. They both came in a two week stretch in October and November of 2020. The trade to Halifax that season did wonders for Desnoyers. He posted 49 points in the COVID shortened season and followed that up with an 88-point campaign to cap off his junior career.

Desnoyers has endeared himself to Flyers fans and is looking like a diamond in the rough pick. Not many fifth rounders make their way to the NHL this quickly. Only two players drafted in the same round as Desnoyers have played a game in the NHL. And none of the fourth rounders from that draft have made their debuts.

This is the time of year for the Flyers to give some of their younger prospects a chance to see what they can do. Desnoyers is likely not the last that will get his opportunity.

It does come at a bit of a cost, though. In order to make this move happen, the Flyers needed to clear a roster spot. To do that, they placed Travis Konecny on IR. He suffered an upper-body injury during the Flyers’ win over the Flames on Monday. There hasn’t been word on his status since.

The move to IR doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a long term thing. He only has to be on there for a minimum of seven days. So it’s possible that he could return for the Flyers next game on Wednesday as the IR stint could also be backdated.

For now Desnoyers will get his chance to show the organization how far he has come since he was drafted.