Flyers announce injuries to Travis Konecny and Cam York in the midst of five-game winless streak
“When things go bad, it seems it keeps going,” general manager Danny Brière said after announcing a litany of injuries.
The Flyers’ five-game winless streak just got a lot harder to break.
On Saturday, general manager Danny Brière revealed a litany of injuries to key players, including two on the blue line and the loss of the Flyers’ top scorer, who has led the team in scoring for six of the past seven years.
“When things go bad, it seems it keeps going,” the GM said.
Forward Travis Konecny missed Saturday’s game in Boston with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP, NHLN). Defenseman Cam York also missed the afternoon matinee against the Bruins and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. According to Brière, it will “be tough for tomorrow” for York to suit up.
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Konecny was spotted grimacing after hitting Tim Stützle in the neutral zone early in the third period during Thursday’s loss to the Ottawa Senators. He left the bench briefly during the period but returned to finish the game.
“Yeah, we’re hopeful, at this moment,” Brière said of Konecny and York. “... We’re still going to do some tests when we get back tomorrow, in some cases, but we’re hopeful it’ll be shorter for all of them.”
The injuries come with Rasmus Ristolainen already out. The blueliner sustained an upper-body injury against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 3 when he blocked a shot by K’Andre Miller late in the middle frame. He left early in the third period and has not played since; however, he was on the three-game road trip and skated on his own in Tampa Bay and with others in Ottawa.
Ristolainen was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 3. Injured reserve is a minimum of seven days, so he is eligible to return Sunday, but the GM said he will more than likely be out for the rematch with Carolina.
Defenseman Helge Grans, who had been listed as injured non-roster since the start of the season, was activated and inserted into the lineup alongside Simon Benoit.
“He was close to being ready, and the timing worked for this game [today], so he’s going to jump in. Helge actually ... was having a pretty good camp when he got hurt, so we’ll see if he can step in and help us,” Brière said.
And in long-term news, the Flyers will be without Nikita Grebenkin for months. The feisty winger was placed on injured reserve on Monday when Denver Barkey was ready to return. Brière announced he will now miss a minimum of four months after he decided to undergo surgery on his back.
Grebenkin took a hard hit in his preseason debut Sept. 24 against the Boston Bruins. Coach Rick Tocchet confirmed three days later that the Russian winger was “a little banged up after last game, is working on a couple of little things,” but added that the current injury was unrelated to the upper-body injury he suffered in March that caused him to miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
