Flyers injuries: Owen Tippett missed Carolina series with ‘internal bleeding issue’
The injury, which occurred in Round 1, did not progress to the point where Tippett felt it was safe to play, he said Tuesday in a statement. Cam York and Christian Dvorak also were playing hurt.
The Flyers announced on behalf of Owen Tippett that he missed the Carolina series because of an “internal bleeding issue” he suffered in the first-round playoff series against Pittsburgh.
Tippett said he was cleared to skate in some practices and to travel, but his condition never improved enough to “safely continue playing” or return during the second-round series against the Hurricanes. Tippett, who also confirmed that he was dealing with an unrelated sports hernia, said he is feeling better each day and that he does not expect to need surgery. He expects to be ready in time for training camp in September and to be healthy to open the 2026-27 season.
The internal bleeding issue popped up after Game 6 of the first round. Tippett said that he noticed he wasn’t feeling well a day or two after that 1-0 overtime win.
The 27-year-old Tippett led the Flyers with 28 goals this season, and his speed and power, which made him a constant threat in the series with the Penguins, was sorely missed against Carolina.
The news was better for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who said this will be his first normal offseason in four years — “thank God.”
After suffering injuries — including a couple triceps ruptures in each of the last three years, which required multiple elbow surgeries and impacted his offseason training — he’s looking forward to focusing on getting prepared for the year without worrying about rehabbing.
One injury that wasn’t a surprise on Tuesday was that of Rodrigo Ābols, who was injured on Jan. 17 against the New York Rangers after taking a nasty fall into the boards. He missed the last four months, including an opportunity to represent Latvia at the Olympics, with an extensive “freak” injury. He fractured his right fibula, suffered a tear in his syndesmosis joint (also in his right leg), and injured his deltoid. Ābols, a free agent on July 1, said he has been skating for about four weeks and is ahead of schedule his rehab process.
Center Christian Dvorak didn’t disclose the injury or injuries he was dealing with near the end of the second round, which left him consistently listed as day to day. Ultimately, he didn’t miss a playoff game.
He said he expects to have a full summer of training and doesn’t expect his ailment to impact that.
“Everyone’s dealing with things, you just have to play through it,” Dvorak said.
Tyson Foerster, who returned in April after missing 49 games with what the team labeled an “upper-body” injury, also declined to get into injury specifics, saying he would leave that for general manager Danny Brière on Thursday to discuss. Foerster’s surgery was thought to repair some kind of arm/shoulder injury after he was injured while taking a shot on Dec. 1 against the Penguins.
Defenseman Cam York, the overtime hero in Game 6 against Pittsburgh, scored that goal while dealing with a rib injury, he revealed Tuesday.
York said he “banged up his ribs” in Game 2 against the Penguins, and was dealing with that lingering injury through the end of the postseason.
“It was fine. I was able to play through it,” said York. “Playoffs, you don’t want to miss games or anything like that. With the schedule, it was so hard to get days off to heal or advance your body, so it was a tough situation, but it’s good.”
Goaltender Dan Vladař also confirmed that the injury he suffered in the first round still is impacting him and will prevent him from playing at the World Championships with Czechia. He did not disclose the nature of the injury, although he appeared to be shaking out his arm in the Game 3 win after taking contact from Pittsburgh’s Bryan Rust. Vladař was day to day ahead of Game 4 but ended up playing in that game and in all 10 of the Flyers’ postseason games.
After missing the final two games of the Carolina series with a foot injury, Noah Cates confirmed that the injury happened on a shot block in the first period of Game 2 against the Hurricanes. He played the remainder of the game but couldn’t return to the lineup in the series.
He said it immediately felt similar to his previous broken foot, and it “blew up” once he took his skate off. He said he expects to be rehabbing the injury for a month but does not believe it will require surgery.
“Shot off the foot, wasn’t good enough to go with some different things going on with it,” Cates said. Just an unfortunate bounce, kind of a nothing play.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
