After being faced with a surplus of quality defensemen at the beginning of the season, the Flyers now find themselves in the exact opposite situation. They currently are without three blueliners in Shayne Gostisbehere, Andrew MacDonald, and Radko Gudas. To make matters worse, veteran T.J. Brennan, who likely would have been an early recall from AHL Lehigh Valley, is dealing with an injury as well while Samuel Morin, who broke camp with the team, is out for a couple of weeks with an undisclosed injury. On top of that, prospect Phillipe Myers is working his way back from a groin injury and isn’t ready to be recalled.
[Related: Flyers Depth Chart from Roster Resource]
As a result, they have had to dig deep on their farm team with veteran minor leaguers Mark Alt and Will O’Neill drawing into the lineup as of late; the latter making his NHL debut on Thursday at the age of 29.
With the injuries, some have speculated that Philadelphia could be on the lookout for some short-term help on the back end. However, GM Ron Hextall told reporters, including Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that he’s not on the market to add anyone to help get them through this rash of injuries:
“One reason you have depth is for when you get in situations like this. Unfortunately, some of our depth is hurt, too. But to add a guy for a week and [then others return], you have too many players. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Of their injuries on the back end, Gostisbehere appears to be the closest to returning to the lineup as he continues to work his way back from concussion-like symptoms while Gudas remains day-to-day with an upper-body issue. MacDonald (leg) is out for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, it appears the Flyers will continue to run with an inexperienced defensive lineup, one that has only one player with more than 100 games of NHL experience (Brandon Manning).