The Philadelphia Flyers won’t be getting Brian Elliott back anytime soon, as the goaltender underwent core muscle surgery this morning and will be out five to six weeks. Elliott was injured during Saturday’s shootout against the Arizona Coyotes.
Though Elliott hadn’t been having an outstanding season, he was once again the de facto starter and integral to the Flyers playoff plans. With him gone for nearly the entire remainder of the season, Philadelphia may have to look outside the organization for some help. In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column, he mentioned some connection between the Flyers and Buffalo Sabres, though there is no indication whether that was about goaltending.
There could be a fit with Buffalo if they’re willing to trade one of their pending free agent goaltenders, as both Chad Johnson (UFA) and Robin Lehner (RFA) are on expiring contracts. Detroit is another place that has a surplus of goaltending, and as Frank Seravalli of TSN points out, the Red Wings could still be looking for a landing spot for Petr Mrazek.
If the Flyers end up staying within the organization, Michal Neuvirth will have to handle the lion’s share of the starts down the stretch. Alex Lyon has looked shaky in his first few appearances, and has less than two years of professional experience. Beyond that there is Dustin Tokarski, who has struggled this season at the AHL level. Neuvirth does have 12 playoff starts in which he’s registered a .933 save percentage, but the majority of those came some time ago with the Washington Capitals. It would be risky to put the load squarely on his shoulders without much NHL experience to help.