11:50 AM: The Flyers have confirmed (Twitter link) that Sedlak will be placed on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract. He’ll officially hit the waiver wire in a little over an hour. They also confirmed that Bellows has been recalled.
9:49 AM: Among the absentees at today’s Flyers practice was center Lukas Sedlak. His absence isn’t injury-related, however, as head coach John Tortorella told reporters, including Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link), that the 29-year-old has left the team and has returned home to his native Czechia. Tortorella wouldn’t elaborate further, indicating that they’ll let Sedlak explain why he left. Sedlak did so, telling Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) that he’s likely going to play with Pardubice of the Extraliga, citing a desire to be closer to family.
Sedlak signed a one-year, $800K contract with Colorado in free agency back in July and made their opening roster. However, after three games with the Avs, he was placed on waivers in mid-October and was claimed by Philadelphia. Since then, he had been a regular in the lineup, picking up three goals and five assists while averaging a little shy of 13 minutes per night, well above his career average.
Sedlak is set to become an unrestricted free agent again next summer and his comments suggest that likely he’ll be staying overseas for good. In the meantime, the Flyers have designated Sedlak as a non-roster player to free up an extra roster spot, one that will be used on winger Kieffer Bellows who has been recalled, per the AHL’s transactions log. If they decide to terminate his contract – Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli tweets that he should be on termination waivers soon – they’ll also free up a contract slot which is notable since they are currently the only team that’s at the maximum of 50.
I actually liked what he was doing but okay then.