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Flyers Notes: Staal, Hart, Ristolainen

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PHLY Sportswriter Charlie O’Connor tweeted that Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Marc Staal is very close to returning to the Flyers lineup but will not return for tomorrow night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Staal has missed 11 straight games with what was being called an upper-body injury, but he confirmed to the media today that he was suffering from a rib injury.

Due to the length of his absence, Staal can be activated off injured reserve at any point, and it appears from Staal’s perspective that a weekend return is possible, although the ultimate decision would fall to the Flyers training staff.

Staal has dressed in just four games for the Flyers this season after signing a one-year $1.1MM deal with the team in the offseason. He has no points in those four games and has averaged over 15 minutes of ice time per game.

In other Flyers notes:

  • Sam Carchidi tweeted that Flyers goaltender Carter Hart should be good to return to the net for tomorrow night’s game against Carolina. Hart has been sidelined with several different issues which have led to a five-game absence. Hart left the game during Philadelphia’s 5-2 loss to Buffalo on November 1st and proceeded to miss the next three games with a mid-body injury before he came down with food poisoning and missed two additional games. Hart has been good for the Flyers thus far this season with a 4-3-0 record with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
  • Carchidi also tweeted that Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is getting closer to a return as he practiced with the team for the first time today. The 29-year-old has yet to dress in a game this season as he has been dealing with a lower-body injury and suffered a setback in the middle of October that kept him off the ice for nearly a month. Ristolainen had three goals and 17 assists last season in 74 games while registering 162 hits and 142 blocked shots.

Flyers Loan Cal Petersen, Victor Mete To AHL

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Nov. 14: It took quite a while, but the Flyers confirmed the loan of Petersen and Mete to the Phantoms Tuesday morning in a team statement.

Nov. 13: The Philadelphia Flyers returned goaltender Cal Petersen and defenseman Victor Mete to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday, Dylan H. Robillard of Olde City Sports Network reports.

Petersen, 29, was brought up from the AHL at the beginning of the month in the wake of a mid-body injury to starter Carter Hart. Acquired over the summer from the Los Angeles Kings in the Ivan Provorov three-team trade with the Blue Jackets, the Notre Dame graduate started two games for the Flyers, both against his former team, going 1-1-0 with a .896 SV% and 3.50 GAA.

It has been a difficult past few seasons for Petersen, who has lost his grip on a full-time NHL job after signing a three-year, $15MM extension with the Kings in advance of the 2021-22 season that didn’t begin until 2022-23. In hindsight, it’s turned out to be a premature gamble from Kings GM Rob Blake, as Petersen has started just 46 NHL games since signing the deal with a .890 SV%, 3.08 GAA and three shutouts.

Petersen’s extremely poor start to 2022-23 earned him a demotion to the minors, where he spent most of the season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. There, he posted a .904 SV% in 40 games and earned a spot on Team USA at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, where he excelled with a 0.72 GAA, .956 SV% and 3-0-0 record, leading some to believe he could rebound in the City of Brotherly Love after the trade went through.

That hasn’t been the case, though, as Petersen finished training camp fourth on the Flyers’ netminding depth chart behind Hart and his young backups, Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandström. Petersen has struggled through four games with Lehigh Valley, where he returns to improve on his current 1-3-0 record and .884 SV%.

Mete has now been recalled and returned to the Phantoms for the second time since passing through waivers during the preseason. Serving as a healthy scratch twice after his second recall on November 5, Mete made his Flyers debut on Saturday against the Kings, posting zeroes across the board in less than 11 minutes of ice time.

The Flyers signed Mete, 25, to a one-year, two-way deal with a $775K cap hit in July. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and has one assist and a -3 rating through five games with the Phantoms.

Roman Čechmánek Passes Away at 52

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Deník Sport has shared the passing of former Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Roman Čechmánek. The goaltender was 52 years old and had previously played 212 games in the NHL, after being drafted in the sixth round – 171st overall – in the 2000 NHL Draft. That was 34 spots before Henrik Lundqvist heard his name called by the New York Rangers.

Čechmánek was, interestingly, 29 years old when he was drafted. He also had seven years of professional hockey in Czcehia under his belt, helping to set him up for an immediate role in the NHL. Čechmánek made his NHL debut on October 17th after his draft day and would go on to play a dazzling 59 games with Philadelphia through his inaugural season – the 14th-most of any goalie that season. And Čechmánek was efficient in the performances, tallying a 35-15-6 record and .921 save percentage. While he was too old to be considered a rookie, he would have recorded the second-highest save percentage of any Flyers goalie in the modern era, only outperformed by Doug Favell’s .931 set in the 1967-68 season. Čechmánek would go on to finish second in Vezina voting that season – his first in the NHL – losing out to Dominik Hašek for the award.

But he stayed consistent, recording a .921 save percentage again through 46 games in his sophomore season. His record also stayed green, with the then-30-year-old goalie going 24-13-6. And despite two tremendous years to start his career, it was Čechmánek’s third season in the league that would go down as his career best. Through 58 games, the netminder recorded a .925 save percentage and 33-15-10 record. He won the William M. Jennings award, provided to the goalie(s) that allowed the fewest goals against, but ranked seventh in Vezina voting in a year where Martin Brodeur, Marty Turco, and Ed Belfour topped the list.

Čechmánek would play one more NHL season after that, moving to the Los Angeles Kings and continuing to find success. But his NHL career drew to a close after one year in L.A., with the goaltender returning to Czechia and appearing in various European pro leagues before retiring in 2007-08. Interestingly, he recorded a career-high .948 save percentage in the 2006-07 season in Czechia’s top league. While he had a short NHL career, he was always someone to watch when he played. We at Pro Hockey Rumors extend our condolences to his family, friends and the Philadelphia/L.A. hockey community.

Snapshots: Darcy Kuemper, Carter Hart, Patrik Laine

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Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery shared that Darcy Kuemper got banged up in the team’s last game. He will sit out of the team’s Friday game with an undisclosed injury. The Capitals recalled Hunter Shepard in response. He will serve as the backup behind Charlie Lindgren on Friday.

Kuemper has been in and out of the lineup to start the season, appearing in eight games with the Capitals. He’s managed a 3-3-2 record through that span, recording a .892 save percentage. That’s a step down from the .902 save percentage that he ended the 2022-23 season with – a mark he set en route to a 22-26-7 record in 57 games.

Charlie Lindgren has found himself with the best save percentage on the team, currently sitting with a .929 through the two games he’s appeared in, saving 65 of the 70 shots that he’s faced so far. Shepard also stepped in for one game, allowing four goals on 22 shots but nevertheless managing his first NHL win.

Other notes from around the league:

Owen Tippett Could Sign A Long-Term Extension

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The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco reported that the Philadelphia Flyers are willing to sign 24-year-old winger Owen Tippett to a long-term deal, as long as the average annual value is reasonable. Di Marco added that “long-term” could mean a deal similar to the eight-year extension that Brandon Hagel received in Tampa Bay, although Hagel’s $6.5MM AAV would be “a little high” for Tippett, a source told Di Marco.

The Flyers only have five players currently signed beyond the 2025-26 season. Of that list, only one – 23-year-old Joel Farabee – is under 27. So the interest in signing young players to long-term deals is both timely and refreshing. It’s another step in new general manager Daniel Briere building out something sustainable over time, and locking up core lineup pieces like Tippett is a great way to start. While the young winger hasn’t jumped off the page with his scoring – recording over half of his career scoring when he netted 49 points last season – he’s found other ways to make his impact felt, ranking fourth on the team in CF% (Corsi-For Percentage) since 2021-22, among plays with 25-or-more games.

Tippett’s pending extension, and how it affects other young pieces of the Flyers lineup, will be exciting to monitor over the course of the season.

[SOURCE LINK]

Sean Couturier To Return Tonight

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Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier, who has not played in either of the team’s last two games, will return tonight against the San Jose Sharks, according to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. It will be an important reinforcement for the Flyers who are currently on a 1-4-0 stretch in their last five games.

After missing the entire 2022-23 regular season due to injury, Couturier has picked up right where he left off in Philadelphia. In 10 games played up to this point, he has scored two goals and six assists, tied for fifth on the team in scoring. Still maintaining a positive faceoff percentage, as well as solid possession numbers, Couturier is still a player the Flyers can trust with heavy usage.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • Back to the Sharks, Max Miller also mentioned that Mike Hoffman and Nikolai Knyzhov were late additions to today’s practice, meaning they may be out of the lineup tonight against the Flyers. Both players were present during the team’s blowout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

Sean Couturier, Carter Hart Traveled With Team On California Road Trip

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  • Injured Philadelphia Flyers cornerstones Sean Couturier and Carter Hart traveled with the team on their upcoming three-game California road swing, Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports reports. While not a guarantee, the door is open for the team’s first-line center and starting goaltender to return to the lineup sometime this week. The team listed both players as day-to-day on Friday with a lower-body and mid-body injury, respectively. Both players have missed the team’s last two games, a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and a 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

Flyers Recall Felix Sandstrom, Place Him On IR

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Less than a week ago, the Philadelphia Flyers had sent goaltender Felix Sandstrom to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for a conditioning stint. Normally, a team must recall a player on a conditioning loan within the next 14 days, but due to an upper-body injury suffered in last night’s game against the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Flyers have chosen to call up Sandstrom a bit earlier than expected.

This will now be the second goaltender in the last week who is set to miss some time within the Philadelphia organization, as it was reported that Carter Hart would miss a few days due to a mid-body injury. In the meantime, the Flyers are set to roll with a combination of Calvin Petersen and Samuel Ersson as their goaltending tandem.

Unfortunately for the team, at all levels of the organization, aside from Hart, the Flyers have been unable to get adequate goaltending across the board. In only two games played for the Phantoms over the conditioning stint, Sandstrom had a 0-0-1 record, with a .857 SV% and a 3.68 GAA. Primarily serving as a backup for Philadelphia last season, Sandstrom had a 3-12-3 record in 20 games played, posting a .880 SV% and a 3.72 GAA.

Out of training camp, the team opted to carry three goaltenders into the regular season, giving the primary backup position to Ersson. Much like Sandstrom’s subpar season last year, Ersson has gotten off to a similar start, holding a 1-2-1 record in four games, garnering a .815 SV% and a 3.90 GAA.

Rasmus Ristolainen Moved To LTIR

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The Flyers have placed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link).  The move was necessary to afford yesterday’s recall of goaltender Cal Petersen.  Ristolainen has yet to play this season due to an undisclosed injury, one that he had a setback in recovering from last month.  The LTIR placement can be made retroactively; assuming that was done here, he will have already missed the required 10 games and 24 days which means he will be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.  The 29-year-old had 20 points, 142 blocks, and 162 hits in 70 games with Philadelphia last season.

Flyers List Sean Couturier, Carter Hart As Day-To-Day

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Flyers forward Sean Couturier is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while netminder Carter Hart is out day-to-day with a mid-body injury, per an announcement from the team Friday morning.

Hart’s injury, aggravated in Wednesday night’s loss to the Sabres, was previously reported but was expected to be longer-term. An official injury designation of day-to-day from the team suggests it may not be as severe as Crossing Broad’s Anthony SanFilippo reported yesterday.

That’s good news for the Flyers, who have cooled off after a hot start and now sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-5-1 record. Hart’s play this season has been strong, recording a .913 SV%, 2.52 GAA, and one shutout. He’s on track to have his second straight season above league average after back-to-back disappointing campaigns in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The Flyers’ goaltending options behind Hart leave much to be desired. Hopes were high for 24-year-old Samuel Ersson entering the season after a strong campaign in the starter’s net for AHL Lehigh Valley, but he hasn’t been up to the task thus far. In two starts, the Swedish netminder has allowed 14 goals on just 59 shots, resulting in a ghastly .763 SV% and 4.91 GAA. Third-string netminder Felix Sandström, who made the Flyers out of camp, had a 3-12-3 record and .880 SV% in 18 starts last season and is currently on a conditioning loan to Lehigh Valley. 29-year-old veteran Calvin Petersen, recalled yesterday to serve as Ersson’s backup while Hart is injured, has just a .884 save percentage in four games with Lehigh Valley to kick off 2023-24.

Meanwhile, more injury trouble is not a positive for Couturier, who’s missed practices this season with a lower-body ailment. It’s unclear whether this is a different injury or a reaggravation of the one that’s been bothering him, but it is a sigh of relief that it’s not related to the back issues that kept him out for the better part of two seasons between 2021 and 2023.

Couturier has been among the Flyers’ best players so far, and the 31-year-old looks like he’s barely missed a step despite playing in just 39 of 174 games since the 2021-22 season began. He hasn’t missed any action this year and ranks fourth on the team in scoring, with two goals, six assists and eight points. Averaging 19:32 per game (which leads all Flyers forwards), he’s sporting a 51% win rate on draws and boasts a Corsi share of 54.7% at even strength.

Notably, Couturier’s injury leaves the Flyers without any healthy scratches on the active roster for tonight’s rematch against the Sabres. It’s unclear who will replace Couturier’s spot on the top line between Owen Tippett and Cam Atkinson. Shutdown center Noah Cates, who has a goal and three assists in ten contests this year, ranks second among Flyers centers in average ice time with 16:02 and seems like the closest chemistry fit for Couturier’s role. That means Scott Laughton could slide back into a third-line position centering Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink, while Ryan Poehling will re-enter the lineup and center the fourth line after serving as a healthy scratch for the last two games.

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