One of those names, as pointed out by Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek during tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night In Canada, is Philadelphia Flyers power forward James van Riemsdyk. The winger is in the final year of a five-year, $35MM contract he signed to rejoin the Flyers organization prior to the 2018-19 season. The veteran’s production has been up and down over the life of the deal, but his 10 points in 11 games thus far, while navigating through some injury issues, does make him an attractive trade asset. While he does carry a $7MM cap hit, Marek adds the Flyers would be willing to retain some of that figure. A number of teams would make sense for van Riemsdyk, but for the New Jersey native teaming up with the Devils might be an especially solid fit, given their need for a net-front presence, as detailed in our Thankful For series.
Flyers Rumors
Zack MacEwen Out Saturday With Illness
- Philadelphia Flyers forward Zack MacEwen missed this evening’s game against the New York Rangers with an illness, reports The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. Of course, no forced absence is a good thing, however one would expect an injury to carry a shorter timeframe, which would be preferable to getting MacEwen back into the lineup. MacEwen has just eight points in 28 games this season, but with Philadelphia showing value in grit this year, the forward’s 38 penalty minutes are much appreciated.
Flyers Forward Lukas Sedlak Leaves The Team, Placed On Unconditional Waivers
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.
Flyers Place Cam Atkinson On IR
It has been a strange year thus far for Flyers winger Cam Atkinson. Originally diagnosed as being out day-to-day with an upper-body injury in training camp, the 33-year-old has still yet to play this season. He was said to be nearing a return and has been participating in practices but CapFriendly noted last night (Twitter link) that the veteran has now been moved to injured reserve.
The placement stems from them needing a roster spot for Olle Lycksell who was recalled on Thursday. Originally, it was supposed to be Anthony DeAngelo ceding his spot as the defenseman was away from the team for personal reasons, allowing Philadelphia to designate him as non-roster status. However, Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that DeAngelo is back at practice today which takes that option off the table.
It’s possible that Atkinson might have suffered some kind of setback, one that is going to take at least a little bit of time to heal so they’ve opted to simply place him on IR until he’s cleared to return. Because he hasn’t played this season, Philadelphia is eligible to back-date the placement; accordingly, he’s eligible to be activated at any time. For a few weeks now, it looked like the 700-game veteran was just about ready to come back but now, that wait appears likely to be even longer.
Tony DeAngelo Away Due To Personal Reasons; Flyers Recall Olle Lycksell
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that Tony DeAngelo has been given a non-roster designation due to personal reasons, meaning he won’t be available to the team for now. The team has recalled Olle Lycksell from the AHL to take his roster spot.
DeAngelo, 27, last played for the Flyers on December 7, and then was held out of the lineup when Cam York was recalled. The team made it clear at that point that DeAngelo was a healthy scratch, though a couple of days later, it was revealed that he flew home to deal with a family matter. With the non-roster designation, the team can recall an extra player to fill out the roster.
Lycksell, 23, made his NHL debut at the start of the season after an impressive training camp but was quickly sent down to polish his game further in the minor leagues. The young forward is in his first year in North America but that hasn’t slowed him down. In 16 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Lycksell has five goals and 16 points, continuing his breakout performance from the Swedish ranks.
A sixth-round pick in 2017, there’s no limit to the energy that Lycksell brings to every shift. While there are still many questions about whether he’ll be able to produce offensively at the NHL level, he’s done everything he could to show he deserves a chance.
Flyers Convert Anisimov's AHL PTO To Full-Season Contract
- The Flyers have converted veteran center Artem Anisimov’s AHL PTO to a full-season contract, notes Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey (Twitter link). The 34-year-old has played six games since joining them in mid-November and has been productive with three goals and an assist in that stretch. At the beginning of the month, it was reported that Philadelphia was hoping to convert Anisimov’s deal into an NHL one which would allow them to recall him but they remain at the maximum 50 contracts on the books. Until they’re able to free one up, Anisimov will have to settle for this full-season AHL agreement.
Philadelphia Flyers To Scratch Tony DeAngelo
The Philadelphia Flyers are going to get Cam York into the lineup to the joy of many fans. The way they are doing it, though, will cause some eyebrows to raise around the league. Tony DeAngelo will be a healthy scratch tonight.
DeAngelo, 27, has recorded points in each of his last four games and played nearly 22 minutes on Wednesday night. That is actually much lower than his average on the year, which still sits over 24 minutes, after a number of huge totals earlier on. Twice this year already, DeAngelo has played more than 31 minutes in a game, as head coach John Tortorella tried desperately to find a way to spark his team’s offense.
Now, though, he’ll sit down the veteran defenseman in favor of York, who will be playing in his first NHL game of the season. The 21-year-old has 13 points in 20 minor league games and is one of the team’s top prospects. Selected 14th overall in 2019, he has ten points in 33 career games with the Flyers – nearly all of them coming during the 2021-22 season.
Meanwhile, DeAngelo was signed to a two-year, $10MM contract by the Flyers after sending three draft picks to the Carolina Hurricanes to acquire him (they received a seventh-round pick as well). Moving a second, third, and fourth for a defenseman in his mid-twenties isn’t exactly the kind of deal that a rebuilding club usually pulls off, showing how little interest the front office had in a full teardown in the offseason.
While this almost certainly won’t be the last we see of DeAngelo in the lineup, it does indicate just how hard Tortorella is trying to instill some responsibility in the Flyers group. The high-risk defenseman has never been known for contributing much in his own end, and he has been on for 29 goals again at even strength already this year. That is third worst on the club, behind only Hayes (34) and Ivan Provorov (30).
Philadelphia Flyers Recall Cam York
The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled defensive prospect Cam York from the minor leagues, sending Yegor Zamula back down in his place. The team is headed out on the road for stops in Vegas, Arizona, Colorado, and New Jersey, meaning they needed an extra defenseman. It is somewhat surprising that York was the one getting the call, given how it didn’t seem like the team would be inserting the extra body into the lineup.
York, 21, was the 14th pick in 2019 and is still seen as a top prospect in the Philadelphia organization, even if his opportunity at the NHL level has been limited. He played 30 games with the team last year and was pushed hard by head coach John Tortorella in the preseason, but ended up failing to make it past the final cuts. After putting up 13 points in 20 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, perhaps he’ll get another chance to show he can help the Flyers.
In yesterday’s loss to the Washington Capitals, Nick Seeler and Justin Braun each played fewer than 16 minutes, with the former not seeing any time on special teams. It would be a difficult spot for York to make his season debut tomorrow, against the 19-8-1 Vegas Golden Knights.
Zamula, meanwhile, has played in just 11 games with the Flyers this season but continues to be given practice time with the club. His demotion today was planned to give him the opportunity to play big minutes in Lehigh Valley while Philadelphia was on the road, since he wasn’t expected to get in the lineup.
James Van Riemsdyk Activated From Injured Reserve
The Philadelphia Flyers are finally getting a bit of good news on the injury front, as veteran forward James van Riemsdyk has been activated from injured reserve and is set to make his return against the Washington Capitals tonight.
While it may be too late for the Flyers to make any sort of run toward the playoffs, getting van Riemsdyk back into the lineup is important for another reason. The 33-year-old is on an expiring contract and could potentially be a top trade deadline target later this season.
Even though he doesn’t have quite the same impact he might have had in his prime, there are still few players as dangerous as van Riemsdyk when planted in front of the net. He has long been one of the best in the league at deflecting pucks and cleaning up rebounds, and even this year he had two powerplay goals in the first six games of the season.
Yes, his $7MM cap hit makes him an overpriced asset for a club like Philadelphia, but at the deadline, he will look like an interesting depth scoring option for a contender. Perhaps most importantly, van Riemsdyk does not have any trade protection in his contract.
Getting him back up and running, racking up powerplay points, and showing he can still contribute should only help the Flyers flip him later on. For now, he’ll also give the lineup a boost as they try to build on a big win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
Tanner Laczynski Placed On Injured Reserve
The Philadelphia Flyers are without another forward for the next little while, as Tanner Laczynski has been moved to injured reserve and is out week-to-week according to Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He joins Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk, Bobby Brink, and Wade Allison as forwards on IR.
The silver lining, if one can call it that, is that van Riemsdyk practiced and appears to be ready to return when the Flyers play tomorrow night.
Laczynski, 25, has been a regular in the Flyers lineup this season, playing in 19 games so far. The late-round pick had just six appearances before this year and had never registered an NHL point – something he has four of now. One of those came last night against the Colorado Avalanche in a statement win for the club, pouring on five goals against the defending (albeit banged up) champions.
Moving him to injured reserve opens up the roster spot needed for van Riemsdyk, meaning no one else will have to be sent down. The Flyers have actually been playing much better of late, even if their overall results haven’t been strong. They still sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with a 9-12-5 record.