For a little while now, there were rumblings on social media that the Philadelphia Flyers were going to make a major announcement that didn’t involve a trade or a signing. That left many speculating what it could be until On Pattison’s Anthony SanFilippo dropped a hammer earlier Tuesday that forward Tyson Foerster is expected to miss extended time due to an injury.
The longtime reporter mentioned that he had to wait for medical updates to finally be able to put it in the air but the young forward would be sidelined due to offseason biceps surgery and could miss the start of the season.
“According to multiple sources, On Pattison has learned that winger Tyson Foerster recently suffered an offseason bicep injury that could keep him out of the lineup for a significant stretch of time to start the season.
“Foerster flew to Vancouver on Monday to see a specialist and the Flyers are still awaiting his report, but one source said, “We are hoping for the best, although it’s not looking great right now.
“There is a belief that if the injury is as bad as feared, that Foerster could miss upwards of three months, however no one wanted to commit to that timeline until they had the latest medical reports.
But that report seemed to be a bit off, as Flyers general manager Daniel Brière mentioned during his press conference on Tuesday that Foerster actually hurt his elbow during the IIHF World Championship, where he represented Team Canada. He added that they didn’t think it was going to be too big of a deal, but when he came back, an infection grew in his elbow and worsened the situation.
Considering the Flyers just extended the RFA-to-be to a 2-year deal worth $7.5 million, it’s a tough blow to a team that needed all hands on deck to score goals. While the Flyers added Christian Dvorak through free agency, it softens the blow a little bit, however his signing had a lot more to do with lack of depth down the middle than Foerster’s injury.
Russian free agent Maxim Shabanov remains a possibility after the Flyers have been courting him for quite some time. The hybrid forward can play both positions so his addition to the lineup could help ever so slightly but it’s going to be a battle between the Flyers, the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers, and the Utah Mammoth for his services.
Foerster tallied a career-high 25 goals and 43 pints in 82 games this past season as a sophomore. He averaged 16:52 TOI, fired just 142 shots despite his 17.6 shooting percentage, and really turned it on in the end after the dismissal of John Tortorella. The youngster tallied 9 goals and 11 points in the final 9 games of the season, while averaging over 18 minutes a night.
If the injury creeps into the start of the season, as suggested, look for the Flyers to potentially find a suitable replacement for his loss in the coming days or weeks. They tried to do that earlier Tuesday when they were reportedly going after forward Corey Perry before he signed with the Los Angeles Kings, as mentioned by SanFilippo.
However, they’ve used up most of their cap space on Christian Dvorak and Dan Vladař while the remaining bit should be used on defenseman Cam York, who remains an RFA after having been qualified yesterday.
It’s another blow for the Flyers, who have had to deal with offseason injuries over the last few years with Sean Couturier and Joel Farabee coming to mind. Rasmus Ristolainen has also required offseason surgery during a few times as well, spelling doom for the Flyers once the season comes to a close.
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