The Philadelphia Flyers were forced to deal with some substantial injuries throughout their Stanley Cup playoff run, and they were never particularly close to getting back some reinforcements, either.
On Saturday night, after the Flyers’ 3-2 Game 4 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, we learned that players like Owen Tippett and Christian Dvorak were playing through debilitating injuries: a separated shoulder and sports hernia, respectively.
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Defenseman Cam York purportedly played through a broken rib, and Noah Cates went down for the count early in Round 2 with a foot injury.
In the wake of injuries to Tippett and Cates, the Flyers could have used another winger and center, but reinforcements never arrived.
Bottom-six duo Nikita Grebenkin and Rodrigo Abols, who have been out since March 21 and Jan. 17, respectively, weren’t able to get close to a return in time for the Flyers.
Abols, 30, had resumed skating just prior to the Flyers’ Game 4 loss to the Hurricanes, albeit in a non-contact jersey.
Grebenkin, 23, has been sidelined with an upper-body injury that originally came with a seven-to-10 day evaluation timeline.
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A source familiar with their situations told The Hockey News that the Flyers would have needed to play a long Eastern Conference Final, or even reach the Stanley Cup Final outright, for Grebenkin and Abols to become considerations to return to the team and play.
Since the Hurricanes won’t begin the Eastern Conference Final until Thursday, at the earliest, this would have meant another two or three weeks of rehab, recovery, and conditioning for the two injured forwards.
Key Flyers Forwards Reportedly Played Through Significant Injuries
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Grebenkin finished his first full season in the NHL with four goals, 10 assists, and 14 points in 55 games, primarily featuring on the fourth line with an occasional opportunity to play higher in the lineup here and there.
The eclectic Russian forward is a pending restricted free agent, and the Flyers will have a decision to make on his future with their glut of wingers.
As for Abols, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and it remains to be seen as to whether or not the Flyers want to bring the Latvian back for a third season for depth or set their sights higher elsewhere.
