Philadelphia Flyers Recall, Activate Brian Elliott

The Philadelphia Flyers have sometimes been in need of healthy goaltenders this season. Not currently however, as they now have four on the active roster. The team today recalled Brian Elliott from his conditioning stint and activated him from injured reserve, adding him to a group including Cam Talbot, Carter Hart and Mike McKenna on the active roster.

It’s clear there will be a move of some sort to address this situation, but there isn’t any indication what exactly that will be. The Flyers only acquired Talbot a few days ago to serve as some veteran experience behind Hart, and had been trying to send Elliott back the other way to the Edmonton Oilers before eventually agreeing to trade Anthony Stolarz instead. The team could potentially use waivers for both Elliott and McKenna, though it’s unclear if either would be claimed at this point.

Elliott was actually off to quite a solid start before going down to injury earlier in the year. The veteran goaltender had posted a .911 save percentage through his first 14 appearances and had a 6-7 record despite the team in front of him struggling mightily. That .911 mark is actually quite a bit better than Talbot’s dreadful .893 this season, the low mark of his career.

After a terrible start to the season, the Flyers are now back within striking distance of a playoff spot. The team now sits at 28-24-7 thanks to an incredible run, and just six points behind the current wild card holders. Much of that is due to the strong work from the 20-year old Hart, who should still carry the load down the stretch for the team.