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.