The Flyers will activate center Ryan Poehling and defenseman Yegor Zamula from injured reserve before tomorrow’s game against the Oilers, the team announced. With two open roster spots, they won’t need to make any corresponding transactions. They’ll also be accompanied by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and winger Owen Tippett, who missed time before the 4 Nations Face-Off break with injuries but never landed on IR.
Poehling, 26, hasn’t played since sustaining an upper-body injury, a suspected concussion, on a hit from Islanders winger Maxim Tsyplakov on Jan. 16. The hit earned Tsyplakov a three-game suspension but held Poehling out of the lineup for much longer. He’ll be available after missing 11 games for the Flyers, who went 4-6-1 in his absence. It’s unclear where he’ll slot into the lineup, but he’s held down a bottom-six role for most of the campaign.
The Minnesota native is in the first season of the two-year, $3.8MM extension he signed with Philadelphia in January 2024. He signed with the Flyers after being non-tendered by the rival Penguins in the summer of 2023, and he’s since emerged as a good fourth-line option with fringe third-line upside. The 6’2″ pivot has 4-11–15 through 43 appearances this season after recording a career-best 11-17–28 lines in 77 games last year. He’s complemented that with an even rating and a strong 51.2 FOW% while averaging 13:18 per game, down from last year’s 15-minute average.
His return will likely push veteran enforcer Nicolas Deslauriers to a press-box role, but head coach John Tortorella is likely mulling over more surprising options to scratch as per usual. Poehling has not been a healthy scratch this season – his absences have come either due to injury or personal leave.
The left-shot Zamula returns after missing eight games before the break with an upper-body issue. Now in his fifth NHL season, the 24-year-old is averaging a career-high 16:52 per game through 39 appearances. The undrafted free agent out of the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen has 3-8–11 with a -10 rating this year, matching his even-strength stat line in 66 games last year but failing to factor in on special teams. His 59 blocks rank sixth on the team, and his possession numbers – a 49.1 CF% and +2.2 expected rating at even strength – both rank 14th out of 29 skaters to suit up for the Flyers.