Flyers provide injury updates on Rasmus Ristolainen and Tyson Foerster

The Flyers’ injury bug won’t be squashed by the weekend.

Originally, the team thought that the “minor” injuries to Tyson Foerster (lower body) and Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body) would be short-term with each hoping to be back for the Stadium Series game against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Instead, Foerster “needs a few extra days” — it’s not expected to be a long-term issue — but Ristolainen now has no set timetable.

The loss of Ristolainen leaves a little bit of a hole on the blue line. He’s primarily been slotted in the lineup since returning from a lower-body injury in late November.

For coach John Tortorella, he is confident the defensive corps will continue to run like a well-oiled machine. After all, the team has been deploying seven defensemen on a nightly basis.

“Guys, would be ready to play anyway. We’ve got two or three practices in already here since the break. But, you know, for guys getting game action, sure,” Tortorella said when asked if going 11/7 makes the loss less of an issue. “I’m not sure what the pairs will be. We don’t overthink it. We just put the guy in and we play.”

Tortorella added he wasn’t sure if the team would be going with the traditional 12 forwards and six defensemen with Ristolainen out.

» READ MORE: Flyers have several players in limbo as the March 8 trade deadline nears

With Ristolainen out indefinitely, the possible trade chatter around the defenseman has been all but silenced. Long thought to be on the block, and a moveable piece because of the Flyers’ gluttony of solid D-men, the injury assuredly changes how the team will address things as they march toward the March 8 trade deadline.

One guy whose name has popped up more and more as of late in trade rumors has been veteran forward Scott Laughton.

“He’s an important guy. He’s well respected. He’s a Flyer. [The] intangibles that he brings, he cares and I think that rubs off on people. He has a really good personality for team concepts,” Tortorella said. “So, yeah, he’s an important guy, but it is what it is where we are as an organization. I’ll say it again, it is what it is. We’ll just see what happens as we go through the next few weeks.”

The Flyers have remained steadfast that, while the team is in the playoff picture right now, they are hyperfocused on the future. Tortorella and Co. have reiterated they will only make trades that make sense for the long-term goal of being a perennial Stanley Cup contender. But the market for centers is spicy as plenty of teams need help down the middle and Laughton brings not only a 200-foot game that can be effective on special teams but leadership in the locker room. But by trading him, the Flyers would lose a big piece of their locker room and the team’s only alternate captain

“It’s the part of the process we’re in as a team. We can’t look for things not to continue our process. We have so many things to do, so much more of the process to build this team that we can’t be getting too emotional when it comes to what is the best thing,” Tortorella said. “If it’s the best thing for the future of our team in building it the proper way, we have to follow through. We have to. The guys know it. We’ve been very forthright publicly about this. We need to stay with it.”

Winger Owen Tippett and defenseman Jamie Drysdale did not practice Wednesday, as each took a maintenance day. ... Fans attending the Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium on Saturday can partake in a pregame experience that includes a photo with the Stanley Cup and music from Tramps Like Us, a Bruce Springsteen tribute band. The festivities open up at 2:30 p.m. The Jonas Brothers will also perform an hour-long set on Saturday beginning at 6:30 p.m. with the game slated to start at 8 p.m.