John Tortorella, Flyers shift this season’s focus to the future: ‘We’re not getting into playoffs’

There’s no more looking up for the Flyers. There’s only looking forward.

After a February when the Flyers lost eight of their 10 games as well as their best player, Travis Konecny, to injury, the postseason is now even beyond a pipe dream. Konecny, who leads the team with 27 goals and 54 points, is going to be out “for a while” with an upper-body injury, coach John Tortorella confirmed Monday.

“We’re not getting into playoffs,” Tortorella stated clearly Monday. He later added: “Next year is going to be a grind, too. This is a process. It’s going to take time.”

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That’s a different message than Tortorella delivered upon returning from the All-Star break, following a strong January. Then, he spoke to the locker room about ramping up the intensity because the following games mattered. He spoke of how exciting it was to be playing in meaningful games this late in the season, saying “This is when it really starts getting to be hockey.”

At that point, the Flyers were in 23rd place in the NHL with 51 points and were six points and three spots out of the final wild-card spot.

“It’s a really good situation,” Tortorella said then. “It’s up to us how long do we keep playing those meaningful games, right? I hope we stay in it.”

Almost all of February was ugly, but Saturday’s 7-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils was the death knell. After the game, de facto captain Scott Laughton mentioned that it’s the time of the season when they start seeing what the organization’s youth can bring — something only teams who are out of the playoff race focus on. The Flyers are now five spots and 11 points out of a wild-card position and have played two more games than the Pittsburgh Penguins, who currently occupy the second and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Tortorella confirmed that the realization that their season already has an expiration date probably has had an effect in the locker room.

“Listen, guys, it’s hard for athletes to see other teams bolstering their lineup because they’re gearing up for it, right?” Tortorella said. “We’re on the other end of that. We’re going to sell, right?”

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With that acknowledgment, Tortorella has turned his focus toward the bigger picture, evaluating how each player fits into the long-term plan. While the games don’t mean anything other than helping determine draft position, the players should still put in the effort and focus on building the “standard” of the organization, he said.

“It’s hard for athletes to be toward the end of the season and have to go through it,” Tortorella said. “They’re not martyrs. But I want to see guys just play with a little bit of pride here. I want to watch that, too, because that’s a telling tale of what we want here on the bus, too, in Philly as we move forward.

Konecny, who took a hard hit from behind in Calgary and was seen wearing a sling on his left arm, will be out for an extended period of time, Tortorella said. He added that more details would be released later Monday.

In addition to Konecny, James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Hayes, and Wade Allison were all missing from practice. On Saturday, van Riemsdyk did not play because he was “banged up.” While he’s feeling better, the Flyers held him from Monday’s practice, but they said he would skate in Tuesday’s practice. The winger is widely expected to be traded before Friday’s deadline and is likely being held out as the Flyers work on a potential deal.

Hayes and Allison, who both got banged up Saturday, took maintenance days and will return Tuesday as well.

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Tanner Laczynski (lower body), who was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 6, started skating about a week and a half ago. Neither he nor Tortorella provided a timeline for his return, but he participated in practice Monday. He said that he’s feeling a lot better now that he’s with his teammates again but that each injury gets harder to deal with. Laczynski, 25, has played just 69 games (NHL and AHL) over the last three seasons due to a litany of injuries.

Enforcer Zack MacEwen, who had surgery on his jaw on Jan. 28, was also at practice. He was wearing a non-contact jersey and a protective covering over his jaw. Tortorella did not have an update on MacEwen, but his original estimated recovery time was five weeks (March 4).

The Flyers next play Wednesday at home against the New York Rangers (7:30 p.m., TNT). Tortorella said he hopes the 7-0 loss to the Devils is a “defibrillator” and shocks the team back into playing hard against the Rangers. ... The Flyers recalled left winger Elliot Desnoyers on Monday. He was not able to make it to Philadelphia in time for practice, but Tortorella said definitively that he’ll be playing more NHL games this season. “I loved his moxie.” ... On Sunday night, the Flyers traded winger Isaac Ratcliffe, a second-round pick in 2017, to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.