Flyers forward Travis Konecny, defenseman Travis Sanheim added to COVID-19 protocols
Konecny and Sanheim join captain Claude Giroux and star defenseman Ivan Provorov, who were added to the list on Tuesday.
Flyers forward Travis Konecny and defenseman Travis Sanheim have entered COVID-19 protocols, the team announced on Wednesday.
Konecny and Sanheim are the fifth and sixth Flyers players to be added to the list over the past 72 hours. On Monday, defenseman Nick Seeler and forward Jackson Cates entered protocols, and on Tuesday captain Claude Giroux and defenseman Ivan Provorov joined them.
» READ MORE: What we learned from the West Coast trip: Cam York looks NHL ready
The team is scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night and will need to call up a defenseman and a forward from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and assign them to the taxi squad in order to ice a full lineup. Both Konecny and Sanheim will each miss their first games of the season. Recovering Derick Brassard also could fill the forward spot but no decision has been made yet on whether he will be available for Thursday’s game.
Throughout the West Coast road trip, Konecny played on the third line with winger Oskar Lindblom and center Morgan Frost, who had originally been called up from the Phantoms as a replacement for the injured Derick Brassard. Konecny has five goals and 14 assists in 33 games and hasn’t scored a goal since Nov. 18.
Sanheim has played on the second defensive pairing with Rasmus Ristolainen for the majority of the season. On Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks, Sanheim and Ristolainen comprised the top pairing with Cam York making his season debut on the second pairing alongside Justin Braun with Provorov in protocols. Sanheim has two goals, eight assists, and is plus-three in 33 games played this season.
Between injury, COVID-19 and coach’s decision, only four Flyers have not missed a single game this season — Justin Braun, Keith Yandle, James van Riemsdyk, and Cam Atkinson.
Breakaways
With the team back on the East Coast and Carter Hart out of COVID protocols, the Flyers loaned goalies Felix Sandström and Kirill Ustimenko from the taxi squad to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.