Tanner Laczynski will miss the rest of the Flyers’ season; Egor Zamula to make his NHL debut
Laczynski, 23, a former Ohio State star who was selected by the Flyers in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, played in five NHL games this year and had no points and a plus=1 rating.
Tanner Laczynski’s NHL look-see is over shortly after it started.
The Flyers center/winger, one of their highly regarded prospects, had surgery on a torn labrum in his right hip Monday morning, and his expected recovery is 16 weeks, the team announced.
The Flyers originally said the injury was not believed to be serious. He also had core-muscle surgery before the season.
Laczynski, 23, a former Ohio State star who was selected by the Flyers in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, played in five NHL games this year and had no points and a plus-1 rating.
“I liked what Tanner did in those five games,” coach Alain Vigneault said Monday after practice in Voorhees. “Obviously, it’s a very small sample, but he did do all of the things” general manager Chuck Fletcher and assistant Brent Flahr told the coach in their scouting reports.
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“He’s a good two-way guy. Smart. Plays that 200-foot game,” Vigneault said. “Hopefully he gets back to 100 percent in the next four months and he’s ready for training camp next year.”
Before being recalled by the Flyers, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Laczynski had six goals and 10 points in 14 games with the AHL’s Phantoms.
Zamula’s debut
Defenseman Egor Zamula, 21, will make his NHL debut Tuesday in New Jersey and be paired with Travis Sanheim.
Known as “Big Z,” Zamula was moving the puck well at Lehigh Valley, and Vigneault and Fletcher want to see what he can do against the Devils.
With the Phantoms, he had five points, all assists, and a plus-2 rating in 17 games.
Team captain Claude Giroux recalled a discussion he had with defenseman Ivan Provorov about Zamula during an earlier training camp.
“I remember telling Provy how I thought this kid was going to be a player,” Giroux said. “He’s got a lot of poise with the puck. He’s very smart and has a good stick, and he just does everything right. I’m very excited to see him play [Tuesday].”
The 6-3, 177-pound Zamula signed as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and he said fellow Russian Provorov is his role model.
Robert Hagg, who had been paired with Sanheim, will drop to the third pairing Tuesday, alongside Phil Myers. Samuel Morin will be a healthy scratch.
Vigneault said Morin’s surgically repaired right knee — he tore his ACL twice — “can only take so much.” He added that Morin’s play has been up and down.
As for Zamula, he will become the fifth player to make his NHL debut with the Flyers this season, joining Maksim Sushko, Laczynski, Wade Allison, and Jackson Cates.
Breakaways
Brian Elliott will make his sixth start in the last eight games Tuesday in New Jersey. ... Center Morgan Frost, coming off shoulder surgery, and goalie Carter Hart (knee sprain) skated before practice. The Flyers are hopeful Hart can soon join practice and get into some remaining games. Frost will not play again until next season. ... Goalie Felix Sandstrom, who is on the Flyers’ taxi squad and has been practicing with the team, will play for Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. ... Talking about right winger Allison, Vigneault said he likes “the energy he brings to our group.”