Ryan Ellis out Tuesday; Travis Sanheim represents Flyers on NHLPA call regarding Blackhawks investigation

While the Flyers returned from Canada to their practice rink in Voorhees, Ryan Ellis did not join them for practice Monday.

The defenseman was injured before the trip, but thinking he had a chance to return, the Flyers brought him to Canada. Over the course of the week, he participated in some aspects of practice, but he did not play in any of the three games.

“If I would have known prior to the road trip that he wasn’t going to play, we wouldn’t have brought him,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “We would have kept him here and had him do his rehab here instead of him going through the late nights, etc.”

» READ MORE: James van Riemsdyk making moves both on and off the ice

Monday, Ellis skated with the other players who are rehabbing injuries. Unlike previous practices when he participated in some drills, Ellis did not join the team for practice at all. Vigneault said Ellis definitely won’t play in Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. And he will only travel with the team to Pittsburgh and Washington if he practices at full speed Wednesday.

Vigneault said the undisclosed injury is related to the one from earlier in the season and that they’re being extra careful to make sure it’s taken care of “once and for all.”

“It’s taken a little bit longer than we anticipated,” Vigneault said. “So, again, I said day to day last week. Now, obviously, we’re week to week. And hopefully, he makes some strides here in the next couple of days, and he’s able to help us here in the near future.”

Justin Braun continued to skate with Ivan Provorov on the top pair while Nick Seeler and Keith Yandle made up the third pair.

As the Flyers’ new National Hockey League Players’ Association representative, Travis Sanheim represented the team on Monday’s NHLPA executive conference call to discuss the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault investigation.

According to the 107-page report, Don Fehr, the union’s executive director, was contacted twice about Kyle Beach’s allegations in 2010 against then-Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich. In an interview with TSN last week, Beach criticized Fehr again, saying he knows the allegations were made known to Fehr on two separate occasions.

» READ MORE: Flyers react to Blackhawks sexual abuse investigation

Following Beach’s interview, James van Riemsdyk, the former Flyers NHLPA representative, said there are things the NHLPA needs to address to make sure something like this never happens again.

Sanheim was notified there would be a meeting Monday while he was in Canada. He has been picking van Riemsdyk’s brain about what it means to be the team’s rep.

“He’s always knowing what’s going on. He’s a good guy to talk to,” Sanheim said. “Before this season with the whole COVID, there was a ton of calls during that break, the pandemic. I was trying to hop on as much as I could, to learn while I was not a rep.”

“I’m excited for it [being the Flyers’ NHLPA rep]. I’m always interested with what’s going on in the game and what’s going on around the league. So I’m excited for it. I hope I can do a good job.”

The Flyers play the Coyotes at home Tuesday at 7 p.m. (NBCSP). ... Vigneault mixed up the power-play units, moving Cam Atkinson to the top unit. ... Shayne Gostisbehere, who played six seasons for the Flyers and was traded to the Coyotes this offseason, will play his first game at the Wells Fargo Center in an away jersey. “I hope he remembers his time here as a good time, a positive time,” Vigneault said. ... Nic Aubé-Kubel skated with the fourth line again. Patrick Brown, who replaced him the last two games, mostly skated as an extra forward.