Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher provides injury updates on Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, and others

After suffering an onslaught of injuries, the Flyers don’t have much good news to look forward to through the end of November, but December marks a light at the end of the tunnel.

According to general manager Chuck Fletcher’s injury report released Tuesday, all of the injured Flyers will be out at least 10 more days. After that, the Flyers, who have lost seven straight games, expect five players to return before the end of the calendar year. The growing M.A.S.H. unit is similar to last season when the Flyers amassed more than 500 man-games missed to injuries.

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Flyers leading scorer Travis Konecny (19 points) has the shortest expected recovery. On Nov. 17, he left the game against Boston holding his right hand. He has since been seen on rehab skates, in which he has carefully held his stick. He officially is out with an upper-body injury and is expected back 10-14 days from Tuesday.

Wade Allison and Scott Laughton are the next players expected to return. Allison was injured Nov. 12 against the Ottawa Senators. He has a hip pointer and strained side muscle and was ruled out three weeks and placed on injured reserve. He’s expected to miss two to three more weeks. Allison, who has three goals in 14 games, was just beginning to establish himself in the NHL and had been bumped up to the second line.

Laughton, who has been the only Flyers player wearing a letter (”A”) on his jersey this season, looked to have hit his head on the ice in Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. He officially has an “upper-body” injury and has been placed on injured reserve. He’s expected to be out approximately two weeks. Center Jackson Cates has been recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to take his place.

Out of the players who underwent surgery, James van Riemsdyk is expected back the soonest. He broke his left index finger and had surgery Oct. 28. He remains on track with his six-week recovery period, which means he could return Dec. 9. Before his injury, van Riemsdyk had scored two goals and three assists for five points in six games. He recently participated in a rehab skate with Konecny and Cam Atkinson.

Bobby Brink is the final injured player who could return in December. The young winger made his NHL debut following the conclusion of his college career last season and played 10 games. Over the offseason, he underwent hip surgery and initially was projected to have a five-month recovery. Dec. 21 would mark five months post-surgery for Brink.

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The Flyers also provided an update on Sean Couturier, who underwent a second back surgery on Oct. 27. He still is on track for a three-to-four-month recovery and could return somewhere around the end of January or February. Couturier originally was injured on Dec. 18, 2021. He was cleared to play at the beginning of September but never made it to training camp after experiencing pain in his back.

While the injury report also included Atkinson, it provided no new information. Last year’s second-leading scorer (50 points) is out with an “upper-body” injury and still is listed as “week-to-week.” Although he missed all of training camp after Sept. 28, coach John Tortorella remained optimistic that Atkinson would be ready for the season opener. But, ultimately, he did not participate in another practice until he joined the team for the morning skate Nov. 10 in Columbus. He also participated in the Nov. 15 morning skate in Columbus. He was first seen at a rehab skate in Philadelphia on Monday.

Defenseman Ryan Ellis, who is expected to miss the season with a pelvic injury suffered early last season, was not included in the injury update.