Travis Konecny a full participant in practice while Scott Laughton and Cam York sit

One step forward, one step back for the Flyers’ injured players.

Let’s start with the good news. Top scorer Travis Konecny was a full participant in practice Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s tilt with the Florida Panthers, including on power-play drills. John Tortorella did not confirm whether Konecny would play Thursday, but a return to full practice is a positive sign for the forward, who’s missed the past six games with an upper-body injury.

» READ MORE: Flyers trade defenseman Sean Walker to Colorado Avalanche

“I’m not sure [if I’ll play], but I feel good,” Konecny said after practice. “It was nice. I was out of the yellow jersey there, getting in some contact, so I feel pretty good.”

The Flyers have gone 2-3-1 in Konecny’s absence, holding steady at third in the Metropolitan Division. Prior to his injury, Konecny, the Flyers’ leading scorer with 27 goals and 54 points, was on one of his best stretches of the season, with 12 points in seven games.

“One of the biggest pieces we have, right, the way he’s played this year and all the situations that we put him in, he’s going to be missed sorely, but it’s giving other people opportunities,” Tortorella said Wednesday. “It’s given me opportunities to look at Olle Lycksell, Bobby Brink gets another chance, so as much as we want him, you have to go out elsewhere and turn the page until he comes back and figure out what’s going on with some other guys.”

Both Scott Laughton and Cam York were absent from practice.

Laughton has been the subject of trade speculation for weeks, and with the deadline just two days away, some teams are sitting players they expect to trade. Not in this case. Laughton was “sick,” per Tortorella.

Meanwhile, York took a maintenance day. Since Jamie Drysdale suffered an upper-body injury on Feb. 25, York’s ice time has skyrocketed. He’s played at least 22 minutes in each of the Flyers’ last five games, including 25 minutes, 45 seconds on Monday against St. Louis, his second-most minutes of the season. York himself got crushed against Toronto on Feb. 15 and suffered an upper-body injury. He missed the rest of that game but has played in every game since.

Adam Ginning is the latest man up from Lehigh Valley after Nick Seeler was put on IR after blocking a shot against the Blues. Ginning, a second-round pick in 2018, played one NHL game for the Flyers last April against Columbus. Now, he’s back up for a second stint.

“It’s one level up, so it’s going to be tougher, but I feel like I’m ready for it,” Ginning said after practice. “ … In the past, I always felt like I’ve been strong physically and defensively and I’ve tried to work on my game with the puck, not being flashy or anything, but just move it quickly and make good passes all the time and be consistent with that.”

Seeler’s injury and Sean Walker’s trade to Colorado are just the latest tests of the Flyers’ defensive depth. The two moves added further stress on a unit already down Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen. Ronnie Attard was also recently recalled from Lehigh Valley but has yet to appear in a game. With only six healthy defensemen, both figure to be in the lineup on Thursday night.

» READ MORE: Flyers sign Nick Seeler to 4-year contract extension, ending trade speculation

“You never can give up on defensemen,” Tortorella said. “First of all in developing them, no matter how much you hate them that year, you’ve got to be really careful before you start moving people out and giving up on them because that’s a position where you never know when the maturity kicks in.

“It’s such a unique position in some of the thinking and the reads that come with it. A little bit different than the dumb forwards, you know, they don’t have a lot of reading to do. Defensemen, a lot of things going on, so you’ve got to be really careful when evaluating and how much time you spent with a guy before you give up on a position like that.”