Rasmus Ristolainen out vs. Penguins; Flyers provide updates on Kevin Hayes, Derick Brassard
Brassard is out indefinitely again while the team is expected to make a final decision on Hayes' status for the rest of the year on March. 1.
As the Flyers’ rehab skate wrapped up, one by one, Rasmus Ristolainen, Kevin Hayes, and Patrick Brown filed over to the team’s practice and then stepped onto the ice.
Ristolainen, whom interim coach Mike Yeo originally described as having “bumps and bruises,” had not practiced since Feb. 9. He did not play Saturday against the Red Wings. Monday, Yeo said it’s an upper-body injury and that he’s feeling good. However, he will not play Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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“You look at the way he plays and he’s got to be feeling pretty good to go out there and play at that level and with that physicality,” Yeo said.
Hayes is out for the second time this season. After returning from abdominal surgery on Nov. 13, he had to have fluid drained from a core muscle injury on Jan. 18 and initially was given a 3-4 week recovery time frame. He had not practiced since. Yeo said the Flyers expect to make a decision about whether Hayes will be shut down for the season on March 1.
Brown suffered a thumb injury in November and returned Dec. 5. He then injured his knee on Jan. 11 and had practiced until Monday. Yeo said he’s close and that it’s mainly a matter of conditioning.
The three of them participated at the start of practice, where it was all about “pace and execution and trying to skate out the chicken wings or the beers or whatever they had for Super Bowl Sunday,” Yeo said. Brown and Hayes alternated on the third line. Ristolainen acted as the extra defenseman. None participated in the power-play drills, and all three left practice early.
A puzzling case
Derick Brassard did not return to practice after he sat out Saturday’s game. He had said he expected to take baby steps for his return from a hip injury, but it turns out his absence was more than just a precaution.
“Obviously, there’s still an issue there,” Yeo said. “There’s a reason that the soreness continues to be there. Even though we take weeks off.”
When a player is injured, he has to go through numerous steps and be cleared by several people to return. Yeo said they went through all those steps and then some before bringing Brassard back.
“I thought we were being pretty careful to keep him out of that game even though obviously we could have used him,” Yeo said. “We were desperate for players and NHL players and bodies, especially at center ice position. But we took the decision to give him another week, to allow him to skate for another week. And so that still didn’t do the job.”
When they returned from the All-Star break, Brassard practiced, played in a game and practiced again. He said he was sore, but that was to be expected. But then the medical staff determined the soreness merited another break, and they won’t have him return until “we feel more confident that the strength can fully be there to keep him in the lineup,” Yeo said.
They’re not sure why this injury has lingered for so long, and Yeo said it’s “puzzling.”
Breakaways
The Flyers play the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ... Gerry Mayhew, who cut his eye Saturday, was not at practice because his eye was swollen. The Flyers hope to have him back for the game. ... The Flyers loaned Jackson Cates back to the Phantoms and recalled Morgan Frost. Frost was sick when the Flyers called up Cates on Friday. He centered the third line and practiced on the second power-play unit.