Flyers’ Cam Atkinson is eager ‘to be part of the solution’ next season after missing 2022-23 due to neck surgery

The Flyers’ season may have just ended, but Cam Atkinson already can’t wait for the next one to start.

The 33-year-old winger hasn’t played an NHL game since April 12, 2022. But Atkinson said in his exit interview Friday morning that he’s expecting to be cleared for contact next week after skating without any setbacks for the past three weeks.

Atkinson was held out at the end of the 2021-22 season for maintenance but came into training camp at the beginning of this season and “just wasn’t feeling well,” he said Friday. Atkinson didn’t play in any preseason games and only sporadically participated in practices.

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It turned out that Atkinson had a herniated disc in his C6 and C7 vertebrae — an injury similar to what Joel Farabee dealt with over the summer — which required surgery. But the path to recovery wasn’t straightforward. Atkinson said he had a few misdiagnoses and heard conflicting information from doctors.

“At the time, I didn’t really want to get [herniated disc] surgery, because it really freaked me out, going through the neck, and I was being told differently,” Atkinson said.

Instead of surgery, he tried to rehab his injury, spending time in Columbus, Ohio, working with people he trusted. At first, Atkinson thought he would return to play in December.

“I just couldn’t get through a practice by myself,” Atkinson said. “So I felt like I needed to do something. I saw Dr. [Alexander] Vaccaro, who’s a Boston College guy, and one of the [Philadelphia] Eagles’ surgeons and has worked on a lot of professional athletes, and [he] pretty much reassured me that if I don’t take care of my atrophy in my left tricep, I probably wouldn’t be able to play again. I had surgery three days later.”

Coach John Tortorella said earlier in the year that a focus for the Flyers has been increasing trust between the players and the medical staff after bringing in a new head trainer.

“I think there’s a huge scab on this organization with the medical situation that was prior,” Tortorella said on March 17. “How are we going to get this straightened out as far as making sure [the players] are more confident as far as how they’re being treated? ... I didn’t realize it, when I took the job, how long some of the medical problems and how things were being handled, how long — it’s been going on for years here. And it’s not criticizing any one person. But it’s been a mess. And it’s still something that’s on one of our main burners to continue to get better. I think we have stabilized it.”

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Atkinson echoed that sentiment Friday, saying that despite some confusion at the beginning of his recovery, he has gained full confidence in the Flyers’ medical team.

“It’s definitely gotten straightened out, and it’s going to continue to get better. I’ve been rehabbing here for the last couple of months since my surgery, and I trust them,” he said.

A point of focus for Atkinson throughout his physical recovery was keeping a positive mindset. It also helped to have people in his corner who understood what he was going through. Atkinson reached out to Farabee and to Vegas forward Jack Eichel, who had disc replacement surgery in 2021. (While their injuries were similar, the procedure Atkinson underwent was slightly different — Atkinson said he had bone and stem cells grafted from his hip and used to replace the herniated disc, while Eichel and Farabee both had artificial discs inserted into their spines.)

“I woke up, and I felt unbelievable. All the pain that I couldn’t sleep was gone,” Atkinson said.

Now he’s itching to return, and when he does, he hopes he’ll be able to make a positive impact.

“I take a lot of pride in playing in every situation, especially on the [power play] but even more so on the [penalty kill],” he said. “I score a lot of shorthanded goals just because I trust my instincts and kind of do my own thing out there. [Sean Couturier] as well, we play such a huge role on special teams, obviously, it allowed other guys to test it out a little bit, to see what works and what doesn’t, but I think we’ll both help to an extreme extent on both ends [when we return].”

Atkinson will have to wait a little longer to play in his next NHL game, but when he gets that opportunity, he won’t take it for granted.

“Just a tough year,” Atkinson said. “But I feel good, and I know this is a huge summer for me, and I want to be part of the solution.”