Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia is reporting that Owen Tippett has been banged up this week and did not attend Flyers practice on Friday. When asked about his forward's health, coach John Tortorella said Tippett was “[n]ot serious, (just) nicked up.” Sighs of relief for the organization.
Tippett has taken massive strides this season after coming over from the Florida Panthers in last year’s Claude Giroux trade. The forward has posted a career-high 39 points in 66 games in 2022-23 and has looked every bit the top-6 winger the Flyers hoped they were acquiring when they dealt their former captain.
In other Flyers injury news:
Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic passes along that Nicolas Deslauriers did not attend Friday’s optional practice. Deslauriers sat out the Flyers' 5-4 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. While he has been reevaluated, no word as of yet if he will dress for Saturday's matchup with the Detroit Red Wings. This season, the 32-year-old Deslauriers has logged five goals and six assists in 70 games while playing just over ten minutes a night on the fourth line. His signing last summer was one of the more baffling moves in the NHL, as the Flyers elected to give a four-year contract with a modified no-trade clause to a player who has never been able to consistently score or remain in the lineup.
- Olivia Reiner of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweeted that Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny were both present at Flyers practice on Friday and wearing regular contact jerseys, at that. Couturier has not played in over a year due to a pair of back surgeries. The 30-year-old center has faced a long recovery road and while it is encouraging to see him practicing with the team once more, it remains to be seen whether Philadelphia has any desire to push him back into action at the end of what has been a lost season. Konecny, on the other hand, has been out of action since suffering an upper-body injury in a late February game against the Calgary Flames. Konecny had been having a stellar season to that point, posting 54 points in 52 games prior to being placed on injured reserve. The 26-year-old had struggled to score in either of his previous two seasons, making this year's output all the more impressive. Should Konecny return to the lineup in the coming days, he will likely eclipse the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career.
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