The Philadelphia Flyers showed some real ambition during the offseason when they went out and acquired veteran defenseman Ryan Ellis from the Nashville Predators. The Flyers sent Nolan Patrick and Phil Myers to the Predators in exchange for the 31-year-old, as they were hoping he would help shore up their defensive woes.
Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go according to plan. While Ellis looked fantastic in his first three games with the Flyers, picking up four points and helping them to a 2-0-1 record, he hasn’t been seen very much since. Following those first three outings, he missed nine consecutive games due to an injury. Ellis came back to play one game against the Dallas Stars but hasn’t featured for the Flyers since.
“Obviously, we’re getting to the point in the season where it’s looking less likely that he’ll play,” Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo told members of the media following the team’s skate on Tuesday morning, via Phillyhockeynow.com. “But nothing has been fully determined yet.”
Philadelphia will only label the injury as a lower-body injury, refusing to reveal specifics. However, most believe the injury is in the hip/groin region. The team’s general manager Chuck Fletcher indicated last month that the team were looking at different options of dealing with the injury, hoping to avoid surgery if possible.
“I don’t know if he skated in the last few days,” Yeo continued. “When he last was on the ice, I don’t even know if I’d really call it skating with what he was doing. He was just kind of there on skates, sort of gliding around. He certainly wasn’t pushing himself to any point where we would think he’s a possibility to return any time soon.”
Prior to his trade to the Flyers, Ellis had spent his entire NHL career in Nashville with the Predators, after the organization selected him with the 11th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. While he never won the league’s most prestigious prize in Nashville, he did come close. He helped lead the Predators to the Stanley Cup final in 2016, where they ultimately came up short in losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
Ellis has won multiple medals representing Canada on the international stage, picking up golds in the IIHF 2008 U-17 World Challenge, IIHF 2008 U-18 World Championship, IIHF 2009 World Junior Championship and 2016 World Championships. He also has a couple of silver medals representing Canada as well.
The Flyers have really struggled this season without the services of Ellis, as the team currently find themselves in the basement of the competitive Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia have missed the playoffs in three of the last five seasons – including last year – and will be desperate to get back there. However, at this point in the season it doesn’t look likely that they will, which is why it makes all the sense in the world to be patient with Ellis’ injury and ensure he is fully recovered before stepping on the ice again.
