Flyers place Travis Konecny on injured reserve, recall Oliver Bonk from Lehigh Valley
Konecny won’t be eligible to return until Saturday’s game against Ottawa.
Like the weather outside on Sunday in Philly, when it rains, it pours.
Speaking on Saturday in Boston, Flyers general manager Danny Brière revealed that several players were dealing with injuries. Although forward Nikita Grebenkin will be out a minimum of four months after undergoing back surgery, Brière said defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen (upper-body injury) and Cam York (upper-body injury) and forward Travis Konecny (lower-body injury) would not play in the matinee game and were not expected to play in Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP).
The GM added that York and Konecny had to undergo testing when the team returned home from the three-game road trip, and was hopeful the time off the ice would be on the short end for all three.
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On Sunday, Konecny landed on injured reserve. He cannot return until Saturday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators — the same team he was injured against. In Ottawa on Thursday, he was spotted grimacing after hitting Tim Stützle in the neutral zone early in the third period. He left the bench briefly but returned to finish the game.
“Well, definitely this week he’ll be out. … I would say after that, day-to-day,” coach Rick Tocchet said pregame at Xfinity Mobile Arena, adding he doesn’t think it will be a long-term injury.
In a corresponding move, the Flyers recalled defenseman Oliver Bonk from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
Bonk, 21, made his NHL debut last season, registering a goal and an assist in the Flyers’ regular-season finale, and has two assists in two games this season with the Phantoms. He also played more than 12 minutes in the Flyers’ last playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the same team he will make his season debut against.
“One good thing, he’s really [good at] moving the puck, advancing the puck, making a good first pass, and he can walk the blue line, ” Tocchet said. “Things that we like about him and that he can add to our team.”
One of the Flyers’ first-rounders in 2023, Bonk brings a cool and calm presence to the blueline. The son of former NHL forward Radek Bonk, Phantoms coach John Snowden also sees confidence in the young defenseman.
“I think every time the puck is off your stick, your heart rate is at a different rate,” he told The Inquirer on Friday in Allentown. But when it hits your stick, now everything’s focused on you, and what are you doing? What’s your plan? What’s your pre-puck plan? Do you have all your scans? Do you know what plays we can make? Do you know where pressure’s coming from, and all that information?
“And I think he does a really good job of scanning in those situations and putting himself ahead of the play because before he touches the puck, he’s already got a plan. That’s just his pre-puck work that he does off of it. So, I think he’s confident enough, and I don’t think he’s a guy, when the puck hits a stick, I think he’s excited about it, and his heart rate drops, and he’s ready to make a play because he’s done the work first.”
