Before the Philadelphia Flyers take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, they got a little boost at morning skate.
Currently out of the lineup with injuries, defensemen Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale were seen on the ice, skating with the rest of the team as they warmup in this important game on Tuesday night.
Seeler injured his foot blocking a shot during a March 4 game against the St. Louis Blues. Seeler has missed the nine games since that contest and if he is not in the lineup tonight against the Rangers it’ll now be 10 consecutive games. The blueliner inked a four-year, $10.8 million ($2.7 million AAV) prior to the trade deadline as the Flyers shipped Sean Walker off to Colorado for a first-round pick and Ryan Johansen. Seeler has scored one goal to go along with his 11 assists in 63 games.
It wasn’t the only hint of good news on the horizon this morning as another Flyers injured defenseman was also skating with the team.
Drysdale was injured on Feb. 25 against the Pittsburgh Penguins when he was hit hard but clean by Jansen Harkins in the second period. Fans feared the worst-case scenario for Drysdale who has had shoulder issues during his time with Anaheim. The defenseman has missed the last 13 games with the 14th most likely being tonight in New York. Drysdale, who was acquired in the Cutter Gauthier trade, played 17 games with the Flyers before getting hutr, scoring two goals and adding two assists in his brief tenure.
Both Seeler and Drysdale were wearing the regular Flyers practice jerseys, but as Charlie O’Connor points out, morning skates are fairly limited contact-wise and the two blueliners did not participate in any special team drills, where contact is more likely than other parts of the morning skate.
The idea that the Flyers might be getting a bit healthier on the blueline could not come at a better time with the team deep in the playoff picture and squeezing everything they possibly can out of Adam Ginning, Ronnie Attard, and the newly acquired Erik Johnson in this recent stretch against the league’s elite. Having help in Drysdale and Seeler would also take some of the load off of the banged-up pair of Cam York and Travis Sanheim who have been more than holding their own since Drysdale and Seeler were injured. Add in the departure of Walker and the injured Rasmus Ristolainen and you have a blue line that is desperate for getting any defensemen healthy.
One defenseman not on the ice this morning was Travis Sanheim, clearly not 100 percent healthy but more than likely in the lineup tonight.