The latest on Drysdale, Konecny; Flyers call up a young forward

The latest on Drysdale, Konecny; Flyers call up a young forward originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

VOORHEES, N.J. — Cam York and Jamie Drysdale are the two youngest players on the Flyers’ blue line.

They’re both tasked with puck-moving responsibilities and providing offense from the back end.

For now, the 23-year-old York will have a little more on his plate as his good friend misses time. Drysdale suffered an injury Sunday, presumably to the area of his left shoulder and arm. He missed the majority of last season with the Ducks because of a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

Head coach John Tortorella on Tuesday was unsure about the 21-year-old defenseman’s recovery timeline.

What were York’s words of encouragement to Drysdale?

“Just hang in there,” he said Tuesday after morning skate. “I’m not really sure yet exactly what’s going on, but I think he avoided the worst case, so that’s good news. Just got to stay positive. He’s so young and has a long ways to go, so it’s definitely not the end of the world.”

The Flyers, having lost four of their last five games (1-3-1), are looking to stem the tide when they host the Lightning (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP). They hold a playoff spot in third place of the Metropolitan Division with 23 games left.

Tortorella had often utilized the Flyers’ depth on the blue line by playing an extra defenseman. Suddenly the Flyers are much thinner on the back end. Without Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body, injured reserve), the Flyers are down to six healthy defensemen.

York, coming off a two-point game (one goal, one assist), knows he’ll have to help make up for the absence of Drysdale’s offensive strengths.

“With him out, that’s a big piece of that,” York said. “Definitely a little bit. But we’ve had this core six for a good chunk of games without Jamie and did really well, so we’re going to have to find that again.”

The Flyers also have to push forward Tuesday without their leading scorer Travis Konecny. The 2024 All-Star will miss a third straight game with an upper-body injury. The Flyers on Saturday considered him day to day.

Bobby Brink was called up Tuesday and worked on a line with Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee in morning skate. Brink, a 22-year-old rookie, was sent down to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley last month.

“I’m not the first guy that has had that happen to them,” he said. “So it’s not like I can sit there and whine about it. It has happened to a lot of guys in this league. Just kind of depends on how you handle it.”

The playmaking winger put up 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 11 games with the Phantoms.

“I didn’t bring him here to check,” Tortorella said. “Hopefully he’ll bring some offense to us.

“It’s not like he has lit it up down there in Lehigh. I think Bobby might be a guy, too, it happens a lot with players, when you have other people around him, national hockey leaguers may help him. Bobby’s brought some offense to us when he was here. It leveled out a little bit, I think he needed a mindset change a little bit, as young players do sometimes.”

Along with Cal Petersen, Cam Atkinson stayed on the ice well after Tuesday’s skate ended, an indication the veteran winger could be a healthy scratch against Tampa Bay.

Atkinson played a season-low 10:08 minutes in the Flyers’ 7-6 loss Sunday to the Penguins. After going on a six-game point streak (five goals, five assists) from Jan. 13-23, Atkinson has gone without a point in his last 11 games.

“It looks like he’s going to turn a corner, I think he has played some good games, but terribly inconsistent,” Tortorella said. “The 10 minutes is the 10 minutes. I thought other guys were playing and that’s why Cam ended up with 10.”

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