On Tuesday, Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere announced that forward Tyson Foerster would miss 2 to 3 months with an upper body injury. Foerster injured his shoulder during Monday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 23-year-old winger attempted a slap shot at the point and immediately fell to the ice in pain. He promptly left the ice and did not return to action.
Losing Foerster for a significant period of time is a pretty devastating blow to the Flyers, as Foerster seemed to be in the midst of a breakout campaign. His 13 points in 21 games has been the best start in his career. At the time of the injury, he was the team’s leading goal scorer, with 10. Not even a minute prior to his injury, he had scored a power play goal. He is also a key part of a line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink that is often relied upon to play heavy minutes against tough competition.
With Foerster sidelined long term, the Flyers have a couple routes to go. For now, they have recalled Carl Grundstrom with Lehigh Valley which indicates that Nikita Grebenkin will get the first crack at Foerster’s spot in the lineup. The Russian winger, acquired last season as part of the Scott Laughton trade, has been in and out of the lineup to this point and when playing, has been relegated to fourth line duties much to the chagrin of many. Now, he may have an extended runway to show he belongs in the top nine.
However, the Flyers also have Alex Bump down in Lehigh. The much-hyped prospect had a slow start to the season in Lehigh Valley, but has been on an absolute tear lately with 13 points in his last 12 games. He is the closest player the Flyers have stylistically to Foerster, so it would not be surprising to see the Flyers recall him at some point during Foerster’s absence. In fact, when Foerster suffered an elbow infection over the summer that required surgery and left his status for the opening of the season in doubt, many had projected Bump to make the roster for that very reason. Bump ultimately did not make the roster as he underwhelmed in training camp, but now that he is producing at a good pace for the Phantoms, he will likely be Briere’s next option following Grebenkin.
This has been a rough stretch of injuries for Foerster. In addition to the elbow infection and shoulder injury, he also missed 4 games earlier this season after he blocked a shot with his foot. Briere’s 2 to 3 month timeline means he will make his return probably right before or right after the Olympic Break in mid-late February. In the meantime, the Flyers will have to keep pace in the wild card race without one of the most crucial members of the team.
By: Katie Bogan (@cl4udegiroux)
photo credit: nhl.com
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