In last night’s 5-3 win over the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyer Ryan Poehling exited the game in the first period with what the team later announced as an “upper-body” injury.
The injury happened after Maxim Tsyplakov hit Poehling, seemingly making head contact first.
The call was initially ruled a major penalty on the ice, but after a review, it was deemed no penalty. The play lit a spark under the Flyers. The Islanders got the power play score following the Joel Farabee slashing penalty against Tsyplakov, but it was all Flyers after that.
This morning, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic said that he believes that NHL Player Saftey is still looking closely, which was later doubled down by The Athletic’s Arthur Staple, who said that he believes Tsyplakov will have a hearing later today on that matter. NHL Player Saftey later confirmed the hearing.
If Tsyplakov gets a fine/suspension for NHL Player Saftey, it would be a bad look for the referee crew that reversed the penalty in the game.
Flyers 2024 first-round draft selection Jett Luchanko was named the 33rd captain in Guelph Storm history on Friday.
Jett would become the second Flyers prospect, along with Denver Barkey (London), to be named Captain of an OHL team.
Luchanko has certainly had himself a year. The Flyers drafted him following a 74-point season last year, made the Flyers’ initial roster, represented his country at the World Juniors, and now he has been named Captain of his Juniors squad.
Jett has 23 points in 18 games, with nine goals and 14 assists this season. Guelph held on to Luchanko at the OHL trade deadline, and this could be one reason why.
Casey Mittlestadt has not had the season the Avalanche hoped to have from him after trading him one-for-one with Bowen Byram to Buffalo at the last trade deadline.
Mittlestadt has 26 points, eight goals, and 18 assists in 46 games this season, putting him on pace for 46 points.
The now 26-year-old center was playing in the 2C role for most of the season but was demoted to the 4C ahead of Colorado’s game on Thursday.
The Avs signed Mittlestatdt to a three-year, $17.25 million extension with an AAV of $5.75 million just this past offseason.
There has been no indication as to whether or not Colorado would be interested in trading Mittlestadt, but a move could certainly make sense. With the current Avs roster, now is not the time to sit back and be content with poor scoring from the bottom line and a move not only to dump a relatively poor contract but possibly get something while Mittlestadt still has semi-high value.
