The reeling Philadelphia Flyers couldn’t afford to suffer simultaneous injury hits on their blue line.
But they suffer did, losing Robert Hagg for two weeks with a lower-body injury and newcomer Johnny Oduya to an upper-body issue on a game-to-game basis.
So the Flyers, stuck in a 0-4-1 run, recalled top prospect Travis Sanheim on an emergency basis to fill in. He will jump into the lineup against the high-flying Winnipeg Jets Saturday.
Hagg’s injury is especially worrisome. He isn’t a big offensive threat (three goals, five assists this season) moving in from the back end, but he has been steady defensively while paired with stay-at-home veteran Andrew MacDonald.
He played in all 68 games this season, earning a plus-6 rating while averaging more than 18 minutes to per game.
Oduya just got to the Flyers, arriving from the Ottawa Senators on a waiver claim. He has played just one game for them while providing injury insurance.
SANHEIM GETS ANOTHER TEST
The Flyers are excited about Sanheim’s long-term potential. General manager Ron Hextall is rebuilding his defensive corps piece by piece and Sanheim is a big part of that.
Sanheim, the 17th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, has split time between the Flyers and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League this season. He had a goal, four assists and a minus-10 rating in his first 35 NHL games with the Flyers earlier this season.
But rushing him back into the fray in the middle of the intense Eastern Conference postseason chase is not ideal. With goaltenders Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth injured and inconsistent Petr Mrazek serving as a stopgap since arriving from the Detroit Red Wings in a trade, there is more pressure on the defensive corps to shut down opponents.
And lately that hasn’t happened. During their untimely five-game winless streak, the Flyers were outscored by nine goals during 5-on-5 play.
That was a scary trend heading into a game against the offensively explosive Jets. For instance, Jets winger Patrick Laine scored 14 goals in his last 10 games.
