Fletcher crosses fingers, pledges faith in Patrick return
VOORHEES, N.J. >> While acknowledging that unexpected illnesses striking center Nolan Patrick and winger Oskar Lindblom have hurt his team’s lineup, Chuck Fletcher seems relatively confident that those obstacles can be overcome.
And when it comes to Patrick, who has been out of action since training camp due to migraine issues and related symptoms, Fletcher is holding out hope that the young center can return before the season is out.
“I do expect him to play this year,” Fletcher said Tuesday at the Skate Zone. “That’s just my guess. I’m purely speculating there. He’s been skating harder, skated again today. He’s getting his heart rate up higher. I think he’s feeling a bit better. Again, it’s hard to predict it and once we have certain information, if (he’s) cleared for contact or anything like that, we will obviously let you guys know right away.
“I can tell you from the on- and off-ice workouts he’s doing, he is progressing. But there certainly isn’t any clear path as to which way this will go.”
The other huge and stunning loss was Lindblom, who was the co-leader of the team in goals when it was announced in December that he’d been diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer that tends to do its evil work on young people. He’s officially out for at least this season.
But then, it’s also a highly curable form of cancer, and a young and strong athlete like Lindblom could have as good a chance as any of beating it. But Fletcher’s optimism took on a more hopeful tone than usual for that subject.
Asked if he felt Lindblom had a real future here, Fletcher said, “I hope so. I pray to God for that. Obviously for him to return to play hockey means he’s in a great spot in this battle. So we’re just, you know, we’re just keeping our hopes up and I’m sure you know he’s got a lot of things on his mind right now. But if he’s playing hockey this time next year, that would be a great conclusion.”
As for the Flyers’ story of
2019-20, it’s only a little more than halfway written. And the often inaccessible general manager was keeping his optimism high when discussing it.
“Mostly positive,” Fletcher said the day after the Flyers
(24-16-6) fashioned a comeback from a three-goal deficit to take down the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins, 6-5. “Certainly we have work to do. I think the road trip coming out of the (Christmas) break was tough and disappointing to go 1-41, although I did like the way we ended it in Carolina. A tremendous comeback, and to get that point kind of set the tone for this homestand.”
The Flyers had an uplifting victory over the Metropolitan leading Washington Capitals last Thursday, suffered a 1-0 loss to tough Tampa Saturday then followed it up in shootout style with a win over the Bruins.
“Looking back, I guess I always try to take a look at things from 30,000 feet, and there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs during the year,” Fletcher said. “Coming into the year we talked about the need to improve our goalsagainst, and as we sit here today in all situations, we’re down almost half a goal a game. I’d say were defending a lot better.”
Except for the game against Boston, however, which featured outstanding contributions from lowerline players like Scott Laughton and rookie Connor Bunnaman, the scoring has been lacking. Fletcher knows the losses of Patrick and Lindblom play into that.
Patrick’s loss has left a gaping hole at third-line center. The Flyers, strapped at about $580,000 below the payroll max — no other team is that close to the cap — haven’t been able to find a solution despite repeated callups of Phantoms forwards.
Perhaps that’s why Fletcher professes to be optimistic about a Patrick return. In reality, he has to find a way to bring in a right-shot center good enough to be a stabilizing force before the Feb. 24 trade deadline.
“Well, it certainly impacted our depth a little bit,” Fletcher said. “We’re asking a lot out of our young players right now. Certainly, every team has injuries, so I don’t really like using that as an excuse. But I don’t think you anticipate having a player (in Patrick) that you thought would be a big part of your team, really not be available to you all season. So that certainly has been difficult.”
As for possible help via a trade, Fletcher seems uncertain about such prospects.
“You’re always looking to see if you can improve your team,” he said. “You’re always on the phone talking to teams and those type of players, but there’s not a lot of them readily available. For our situation, I don’t know if it makes sense to pay a massive price for rental (player) right now. I don’t think that that is the right move for this group. If we can add a forward that can help our team, sure. But where are we going to be in six months or 12 months?
“I’m an optimistic guy, but I’m hoping Oskar and Nolan are a big part of that, too. So if that’s the case, you always want to look at what you’re giving up to get. Certainly we’re looking at every situation and our goal is to make the playoffs. We want to get in.”