Stewart is hoping to resurrect his NHL career with the Flyers
Chris Stewart’s bags were packed.
Minus any suitable National Hockey League offers last summer, the big forward was ready to pull up stakes and head to Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League in hopes of resurrecting his career. Then he got cold feet.
“I just heard too many horror stories. So when it came down to actually going, I backed out last minute,” said Stewart, who had signed on with HC Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. “It just didn’t feel right.”
Following some time away from the game, that change of heart led the Toronto native and veteran of nearly 700 NHL games down an even less-travelled path — Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League.
Stewart, who turns 32 in October, wound up inking a deal with the Nottingham Panthers, putting up six goals and 13 points in 23 games.
“The fans definitely loved their beers,” he said with a laugh. “They had all their soccer chants going. The hockey is better than I expected. It was fun just to play in a stress-free environment, handle the puck and score some goals.
“It was a step in the right direction and was Phase 1 of the plan for making my comeback. I was thankful to get the opportunity. Now we’re moving onto Phase 2.”
That started with a recommitment to training this summer in his hometown of Toronto with Biosteel founder Matt Nichol alongside a host of NHLers, other professionals and junior players.
Stewart — who has 160 goals, 321 points and 729 penalty minutes in 652 career regular-season NHL games over 10 seasons with six franchises — then saw an opening with the Philadelphia Flyers, agreeing to a professional tryout (PTO) in July.
Never shy about throwing his weight around, the six-foot-two, 242-pound winger — who has six goals and 11 points in 39 playoff games — is keen to make an impression when training camp opens later this week.
“It kind of just happened by chance,” said Stewart, one of 16 players across the NHL on PTOs. “Once I saw (the Flyers) got ride of Wayne Simmonds, Dale Weise and traded Radko Gudas, they didn’t have a lot of physicality in their lineup.
“That organization made the most sense.”
Plenty of familiar faces didn’t hurt, either.
Stewart signed his most recent NHL contract with the Minnesota Wild back in 2016 when Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher was in charge. He was also put on waivers by Fletcher in February 2018 before getting scooped up by the Calgary Flames.
“Things didn’t work out the way I wanted in Minnesota,” said Stewart, who had just 45 points (25 goals, 20 assists) in 146 games with the club.