Carolina Hurricanes v Philadelphia Flyers

Kimmo Timonen is still out indefinitely due to blood clots being found in his lungs and a calf. (Elsa/Getty Images)

VOORHEES – The Flyers still are waiting to find out if their best defenseman since losing Chris Pronger to a career-ending concussion in November 2011 also is done.

Four-time All-Star Kimmo Timonen, out indefinitely after blood clots were discovered in his lungs and lower right calf during an August vacation in his native Finland, definitely won’t be playing again anytime soon.

Might Timonen, who recently returned to his home in South Jersey to undergo further medical tests, be able to play at some point this season?

"I really don't know,” Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Monday. “He’s running through the process … getting to see the people that he needs to see. We have together as a group and discuss it.

"We've had some type of dialogue every day with a doctor or (Flyers director of sports medicine) Jimmy McCrossin or Kimmo. It's just an ongoing evaluation, I guess, to try to figure out in the end what's right for Kimmo."

Timonen, 39, seriously considered retiring this summer before signing a new one-year, $2 million contract that includes $1.5 million in bonuses based on games played.

Timonen is unlikely to play again if he has a protein C deficiency, which recently was reported by Finnish newspaper Savon Sanomat, because that likely would require him to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life. He wouldn't be able to play a contact sport being on blood thinners because he could bleed to death if he's cut.

The Flyers announced two weeks ago, however, that Timonen will participate Tuesday in the Flyers Celebrity Golf Invitational at Trump National Golf Club in Pine Hill, N.J.

“I think there was a panic going on,” Hextall said. “I didn’t realize golf was a physical game. I did get hit in the head once. I guess it can be.”

In the summer of 2013, Flyers captain Claude Giroux had surgery on his right index finger after a golf club shattered and splintered.

As for Timonen, a medical update could be made public within a few days.

“We have to be diligent and thorough here before we start announcing things that are half truths,” Hextall said. “We want to have all the information. I hope to have something this week, but no promises.”

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com Philadelphia Sports on Facebook.