Official News of your Philadelphia Flyers



Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced this afternoon that forward Jakub Voracek will not play in Saturday’s Flyers-Coyotes game at the Wells Fargo Center due to a lower-body injury. He will be re-evaluated on Monday.Voracek is the Flyers active “iron-man” leader at 286 consecutive games, which places him in a tie for third all-time in Flyers history with Jeff Carter. He is currently one of four Flyers (Raffl, Simmonds, VandeVelde) to have appeared in all 60 games so far this season.Voracek also ranks second on the team in scoring with 48 points (10g-38a) in 60 games. His 38 assists lead the Flyers and is tied for ninth overall in the NHL.He has also recorded three straight seasons of playing every game and has not missed a game since Mar. 11, 2012 at New Jersey Devils.He has missed only four games as a Flyer (350 of 354) and has appeared in 591 out of a possible 600 games played since his first NHL game on Oct. 10, 2008 with the Columbus Blue Jackets.During a team day off from practice, Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced that captain Claude Giroux will not be in the lineup vs. Minnesota Wild on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.His status continues to be day-to-day with an upper-body injury. This will be the third straight game Giroux has missed after suffering the injury in the Flyers’ 3-2 shootout loss to the Canadiens in Montreal on Feb. 20.Giroux did skate at the team’s practice facility in Voorhees, NJ today.Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced that captain Claude Giroux will not play in Tuesday's game at Carolina. He continues to be day-to-day with an upper-body injury.This will be the second consecutive game Giroux has missed.Flyers GM Ron Hextall held a conference call with the media on Sunday to give an update on several players batting injuries.“Sean Couturier skated today and he’s ahead of schedule,” said Hextall. “We’re on a day-to-day basis with him now. He’ll skate again [Monday] and we’ll see where it goes.”Couturier has missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury, last appearing in the club’s 6-3 win over the Predators on Feb. 4. Prior to his most recent injury, Couturier posted 24 points (9g-15a) in 40 games, with six of his nine goals and 14 of those 24 points coming in the last 16 games.The Flyers have a 3-3-3 record in the last nine without Couturier and overall, the Flyers are 5–9-4 without Couturier in the lineup.Hextall also added that Flyers captain Claude Giroux skated with Couturier on Sunday for a few minutes and his status is the same as it was on Saturday, day-to-day with an upper-body injury.Hextall said he doesn’t know if he will play against the Hurricanes in Carolina on Tuesday, but there was certainly a possibility.“They both did well today,” added Hextall on Couturier and Giroux, but said as far as Tuesday is concerned for Couturier, it’s a possibility but not a probability that he will return to the lineup.Hextall announced that defenseman Michael Del Zotto is going to have surgery on his wrist on Friday, Feb. 26.“He’s getting a ligament repaired in his wrist… He will be out 3-4 months.”Del Zotto led the Flyers in average time-on-ice this season at over 23 minutes per-game (23:24) which is the most in his eight-year NHL career. Prior to his injury, he had four goals and 13 points in 52 games.Forward Jordan Weal has a week and a half to go to recover from his upper-body injury.Hextall confirmed that defenseman Evgeny Medvedev, who didn’t finish the game at Toronto on Saturday, is fine and was bruised up a little bit.Likewise, goaltender Steve Mason had some cramping and that both he and Michal Neuvirth are healthy.Hextall was also questioned on the approaching Trade Deadline, 3 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 29.“We’re not going to add. I’ve said that all along. I guess if something came along that helped us now and in the future, but we’re not looking to add a player that’s a rental. That is not going to happen, but if we can add something that made sense for this year and years to come, then we would look at that. We’re not going to mortgage part of our future to try to push to make the playoffs. We feel comfortable we have enough depth with what we have now to take a run.”Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced that center Claude Giroux will not be in the lineup in tonight’s Flyers-Maple Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre due to an upper-body injury. He is considered day-to-day.This will be the first missed game of the season for Giroux, who leads the Flyers in scoring with 49 points (16g-33a) through 57 games. He has recorded four goals and 16 assists for 20 points in his last 19 games. He also ranks third overall in the NHL in both face-offs taken (1,376) and face-offs won (785).Giroux is one of five Flyers to have appeared in every game this season and had an iron-man streak of 99 consecutive games played dating back to Jan. 3, 2015 at New Jersey. Prior to missing that game, Giroux had appeared in 267 of 268 games from the beginning of the 2012-13 season until now.He leads all NHL players in scoring since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, recording 425 points (135g-290a) in 427 games. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is second with 417 points in 418 games.Prior to tonight’s Flyers-Devils game in Newark, Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced that forward Jordan Weal will be out a minimum three weeks with an upper-body injury.Weal was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 6, along with a 3rd Round pick in this year’s draft, in exchange for defenseman Luke Schenn and forward Vincent Lecavalier.Weal has appeared in three games since coming over to the Flyers, going scoreless and recording a plus-1 rating while averaging 11:56 of ice time. Overall, the 23-year old Weal has played 13 games with the Kings and Flyers, going scoreless.Following the injury announcement to Michael Del Zotto (see below), Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced that the club has recalled defenseman Andrew MacDonald from their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this evening.This is the second recall of the season for MacDonald. He appeared in one game with the Flyers, going scoreless, but recording 19:29 of ice-time on 26 shifts in the Flyers’ 4-3 loss to the Islanders on Dec. 8.MacDonald currently has a nine-game point streak with the Phantoms, recording 14 points in that stretch, all of which are assists.He leads the Phantoms with 31 assists and ranks second on the team in overall scoring with 36 points (5g-31a) in 43 games. His 36 points are ranked third in the entire AHL among defensemen, while his 31 assists leads all AHL d-men.Last season, MacDonald recorded 12 points (2g-10a) in 58 games, while blocking 82 shots on goal.Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced to the media following the Flyers-Devils game that defenseman Michael Del Zotto will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.Del Zotto appeared in 24 shifts for 20:18 of ice time in the Flyers’ 2-1 overtime loss to the Devils on Saturday. He leads the Flyers in average time-on-ice with over 23 minutes per-game (23:24) and average shifts per-game (29.1).In his second season with the Flyers, Del Zotto has four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 52 games. He signed a multi-year contract extension with the Flyers on July 16, 2015 after he recorded 32 points (10g-22a) and 34 penalty minutes in 64 games last season, his first with the Flyers.Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced that goaltender Michal Neuvirth has been activated from injured reserve and the club has loaned Anthony Stolarz to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this afternoon.Michal Neuvirth will come back into the lineup after missing five games with a lower-body injury, and will back up starting goaltender Steve Mason. Neuvirth participated in a full practice yesterday and Hakstol confirmed that he is ready to go.After the optional skate this morning, head coach Dave Hakstol announced a few lineup changes for the Flyers’ matchup tonight against the Buffalo Sabres.

R.J. Umberger will return to action after being a healthy scratch for the last five games. Umberger has six points, all assists, in the 32 games he’s played this year. The Flyers have 13 of their 23 wins with him in the lineup (13-13-6).“He’s had good work days,” Hakstol said of Umberger. “He’ll be fine tonight coming in. It’s not easy when you’re out of the lineup for three, four games in a row, but Umby will be fine.”Also coming into the lineup is Jordan Weal, who will play his second game as a Flyer after he was acquired from Los Angeles in a January trade. Weal has no goals and no assists so far in 11 games played in his NHL career, 10 of which came with the Kings this season.With two going into the lineup, the two Flyers’ scratches tonight will be Scott Laughton and Matt Read. Laughton has four goals and 10 assists, and prior to tonight, is one of six Flyers to have appeared in all 52 games this season. Read has dressed for all but one of the Flyers’ contests, recording nine goals and nine assists on the season.Hakstol didn’t give specifics on why the changes, but said his reason for making lineup changes was due to the team’s disappointing 4-1 loss at home against Anaheim on Tuesday.“We didn’t play well here the other night at home,” Hakstol said. “As a team, we didn’t like our overall effort. So, those are the two guys that are out tonight.”The Philadelphia Flyers announced this afternoon that they have recalled center Nick Cousins from their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, according to club GM Ron Hextall.Cousins leads the Phantoms in scoring with 38 points (12g-26a) in 38 games. His 26 assists also lead the squad, as well as his plus-minus rating of +13. He comes to the Flyers after recording a three-game point streak where he has five points (2g-3a).This is his second recall of the season, originally being recalled on Nov. 27, and he has appeared in four games for the Flyers from Nov. 27-Dec. 4, going scoreless while averaging 7:51 of ice time.Cousins recently appeared in his first AHL All-Star Classic, along with teammate Anthony Stolarz, who is also currently with the Flyers.He will be available in tomorrow’s matinee against the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center (1 p.m. on CSN & 97.5 The Fanatic).Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced during practice at the skate zone on Friday morning that center Sean Couturier will be out of the lineup approximately four weeks with a lower body injury.Couturier appeared in 11:35 of ice time through the first and second period of last night’s 6-3 win over the Predators at Nashville, but did not appear at the start of the third. He recorded one assist in the game and won 60 percent of his face-offs (6-of-10).Couturier has nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 40 games. Of his 24 points this season, 16 have come in his last 16 games, recording six goals and 10 assists in that stretch.He missed three games due to an lower-body injury from Jan. 21-27, and has missed nine games due to injury this season, also missing six games from Oct. 24-Nov. 3 with an upper-body injury.The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled goaltender Anthony Stolarz from their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, this morning, according to club general manager Ron Hextall.Stolarz will be available for tonight’s Flyers-Canadiens game at the Wells Fargo Center and will wear No. 65.Stolarz receives his first recall of the season to the Flyers. He has a 15-10-3 record with a 2.45 GAA and .915 save percentage in 29 appearances with the Phantoms this season, his second with the club since turning pro last year. He recently appeared in the American Hockey League’s All-Star Classic.Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced prior to the team’s morning skate at the Wells Fargo Center that goaltender Michal Neuvirth will be out a week to 10 days with a lower-body injury.Neuvirth last appeared in the Flyers’ 4-3 overtime win over the Capitals on Jan. 27, stopping 27 of 30 shots in the victory. He has won four of his last six starts dating back to Dec. 15 vs. Carolina, going 4-2-0, with all six games decided by one goal.In his first season with the Flyers, he has an 11-6-2 record to go along with a 2.14 goals-against average and .933 save percentage and three shutouts in 21 appearances.Prior to tonight’s game, he has missed two games with an upper-body injury (Oct. 24-27).The Flyers return from All-Star break looking for their second straight win tonight as they take on the Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. CSN, 97.5 The Fanatic).