Philadelphia Flyers’ defenseman Ryan Parent worked like a madman in the offseason, in hopes that he would be cemented as a top-six d-man for the Flyers. But those plans may have hit a snag, as a nagging shoulder injury may need corrective surgery, icing Parent’s hopes for now.
“There is a chance of surgery, We won’t know until today,” General Manager Paul Holmgren said. “We’re just trying to let his shoulder die down a little bit and rehab and see how it responds and then check him again.”
Parent injured the shoulder in the preseason game on Sept. 25 against the New York Islanders in London, Ontario. At first, the Flyers played down the severity of the injury, but as time went on and the shoulder continued to nag Parent, it was clear it could be something worse. All early evaluations on the shoulder came back inconclusive. If the shoulder does need surgery, Parent could miss anywhere between 1-4 months of the season.
“There are some issues going on in there and we’re just trying to see what the best treatment would be.” Holmgren continued. “After he gets evaluated we’ll have a better idea which way to proceed with this.
“He looked like he was in great shape and his confidence level with the puck was sky high, which is one of the things we talked about needing to improve for him during the offseason.”
Parents injury leaves an open roster spot for rookie Luca Sbisa, who was a long shot to make the team, but remains with the Flyers just days before the season opener against the New York Rangers on Oct. 11.
Sbisa and Lasse Kukkonen will be the two likely replacements for Parent in the sixth defensive spot, with depth defenders Nate Guenin, Danny Syvret, Mike Ratchuk and Oskars Bartulis, farther down the pipeline.
Phila.Bright 