VOORHEES, N.J. – As Noah Cates was being wheeled down the hallway on a cart after Monday night’s Game 2 at Levono Center in Raleigh, N.C., onlookers knew something was wrong.
How wrong was learned on Wednesday when Flyers coach Rick Tocchet announced the center (lower-body injury) is done for the rest of the series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Also, center Christian Dvorak did not practice on Wednesday but his status for Thursday night’s Game 3 at Xfinity Mobile Arena sounds somewhat positive.
Throw in the ongoing injury situation with Owen Tippett (who missed Games 1 and 2 but did skate again on Wednesday) and suddenly you have a very depleted squad which is already down 0-2 in the series.
The Flyers did make on move on Wednesday, calling in former first-round draft pick Jett Luchanko, who happens to be a center.
Luchanko, most recently playing for the OHL Brantford Bulldog junior hockey team, has had a pair of four-game trials with the Flyers at the start of each of the past two seasons.
But throwing him into a situation like this might be a bit risky.
Trevor Zegras will be moved back to center and Dvorak might be able to play, so the picture isn’t entirely bleak.
“Christian is more day-to-day,” Tocchet said after the workout at the Flyers Training Center. “He’s dealing with some stuff. He’s a good possibility for tomorrow.
“And ‘Catesy’ (Cates) is out for the series. That’s all I’ve got right now.”
It’s a given Cates’ absence leaves a huge hole in the Flyers’ lineup. He kills penalties, he led the Flyers in plus-minus at plus-26 and, until now, hadn’t missed a game the entire regular season (the only Flyer to do so).
“He’s a huge part, he’s ‘Mr. Consistency,’ right?” Tocchet said. “All year. Does a lot of things for us. It’s no different than other teams, next man up. You’ve heard the drill before.”
Cates might be the team’s best penalty killer. He uses instinct to break up a lot of plays.
Who can take on that role?
“(Carl) Grundstrom is going to have to step up a little bit,” Tocchet said. “And take some minutes there. ‘Hath’ (Garnet Hathaway) will get a little bit more. These are bumps in the road we’re going to have to deal with.
“Now you see a (Denver) Barkey get more time at center. Trevor (Zegras) is going to have to go back to cener. Again, try to get him going. Obviously ‘Coots’ (Sean Couturier) is playing really well. So we’re good there, we’ll be OK.”
One player in particular who will miss Cates is his left wing, Matvei Michkov. The two have built some chemistry and that has not always been an easy thing to do for Michkov. Cates did a first-class job covering some of Michkov’s defensive mistakes.
“There’s going to be a lot of youth on some different lines,” Tocchet said.
One matchup he’s concerned about is who to put out against Carolina’s second line of center Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake. That trio has done some real damage in this series.
“We have to neutralize that line,” Tocchet said. “Other than that, we’ve been pretty good with the other lines. We have to put a couple lines where we can neutralize.”
Tocchet also discussed the possibility of Luchanko getting his first taste of Stanley Cup playoff hockey.
“If there are some injuries, yeah,” Tocchet said. “Listen, if you’re going to go in the playoffs deep, you can go to your 25th, 27th place on your roster. It doesn’t mean your young guys can’t play.”
Luchanko didn’t look out of place in his two brief stints with the Flyers and he’s performed well in junior hockey, plus the World Junior Championships.
Tocchet used 19-year-old Porter Martone, who scored two game-winning goals vs. Pittsburgh in the first round, as an example of a quick study.
“We have another guy (Martone) who looks fast out there,” Tocchet said. “There are some other elements of his game he’s going to improve this summer. There could be a possibility.”
Martone competed with Luchanko at the World Junior Championships and says there’s a lot of potential waiting to happen.
“He’s a fast, 200-foot centerman,” Martone said. “I think I’ve played with him for Canada at every age-group team events, we were on the same team. You can put him anywhere in the lineup. He always finds a way to contribute. He doesn’t need to be on the scoreboard all the time. He contributes in other ways. Great skill as a hockey player.”
If called upon, Luchanko said he will be ready.
“It’s always nice to be here,” Luchanko said. “And be around the best in the world.”
Luchanko did register 26 points in 27 games with the Bulldogs.
The current callup is different than the others because he turns 20 in August and he’s fully a professional. There’s no back to juniors now.
Does it feel different than the other two callups?
“Definitely feels that way a little bit now,” he said. “I don’t think much changes for me. Just try and come in here, work hard every day.”
Luchanko has been all over the place. It will be nice to play either here or with Lehigh Valley (AHL) next season.
“That’s really exciting for me,” he said. “I’ve been around a lot, it’s definitely exhausting sleeping in different beds a lot. It definitely will be nice next year that I’m in one place a lot.”
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