The Philadelphia Flyers are about to embark on their most gruelling stretch of the season and it sounds like they’re going to have to go through the gauntlet without the NHL’s shot block leader in Nick Seeler.
The veteran defenseman was placed on injured reserve after taking a hard shot on the foot in Monday night’s shootout defeat to the St. Louis Blues. He returned to the game briefly before missing out on the final 9 minutes while being tended to in the locker room. In his absence, the Flyers have dipped their toes back into Lehigh Valley by bringing up Adam Ginning.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Seeler’s absence is that it comes just a few days before the trade deadline – where the veteran was gaining a lot of interest. The Flyers have reportedly been going back and forth between extension talks and trade talks but were leaning towards the former with Seeler. Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period intimated that his AAV would be in the ballpark of $3.33 AAV.
Seeler will now join fellow defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale on IR, however that now means that one of Ronnie Attard or Ginning will be making their season debut on Thursday night against the Florida Panthers. Attard was called up last week when Drysdale was placed on injured reserve but hasn’t received any ice time with Marc Staal remaining in the lineup.
On the season, Seeler has 1 goal and 12 points, is a plus-15, has accrued 78 PIM, and has blocked 184 shots to accompany his 112 hits all the while averaging 16:58 TOI. He has smashed his career high in ATOI by close to 2.5 minutes, has blown his shot blocking numbers out the water from last year, and his +15 rating is tops on the team alongside Travis Konecny. Seeler’s shot blocking prowess was one of the keys to the Flyers success on the penalty and it was be sorely missed. He holds the edge by 12 to Chris Tanev of the Dallas Stars.
As for Ginning, it’s been a long road to the show for the former second round pick back in 2018. The now 24-year-old defenseman struggled a little bit in the SHL after being drafted but turned into a very reliable defensive defenseman by the end of his tenure. He joined the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in 2022-23 for his first season of professional hockey where he tallied 19 points in 68 games and he also his NHL debut near the end of the year for the Flyers. This year for the Phantoms, Ginning has 2 goals and 11 points in 52 games.
There was hope that the Flyers might give standout Emil Andrae another shot but just based on what the team needs at the moment, Ginning fits the bill. He’s 6’3” and about 200 pounds, he’s a stay-at-home defenseman with the capabilities of moving the puck, but will give you some of what Seeler brought to the table.
The Flyers are about to run the gauntlet that will all but determine their playoff fate. They play Florida, Tampa Bay, San Jose, Toronto, Boston, Toronto, Carolina, Boston, Florida, and the New York Rangers in a stretch of 10 games in 19 days. They’re going to need all hands on deck from the remaining defenseman and we should see both Attard and Ginning get a taste of NHL hockey at some point in the near future.
