Ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, John Tortorella made mention that Ryan Poehling would not be accompanying the Philadelphia Flyers on their 3-game road trip because he was “banged up”.
On Wednesday, the club officially placed the forward on IR and called up Anthony Richard from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a corresponding move.
Poehling has 5 assists in 12 games this season for the Flyers with a +2 rating, 50% success rate at faceoff dot, 2o blocked shots to 7 hits, while averaging 13:31 TOI. His 5 assists are good for fourth on the club alongside Sean Couturier and Morgan Frost.
The former first round pick enjoyed a career year last season with 11 goals and 28 points while averaging 15 minutes a night. He added a 49.1% success rate on the faceoff dot, 101 blocked shots, 62 hits, and 23 takeaways – all of which were career-highs with the exception of his takeaway total.
Nicolas Deslauriers came back into the lineup for the 25-year-old forward during their 6-4 loss to the Hurricanes. Richard is an AHL journeyman who has played for a variety of teams like Milwaukee, Chicago, Syracuse, Laval, Providence, and now Lehigh Valley since 2015-16.
In 488 career games in the AHL, Richard has accumulated 148 goals and 309 points, including 4 goals and 9 points in 7 games for the Phantoms this year, which are good for second and first on the team, respectively.
The Trois-Rivières, Québec native has enjoyed a resurgent run since the 2021-22 season after he notched 30 goals and 67 points in 60 games for the Laval Rocket. He then signed a deal with the Boston Bruins ahead of the 2023-24 season and added 25 goals and 55 points in 59 games for Providence.
Richard has 24 games of NHL experience under his belt with 2 games for the Nashville Predators – 1 each in 2018-19 and 2019-20 – 13 games for the Montréal Canadiens, and 9 with the Bruins, in which he has tallied 4 goals and 8 points in total.
The former fourth round pick from the 2015 NHL Entry Draft enjoyed a successful junior career with the Val d’Or Foreuers of the QMJHL with a combined 80 goals and 178 points in 124 game between his draft-year and draft+1 season.
The Flyers face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night and the Florida Panthers on Saturday and while the lineup for Thursday’s game is unknown, there is a chance that we see Richard lace them up at some point this week, especially with the club needing some sort of boost offensively.
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