Joel Farabee, Kevin Hayes placed on IR; Wade Allison, Jackson Cates recalled from Phantoms

The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Friday that forwards Joel Farabee and Kevin Hayes have both been placed on injured reserve. Farabee is expected to miss up to four weeks and Hayes is out from three to four weeks.

Farabee’s injury was deemed “upper-body” by the Flyers, but he did hurt his shoulder in Tuesday’s home contest against the New York Islanders. He left the game briefly but returned later on. This wouldn’t be the first time he’s had shoulder troubles this season, as he left the December 1st matchup against the New York Rangers with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the lineup for five games.

Hayes had fluid drained from his adductor region on Tuesday morning, so the news about him isn’t that surprising. He already missed Tuesday’s game against the Islanders and last night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hayes missed the first 12 games of the season after undergoing abdominal surgery in September, and he has only appeared in 20 of Philadelphia’s 40 games this year.

For reinforcements, forwards Wade Allison and Jackson Cates were recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley and placed on the taxi squad, and both will be elevated to the main roster to play tomorrow afternoon in a road matinee against the Buffalo Sabres.

Allison suffered a sprained ankle in one of the Flyers’ rookie contests against the Rangers in September and did not return to action until December 11th when the Phantoms hosted the Cleveland Monsters. Allison also suffered an elbow injury in just his third game back that kept him out of action for over a month, but he’s looked solid since returning. He leaves Lehigh Valley on a three-game goal streak and has four points in seven games this year.

Cates has been up and down between the Flyers and Phantoms this season. He scored his first NHL goal on December 16th against the Montreal Canadiens and has played in seven games for the Flyers this season. He has appeared in 21 games for the Phantoms and has two goals and four assists for six points in the AHL.

Connor Bunnaman was also sent down to Lehigh Valley in a corresponding move. He had played in the Flyers’ last three contests.

The Flyers’ forward depth has taken a tremendous beating this season, especially at center. Sean Couturier has missed extensive time with an upper-body injury, and depth players like Derick Brassard, Patrick Brown and Nate Thompson have all been on the sidelines as well. Losing Hayes crushes them even harder down the middle, and losing a top-six winger in Farabee stings hard as well.