VOORHEES, N.J. — Anthony Stolarz is looking at a lengthy recovery time that will force him to miss the majority of the 2017-18 season after reinjuring the meniscus in his left knee.
Flyers general manager Ron Hextall estimated Saturday the recovery period will be "months," not weeks.
"We're going to be cautious with it," Hextall said, "but I know the long-term prognosis for Stolie is good. That's exciting for us. Unfortunately not short-term for him."
Stolarz was given a four-to-six month diagnosis following the initial injury.
Contrary to previous reports, Stolarz had never torn the MCL (medial collateral ligament) in his left knee but rather the meniscus, when he had to be helped off the ice in a game April 12.
A meniscus injury comes with a high risk of reoccurrence, according to Hextall, and Stolarz was not doing anything athletic away from the rink when he felt the second tear.
"He had been doing his rehab," Hextall said. "Coming in every day and things were looking good, and he just moved one way and (his meniscus) re-tore.
NHL
Surgeons performed a second procedure Thursday to repair the meniscus again (see story).
A week ago, it appeared Hextall had some organizational depth at the goaltending position, but that took a big hit with the Stolarz news.
The Flyers signed Leland Irving as a backup to Alex Lyon on Aug. 31 before Stolarz's injury, knowing that Stolarz would not be 100 percent by the start of training camp and the regular season.
"It certainly chips away at our depth," Hextall said. "We'll see where Leland Irving is at camp. I'm interested to see kind of where he's at, and we'll just monitor the position over the next couple of months."
No tryouts
Earlier this summer, Hextall said he wanted to bring in a veteran defenseman into training camp on a professional tryout, but as of now, no agreement has been reached.
Rookie camp begins Monday, and the Flyers' main training camp gets underway Friday.
"We had a feeler out there," Hextall said of a PTO, "but it doesn't look like it's going to work out. We'll continue to see what's out there and monitor it.
"If I had to bet right now, I'd say we're probably not going to have a tryout, but that's not 100 percent.