Date Published: 12-4-2022
Photo Credit: Zack Hill
The Flyers are already without the services of Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis (Season), Tony DeAngelo, Travis Konecny, James van Riemsdyk, and Bobby Brink. However, Cam Atkinson is all set to return in the near future, maybe even next week, “It’s obviously good to be back with the team. It’s definitely getting closer,” Atkinson said. “It’s good to be back with the guys, battling, and going through a lovely Torts practice,” he said with a smile.
“I’m cleared for everything (To play too). I’m day to day, no where near helping this team, but I’m closer than not.” – Cam Atkinson
For those wondering, the Flyers have been decimated up front for a large part of the season. The depth of the system is being tested once again, as Nic Deslauriers and Zack MacEwen both have earned new roles within the top six at times mainly due to injuries.
The mystery of Cam Atkinson
No one knows what is going on with Atkinson in terms of his injury, yes it remains a mystery. The only information that has been given to the us (The media) was it’s an Upper Body Injury. It’s not that anyone needs to know what or has been going on with Atkinson in terms of his injury, but he went from possibly playing in the home opener, to day to day, to week to week, to unknown. With everything that has been going on injury wise with Ryan Ellis over the course of the past few years. It was understandable for some fans to be worried that it was an Ellis 2.0 situation.
“He’s definitely a guy who can score goals, and makes a lot of plays,” Joel Farabee said after Monday’s practice. “He’s someone we need offensively.”
Cam Atkinson says this was a more severe injury than before. He doesn’t want his injury released to the public. Atkinson would rather keep it private. It appears he isn’t coming back yet, due to conditioning. Maybe he wants to go through two more practices to be on the safe side.
The acquisition of Cam Atkinson highlighted some of the priorities that the Flyers had for their offseason shopping list in 2021: leadership, ability to play 5-on-5 and special teams, and a focus on shooting. Before the two Covid shortened seasons, Atkinson averaged 20+ goals per season. His career high came in the 2018-2019 season when he scored 41 goals to go along with his 28 assists. The ability for the Flyers to score goals has been a missing link for the 2022-23 season thus far.
Besides his talents on the ice, Atkinson was brought in as a veteran leadership presence. He was an Alternate Captain with the Blue Jackets and was familiar with a lot of the players on the Flyers roster at the time he was traded to the orange and black. John Tortorella is hoping that forwards like Atkinson can contribute in multiple areas of the game.
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