The Philadelphia Flyers received’t have Zack MacEwen within the lineup for some time, saying that he underwent surgical procedure to restore a damaged jaw, in keeping with Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. His restoration timeline has been set at 5 weeks.
MacEwen possible suffered the harm throughout his combat towards Minnesota Wild ahead Marcus Foligno on Thursday, one of the three straight fights that the 2 groups had been concerned in. He didn’t see a shift after that and now might be out by the commerce deadline.
Claimed off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks in 2021, MacEwen has established himself as one of many identification gamers the group is counting on to attempt to flip issues round. He has performed 121 video games for the reason that begin of final season, racking up 164 penalty minutes within the course of. While he doesn’t supply a lot offensive manufacturing — simply 9 factors to date this season — head coach John Tortorella has considerably elevated his ice time from a yr in the past.
MacEwen now averages greater than 12 minutes an evening and has even seen some power-play time as the online entrance choice on the second unit. On a contender, that possible doesn’t occur given his lack of scoring. But Tortorella is attempting to put in a tradition that rewards arduous work, one thing MacEwen has by no means lacked.
Undrafted, he fought his manner up the Canucks depth chart and debuted in 2018-19 in simply his second skilled season. Now with 176 video games beneath his belt and a daily spot within the Flyers lineup when wholesome, he heads into RFA negotiations this summer time with an opportunity at a multiyear extension. The 26-year-old is one yr away from unrestricted free company, and presently carries a $925K cap hit.
