The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Thursday afternoon that defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen underwent surgery to repair a torn triceps muscle, two months after the injury initially occurred.
In addition, the Flyers also shared that the surgery was performed by Dr. Keith Meister, who is the head orthopedic surgeon of the MLB’s Texas Rangers. Ristolainen is expected to be out for three months for rehab and recovery and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp.
But, why did the Flyers wait two months for Ristolainen to have the surgery, and why were no updates provided until now?
You have to imagine that if Ristolainen had the surgery the week he got injured, he would have an outside chance of returning to the Flyers if they made a playoff run. Three months from Feb. 10 would be May 10, which is around the time the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are going.
Personally, it doesn’t make much sense that the Flyers did not cover their bases in this regard. In addition, the expectation is now that Ristolainen is healthy enough to return by the start of August, which virtually eliminates an entire offseason of training or relaxing.
Instead, it will all be dedicated to rehab and recovery, which could have been almost entirely completed by now.
If the Flyers had hoped Ristolainen could rest and be healthy enough to play if they had made the playoffs, their wishes were misguided. They traded Sean Walker at the trade deadline while Jamie Drysdale was injured; the Flyers needed Ristolainen in the few weeks that followed more than they ever have.
Plus, there was no transparency. Ristolainen was first listed as day-to-day, and then a few days later, week-to-week. A week after that, Ristolainen was placed on injured reserve, and no updates were given aside from the transaction.
If the Flyers had simply addressed the injury head-on in a timely matter, there would be no past, present, or (immediate) future concerns about Ristolainen’s health.
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