In a bit of a surprising move, the Flyers have recalled forward Taylor Leier from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Leier will wear No. 58 and he becomes the 13th active forward on the roster, not including the injured Michael Raffl and Scott Laughton, or the suspended Dale Weise. He will be eligible to play this evening against the Buffalo Sabres, but there’s no word on if he will.
Some sort of shake up in the bottom-six would not hurt the Flyers right now — particularly if Leier were to replace Chris VandeVelde and Dave Hakstol were to shake up the lines a bit — and maybe that’s what the coaching staff sees here. We’re unaware of any injury that could be at play (although that does not necessarily mean there’s not an injury), and the team seemed comfortable enough going with 12 forwards in Montreal.
But there’s always the chance that Leier could just be insurance. Dale Weise returns from suspension in time for the next game on Thursday night, and Leier won’t otherwise miss any time since the Phantoms are off until Friday.
At the same time, since it’s just one game, there’s not much sense in calling up Leier unless the Flyers plan to play him tonight. I guess we’ll see what happens.
