Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere spoke before the Flyers' Saturday matinee bout against the New York Rangers, providing important injury updates and giving some more insight into the decision to call Denver Barkey up to the big leagues.
Briere stated that goaltender Dan Vladar (upper-body injury) and forward Christian Dvorak (lower-body injury) would not dress against the Rangers due to what sounded like minor injuries—Briere affectionately described them as "boo-boos"—saying that goalie Aleksei Kolosov was called up under emergency conditions to replace Vladar for the time being.
"Day-to-day, nothing serious," Briere said. "Should be back by Monday. We don't know for sure, but that's what we hope... We don't expect them to miss—hopefully no more than today."
Another lineup shakeup came in the form of adding winger Denver Barkey to the mix for his NHL debut after beginning his season in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet previously said that Barkey's name has come up frequently in conversations with the Phantoms' coaching staff, and with Tyson Foerster out for five months after surgery to address an upper-body injury, there was no better time to give the 20-year-old a shot.
"He came in, and he played extremely well," Briere explained. "I think that the biggest thing from the report is his consistency. He was good night after night."
Due to the NHL roster freeze, the earliest Barkey could be loaned back to Lehigh Valley would be Dec. 28, when the freeze officially ends.