Flyers excited to get some physicality back with the return of Garnet Hathaway

As if the Flyers needed more energy these days, they’ll get another boost of it on Monday.

Garnet Hathaway returns to the lineup against the Nashville Predators (7 p.m., NBCSP) after missing 15 games. According to the Flyers, Hathaway suffered an upper-body injury. The feisty forward was injured on a blindside hit by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Boko Imama, after Hathaway cleanly hit Noel Acciari, on Feb. 27.

“It kind of feels like I had about a third of the summer break right there,” Hathaway said. “It wasn’t the same, but I think it’s that other thing, of understanding what I have control over, and try and go into it with the perspective of, hey, get up to speed. Luckily, I’ve had the amazing training staff, skills coaches, coaches, and the benefit of watching the game, being able to practice a lot, too.

» READ MORE: Brad Shaw is ‘having a blast’ as an interim head coach. The Flyers are having fun, too.

“So I’m going into it optimistic. There’s no other way to do it. I’m back, and I’m ready to be back.”

Throughout the process, the 33-year-old Hathaway said he was trying to be patient, go day by day, and “really live in that moment.” To be honest, he has always lived in the moment.

He’s had what he called a “roundabout way” to the NHL as an undrafted forward who played four years at Brown University. But on Monday, in his first game in over a month, Hathaway will reach a career milestone: Game No. 600.

“Hard-nosed guy coming back, gets under the other team’s skin, and is going to bring that physicality aspect to the game that maybe we’re missing a little bit,” captain Sean Couturier said Monday. “It’s exciting to see a veteran like that come back.”

In 60 games this season, Hathaway has tallied eight goals, 18 points, and 48 penalty minutes. While he has taken 21 penalties, he is also tied for fifth in the NHL with 29 penalties drawn. And a lot of that stems from his ability to not only get under his opponents’ skin but also throw his body around.

Despite missing all that time, Hathaway still leads the Flyers in hits at 218. That ranks 13th in the NHL, with everyone above him having played more games. While Hathaway was out, the Flyers threw 310 hits (ranking ninth) and have 1,569 hits this season, a number with great importance to Hathaway.

In October, Hathaway and his wife, Lindsay, announced a partnership with Flyers Charities to launch Hits for Hath’s Heroes, a campaign to help raise funds for his charity that supports local first responders. For every hit the Flyers record this season, the Hathaways have pledged to donate to local first responders with a match from Flyers Charities. Fans can also donate to the charity.

But interim coach Brad Shaw and his teammates know that getting back to that style of play may take some time for the rugged forward.

“For him, it’s almost like you’ve got to go out there and get a hit first shift, bang around, and show yourself that you can do it and that you’re good to go, so I think that’ll be important,” forward Travis Konecny said.

Hathaway will return to the fourth line, skating alongside Rodrigo Ābols and Olle Lycksell, while Nick Deslauriers will come out of the lineup. And Hathaway is ready to bring the game we have all seen back to the Wells Fargo Center.

“I think with any injury, you may see guys find that mental battle of how to get back into it,” he said. “It’s something I’m working through, it’s something I’ve been working through for the last month and a half or so. I wouldn’t be playing if I wasn’t ready to play the game I’ve always played. And that’s how I’m going to go into it.”

While one injured player returns to the lineup, another is expected to be out for a while.

Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and according to Shaw, he is not expected back for the remainder of the season.

Ristolainen, whose tenure in Philly has been marred by injury, has not played since March 11. Last season ended prematurely for him too, after an upper-body injury suffered in mid-February. He underwent two surgeries, including a repair to a ruptured triceps tendon in April, and revealed in September that the surgeries involved “two injuries in the same place.”

A right-shot defenseman, the Finn has played in 776 NHL games between the Buffalo Sabres and Flyers, collecting 304 points. At the time of his injury, he was one of just five Flyers with a positive plus-minus (plus-3).

The Flyers signed undrafted center Karsen Dorwart on Saturday. Dorwart, 22, was considered one of the top NCAA free agents available after wrapping up his junior season at Michigan State with 13 goals and 31 points in 35 games.

“I watched some of the clips, went online myself, and watched some of the stuff, and it looks like he gets around the ice well,” Shaw said.

“It’s hard to watch a guy at that level, and then sort of try and extrapolate what he’s going to look like here. So kind of anxious to get him on the ice Wednesday and see what he looks like at this pace.

“We need depth at center, and, hopefully, he can be one of those solutions for us.”

» READ MORE: Flyers sign undrafted center Karsen Dorwart out of Michigan State

Shaw likes Dorwart’s size (6-foot-1, 195 pounds) and is looking forward to seeing what he can do. An alternate captain for MSU, Dorwart would become only the ninth Oregon-born player to play in the NHL. He is expected to make his debut Saturday in Montreal or Wednesday in New York.

“He’s going to start his career in one of the two greatest NHL buildings and cities. So can’t miss there,” Shaw said. “But we want to try and get him up to speed and just kind of see where he fits in. We’ve got six games once he gets here, and hopefully, he can get in the majority of them and get his feet wet. Then when training camp comes around [next season], he’s got a way better idea of what this league is all about.”

Ivan Fedotov will start in net for the Flyers against Nashville. ... Defensemen Cam York and Jamie Drysdale will remain a pairing on Monday. “I’ve played them a little bit when I was running the D in scenarios down late, down in the last six [or] seven minutes when we were trailing, and you like what you see,” Shaw said. “Sometimes the full 60 minutes, you see where maybe some of the shortcomings might come in, in any combination. So, yeah, we’ll probably go back with it again tonight and see what it looks like, and see if we can create a little bit more chemistry and a little bit cleaner game.”