New addition Jakob Pelletier — and his visa — are finally cleared to play for the Flyers

Most of the Flyers returned to the ice on Wednesday after a week on the beach for break — aside from the team’s three 4 Nations Face-Off participants.

But no one on the team has had a longer vacation from hockey than Jakob Pelletier, who spent the last three weeks waiting for his visa to be approved after he was traded to the Flyers from Calgary in a deal that included Andrei Kuzmenko.

Kuzmenko made his debut with the Flyers just before the break and tallied an assist against the Pittsburgh Penguins. But Pelletier remained on the bench.

“I knew it was going to be a stretch to play, because I think something happened with my first visa, so I wasn’t sure,” said Pelletier, who turns 24 next month. “I knew the day of the game that I was not playing. It was a little sad, to be honest, to not play, but it’s good. At least I got a break, so we had more and more time to figure everything out.”

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Those three weeks are the longest Pelletier has been off the ice without being hurt in his career. Pelletier hasn’t played since the Flames defeated Anaheim on Jan. 30. But with his visa issues cleared up, Pelletier finally will be eligible to make his Flyers debut on Saturday.

“When you get traded, there’s two edges to that sword,” assistant coach Brad Shaw said. “There’s the one where, ‘They didn’t want me.’ There’s also the other edge where, ‘Hey, these guys wanted me. I get to show what I can do’ … Pelletier is a young guy, less games in the league. I know he’s really anxious to show what he can do. We’ll hopefully get to see that.”

The break and extra practice time have made Pelletier “110% ready” to get back on the ice and given him a bit of extra time to get to know his new teammates and learn the system.

Pelletier got back to Philadelphia on Saturday, spent the following few days before the start of practice with teammates in town, and said he hopes to get settled in an apartment within two weeks.

“It’s nice to talk to them more because I was only here for two or three days before going on vacation,” Pelletier said. “It was quick, but the guys have been good to me. It made things a little bit easier for me.”

Pelletier is a restricted free agent at the end of the year, and with the Flyers still at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with 25 games to play, he has the opportunity to prove he can be a part of the team moving forward.

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But Pelletier is staying focused on the present. He started to carve out an everyday role with Calgary after being promoted in December, but the 2019 first-round pick is still putting it together offensively, with four goals and seven assists, both career highs, over 24 games.

“Individually, I don’t really look at what’s going to happen for me,” Pelletier said. “I’m going to play each game like it’s my last one. I think we have a great opportunity. We’re still not in the playoffs, and I think we have the group to sneak in. Each game now, it’s really important for us.”