Tyson Foerster a healthy scratch for Flyers’ game Tuesday vs. Capitals
Foerster, who has one goal and is a minus-3 through five games, has not been a healthy scratch since the opening game of last season.
Tyson Foerster became a full-time member of the Flyers only last year. On Tuesday night he will be a healthy scratch for the first time since the opening game of last season.
The winger will be in the press box alongside forward Jett Luchanko and defenseman Erik Johnson. Nick Deslauriers and Nick Seeler will each make his season debut. Noah Cates will also slot back in at center. Coach John Tortorella previously said that the rookie Luchanko would not be playing back-to-backs early in the season while the Flyers try to protect him a bit physically.
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Foerster has one goal and a plus-minus rating of minus-3 through the Flyers’ first five games. His lone tally, on the power play, came in the season opener against the Vancouver Canucks.
Coming off a rookie season when Foerster notched 20 goals and 33 points in 77 regular-season games — he missed four games in February with a lower-body injury — expectations were high for him. According to Natural Stat Trick, at five-on-five, the Flyers have fewer shot attempts (48) than the opposition (58) when he is on the ice, with his Corsi For percentage ranking just 13th on the team.
Individually, he has had eight shot attempts, with just one coming from a high-danger spot at five-on-five. Last season, he averaged more than three shot attempts per game and ranked tied for fourth in high-danger chances (61) on the Flyers.
Last season, Foerster finished seventh in voting for the Calder Trophy as the NHL‘s top rookie and even earned Selke Trophy votes as the league’s top defensive forward. Foerster’s impressive defense was a surprise development last season, as he ranked second among all NHL forwards in even-strength, defensive goals above replacement (6.7 goals), according to Evolving Hockey.
The winger is not the first high-profile Flyer — and won’t be the last — to be a healthy scratch under Tortorella. Sean Couturier, Morgan Frost, Bobby Brink, and Noah Cates were sat down at times last season. With the Flyers playing again on Wednesday, we’ll see if Foerster jumps right back into the lineup after a night in the press box.