VOORHEES, N.J. -- On the night the Lehigh Valley Phantoms punched their ticket for the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs, Flyers prospect Anthony Stolarz went down.
The 23-year-old goalie left Wednesday's 2-1 shootout win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1:32 into the first period with what appears to be a lower-body injury.
According to Tony Androckitis of Highland Park Hockey, Stolarz was seen on crutches after the game, while the Phantoms did not have an update on his status.
Stolarz, of course, is expected to be a piece of the Flyers' future and will be in the running for a job with the big club during training camp come fall.
A serious injury could impact his preparation for such.
How serious is it?
"I don't know yet on Stolie," general manager Ron Hextall said Thursday at his end-of-the-season press conference. "I don't have the whole ball of information there on Stolie, but it doesn’t look like he'll be healthy in the real near future, I guess is fair to say."
NHL
Will he play in the Calder Cup Playoffs, which start next week?
"I don't know that," Hextall said.
Stolarz made his NHL debut this season and finished 2-1-1 with a 2.07 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in seven games (four starts).
The Flyers' goaltending situation next season is far from sacrosanct. Michal Neuvirth signed a two-year contract extension at the March 1 trade deadline, while Steve Mason can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. It's possible the Flyers leave Neuvirth unprotected for the June expansion draft and Hextall did not rule out re-signing Mason.
A lot remains up in the air, which impacts the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Stolarz.
"We'll work through our process here and in the end, we'll figure out what's our best option for next year, and the following year and after," Hextall said of his goalies for 2017-18. "We do have kids coming, and I think everybody knows it. I don't have a lot of interest in getting into a long, drawn-out deal with a goaltender, but again, we'll look at our options and move when we feel is our best option at the appropriate time."
Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol was impressed with Stolarz.
"From the small sample size, everything I saw in Stolie was headed in the right direction," Hakstol said. "Whether he's ready to be a full-time NHL goaltender, I think we have to wait and see where he's at in training camp. That's the next step for him, is to earn a full-time NHL position and full-time NHL job. Certainly, the work that he did for us, even after he got through the early jitters in a couple of his early performances, was sound and solid."
Weise, Manning surgeries
At the end of each NHL season, most teams are typically banged up with a handful of players who need surgeries.
The Flyers, however, were left in decent shape.
Winger Dale Weise underwent surgery Wednesday for bone spurs in his elbow.
Defenseman Brandon Manning, who suffered from back issues in the second half of the season, will have surgery to remove a small fragment from one of his discs.
"It's a very mundane procedure, is my understanding," Hextall said, "so he should be fine.
"At this point, that's it. From a health perspective, we're in pretty good shape."
2017 IIHF World Championship
Team Canada will be well-represented by the Flyers for the 2017 IIHF World Championship. Hextall is general manager and Hakstol will serve as an assistant coach.
Will Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux suit up for the Canadians?
According to a report by TSN's Darren Dreger, Simmonds and Giroux have been named to the roster.
"That's all yet to be determined," Hakstol said. "I'll leave that to the GM of Team Canada, I'll leave those things to Ron."
Nothing is official yet.
"I think there's some assumptions we can make, I don't know if any of them have really been solidified yet," Hakstol said. "I think there's probably going to be a half dozen of our players that potentially are going to be there and be part of the tournament."
The tournament begins on May 5.