The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have recalled forward Owen Tippett ahead of their game against the New York Islanders this afternoon. Tippett will wear #74 and be available to play for the Flyers in today’s game. The young forward was of course the centerpiece coming back to Philadelphia in exchange for Claude Giroux yesterday, and had been playing with the Florida Panthers’ AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, for the past few weeks.
As expected, the trade from Florida to Philadelphia should open some new horizons for Tippett, who has struggled to establish himself in the NHL. Now with the Flyers, who have struggled this year, especially with injuries, Tippett could find himself not only in the lineup more, but with more minutes and more opportunities. The former 10th overall selection in 2017 has not necessarily failed at the NHL level, but he has not yet reached the expectations that lead to him being selected where he was.
To date, Tippett has 14 goals and 19 assists in 93 career NHL games, including six goals and eight assists in 42 games for the Panthers this season. Tippett does still have plenty of promise, headlined by an impressive 18 points in just 12 AHL games this season. Tippett’s AHL production shows he may finally be fully acclimated to the professional game and ready for new challenges. Those new challenges may be the exact ones that Tippett needs to take his game to the next level in the NHL: more high-leverage opportunities. Tippett has found himself on an incredibly talented Panthers team, which boasts incredible forward depth, the past two seasons. Because of this, Tippett has seen more limited ice-time, which could speak more to Florida’s depth and talent, than it does to Tippett’s skill. Now with the Flyers, Tippett could expect not only more ice-time, but more opportunities to play with the Flyers’ best players, and potentially even appear regularly on the team’s powerplay.
As tough as it is for Flyers fans to see Giroux go, they still may have something to look forward to this afternoon and down the road as well.