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Friday 25 February, 2011

Flyers lose Bartulis for 10-12 weeks

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The Philadelphia Flyers will be without defenseman Oskars Bartulis for about 3 months because of a shoulder injury sustained in Tuesday's loss on the Phoenix Coyotes.

"Surgery to fix shoulder instability is going to be performed in the next few days," Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said Thursday. "Oskars will be out 10-12 weeks."

Bartulis was standing alongside the Flyers' net when Coyotes forward Scottie Upshall hit him late, sending him hard to the boards. Upshall was suspended two games for the hit.

Bartulis had played just 13 games, serving a lot of the season since the team's seventh defenseman. He played Tuesday due to the knee injury suffered by Sean O'Donnell in Sunday's game against the New York Rangers.

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the Flyers could fill that void by adding Colorado Avalanche captain Adam Foote. The newspaper reported Holmgren and Avs GM Greg Sherman have spoken regarding the 39-year-old two-time Stanley Cup champion, but the Avs' asking price was not identified.

Another possibility could be Buffalo Sabres captain Craig Rivet, who was waived Monday.

However, Holmgren said the Flyers could address any depth issues on defense from the minor leagues. Options include veteran Matt Walker, who currently is recovering from knee surgery but isn't expected to be out too long. Holmgren also mentioned Erik Gustafsson, Danny Syvret and Kevin Marshall as possibilities.

"We like Gustafsson, we like Syvret, we like Marshall, they are all young guys," Holmgren said following your first amount of Thursday's game resistant to the New York Islanders. "Will I explore it? I'll probably listen around, look around, but I don't feel like trading anyone off our team to do anything like that."

News for Saturday 19 February, 2011