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NHL Expansion Draft, Ellis Transcript

July 20, 2021, 9:04 PM ET [834 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Expansion Draft Day

The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft has arrived. On Wednesday, the National Hockey League will announce which players the Seattle Kraken selected from each of the 30 participating teams (the Vegas Golden Knights are exempt). They will also announce any additional deals that the Kraken made with other NHL clubs.

The Kraken are permitted to start the free agency signing period early. General manager Ron Francis has exclusive negotiating rights with unrestricted free agents until 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Any free agents they sign will count the same as selecting the player from the club's now-former team in the Expansion Draft.

Apart from the Kraken, there is a leaguewide freeze on trades through Thursday. The National Hockey League Entry Draft will begin on Friday evening (round one), and run through Saturday afternoon (rounds two to seven). Leaguewide trades that do not involve Seattle will also be announced. Free agency season starts on July 28.

Tomorrow evening, we will have a rundown on HockeyBuzz on the player whom the Flyers will lose to the Kraken and any other news involving Philadelphia.

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Ryan Ellis Transcript

On Tuesday morning, newly acquired Flyers defenseman Ryan Ellis held a remote press conference will members of the local media. The most notable information to come out of the session was Ellis setting the record straight regarding his injury situation last season. Although it was widely reported that Ellis had a shoulder injury (in some reports, it was said that he'd undergone shoulder surgery), the player said his actual injury was a broken knuckle and that he's never had shoulder surgery in his life.

Ellis returned to the Predators lineup last season in April, posting nine points in 14 late-season regular season games and then five points in Nashville's six-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs.

Below is a transcription of Ellis' media availability, courtesy of the Flyers:

What’s your reaction to being here? Have you had a chance to reach out to Ivan Provorov?

Little shocked with everything going on. First time going through it. It’s a bit of a shock to the system and to me and my family. Nothing but looking forward from here. We’re excited to get there, get settled and start a chase for the Cup. And I haven’t spoken to him yet. I don’t have anything on that front.

What do you know about Ivan? You don’t play the Flyers that much, but it’s likely that you’ll be his partner. What are your impressions of him?

To be honest, like you said, we don’t play them a lot. In the last couple years, I don’t even know how many times I played at the Wells Fargo Center to be honest with you. I know he’s an unbelievable player. He’s got terrific skill. I’ve seen him score some awesome goals on the highlights. Him being in the East and us in the West previously, I just didn’t see him a lot to be honest.

When you were in Nashville, you were part of the leadership core. Do you envision stepping into that role in Philadelphia as well? Is that something you’ve talked about with Chuck Fletcher since the trade?

I haven't even thought that far ahead. I know they have a great core. The core has been there for a long time. They've had a lot of success. To be honest, I’m just looking forward to jumping in and being another play. To contribute any way I can, whether it be on the ice or off. Just be another guy in the room trying to chase something together.

I’m not sure you are willing to go into details, Ryan. Last season you obviously dealt with some injuries, with the shoulder. Did that hamper you a lot during the season and are you back to 100% now?

I don't know what shoulder you’re talking about. I shattered my knuckle last year, so that was what I missed time for. Other than that, no, I'm good. I'm healthy. I'm hungry and I'm happy and excited to be a member of the Flyers.

Being around as long as you have, I'm sure you have friends around the league. Have you spoken to any of your new teammate with the Flyers, not necessarily defenseman or anybody like that? Just to sort of get a lay of the land and know what you're walking into.

Yeah, I've spoken to five or six guys. They were nice enough to reach out after the trade and just some basic questions. It's middle of summer. I'm sure they're busy. I’ve got a lot busier over the past couple days, trying to sort everything out for me and my family. Just looking forward to getting there and getting started.

I know you said you've been in that Nashville your entire career. What were the messages like from your Nashville teammates and what is it like leaving that city?

I didn't envision any of this, to be honest, ever. I've never been traded or anything in my life. It was, like I said, a shock and a lot of surprise. After that, got to move on and move forward. I'm excited at the next chapter. It was sad. I honestly haven’t even talked to all yet because it's been so busy the last few days. Like I said, moving forward and moving on. I'm excited to be a part of the Flyers organization.

Can you talk about how long that shock might take to go away? Does your new teammates calling you help?

It’s definitely helped. Honestly once I’m settled, have my family all settled, everything’s kind of played out and I’m back on the ice with the guys, I think that will be the time everything will calm down for me personally. Knowing if my family is all set up, safe and sound. Once that’s done, I will be ready to go and even more excited.

Just wanted to clarify that it was not your shoulder. There were some reports in Nashville that you had shoulder surgery last year. That's not true? Did you have knuckle surgery or any kind of surgery?

Yeah, I just hurt my hand last year. I don't know where the shoulder thing came from.

Did you have surgery on your hand, though?

No.

What was the injury specifically, then?

I just broke a bone in my hand.

Do you feel part of the reason for this trade was to bring you in to help out with the goals-against average?

I'll do my best. I’m looking forward to competing with the guys. At this point in my career, all I want to do is win and this organization has got a winning standard and expectations to do so. For me, I'm going to try to play my game and help the team out any way I can going forward. If that's scoring goals or stopping goals, doing both, whatever it takes to help this team win.

For Flyers fans that may not know your game exactly, can you just describe some of your strengths and kind of what makes up your game?

To be honest, I just try to do whatever the team needs at the time to win, whether it be blocking shots or making defensive plays. If we're down, it might be cheating on offense, trying to make plays happen offensively. Honestly, I just pride myself on being a team-first guy. Whatever it takes to win at that time, hopefully that's what you're going to see out of me.

You said that you're not really familiar with the Flyers. From what you know of them, what are your expectations for this team for this season?

I don't know many teams in the East. We only saw seven other teams last year. Obviously with everything going on in the world, it's been a different couple years now. I know some of the older players, playing against them and some of the younger players coming up, I've heard all about them. It seems like there's a nice mix of veteran guys and younger guys. I think there's only one expectation and that’s to win. I’m excited to be part of that team and hopefully do something special with this group.
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