Flyers forward Lukas Sedlak leaves team

Among the absentees at Saturday’s Flyers practice was center Lukas Sedlak. His absence isn’t injury-related, however, as head coach John Tortorella told reporters that the 29-year-old has left the team and returned home to his native Czechia, via Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Tortorella wouldn’t elaborate further, indicating that they’ll let Sedlak explain why he left.

Sedlak signed a one-year, $800K contract with the Colorado Avalanche in free agency back in July and made their opening roster. However, after three games with the Avs, he was placed on waivers in mid-October and was claimed by Philadelphia. Since then, he had been a regular in the lineup, picking up three goals and five assists while averaging a little shy of 13 minutes per night, well above his career average.

Sedlak is set to become an unrestricted free agent again next summer, so it will be interesting to see if he’s interested in returning to North America at that time or if he’ll be staying overseas for good. In the meantime, once Sedlak is granted non-roster status by the league, the Flyers will get an extra roster spot. If they decide to terminate his contract — Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that he should be on termination waivers soon — they’ll also free up a contract slot, which is notable since they are currently the only team that’s at the maximum of 50.