Professional sports can be a cold, cold business. This couldn’t be more true Tuesday, as the Flyers have decided to buy out the final year of Oskar Lindblom’s contract.
The decision couldn’t have been an easy one. Lindblom proved time and time again that beyond just being a quality hockey player, he was also a quality person. His commitment to playing the full 200 sheet adhered him to coaches. His teammates loved him. He had been one of the Flyers’ top players through 30 games of the 2019-2020 season, scoring 11 goals and 18 points before a turn for the worse happened.
Then, in December of 2019, Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. The then-23-year old was about to exclude more courage than he ever would on the ice.
#OskarStrong was born.
And by the following September, Lindblom had returned to the Flyers lineup during the bubble playoffs in Toronto, cancer-free. A few months prior, that would have seen unthinkable. Moreover, for his triumphant return, he received the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his perseverance in 2021.
It’s safe to say that Lindblom’s game never got back to the level that of the 2019-2020 season. He struggled for a large chunk of this season under Alain Vignault. Ultimately, putting the club in the unenviable position of having to decide what the best course of action for the future was for Oskar and his $3 million dollar price tag.
What’s more, Lindblom will likely be an under-the-radar addition by a team this summer. That team will be getting a consummate professional and quality teammate. Further, he may even rediscover his scoring touch in the right role. Lindblom always personified character; both when he took the ice to help the Flyers and when he once he stepped off of it. You can never have too many players like that and he will be missed.
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