The Curious Case of Nolan Patrick

When Nolan Patrick was drafted 2nd overall by the Flyers in the 2017 NHL Draft no one knew he’d be plagued by injuries so early in his career. Having missed the entire 2019-20 season with a mysterious migraine disorder, Patrick will now miss out on the 24 team tournament this summer. No one could’ve predicted this, or could they? Let’s take a look at the curious case of Nolan Patrick.

Let’s back up and break down how we got to here. There’s been a lot of speculation about how long Patrick has been suffering from migraines and reports suggest this has been an ongoing issue since his childhood despite the lack of any of this on anyone’s drafting/scouting reports anywhere.

So how long has this been an issue? Has it been an issue every year? Did he not have any migraines during his stellar WHL career with the Brandon Wheat Kings? I don’t think we will ever know the full story of what’s going on and that’s okay because truth be told as much as we would like to know every detail of every players life they are entitled to their privacy.

Let’s break down the injuries we do know about. In 2013-2014 WHL season Nolan was called up to Brandon from his Midget AAA team due to an injury ridden roster, however Patrick was not able to play due to a shoulder injury he sustained while playing for the Winnipeg Thrashers in Midget AAA. Towards the end of the season Patrick got into 3 games where he got on the score sheet just once with a goal.

The next season, Patrick began his rookie year with Brandon where he tallied 30 goals and 56 points in 55 games. He did however miss 12 games with a confusing injury that was first labeled as a LBI (lower body injury) and then later subsequently changed to a UBI (upper body injury).

No real information or diagnosis was ever released which lead some to speculate over the cause. Could it have been migraine Issues? Patrick still went on to win the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s rookie of the year which was accomplished despite missing 17 total games in the 2014-2015 WHL season.

In 2015-2016 Patrick had an amazing season putting up 102 points in 72 games, scoring 41 times. He was the first player for Brandon to put up over 100 points in a season since 1976-1977 when Ray Allison and Brian Propp both surpassed the 100 point mark.

Nolan led all players in post season points and was awarded WHL Playoff MVP. Brandon won the Ed Chynoweth Cup that year and needless to say Nolan Patrick played one of the biggest roles on their run. However he did suffer a sports hernia in game 4 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Final series. He played through the WHL finals and the 2016 Memorial Cup with this injury and ended up needing surgery following the conclusion of the 2015-2016 season.

Nolan Patrick was named captain of the Wheat Kings in 2016-2017 but after playing only 6 games to start the season was sidelined with what was labeled as a UBI. Patrick was listed as day-to-day but the injury lingered on through November and was revealed to be a complication with the sports hernia surgery.

Patrick eventually returned to play for the Wheat Kings, playing in 33 games and tallying 46 points but would go on to miss all 4 playoff games due to further complications and the Wheat Kings were eliminated from the 2016-2017 WHL playoffs.

The 2017 NHL Draft was set and the New Jersey Devils passed on Nolan Patrick with the 1st overall pick, instead selecting Nico Hischier of the Halifax Mooseheads. Patrick was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers 2nd overall but did not participate in development camp due to an additional surgery to correct his sports hernia which was not properly diagnosed or operated on correctly.

Before the start of his first professional season, Patrick was cleared to begin skating but was further set back with a mysterious infection on his face. The cause or diagnosis has not been clarified by him or the Flyers organization to this day.

After earning a spot with the big club Patrick was bound to crack the opening day roster for the Orange and Black. On October 24th in a game against the Anaheim Ducks Patrick took a hit from Chris Wagner and would go on to miss 9 games because of what the Flyers called an “upper body injury”. Patrick would eventually return and finished his rookie season with totals of 13 goals and 30 points while skating in 73 games.

In the 2018-2019 season, Nolan Patrick appeared to be as healthy as ever in a Flyers uniform. Nolan did not sustain any trauma which would cause him to miss significant time but he would go on to miss a few games here and there throughout the year.

He would go on to miss 3 games due to an upper body injury which was sustained from a hit by Mark Stone of the Ottawa Senators and would then go on to miss a game in early December. Patrick would miss 3 more games later on in December into early January, along with a single game March 6th and the last 2 games of the season. Patrick finished the season playing 72 games recording 13 goals and a total of 31 points

The 2019-2020 season would end up being a puzzling one for fans of the Flyers in regards to Patrick’s health and overall wellbeing. He missed all of camp with little to no word on what was taking place and would later miss the entirety of the 2019-2020 NHL season with a Migraine Disorder.

Patrick has said on multiple occasions that he was hopeful that he would participate at some capacity this season for the Flyers but unfortunately that never came to fruition. He would practice a few times with his teammates at the clubs practice facility but was never cleared for contact or game action. Having stated recently that he’s feeling a lot better, the Flyers still chose to leave him off their playoff roster.

So now that we’ve covered all that we know about Nolan Patrick’s injury history, the question that’s plagued him since his draft year remains. Can Nolan Patrick remain healthy?

Chuck Fletcher said Nolan Patrick told him this is the best he has felt in 12 months.

— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) July 13, 2020

I for one am not sure that he can. Nolan Patrick possesses all the skills and hockey IQ to be a legitimate NHL player and contribute to his team’s success, there is no doubt about that, but other questions now arise from Nolan’s predicament. One example would be since Nolan Patrick is a RFA after this season, what kind of contract, if any at all, should the Flyers offer him?

I would like to see a 1 or 2 year deal, somewhere in the ball-park of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. It’s easy to forget that Nolan Patrick is only 21 years old and should be given the opportunity to sort this out before we give up on him. I am forever hopeful that Patrick can overcome his injury issues and become a mainstay for the Philadelphia Flyers for years to come.

Follow Kyle on Twitter @WarnerKyle29 and @HW_Radio_

Header Photo Credit: The AP