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Flyers’ Patrick confident of returning to play this season

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“If they’d gone away, I’d be playing.”

Nolan Patrick has yet to play a game for the Philadelphia Flyers this season due to a chronic migraine disorder. While he’s skated on his own for a while, he hasn’t taken part in a full practice in over a month and there’s still no timeline on a return.

With four months left in the 2019-20 regular season, the No. 2 overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft isn’t giving up hope.

“I expect to play this year,” Patrick said Tuesday morning.

“He is progressing, he is doing more off-ice workouts and he is skating a little bit more on his own,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “Hopefully that’s a positive sign. That’s all I can really tell you. I don’t know much more than that.”

It’s not been easy for the 21-year-old forward as there are good days and bad days. There’s a lot of time by himself, but Patrick said his teammates have done a great job in making him feel a part of the team this season. He’s has been on a specific training program and he can get in the gym on a daily basis, but the recovery hasn’t gone smooth.

“If I’m not feeling that great that day we’ll just pump the brakes a little bit,” said Patrick. “It’s just trying to put together more good days in a row than bad. I’m not gonna go too much into my symptoms or what I have but it’s obviously frustrating. It’s not an injury where you’re going to be back in six weeks. There’s no timeframe to it. Obviously I’m hoping to get back soon and I believe I’ll play this year so that’s something I’m trying to stick with.”

As he’s been able to get on the ice, like Tuesday’s optional skate at Wells Fargo Center that featured the scratches for their game against the Maple Leafs, the next goal for Patrick to achieve is to take part in a full practice.

“Obviously I’m not gonna go into too much detail but there’s obviously a lot of things I’ve had to change,” Patrick said. “It’s an annoying process. It’s s-----. Hopefully I get back soon.”

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.