Flyers GM: 'Not too concerned' about Leighton's injury

Flyers goalie Michael Leighton is expected to resume on-ice activities by "the earliest would be Thursday," general manager Paul Holmgren said on Monday at the Flyers Skate Zone.

Holmgren said Leighton's lower back strain is not something he is "too concerned about" and that he did not think Leighton was overly concerned, either.

"We're going to hold him off the ice, until the earliest would be Thursday," Holmgren said. "[It will] give him a few days to settle down."

Leighton had an MRI on Sunday after leaving Friday night's preseason game in Toronto. Holmgren said the results were not immediately available.

Coach Peter Laviolette received an injury update earlier in the day but declined to disclose it. He seemed much more grim about the information than Holmgren's announcement.

"He's not available to us," Laviolette said. "So we'll play the goaltenders we think we need to get ready for the regular season. So we've got two goalies and those are the two goaltenders you'll see on the ice tomorrow."

Laviolette did go on to say the he thinks newcomer Sergei Bobrovsky has "surprised everybody," and that he's "played well enough to earn another start." Bobrovsky could play the entire 60 minutes on Tuesday night in New Jersey.

On Monday, Holmgren initially told reporters that he had "no update" and then later made the seemingly benign announcement.

All of which leads to wondering... if the MRI was taken on Sunday, and the results were negative, why wasn't it announced then?

Other injury updates: Goaltender Johan Backlund, who has missed all of training camp thus far recovering from offseason hip surgery, said he is hoping to get into game action this week. He said he feels "close to 100-percent." Monday was his first full practice with the team ... Blair Betts and Ville Leino also skated for the first time without yellow jerseys. They have both been cleared for practice. Holmgren said he thinks both could see a game or two later in the week ... Holmgren also said he "still believes" that Chris Pronger will be ready for the start of the regular season next Thursday night in Pittsburgh, when the Flyers open up the new Consol Energy Center.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.