Flyers center Keith Primeau skated with the team on Monday morning while recovering from a concussion. Primeau still does not plan on playing until September at the earliest, he said.

He talks with the media after practice, the audio can be found here.

I was surprised to see this now, Primeau skating with the team. And yes, he said his goal is to return for the beginning of next season, but let’s read between the lines.

get my feet wet, work myself in slowly, feel better than I have, this a huge hurdle, I wasn’t any worse for wear after the little bit of contact I had was good

I think that last statement is huge. He has started practicing with the team with a little bit of contact. So what does all this mean? I do think that until Primeau is absolutely ready to play he won’t be giving any timelines. So if he decides he ready to go on a Tuesday, then we won’t hear about it until that Tuesday, whether it be this season or next. Part of this has to be how slow his recover has been, another part could be how much pressure the media puts on the situation which would be a distraction for the team.
Another part of this could be the salary cap issue. Hypothetically say he is ready to come back I don’t think there is enough room under the cap for that to happen without moving some people. So he ‘cant play’ until playoff time when the cap isn’t an issue.

One thing to watch is if Primeau continues to practice with the team and with what level of intensity. This might be hard to judge since there are only 3 practice days left for the regular season the 12th, 14th and 17th.

I can’t help to think about when another former Flyer captain recovering from a concussion came back during the playoffs back in 2000 only to sustain another concussion. I hope history doesn’t repeat itself.