The Philadelphia Flyers are making some changes on the blue line ahead of the matchup against the New York Islanders Thursday night.
According to the NHL media website, the Flyers have recalled defenseman Adam Ginning from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Looks like Adam Ginning has been called up, via Flyers' roster on NHL media website.
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) January 30, 2025
It has not been confirmed whether or not Ginning will be playing Thursday against the Islanders, but since the Flyers are in Philadelphia, there is no reason to call up a player from Allentown and not have them play, just taking an extra roster spot for the sake of it. Most likely, Ginning will be in and Erik Johnson will be out.
If this is the case, the left-handed Ginning could be part of a shakeup on the blue line. Would we see the reunion of Cam York and Travis Sanheim as a defensive pairing? If so, that leaves something like Nick Seeler and Rasmus Ristolainen forming a shutdown pair and then the two younger blueliners in Ginning and Jamie Drysdale to be that depth. Hypothetically, that is possibly the blue line we’re seeing Thursday night.
The 25-year-old defenseman will be making his 11th NHL appearance on Thursday, as he previously laced up for one game back in the 2022-23 season and then played nine games for the Flyers last season when the entire blue line was suffering a terrible injury bug after the trade deadline.
Philadelphia has lost some of its physicality lately. During Wednesday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils — which might have been one of the worst performances of the season so far — the Flyers lacked some bite on some goals and didn’t really stand up on their own blue line. So many goals from the Devils in the 5-0 loss for the Flyers, was because of a defensive breakdown and a resulting odd-man rush. Does Ginning prevent that? Well, the 6-foot-3 defenseman might do something, or attempt to do that.
The Flyers clearly want some more physicality from a blue line that already has Nick Seeler and Rasmus Ristolainen on it. In theory, someone like Ginning might provide that since in his nine games last season, he blocked nine shots and had 18 hits. Pretty decent for something the Flyers want to see.
In 42 games for the Phantoms this season, Ginning has one goal and five points.
