Thursday morning the Flyers announced that they traded veteran forward Garnet Hathaway and a sixth-round pick in the 2026 National Hockey League draft in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2026 and a fifth-round pick in 2027. Although Hathaway had a better than expected first round series against Pittsburgh, the energy player looked like he had lost a step most of the season, ending up with just a goal and a pair of assists in 66 games. It was a dramatic drop even for a fourth-line winger who had 10 goals and 11 assists in 2024-25. And while Hathaway is now starting the second year of a two-year deal he signed with Philadelphia back in July of 2024, the Flyers are retaining 50 per cent of his $2.4 million cap hit for this coming season.
So, with Hathaway out of the picture, the Flyers fourth line might have a few unknowns. What should be obvious is that Philadelphia will start 2026-27 with Sean Couturier as the club’s fourth-line center. He proved he could deliver energy and hockey smarts in limited minutes, making him look far more effective down the stretch then at any point in the first 55 games of the year. And making the rest of his contract a bit easier to swallow. So that’s one of three slots filled. As for the wingers, there is growing speculation that winger/center Luke Glendening has played his way into a short-term extension (most likely one year) with the Flyers. Glendening and Couturier seemed to have great instant chemistry after he was picked up off the waiver wire from New Jersey. And he should be able to be effective on the faceoff dot also, taking some of the load off the Flyers captain. That makes two slots probably spoken for.
Which leaves the third slot possibly vacant. On hearing the initial news of Hathaway’s trade, there was speculation Philadelphia might be getting back A.J. Greer from the Panthers. But with just the picks coming back, that fourth-line spot is open. And that brings us to 23-year-old winger Nikita Grebenkin, a player who should be a perfect fit for that position when training camp rolls around in September. Grebenkin, who like Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras, is a restricted free agent and needs a new deal. The cap hit should be relatively modest given his three-year entry level deal had a modest $875,000 average annual value which concluded in 2025-26.
Grebenkin’s 2025-26 had ups, downs (and injury)
Grebenkin was a yo-yo of sorts moving up and down the lineup depending on injuries or head coach Rick Tocchet wanting to give some lines a new look. And with the injury to Tyson Foerster, Grebenkin was one of those players who found himself in the lineup more often than not. He had over 100 minutes spent in all situations with the following Flyer forwards: Carl Grundstrom, Hathaway, Noah Cates, Rodrigo Abols, Sean Couturier, and Travis Konecny. He registered his first NHL point (an assist) in his first game of the season against Carolina, and scored his first career goal on Nov. 4 against Montreal. He finished the year with four goals and 10 assists, not anything jaw-dropping, but a decent first impression in his first relatively full season.
The biggest question mark was his health. He was fine for nearly three-quarters of the regular season. In late March, in a game against San Jose, Grebenkin suffered an upper-body injury. At the time it was considered something he’d recover from in a week to 10 days. However, the March 21 game against the Sharks proved to be Grebenkin’s last game of the season. He missed the playoffs, and remained a bit of a mystery in terms of his injury, and the recovery time. During Flyers general manager Danny Briere’s press conference at season’s end, he discussed the rather lengthy injury list players had in the playoffs, but believed most of them would be fine for September. The one sticking point was with Grebenkin, who Briere said didn’t recover from the injury as soon as they (and probably he) expected. There’s no news or update on whether he will be ready for training camp, but with any luck, and without him being rushed, he will hopefully be good to go roughly 10 weeks from now.
It is a huge opportunity — provided he’s healthy — for Grebenkin to establish himself as a regular contributor to the team, even if it is only roughly 10 to 12 minutes a night. And if he’s ready to go and can get some training down in the months and weeks leading up to training camp, he should be one of the top candidates to hold down that fourth-line winger spot. He’ll have to earn it of course, as other players that might have played in Lehigh Valley last season could be in the running.
Signing a UFA isn’t a death knell for Grebenkin
It’s possible that Briere doesn’t hesitate to ensure the fourth line is as good as it can be, and looks into free agency to sign a depth veteran who can provide oomph and energy without being a defensive liability. Early speculation seems that a free agent like A.J. Greer (who had 17 goals and 32 points last season) could be a decent fit, especially given his size (6’3″, 209 pounds) and his ability to handle himself if gloves are dropped. Whether he would be looking at a huge bump in salary (he made $850,000 last year) is unknown. But if it made sense to Briere, and was for one year or two, then Greer might overtake Grebenkin due to Grebenkin’s injury.
A trio of Grebenkin, Couturier, and Glendening looks on paper to be a decent to potentially good fourth line. Grebenkin would provide the physicality and a bit of energy to his rather older, veteran linemates. And he could possibly find some offensive spark if the trio found the chemistry in the early weeks of 2026-27. The fourth line was abysmal for the first-half of last year, with Rodrigo Abols, Hathaway, and Nic Deslauriers unable to provide anything in terms of generating offense. It was quite offensive watching them attempt to generate goal-scoring opportunities.
Also, should Philadelphia attempt to fill the slot with somebody other than Grebenkin, it shouldn’t be a certainty that same player will play all 82 games alongside Couturier and Glendening. Grebenkin might not be ready to go in October or November, but if he returns healthy, he should be given the chance to earn his way back into the slot. It won’t be given to him, and he’d have to outperform the likes of Greer or somebody else. But if given the chance to prove himself, he’s going to have to seize that moment.
In the end, Hathaway’s trade opens up a chance for Grebenkin to grab that roster spot. If he’s not ready to go, even if it’s not until December or January, he should (of healthy) be able to provide the fourth line with some moxie and jump. And in the event of the worst case scenario, Grebenkin is young enough to recover fully from a lingering or nagging injury, even if surgery or a full season off is required. It’s not ideal, but Grebenkin and his camp should realize a chance for him to become a regular is clearer now than it was 24 hours ago.
Stats courtesy of Hockeydb.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
