The Philadelphia Flyers don’t have a whole lot left that they have to do this summer. Danny Briere and Keith Jones have locked up their main restricted free agents, leaving just a few loose ends to tie before training camp in September.
The Flyers got good news on one of those loose ends on Thursday afternoon, with Charlie O’Connor reporting that Nikita Grebenkin is expected to be fully healthy and ready for training camp in September.
Good news on Nikita Grebenkin. Per a team source, it's looking good that he'll be fully healthy and ready for training camp in September. Obviously could be a setback over the next 1.5 months, but right now, things look good. No surgery was necessary.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 23, 2026
The winger is one of two remaining RFAs for the Flyers, along with defenseman Hunter McDonald, but there shouldn’t be any issue getting a deal done. Philadelphia has plenty of cap space, and Grebenkin isn’t expected to make much more than $1 million.
Grebenkin, of course, was acquired along with a first-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Scott Laughton deal at the 2025 trade deadline. After finishing that year in the AHL, Grebenkin averaged 11:17 of ice time in 55 games for the Flyers last season.
He missed the final month of the season and playoffs due to an upper-body injury suffered in late March. He was listed as out with an undisclosed lower-body injury, which is always scary when a concussion is a possibility.
The Russian forward returned to the ice earlier this summer as he was spotted skating at the Flyers Training Center while Development Camp was going on.
Nikita Grebenkin looking pretty good here as he’s taking part in a session with the prospects.
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) June 30, 2026
He ended the season with an upper-body injury and there’s some uncertainty about his status to start next season.
But this looks like a decent sign. pic.twitter.com/1Kzlig6MkG
Now, less than one month later, it sounds like Grebenkin will be ready to fight for a roster spot in September — and what a battle that will be.
Good news on Grebenkin adds intrigue to bottom-six battles
The Flyers didn’t really do anything to clear up their logjam of wingers this offseason. After trading Bobby Brink at the trade deadline, Philadelphia then replaced Garnet Hathaway with Noel Acciari, while letting Luke Glendening walk and re-signing Carl Grundstrom to a one-year contract.
Grundstrom is likely to be jettisoned to the AHL, but that doesn’t exactly clear up a spot for Grebenkin.
Let’s take a quick rundown of the roster locks at forward for the Flyers, in order of cap hit: Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Owen Tippett, Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, Noel Acciari, Porter Martone, and Matvei Michkov.
That’s 10 players for 12 starting spots, and then an extra forward or two, depending on how many defensemen the Flyers want to carry.
Notice that the above list doesn’t include Denver Barkey, who has proven that he can hang in the NHL, even playing center in the playoffs, or Alex Bump, who put up nine points in 17 games with the Flyers last season.
So we have Grebenkin in the mix with Barkey, Bump, and Grundstrom as the realistic candidates to make the roster out of training camp. The Flyers could keep all four players and work with a rotation in the bottom six, but that’s not necessarily ideal for young players like Barkey and Bump, who would probably develop better playing in a full-time role.
If the Flyers needed to ice their best lineup for a game, Barkey and Bump would likely have the leg up on Grebenkin and Grundstrom, but the latter two won’t really regress if they have to be a healthy scratch for a week or two.
I’ll also mention Jett Luchanko here just as an afterthought, given the fact that he did play in the playoffs. He should start the year in the AHL, though, and may realistically need a full, healthy season with the Phantoms before making the jump.
As of now, I wouldn’t be shocked if any of those four guys make or miss the opening night roster. That’s a good problem to have, though, as injuries are bound to occur at some point over the course of a long 84-game season.
