The revolving door of injury replacements spins on.
With Emil Andrae out for an indeterminate amount of time with a mid-body injury, and Cam York still not quite ready to return to the lineup, the Flyers needed to bring up another body to fill in on the back end, and this time it was Helge Grans getting the call. He’s set to make his NHL debut this evening against the Avalanche.
And while it’s not an optimal situation for the Flyers to be shorthanded again, it’s a well deserved nod for Grans. His first season with the organization — after coming over in part of the trade which shipped out Ivan Provorov — was somewhat forgettable, as he got a full season with the Phantoms under his belt in 2023-24, but failed to make the same impression as other defenders in the mix down there like Andrae, as well as Adam Ginning and Ronnie Attard.
But Grans, still just 22 years old, made clear that he still has a lot of developmental runway ahead of him, and has seemed to take a big step forward in his second season with the Phantoms (and already his fourth in the AHL). The Phantoms have been getting good returns from their defense group as a whole this season as it relates to feeding their offensive chances, and Grans has been a key player in that — not only is he shooting more often from the points, but he’s been much noticeably better at getting those shots all the way through traffic and on net. He’s been dependable at distributing the puck well from the point at even strength, and in Andrae’s absence in Lehigh Valley, Grans has been tasked with quarterbacking the Phantoms’ top power play unit, and he’s shown some nice jump in that role as well. With three points (1G, 2A) in his first 14 games played, he has a nice little reward for his work well done, while also being on pace to more than double up on his points output from last season.
Grans has also made strides on the defensive side of his game as well — while he’s still had his moments of looking a little puck focused, or making the wrong read, his play on the whole has been much more settled down and responsible than it was looking around this time last season.
Now, we don’t expect that we’ll see a whole ton of Grans tonight — he’ll be sheltered on the third pair, and John Tortorella has already made it clear that he’s going to be handing even heavier minutes to his top players in this one — but the well-roundedness of the game that Grans has shown through the early parts of his season in the AHL leaves us with a reasonable amount of confidence that he’ll be able to hold up well enough in those limited minutes he is given. We’re not expecting perfection, but Grans has shown a nice increased maturity in his game this season, and it’s been enough to convince the front office that he’s the most ready to step up show well in a new challenge, a new setting. And we’ll see where that opportunity takes him.
