Flyers Top Defense Prospect Receives Big Opportunity Amid Injury Crisis

The Philadelphia Flyers were fortunate to have not dealt with the injury bug last season. Not anymore. Defensemen Emil Andrae, Cam York, and Jamie Drysdale are all injured at the moment, leaving the Flyers without six healthy defensemen. As a result, top prospect Helge Grans has been called up from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms on an emergency basis and will make his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.

Grans, 22, is at an important time in his young career. A pending RFA with nearly 200 AHL games under his belt, Grans was running out of time to make it to the NHL and show that he can play.

As the old saying goes, high draft picks have to prove they can’t play. Late draft picks have to prove that they can.

Grans was drafted 35th overall in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft and had been traded to the Flyers as a sweetener in the Ivan Provorov trade; the Los Angeles Kings parted ways with the promising 6-foot-3 defenseman after just two seasons in North America.

Interestingly enough, EliteProspects ranked Grans 19th overall that year, grading his skating 6.5 out of 9 and his passing 7 out of 9, as well as naming him the Best Transition Defenseman of the draft class.

“He definitely reminds me of Philip Broberg,” Sweden coach Magnus Havelid said of Grans. “He has a lot of offensive skills, and I think it’s going to have a lot of improvement. He’s had one year in a hockey environment, and just now he’d like to be more steady defensively. But his offensive potential is great.”

The 22-year-old had 24 points in 56 games in his first year in the AHL in 2021-22, but hasn’t scored more than two goals or 10 points in either the two seasons since.

What Helge Grans brings to the Flyers

If Helge Grans isn’t putting up points like he used to, the Flyers will be okay with that. The Flyers want Grans to become a better defensive player, rather than a better offensive one.

“He has to find a niche for himself,” assistant GM Brent Flahr said during training camp. “Like, he’s a tall, rangy guy, he can skate, he can move the puck. He just has to find a way to beat out another player. Has to become a real good penalty killer, maybe run the second power play or be on the second power play. But he needs to find a niche to help give him an opportunity to play games.

“It’s a big year for him.”

Grans may remind some Flyers fans of Rasmus Ristolainen, who was a strong, tall defenseman in Buffalo that played a lot of power play minutes and had a lot of neat physical tools. Ristolainen never truly harnessed those tools or had an identity as a player before playing for John Tortorella in Philadelphia.

Tortorella revealed on Monday that Grans will make his NHL debut playing on a defense pairing with Egor Zamula, another player who can move the puck with ease.

It’s a big opportunity for Grans, who could really put his name in the backs of the Flyers’ minds with a strong performance against the Avalanche on Monday night.

Ristolainen’s name has already been included in many trade rumors, so if the Flyers do sell off the 30-year-old Finn at some point, that opens up a potential roster spot for Grans, a fellow right-shot defenseman.

“I feel I’m getting more and more as a two-way defenseman, but more on the defensive side,” Grans said in training camp. “Just want to get more stronger in my own zone, stopping plays.”