The Philadelphia Flyers are set to be without top forward Tyson Foerster for at least two months, and with the injury confirmed, Foerster’s two injury replacements have already been selected.
Making their first move since the Foerster injury took place, the Flyers brought up forward Carl Grundstrom, who was with the team at the NHL level earlier in the season for a brief period, for depth at the position.
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Grundstrom, 28, can play all three forward positions and has 293 career NHL games to his name, including one appearance with the Flyers – Nov. 8 against the Ottawa Senators.
He’s not a player to get excited about and is certainly not a prospect, to be clear, but Grundstrom is someone who can be at least somewhat reliable and offer a slightly different profile from a Nick Deslauriers, for example, if the Flyers and head coach Rick Tocchet decide to go that route.
Speaking of Tocchet, the first-year Flyers coach had remarked previously about wanting to find ways to get more ice time for rookie forward Nikita Grebenkin, who has been in and out of the lineup for the last month.
Flyers Working to Turn Nikita Grebenkin Into ‘A Force’
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Grebenkin, 22, has a goal and two assists in 16 games this season and has regularly flashed his playmaking chops in significantly limited minutes.
He, more than anyone else in the Flyers’ pro system, is suited to take over for Foerster in a top-nine checking role that entails a bit of scoring, a bit of forechecking, and a bit of cycling.
Grebenkin doesn’t have Foerster’s shooting ability, no, but the gulf in overall offensive talent is not as significant as some would think.
In more practical terms, aside from Grebenkin’s vision, creativity, and hands, the affable Russian is also arguably the best puck protector on the team, particularly down low and in close areas.
Watch: Flyers’ Nikita Grebenkin Wins First NHL Fight
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There’s little doubt that Grebenkin has earned and has the skillset for an expanded role with the Flyers when they need it the most, and that was evidenced by the team’s decision to call up Grundstrom rather than Alex Bump or Denver Barkey.
If Bump or Barkey had traveled over from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it would only be because they are definitely going to play.
And for Grebenkin, that opportunity likely would have come at his expense, given Deslauriers’s return to at least a rotational role, infrequent ice time, and some healthy scratches along the way.
Fortunately, though, Grebenkin doesn’t have to worry about that, as he is instead about to receive the biggest opportunity of his NHL career with the Flyers now that Foerster is out with an upper-body injury for the foreseeable future.
