Flyers Recall Carl Grundstrom
The Philadelphia Flyers announced this evening that forward Carl Grundström has been recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley. After receiving the tough news that Tyson Foerster is out for two to three months earlier today, the Flyers naturally needed to add a forward to the mix, and opt for Grundström, who brings 293 games of NHL experience.
The 28-year-old was acquired by the Flyers in October from San Jose in a deal where Ryan Ellis’ contract was moved out. Although Grundström is no longer a viable full time NHLer at this point, and therefore has a slightly inflated contract at $1.8MM (set to expire after this season) adding a solid depth option for a LTIR player was a favorable move for GM Daniel Briere. The Swede has been a top scorer for Lehigh Valley, and considering his contract rate, there is virtually no chance he will be claimed on waivers by another team, so his appeal as a stop-gap forward is obvious.
Once a standout prospect for the Maple Leafs, Grundström was a useful bottom sixer for the Kings for four years after coming over in the Jake Muzzin deal. He never reached 20 points in a season, but brought a simplified, gritty game to the lineup each night. After it was apparent he had lost his role as the Kings returned to contender status, Grundström was sent to the Sharks, but was unable to stick after nine points in 56 games, helping the team weather the storms of their hardcore rebuilding days.
Now, with Foerster out, Grundström will have an opportunity to re-establish himself in the NHL, bringing a playing style very friendly to the orange and black. The Flyers host Buffalo tomorrow as they look to fend off a throng of teams set on contention below themselves, and hold onto their spot in the wild card mix.
Latest On Tyson Foerster
The Philadelphia Flyers announced mid game that forward Tyson Foerster will not return after sustaining an upper-body injury. The winger unloaded on a one-timer and immediately went down in a non-contact play, appearing to favor his shoulder. Although Foerster was on injured reserve earlier this season, it was a lower-body injury with no apparent correlation.
Foerster, 23, was a great find at 23rd overall by the Flyers in 2020. The 6’2” winger has scored nine goals in 20 games, on track to take another step forward after last year’s 25 goal, 18 assist campaign where he appeared in 81 games. Especially as Philadelphia has found their stride of late, firmly in the Wild Card mix as of today, the hope will be that the top line forward will not be out for long.
Wild’s Tyler Pitlick, Flyers’ Adam Ginning Clear Waivers
Dec. 1: Both Ginning and Pitlick have cleared waivers, per Friedman. Pitlick is expected to stay on Minnesota’s roster while Ginning is now eligible to return to Lehigh Valley.
Nov. 30: This afternoon, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared that Wild veteran Tyler Pitlick has been placed on waivers, along with Flyers defenseman Adam Ginning.
Pitlick, 34, has been back-and-forth between the AHL and NHL so far this season, most recently being called back up two weeks ago. His status on waivers is mainly due to surpassing the 10-game threshold in the NHL, more than signifying a desire to move on. Signed to a two-year, two-way deal last summer, Pitlick provides depth since joining his hometown organization, as well as experience, as he was a regular NHLer from 2016-2022. Having cleared waivers already earlier in the season after not making the roster, it is most likely he will return to AHL Iowa, where he has scored three goals in five games, and vie for an NHL return again when needed, at a $775k cap hit. In 15 games with Minnesota so far, Pitlick has zero points, but has mixed it up with 22 penalty minutes.
On the other hand, Ginning offers slightly more intrigue, soon to be 26, as a former second-round selection of Philadelphia in 2018. However, at this point, the 6’3” Swedish defenseman does not have much NHL upside, as he has been surpassed in the Flyers organization by Emil Andrae. This season is thought to likely be his last chance, especially under a new coach in Rick Tocchet, and with pending UFA status. Ginning has skated in five games for the Flyers so far, not recording any stats, and has one goal in 16 total NHL games.
While a team thin on the blueline could pick up Ginning for the short term, it is not likely he offers much more than their own internal options, and most likely, Ginning will rejoin AHL Lehigh Valley to continue his season. At 11-6-1, the Phantoms would be eager to add such a player back to their lineup as a top defender.
Flyers’ Jett Luchanko Traded In OHL
For the second season in a row, Flyers center Jett Luchanko was returned to his junior team weeks after making Philadelphia’s opening night roster. Unlike last season, though, the 19-year-old pivot won’t be finishing the year with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. They’ve dealt their captain to the Brantford Bulldogs for draft-eligible center Layne Gallacher and four draft picks, the team announced.
The Storm moving Luchanko was a foregone conclusion. Whether the 2024 No. 13 overall pick will be a fixture on the Flyers next season remains to be seen, but it is known that this is his last year in junior hockey. It’s either the NHL or the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms for Luchanko in 2025-26. Guelph, which hasn’t advanced past the first round of the OHL playoffs since winning the championship in 2019 and missed them entirely last season, was recently awarded the 2027 Memorial Cup. Given they’ll need to put up a competitive performance at the end of next season against the OHL, QMJHL, and WHL champions, the immediate expectation was that Luchanko would be exchanged for a haul of assets that they could use to improve their outlook for 2026-27.
For his part, Luchanko took the demotion back to Guelph and his impending departure in stride. Despite playing in only 11 of their 24 games so far, the playmaking pivot had already rocketed up to third on the team in scoring with two goals and 15 assists for 17 points.
Luchanko has been one of the OHL’s best playmakers since his draft year despite toiling on an otherwise weak Guelph roster. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, Luchanko’s 104 assists in 125 games rank 13th in the league. Among players with at least 100 appearances during that time, his 1.18 points per game rank 18th.
The 5’11” center was viewed by most as a reach at 13th overall, but the Flyers have been impressed enough with his early development to give him a pair of four-game trials before sending him back to Guelph. His stat line was the same each time: no points with a -3 rating. He’s totaled four shots on goal and eight hits while going 48.3% in the faceoff dot and averaging 11:31 per game.
It’ll be particularly interesting to see how much Luchanko’s production takes off in Brantford. Now in his DY+2, a major explosion should be expected – particularly on a Bulldogs offense that already boasts the league’s two leading scorers in Kraken prospect Jake O’Brien (9-31–40 in 21 GP) and Wild draftee Adam Benák (13-25–38 in 21 GP). That’s not their only star power, either. Their roster now includes five first-round picks: O’Brien, Luchanko, Chicago’s Marek Vanacker, St. Louis’ Adam Jiříček, and Toronto’s Ben Danford.
As such, the Bulldogs have yet to lose a game in regulation. They’re 18-0-5 through 23 games and are the overwhelming favorite to take home both the OHL title and the Memorial Cup at season’s end. Since being established as the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2015-16, they’ve won the OHL title twice – 2018 and 2022 – but didn’t manage to convert either of those into a Memorial Cup victory.
Devils And Flyers Seeking Depth Centers
Considering that we’re basically just at the one-quarter mark of the season, the trade market hasn’t really materialized aside from a handful of smaller moves. But that doesn’t stop teams from setting their respective wish lists and determining what areas they’d like to add to their rosters.
As is often the case, help down the middle is an area that a lot of teams will be targeting. Among them are a pair of Metropolitan Division teams. Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports that while acquiring a top replacement for Jack Hughes is unlikely, they’d like to add a depth center to the mix. Meanwhile, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Flyers are also looking for an extra depth middleman.
New Jersey had been looking to add a center last season. However, when Hughes suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, they pivoted from looking to make a big addition to more of a depth one in Cody Glass. Speculatively, that’s the type of depth addition they’d likely want to make, one that would add to the roster without costing too much to acquire.
The other element in play is the player’s actual cost. The Devils are deep into LTIR with Johnathan Kovacevic and Brett Pesce currently on there while Hughes is eligible given that he’s out for the better part of two months. But eventually, when they’re all healthy, New Jersey is going to be right against the Upper Limit of the salary cap so if they go add someone to help at center, it ideally would be a lower-cost addition that’s easier to fit on their books.
As for the Flyers, they haven’t really replaced Jett Luchanko after he was assigned back to junior last month. Rodrigo Abols has been filling a role as a fourth-line center but the 29-year-old only has 36 career NHL games under his belt. In a perfect world, a more proven and impactful option would be a good way for them to go.
On the other hand, Philadelphia enters play today seventh in the Metropolitan Division and the expectation heading into the season was that they’d be a non-playoff team and a likely seller. Not enough has happened yet to change those expectations so taking a big swing on the trade front might not the prudent move. Instead, a smaller addition now that doesn’t cost a lot but could still help would make sense for GM Daniel Briere. Unlike the Devils, cap space isn’t a concern for the Flyers so they could have a bigger pool of players to potentially target.
The good news for these teams is that depth centers are a little easier to come by and the odd one finds their way onto the waiver wire as John Beecher did earlier this week. The bad news is that with the number of teams seeking center help, New Jersey and Philadelphia will likely be battling several suitors even for the types of depth upgrades it appears that they’re looking to make.
Flyers Not Worried About Limited Playing Time For Grebenkin
- The hope was that Flyers winger Nikita Grebenkin would be able to grab a hold of a full-time spot in the lineup this season. However, he has been scratched in seven of 19 games so far and has played just 9:35 per night in the dozen appearances he has made. However, Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer mentions that the organization is okay with how the 22-year-old has been handled, even with the limited action. Grebenkin is waiver-exempt so if it’s decided that he could benefit from a bigger role and more ice time, they will be able to assign him to AHL Lehigh Valley to get him that opportunity.
Flyers, Senators Swap Dennis Gilbert, Max Guenette
11/18/25: The Flyers placed Guenette on waivers today, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Since the 24-year-old hasn’t played in the NHL since 2023-24 and has just eight games of NHL experience, that was always the likeliest outcome after yesterday’s trade. Now, all 31 other clubs will have the chance to claim Guenette, and if he goes unclaimed, the Flyers will be able to assign him to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, their AHL affiliate.
11/17/25: The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they’ve traded defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenseman Max Guenette. Philadelphia also announced that they’ve signed Guenette, who was an RFA, to a one-year, two-way deal.
It becomes the second trade in as many seasons to the Senators for Gilbert. The 29-year-old native of Buffalo, NY, was traded to Ottawa during the 2024-25 season as part of the Dylan Cozens and Joshua Norris swap with the Buffalo Sabres.
Still, Gilbert didn’t earn much runway with the Senators after the trade. Despite the trade taking place in early March, Gilbert only appeared in four games for Ottawa down the stretch, registering one assist while averaging 13:02 of ice time. In Buffalo, he tallied five assists in 25 games while averaging 10:04 of ice time.
Gilbert has spent the entire season up to this point with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He’s added one assist in six games with a +1 rating and is expected to join the AHL’s Belleville Senators.
Unlike Gilbert, Guenette will play for his first professional team outside the Senators organization. The former 187th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft has spent the last five years within the Senators organization, scoring 27 goals and 116 points in 236 AHL games, with zero points in eight NHL contests.
Despite the freshly signed two-way contract for Guenette, there’s no indication he’ll join the Flyers’ active roster immediately. Whenever he suits up, whether with the Flyers or the Phantoms, it’ll be his first appearance of the 2025-26 campaign.
Philadelphia Flyers Assign Adam Ginning To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that defenseman Adam Ginning has been sent to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the club’s AHL affiliate, on a conditioning loan.
Because Ginning has appeared in just one game since Oct. 16 and hasn’t played in more than three weeks, he’s become eligible for a conditioning loan. It’s a practice some teams employ with the design of getting little-used NHLers the chance to stay fresh and get into some games. One of the highest-profile examples of the conditioning loan being used in this fashion came in 2022-23, during Seattle Kraken No. 4 overall pick Shane Wright‘s rookie season.
In the Flyers’ case, the rule surrounding conditioning loans is helpful because it allows Ginning to be loaned to Lehigh Valley without needing to clear waivers. The 25-year-old is waivers-eligible, so this move allows the Flyers to send Ginning down to the minors without needing to risk him being claimed by another NHL club.
A 6’3″ left-shot blueliner, Ginning has spent most of his North American pro career in Lehigh Valley. He has almost 200 games of AHL experience, compared to just 16 games of NHL experience. With fellow Swede Emil Andrae emerging as a more reliable NHL defenseman in the eyes of head coach Rick Tocchet, Ginning’s path to consistent NHL ice time appears cloudier than ever.
This temporary loan, which can extend for a maximum of two weeks, is a chance for Ginning to get into some games without his organization needing to risk losing him on waivers.
Flyers Activate, Reassign Ethan Samson
The Flyers have activated defenseman Ethan Samson from season-opening injured reserve and subsequently assigned him to AHL Lehigh Valley, the Phantoms announced. The rearguard had been sidelined since sustaining an upper-body injury midway through training camp.
Samson was a sixth-round pick by the Flyers in 2021 and signed his entry-level contract midway through the 2022-23 season, his final junior campaign with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars. He’s now kicking off what will be his third professional season. The 6’1″ righty isn’t viewed as an impact prospect in their system – he wasn’t even discussed in Elite Prospects’ offseason ranking of their pool – but has been quietly establishing himself as an important puck-mover for Lehigh Valley over the past couple of years.
In 132 AHL games to date, Samson has 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points with a -19 rating. Some defensive weaknesses are apparent, but he has a strong toolkit of playmaking acumen and stick skills to work with that could potentially make the 6’1″, 181-lb righty a call-up option down the line if he’s able to develop further away from the puck. He’s still only 22 years old, but this year is something of a make-or-break one for him as he enters the final season of his entry-level contract. The Flyers have the option to cut him loose next summer by not issuing him a qualifying offer.
He’ll now get his feet wet on a Lehigh Valley team that’s rolled to an 8-3-1 start to the year, fueled by remarkable scoring depth – their top 15 scorers all have between five and nine points on the year.
Flyers Activate Tyson Foerster From Injured Reserve
6:00 PM: The team announced that Foerster has officially been activated off IR. As expected, Grundström has been sent to AHL Lehigh Valley in the corresponding move.
11:46 AM: The Flyers have listed winger Tyson Foerster as a game-time decision for tonight’s matchup with the Oilers, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters (including Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports). Tocchet said it’s likelier than not that he plays, which means he’ll need to come off injured reserve. Philadelphia does not have an open spot on the active roster but would likely reassign winger Carl Grundström, who was recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley last week and is projected to be a scratch tonight, back to the minors to make one.
Foerster has missed the Flyers’ last four contests with a lower-body injury. He landed on IR on Nov. 3 to make a place for defenseman Emil Andrae on the roster. Before the injury, the 23-year-old was off to a strong start. Through 11 appearances, he had four goals and three assists for seven points, along with a +5 rating. He was averaging a career-high 18:18 of ice time per game and was on pace for a career-high 52 points if he’d played a full 82 games.
The 6’2″ righty spent most of last season on the left side of Philly’s third line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink at even strength, and that didn’t change despite some new personnel in the top nine and a new coach this year. Through 117 minutes together at 5-on-5, that trio has outscored opponents 3-2 while controlling 54.7% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. They’re just one defensive conscience of an overall responsible Flyers forward group that’s contributed to the club allowing just 2.19 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, the second-best figure in the league behind the Rangers’ 2.12.
Foerster’s expanded ice time has come as a result of frequent special teams usage. He averages the second-most power play ice time on the team and is fourth among forwards in shorthanded usage. All told, he routinely plays around five-and-a-half minutes per game with either a man advantage or disadvantage.
That makes the 2020 first-rounder one of the Flyers’ most versatile forwards, and one they’d love to get back in the lineup against the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl-led Oilers. Philly went 2-1-1 without Foerster in the lineup, riding their overall strong defensive play to an 8-5-2 record and wild-card playoff positioning nearing the midway point of November.