Flyers sign young defenseman Helge Grans to two-year extension.
Grans, 23, impressed during a six-game NHL cameo last season and is expected to push for more of an NHL role this upcoming season.
Could next season be a Grans one for the Flyers?
Helge Grans, 23, and the Flyers have agreed to a two-year extension with an annual average value of $787,500. It is a two-way contract next season, meaning Grans’ salary will depend on whether he’s playing in the NHL or AHL, and a one-way deal (salary same for each) for 2026-27.
Before the deal, Grans was a restricted free agent, like winger Tyson Foerster, who signed a two-year extension of his own on Thursday.
The Swedish defenseman was impressive during a six-game stint this season for the Flyers, during which he played an average of 14 minutes, 28 seconds. Acquired from Los Angeles in the three-team deal that sent Ivan Provorov to Columbus two summers ago, Grans made his NHL debut on Nov. 18 and recorded an assist against the Colorado Avalanche.
» READ MORE: Flyers sign restricted free agent winger Tyson Foerster to a two-year contract extension
“When he was called up this year, [he] performed very well, and our coaches are very happy with him,” assistant general manager Brent Flahr said recently. “It was just more of a numbers game that caused him to get sent down. So our challenge to him is to have a huge summer.
“Obviously, he’s going to have a new coaching staff to impress, but he showed that he can play, and it’s just being able to get over the hump and do it consistently and then being an every-night guy. So he has the size, the range, the puck-moving ability, and the sense to play. Now, it’s being able to do it every night.”
Originally called up when the Flyers’ blue line got decimated with injuries, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Grans remained in the lineup despite Cam York’s return from shoulder injury. He was sent back to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Dec. 2.
With the Phantoms, Grans had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 66 games and poured 125 shots on goal. The 2020 second-round pick added another goal and four points in seven Calder Cup playoff games, including the late game-winner to knock out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and send Lehigh Valley to the second round.
“I think he opened eyes with that small sample size that he got to play with the Flyers, that he’s capable of playing there,” assistant general manager Alyn McCauley said. “But to sustain that and play at that level, he’s got to continue to do some of those things that were asked of him last summer. Still get stronger and apply more of the attitude that he’s had here. ... I think it’s a big summer for him and an opportunity will be there.”
The opportunity will be there from the jump. The Flyers will be looking for someone to skate in place of Rasmus Ristolainen, who is expected to miss training camp and the start of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a right triceps tendon rupture on March 26.