Helge Grans fights for a spot on the Flyers but faces a logjam on the blue line

Helge Grans hasn’t been in Flyers orange and black for very long.

Acquired in the Ivan Provorov three-way deal in June 2023, the defenseman spent last season with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Lehigh Valley. He notched one goal and eight points in 56 games despite missing more than a month with a broken hand.

Coach Ian Laperrière thought that Grans, now 22, took huge steps forward before the injury. But after his return in late January, Grans played in only four of the Phantoms’ six Calder Cup playoff games.

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“I really like Gransy. That’s a guy that nobody talks about,” Laperrière said Saturday before the Flyers rookies posted a 3-2 overtime win against the Rangers. “But there’s something there about him. He moves well, moves the puck well, and that’s one of those things that if you don’t notice him when you watch a game, it’s because he did his job.”

Two seasons before the trade, in 2021-22, the Swede potted seven goals and 17 assists in 56 games for the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate. The next season, Grans’ production dropped to two goals and nine points in 59 games. That stayed on trend last season, but he has been focusing on becoming more well-rounded.

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

He added, “I want to be a defenseman that the coaches can rely on on the ice and feel safe to put out on the ice, especially in the defensive zone but also with the puck making good plays.”

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This season is a bit of a make-or-break year for the 6-foot-4 Grans, who is facing a logjam of defensemen and will be a restricted free agent next summer.

“He has to find a niche for himself,” assistant general manager Brent Flahr said. “Like he’s a tall, rangy guy, he can skate, he can move the puck. Now he just has to find a way to beat out another player. So he has become a really good penalty killer, maybe run a second power play or be on the second power play, but he needs to find a niche that’ll give him an opportunity to play games.”

In Ontario, Grans was on the power play, but he said when he came to the Phantoms he realized he needed to work on his defensive-zone responsibilities more. Laperrière said he was going in the right direction before the injury and he thinks the coachable kid from Sweden can keep improving.

“Like a lot of our young D’s back there, like intensity-wise, being more consistent in that area, being harder on the play,” Laperrière said. “It’s a skill. Yeah, you’re born with it, sometimes it’s not something you can teach and keep reminding them to be harder on the play. It’s my job, but when it doesn’t come naturally to you, it’s hard. But he shows signs that he can do it. I just need him to do it every night.”

Winger Samu Tuomaala did not skate again Monday with the Flyers rookies. Flahr said Sunday he was banged up and is day to day.