The Philadelphia Flyers placed defenseman Helge Grans on waivers Monday, a procedural move that should clear the way for the 24-year-old to return to the American Hockey League once the 24-hour claim window closes, via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
With the roster already at the maximum 23 active players, the club cannot simply demote him without first exposing him to the rest of the league.
If he passes through unclaimed, Philadelphia can assign him to its affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and restore a more conventional seven-man blue line.
Grans entered the season on the injured non-roster list after dealing with a lower-body issue. He was activated in the same set of transactions that placed veteran Rasmus Ristolainen on injured reserve.
The Swedish right-shot then drew into the lineup Friday night against the Boston Bruins, logging 12 minutes and 26 seconds in a 5-1 loss.
The following day he sat as a healthy scratch while the Flyers fell to the Carolina Hurricanes. The sequence suggests the organization has already concluded that Grans is not ready for regular NHL duty and prefers to continue his development at the AHL level.
The decision surprises few observers. Grans has appeared in just seven NHL games across his career, posting a single assist.
Selected 35th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2020 draft, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound defenseman arrived in Philadelphia as part of the three-team trade that sent Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets in June 2023.
In the minors, he has been a reliable defensive presence who contributes on the penalty kill and gradually earned top-four minutes with the Phantoms over the past two seasons.
Yet those improvements have not translated into a convincing case for everyday NHL work.
Analyst Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports described the waiver placement as unsurprising, noting that it was already apparent after Saturday’s game that Grans is not prepared to hold an NHL role.
Elite Prospects had listed him as the 17th-ranked prospect in the Flyers system heading into last season and suggested he could still become a late-blooming bottom-pairing option if he added more explosiveness, agility, and refined defensive reads.
Those gains have not materialized to the degree required, which makes a successful waiver claim unlikely. Should he clear, the Flyers can keep him under contract while he continues to play meaningful minutes in Lehigh Valley.
The move also reflects the broader early-season roster pressures facing Philadelphia. Carrying eight healthy defensemen before the waiver transaction left little flexibility once Ristolainen’s absence forced temporary adjustments.
Sending Grans down restores a more standard group while preserving the possibility that the 2020 second-round pick can still develop into a useful depth option later in his career. For now, the organization appears content to let that process unfold primarily in the American Hockey League.
