**Flyers Face Group Effort Challenge Amid Foerster’s Injury**
PHILADELPHIA — No single player can fully replace a top performer like Tyson Foerster. With Foerster sidelined for at least a couple of months due to an upper-body injury sustained in Monday night’s loss to Pittsburgh, the Flyers are looking to their roster to collectively step up both offensively and defensively.
**Rookie Nikita Grebenkin Gets Opportunity**
Rookie Nikita Grebenkin was slated to play on a line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink as a temporary replacement for Foerster in Wednesday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. The Flyers hope the young Russian forward can elevate his game and contribute positively to the team’s efforts.
Coach Rick Tocchet shared his expectations for Grebenkin following the morning skate at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. “Just good decisions,” Tocchet said. “Sometimes when he gets the puck he doesn’t move his feet. For him, I just want him to play mind-free. But he’s got to skate, hold onto pucks.”
Having played in Russia last year, Grebenkin is still in a transition phase adapting to the NHL style of play. “It doesn’t happen overnight,” Tocchet acknowledged. “In practice, there’s day-to-day stuff that we see. The solution is to let him play and see if he makes mistakes. There’s a process to it. Do I feel like he’s ready? Yeah. It’s the way you practice, the way you take in information.”
One specific area Tocchet pointed out for improvement is Grebenkin’s handling of two-on-one situations, particularly in practice. “Sometimes he tends to slow down when he attempts to pass the puck,” Tocchet explained. “Against Pittsburgh he had all day to go in and fire the puck, but he waited and tried to make a pass, and their guy picked it off. Today we talked about it in morning drills and his two-on-ones were outstanding. Hopefully he can apply that in a real game. To be an NHL player, you have to take that information.”
Teammate Noah Cates spoke highly of Grebenkin’s skills, saying, “A ton of skill. He’s been working at his game. Getting a lot of good looks so I know he’s excited to play. He brings that energy. We just have to work with him and get some chemistry. He can do a lot of good things on the ice, just have to help him out.”
**A Collective Push Needed**
Beyond Grebenkin, Tocchet emphasized that the entire team must raise their level of play in Foerster’s absence. “I don’t think it’s just one guy,” he said. “I think everybody can give themselves five percent better. You know, you add all those up and it helps. We have a few guys who can play 5, 10 percent better.”
Foerster is not only a key goal scorer with a team-leading 10 goals but also an important contributor on the power play and penalty kill units. His absence leaves a significant gap.
“This is a time when team leadership has to step to the forefront,” Tocchet noted. “It’s a dressing room thing. It’s ‘next man up.’ It’s not making excuses when the coaches leave the room. More like ‘hey, we got this.’ We really rely on a chunk of leaders to do the messaging — that we can still be a good hockey team. The ‘poor me’ stuff can’t linger in the room.”
The Flyers began Wednesday night’s action holding the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings, with games in hand on several competitors.
**Rasmus Ristolainen Progressing in Rehab**
On the injury front, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen continues his recovery from offseason surgery to repair a torn triceps. He has started skating and could return in a few weeks if all goes well with his rehabilitation.
“We’re not quite there in the contact stuff,” Tocchet said. “I’m not sure when the contact stuff is coming but it’s coming.” He added that Ristolainen’s return “will be less than a month.”
**Power Play Struggles Continue**
The Flyers’ power play, which started the season strongly, has cooled considerably. Entering the Buffalo game, the Flyers had converted on just three of their last 27 power plays and dropped from 14th to 20th in the NHL rankings.
Losing Foerster further complicates the situation. Tocchet highlighted the challenge of giving up too many two-on-one chances while on the man advantage.
“A player like Trevor Zegras is important on the first unit but can also be a defensive liability,” Tocchet said. “We have to get middle shots. We need to start hammering the puck, also get more down-low plays. Hopefully Trevor and Mich [Matvei Michkov] can show some motion for us, handle the puck and then start hammering the puck from that side of the ice. Get more shots from the prime areas.”
As the Flyers navigate this stretch without a key contributor, their ability to adapt collectively will be essential to maintaining their playoff positioning.
https://www.pottsmerc.com/2025/12/03/flyers-notebook-nikita-grebenkin-gets-first-chance-at-filling-tyson-foerster-void/
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