Flyers activate Denver Barkey and place Nikita Grebenkin on IR; Rasmus Ristolainen out for Monday’s game
Barkey, 21, had been on injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury in the team's first preseason game against the New York Islanders.
TAMPA, Fla. ― The Flyers’ high-motor forward is back.
Denver Barkey has been activated from injured reserve and in a corresponding move, the Flyers placed forward Nikita Grebenkin on IR with an upper-body injury.
Grebenkin took a hard hit in his preseason debut Sept. 24 against the Boston Bruins. Coach Rick Tocchet confirmed three days later that the Russian winger was “a little banged up after last game, is working on a couple of little things.” He said the current injury is unrelated to the upper-body injury he suffered in March that caused the feisty winger to miss the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
Barkey will make his season debut Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m., NBCSP). Tocchet said earlier in the day he will move him around, both at wing and center, but added he will “probably play him on the wing tonight.” Based on forward lines in warmups, he will be on the left wing with Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett.
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The hope is Barkey’s high hockey IQ and ability to drive play will boost a Flyers squad still looking for its first win of the season (0-1-2). Last season, after making his NHL debut in late December in which he posted two assists at Madison Square Garden, Barkey finished with five goals and 17 points across 43 regular-season games.
In the playoffs, slotting in often at center, he added two points, with his assist coming on the Flyers’ first postseason goal since 2020.
“Holding pucks, making plays off. We’re playing a team that likes to swarm on you, so we need some guys to be able to get out of the swarm and make some plays. And he’s one guy that can do that for us,” Tocchet said about his offensive abilities.
“He’s a really smart hockey player,” he added. “He goes to the right areas, the right spots. He defends well. I think his hockey IQ is really outstanding, and, other than getting hurt, he was actually having a really good camp for us.”
Barkey, 21, suffered a lower-body injury in the first period of the Flyers’ preseason opener. The 5-foot-10, 171-pound forward was crunched along the boards by Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehérváry, who is 6-2, 215. He appeared to have trouble accelerating after the hit, and despite trying to battle through it, he ultimately left the game and did not return.
Winger Alex Bump, who played the first three games of the season and stayed out on the ice for an extended period of time on Monday during the team’s optional skate, is a healthy scratch.
“It’s awesome to get [Barkey] back. Just such a smart player,” Noah Cates said. “I think he’ll bring just, even though he’s younger, kind of like a calming presence. He’s in the right spots, does the right things all the time. The guys that’ll play with him are going to have that sense of relief that he’s in the right place [and] he’s doing the right things. Power play, he adds such a good element of poise and creativity. So it’s definitely huge to get him back.”
Although Barkey returned, Rasmus Ristolainen did not play on Monday. The defenseman left Saturday’s overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Ristolainen blocked a shot by Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller late in the second, took a 37-second shift to start the third period, and did not return.
“Still [a] game time [decision],” Tocchet said earlier Monday. “He’s going to try to figure out if he can play.”
Ristolainen was on the ice for the optional skate but appeared to be skating without a stick individually with assistant coach Jay Varady. Travis Sanheim and Simon Benoit took the optional and participated in the drills with the group of roughly five players. Sanheim is back on the right side of Cam York. Benoit is now paired with Jamie Drysdale, and David Jiříček, who did not skate, also remains in the lineup, skating with Nick Seeler, after making his season debut against Carolina.
Breakaways
Dan Vladař will make his second start of the season on Monday. The Czech goalie played in the season opener, allowing seven goals on 38 shots. … The Philadelphia Jr. Flyers are one of 29 programs invited to join the USA Hockey Development League, which will begin play next season. According to the press release, each program will field one 15U and one 17U team. The programs will “identify, train and develop players from across the country to advance to junior hockey, including the United States Hockey League and the North American Hockey League, as well as USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, college hockey and the NHL.” Jr. Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins Elite are the two programs representing Pennsylvania. Three Northern New Jersey programs, Wolfpack Hockey Club, Rockets Hockey Club, and North Jersey Avalanche, were also named.
