The Philadelphia Flyers have generally rolled with the same lineup over the last few games, but their latest transaction indicates that may not be the case for long.
On Friday, the Flyers announced that they had recalled forward Carl Grundstrom, acquired in the Ryan Ellis trade, and sent Aleksei Kolosov back to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
That move comes on the heels of a separate switch that saw goalie Sam Ersson come off injured reserve and center Jacob Gaucher head back to the Phantoms.
The key here, though, is that Gaucher had originally been called up by the Flyers because the team needed a right-shot center.
Grundstrom, 27, is neither a right-shot forward nor a center, and he gives the Flyers 13 forwards on their active roster with Tyson Foerster still on injured reserve.
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The Flyers also, however, have eight defensemen, which is not a particularly common denomination around the NHL.
Grundstrom’s sudden addition to the NHL roster, and replacing Gaucher, especially, has created some questions that will be solved sooner or later.
For instance, eccentric rookie forward Nikita Grebenkin has played fewer than 10 minutes in three of his last five games, and veteran tough guy Nick Deslauriers just played a season-high 10:01 in his sixth appearance of the season in Thursday night’s 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators.
One of Deslauriers or Grebenkin could come out of the lineup for Grundstrom if the Swede is to draw in at some point, especially given that Rodrigo Abols appears to have the fourth-line center role on lock.
And, if and when Foerster does return, the Flyers will need to send another player down to the AHL.
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Would Grundstrom head back to the Phantoms so soon, sticking around for just a cup of coffee? Or will the Flyers decide they’ve had enough of the eight-defenseman rotation on the blueline?
Adam Ginning has played just one game since Oct. 16, and Emil Andrae appears to have usurped Egor Zamula’s place in the lineup with his transitional skills outweighing his lack of size.
No matter the outcome, the Flyers are almost inevitably heading towards some kind of further change to the lineup and roster, which could some as soon as the end of the weekend.
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