Rookie Game Observations: Helge Grans

The Flyers and Rangers played game two of their annual Rookie Game Series Saturday night and some new faces stood out in burnt orange.

Helge Grans of course was the prospect who came back from the Los Angeles Kings as part of the package the Flyers received for Ivan Provorov. While I was personally excited to see the Flyers get a prospect back such as Grans, I will attempt to leave my personal bias out of the article.

Grans is a former 2020 second round pick (35 overall) of the Los Angeles Kings and had potential to be drafted in the first round.

Before I get to my analysis on Grans’s game last night versus New York, check out the scouting profile on Grans by Elite Prospects and Dobber Prospects:

He’ll walk the offensive blue line with the puck on his stick with relative ease; and he can mitigate risk while maintaining an aggressive, space-consuming posture when defending the defensive blue line. He skates well, has a long reach, an active stick, and good habits with his footwork. Elite Prospects

An offensive defenseman with great size. Skates well for his size. Excellent puck skills and a good shot. He needs to improve his decision-making and defensive play. He projects to become a middle-pair defenseman at the NHL level with a multi-category upside. Dobber Prospects

During our podcast episode Monday night, I expressed my desire to see both Swedish defenders, Email Andrae and Helge Grans, paired together. That wish came true Saturday night in Allentown as the duo were matched together on the top defensive pairing for the Flyers.

Game Notes

Grans quarterbacked the Flyers second power play and I thought did quite well. Grans moved the puck along the blue line with ease, often times knowing where to go with the puck before it was on his stick. Without the puck, Grans put himself in position to shoot and if the shot was taken away by defenders, he quickly adjusted to accept a pass and help keep possession for the unit.

At 5v5 Grans seemed to dictate play. With possession of the puck, you could clearly see Grans scan the ice quickly to make the best possible first pass. His vision and IQ stood out amongst many of the players on the ice for either side and seemed to always be in the correct position with or without the puck.

While his past numbers in the AHL may not “wow” you, he is a smooth skating right-handed defensemen with a bomb shot. That’s not all however. At 6’4 Grans has the ability to play physical around his own goal as evidenced late in the third period as he boxed out a bigger Rangers forward. He’s also not afraid to block shots and provided an example during the game as he blocked a point plank shot from outside the circle.

While one game is certainly an extremely small sample size, Grans stood out more than other Flyers rookies I watched closely Saturday night. At just 21, Grans may need at least another year in the AHL to find his footing in the organization, but do not be surprised if he’s seriously competing for a Flyers roster spot as soon as 2024-25.

JIM IACOVONE IS A PROUD FLYERS MEDIA MEMBER AND FOUNDER OF HW HOCKEY
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PHOTO CREDIT: TIMOTHY T. LUDWIG-USA TODAY SPORTS
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