**Flyers Look to Group Effort to Offset Loss of Tyson Foerster**
*PHILADELPHIA* – No single player can 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 counting on a collective effort to fill the gap on both offense and defense.
Rookie Nikita Grebenkin was expected to play on a line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink as Foerster’s replacement in Wednesday night’s game against Buffalo. The hope is that Grebenkin can elevate his play and contribute effectively to the team’s efforts.
“What I want from him is just good decisions,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said after the morning skate at Xfinity Mobile Arena. “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 and hold onto the puck.”
Grebenkin, who played in Russia last year, is still adjusting to the NHL pace. Tocchet acknowledged there’s a transition period ahead. “It doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. “In practice, there’s day-to-day stuff 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 area Tocchet emphasized for improvement is two-on-one situations, especially during practice. Sometimes, Grebenkin tends to hesitate and slow down when trying to make a pass. “Against Pittsburgh, he had all day to go in and fire the puck,” Tocchet said. “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 also spoke highly of Grebenkin’s skills and potential. “A ton of skill,” Cates said. “He’s been working at his game and getting a lot of good looks, so I know he’s excited to play. He brings energy. We just have to work with him and build some chemistry. He can do a lot of good things on the ice; we just have to help him out.”
In addition to Grebenkin, Tocchet stressed that multiple players will need to step up in Foerster’s absence. “I don’t think it’s just one guy. I think everybody can give themselves five percent better,” he said. “You add all those up, and it helps. We have a few guys who can play 5 to 10 percent better.”
Foerster’s role extends beyond scoring—he’s a key piece on the power play and penalty kill units. Losing him means the Flyers are missing more than just their team-leading 10 goals.
“This is a time when team leadership has to step to the forefront,” Tocchet said. “It’s a dressing room thing. It’s ‘next man up.’ It’s not making excuses when the coaches leave the room. It’s 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 entered Wednesday night holding the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings, with games in hand over several competitors.
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**Rasmus Ristolainen’s Return Inches Closer**
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn triceps, has begun skating and could return in a few weeks if his rehab progresses smoothly.
“We’re not quite there with contact stuff,” Tocchet said. “I’m not sure when the contact part is coming, but it’s coming.”
The coach added that Ristolainen’s return would be “less than a month” away.
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**Power Play Struggles Continue**
The Flyers’ power play started the season strong but has cooled significantly. Heading into the game against Buffalo, the Flyers were just three-for-their-last-27 on the power play, dropping from 14th to 20th in the NHL rankings.
Losing Foerster will further challenge the unit. Tocchet pointed out that the power play has been vulnerable, often giving up too many two-on-one chances while on the man advantage.
A player like Trevor Zegras is important on the first power-play unit but can also be a defensive liability. “We have to get middle shots,” Tocchet said. “We need to start hammering the puck and 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. We need more shots from prime scoring areas.”
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The Flyers now look to collective leadership and incremental improvements across the roster to maintain their playoff position while key players recover and return.
https://www.trentonian.com/2025/12/03/flyers-notebook-nikita-grebenkin-gets-first-chance-at-filling-tyson-foerster-void/
