Flyers roundup: Nikita Grebenkin’s health, World Juniors Summer Showcase, NCAA hockey commitments, and more

Nikita Grebenkin, who missed the final 13 games of the regular season and the postseason with an upper-body injury, is tracking well and the hope is that he will be ready for training camp, a team source told The Inquirer.

During general manager Danny Brière’s end-of-season press conference in May, he said Grebenkin was the one injured player the team had concerns would not be available at the start of camp.

“Initially we thought it was going to be something short and it just never got better,” Brière said. “Now we’re looking at different options for him. He’s the only one that I would say that maybe, if it doesn’t improve.”

But since then, the prognosis has improved. Grebenkin, who is a restricted free agent, was seen on the ice rehabbing during development camp in late June.

Grebenkin was a key piece of the Flyers’ bottom six for most of the regular season, with four goals and 10 assists in 55 games in his first full NHL season. The 23-year-old came to Philadelphia in the Scott Laughton trade at the deadline in 2024, and quickly made an impression with his physicality and energy.

With Garnet Hathaway traded to Florida and Luke Glendening as yet unsigned, only Sean Couturier remains from the Flyers’ playoff fourth line. Grebenkin could slot right back in upon return.

Matvei Michkov returned to Russia over the weekend to compete at a charity event called Match of the Year. He scored three goals, including a Michigan, in the game.

First-round 2025 draft pick Jack Nesbitt and 2026 second-round choice Brek Liske are among 32 players competing for Team Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Windsor, Ontario, which runs through Aug. 1.

Nesbitt and Liske join Flyers prospects Jack Murtagh and Carter Amico, who are competing for Team USA at the Showcase. Getting selected for the showcase is a precursor to potentially competing at the IIHF World Juniors in late December. The Canadian and U.S. teams will face each other Saturday.

Official World Junior rosters will be finalized later in the fall.

KJ Sauer, the Flyers’ 2026 fifth-round pick, committed to Minnesota-Duluth to start in 2027. He will play next season with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings, his first year in junior hockey after playing four years at Andover High School in Minnesota.

Former Flyer Nic Deslauriers, who was traded to Carolina at the deadline after nearly four seasons in Philadelphia, spent his day with the Stanley Cup in Wildwood.

Deslauriers played just one playoff game en route to the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup win, but got his name on the Cup for the first time in his career.

The Flyers will host the 10th annual Community Caravan, starting on July 29, with exclusive merchandise giveaways and guest appearances from Gritty and the Flyers Ice Team.

Here’s the schedule: