Will big defenseman Adam Ginning make the Flyers out of training camp? This could be the year.

To put it mildly, one year ago, Adam Ginning had a rough training camp.

He played in five games, was minus-4, and in two notable games he coughed up the puck seven times, which led to numerous scoring chances for the Flyers’ opponents.

Fast forward to the present, and while the defenseman had one wonky play against the Boston Bruins at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday that led to a three-on-one goal, Ginning has looked steady. He survived the last large cut for the Flyers when 11 players were assigned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Tuesday after practice.

“I think I learned a little bit from it,” he said about last season’s camp, “because I felt like I was trying to do a little bit too much last year maybe. And tried to prove myself in the wrong way instead of just doing what I’m good at — I tried to do maybe a little bit too much. So I tried to not do that this year, and hopefully I will do better.”

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So far, so good for the Swede, who is vying with Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert for the final spot in the top six on the blue line. Could this finally be the year Ginning, a second-round pick in 2018, makes the Flyers out of camp and becomes a mainstay at age 25?

A big defenseman at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Ginning wants to “be a steady defensive defenseman who can make hard plays and be a guy you can trust.”

The message to Ginning from the new coaching staff this preseason was to “just play my game,” he said. “Don’t try to do anything else. Just be hard defensively and play physical.”

Message received, as he has appeared to follow what Ginning considers the keys to his game: “You want to be noticeable and not noticeable.”

It is the foundation for defensive defensemen.

“Especially the way I play,” Ginning said, “is not something that will stand out every night. But just play a steady game, and that’s what they want from me, and that’s what I want to bring to the team.”

This preseason, he has played in four games, notching one assist, six shots on goal, and is plus-1. On Monday against the Bruins in Boston, he skated 22 minutes, 58 seconds, including 2:03 while shorthanded, and blocked four shots, had two hits, and was a plus-1.

Across three of his preseason games that Natural Stat Trick tracked, Ginning has 10 individual shot attempts, eight hits, and nine blocked shots.

“He’s been pretty steady in certain situations,” coach Rick Tocchet said Tuesday. “I think there’s some more there for us, but there’s enough to [be] like, Hey, this guy has a shot, right? There’s been some details that, from the meetings and practices, he’s doing it in a game. I like that.”

Tocchet said there are things for Ginning to work on, of course — mentioning breakouts — but the coach is impressed by how he is picking up what the coaches are teaching. Although mistakes will happen, and the coach knows that, he’s seeing Ginning correcting and cleaning them up so they don’t happen again in games.

According to Puckpedia, because of his age and because he has played fewer than 80 career NHL games across three-plus professional seasons in North America, Ginning will be a Group 6 unrestricted free agent come July 1 and can sign anywhere. It’s a big year for the defenseman — but also because there is an opening on the blue line with Rasmus Ristolainen out.

He went home to Linköping, Sweden, about two hours south of Stockholm, to train in the offseason. Ginning said he worked on his speed and power, and worked more on the ice than he usually does.

Last season in 69 regular-season games, the 25-year-old had 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) and three assists in seven playoff games for the Phantoms. He has skated in a total of 11 NHL games across three seasons, including one last season, and has a goal and is minus-1 while averaging 14 minutes, 15 seconds of ice time.

At camp, he’s been skating with Egor Zamula, who seems to be locked into the fifth spot. There’s a comfort level for the two, who played together at times with the Phantoms in 2022-23. And Zamula likes how they work on the penalty kill, how strong Ginning is in front of the net, and how well he moves the puck.

As Tocchet said, “He’s who he is, and he’s trying to be good at that.”

Forward Jacob Gaucher was loaned to Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. … The Flyers also announced that defenseman Oliver Bonk will be out approximately two more weeks with an upper-body injury. He was limited at rookie camp, missing the games against the New York Rangers and last skating on Sept. 15, and has not participated on the ice at training camp. … Former Flyers defenseman Erik Johnson announced his retirement on Wednesday. Johnson played 1,023 NHL games, including 39 games with the Flyers after being acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the 2024 trade deadline. He was traded to Colorado, the team he won his Stanley Cup with, at the 2025 trade deadline. ... Penn State will have its game on Friday televised by NHL Network and streamed on NHL YouTube at 10 p.m. It marks the debut of projected 2026 No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna as the Nittany Lions take on Arizona State and Flyers prospect Noah Powell.

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