Flyers lose Grebenkin for months after back surgery

Briere talked to reporters before Saturday's game vs. Boston, and the list kept getting longer.

Kevin Kurz

@KKurzNHL

Risto, York, Konecny all out thru the weekend. Grebenkin getting back surgery and out long term. Grans playing tonight. All per Briere

Grebenkin is the one that stings over the long haul. The 23-year-old winger hasn't played a competitive game for the Flyers since March 21. He missed most of training camp, got back to skating in a yellow no-contact jersey, then went down again after a collision along the wall in a preseason game against the Bruins on Sept. 24. What was being called an upper-body injury turned out to be his back. The surgery went fine, but the timeline has him back sometime after the All-Star break in mid-February, if there are no setbacks. That is most of the 2026-27 season gone for a kid who put up 4 goals and 14 points with 86 hits in 55 games as a rookie.

David Pagnotta

@TheFourthPeriod

More injury news: Joonas Korpisalo (NYR) out 4 weeks, Nikita Grebenkin (PHI) out 4 months after back surgery

The other 3 are short-term, at least on paper. Ristolainen went on IR retroactive to Oct. 3 with an upper-body injury, so he's eligible to come back whenever he's ready. York (upper body) and Konecny (lower body) both got hurt Thursday against Ottawa, with TK going down in the 3rd period. Both are day-to-day, and both are out Sunday vs. Carolina too. Losing your alternate captain and 2 regular D in the same week is bad. Losing them this early in the season is worse.

Kevin Kurz

@KKurzNHL

Briere on if he expects Risto/York/TK back shortly after the weekend: "We're hopeful. At this moment, that's what it looks like. We're still going to do some tests when we get back tomorrow, in some cases. But we're hopeful that it's going to be short-term for all of (them)."

"We're hopeful" is doing a lot of work there, and Briere admits there are still tests coming when the team gets home. For now, Garrett Wilson takes Konecny's spot, and Helge Grans comes off injured non-roster status to play Saturday. Grans getting into the lineup is about the only good injury news Philly got all day.

Then Briere went beyond the medical report. He didn't blame the injuries for the slow start. He pinned it on effort, which is a pretty pointed thing for a GM to say about his own room in October.

Kevin Kurz

@KKurzNHL

Will have more later, but one snippet from Briere pregame: “There’s lots of issues, but for me it starts with (compete level). You raise your compete level, a lot of things will fall into place. ... Just a little too casual from our guys to start the season.”

"A little too casual" is a GM-sized warning shot, and the timing makes it sharper. With Konecny and York out, there's less talent to hide behind, so the guys still dressing have to bring the compete level he's asking for. What to watch: whether Ristolainen, York and Konecny really are back next week like Briere hopes, and whether the team that took the ice in Boston looked any less casual than the one he was describing.