Sep 29, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Adam Ginning (13) plays the puck in the corner during the first period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
VOORHEES, N.J. — In training camp, Adam Ginning won a job by default. Now, he's playing 20 minutes in a game where all six defensemen are available for 60 minutes.
Does it speak volumes about the way he's played? Or about the team's defensive depth?
Maybe a little bit of both.
The Flyers knew they were going to be without Rasmus Ristolainen for the first month of the season. However, Cam York starting the year on injured reserve was unexpected.
The Flyers were going to have to go deeper into their pool of defensemen to start the year.
But as training camp moved along, there wasn't anyone taking a big step forward to show they wanted to grab an open job.
Ginning was steady. He didn't stand out, but he didn't do anything to lose a spot on the roster either.
It's early, but even going back to 2024, I have no issue with Adam Ginning as a "steady Eddie," third pair defenseman.
He reminds me of a young Justin Braun.
Meanwhile other players weren't nearly as reliable. Noah Juulsen has proven useful as a depth veteran, but the Flyers don't feel comfortable exposing him to too many minutes.
Emil Andrae is a guy they want to play because he moves the puck well, but he's small, gets out-worked physically too frequently and also, at times, makes curious puck decisions. It's why he was sent down to start the season, even though he was recalled after just two games.
That's because Yegor Zamula just isn't cutting it in the lineup. He's a guy the Flyers feel lacks quick decision-making. That he gets in trouble when he surveys the ice and considers decisions rather than skating with the puck or quickly moving it to a teammate.
The Flyers had hoped Helge Grans would win a job in camp, but he disappointed and was sent down to Lehigh Valley early. The bloom also appears off the prospect rose for Hunter McDonald at this point, as he's back with the Phantoms again.
Dennis Gilbert is another veteran tweener who is better-served in the AHL than the NHL at this point.
The Flyers still have high hopes for both Oliver Bonk and Spencer Gill, however they didn't think either would be ready for the NHL straight from junior hockey and that was compounded by an injury for Bonk. They are guys who are being thought of as part of the team's future, but not the right now.
Flyers G.M. Danny Briere had also been in touch with teams to see who might have shaken loose at the end of camp, and has been monitoring the waiver wire daily to see if something makes sense.
There was some conversation internally about putting a claim in for the recently waived Jack Thompson, but the Flyers, and everyone else in the NHL, eventually decided to pass, allowing San Jose to hold on to him and send him to the AHL.
It paints a pretty cloudy picture of the Flyers defensive situation for sure, but to his credit, Ginning has been the best of this bunch.
And while being just O.K. was enough to be the best of an uninspiring lot, he's handling the responsibility well.
The Flyers still think he can improve as there have been a couple plays were he's been beaten off the wall or in coverage, but he's mostly done what's asked of him.
Which is why, in the third game of the season, it was Ginning, and not anyone else, who was playing second pair minutes in the home opener against the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers and getting more than 20 minutes of ice time.
"I'm just trying to play my game and play good defensively no matter how many minutes I get a night," said Ginning. "(Monday) was a little bit more minutes than usual and it was fun."
Ginning, a second round pick (No. 50 overall) of the Flyers in the 2018 draft, is a bit of a late bloomer. Now 25, the left shot Swede is finally getting a chance to stick in the NHL.
He has good size and skates decently for his size. The Flyers just need him to be a steady Eddie for now. Don't do too much. Be in position. Have a strong and active stick while defending. Keep it simple.
It hasn't been all rainbows and unicorns though, through three games. In the opener in Florida last week, he had a couple rough shifts that only ended up not being disastrous because Dan Vladar was excellent in net.
Then against Carolina, he can't let this happen:
Another Staal line goal generated from below the goal line.
But he was much better on Monday in the home opener, given more responsibility and playing alongside Nick Seeler, a pretty consisting and steady player himself.
Excellent reach from the Captain, working right around Adam Ginning. pic.twitter.com/lBkY6lmhvI
"(Ginning's) trying to be consistent and I thought he played pretty well for us (on Monday)," said Flyers coach Rick Tocchet. "He's been in the right spots. The thing he has to get better at is being more aggressive and harder with plays, but for the most part, we're putting him into the fire and he's accepted the challenge from our coaching staff.
"We need him. We're thin back there."
Tocchet has admitted multiple times that when he got to the Flyers, he had no idea who Ginning was, but that he impressed enough to make the team and has passed the smell test so far.
Ultimately, Ginning is best suited on a third pairing or as the seventh defenseman in the NHL, but those types of guys are needed, because there's always injuries. No team gets through an entire season with just six defensemen. Guys in the role that is best-suited for Ginning often get between 50-60 games a season in some capacity, so it's still valuable.
And the Flyers are putting their trust in him to do even a little more than that right now.
"It feels great," Ginning said. "I feel like they can trust me, and that's what I want them to think in defensive situations. They trusted me (on Monday) and I want to just keep on building on that."
Heck, he seems to like playing against Florida. Remember this from last season?
Adam Ginning, HELLO THERE 💥💥#Flyers pic.twitter.com/JHt1xbErts
How much longer he gets to be in an expanded role is debatable, though.
York is expected back in the lineup on Thursday. When he comes back, the Flyers will have to make a roster decision.
The easiest move is to send Andrae back to the Phantoms, but Tocchet is adamant about having puck movers on the blue line, so it's a good bet that Andrae, even with his flaws, will stick around.
They could also send Jett Luchanko back to his junior team in Guelph, but the organization is loathe to do that. While having him play fourth line minutes in the NHL is not ideal, it's better than having his development stunted skating for a bad OHL team.
The Flyers seem more willing to bite the bullet, keep him on the NHL roster until the holidays and then loan him to Team Canada for the U-20 World Championships, where he'll get to play against the best players in the world at his age group for a few weeks.
This leaves Briere with the decision to place a player on waivers and hope they make it through.
The two most obvious options there are Zamula and Rodrigo Abols.
There is a fear that both would be claimed, although teams are always looking for centers more than depth defensemen - as evidenced by Thompson going unclaimed earlier this week.
Which is why the Flyers would like to hold onto Abols, even if he's losing time to Luchanko at the moment.
But maybe Zamula would sneak through waivers, and the Flyers could keep him in the organization.
Zamula has seemingly fallen behind Ginning, Andrae and Juulsen on the depth chart, which means there's not really a spot for him. The thing is, he's Matvei Michkov's best confidante in the locker room and a great communicator to the budding Flyers star.
Taking him out of the mix could have an adverse effect on the still-young and impressionable Michkov, who is also still working on improving his English language communication skills, which is where Zamula is a huge help.
It's a tough decision for that reason for the Flyers, but they are up against it, time-wise. A decision has to be made by Noon on Thursday to bring York back by Thursday night.
As of this writing, it sounds like the Flyers will put Zamula on waivers, but that decision is not final. The team continues to meat and discuss it's best course of action.
In the meantime, Ginning is going to keep his head down and keep doing what the coaches ask him to do and let the chips fall where they may.
"I've been wanting to have this role for a long time - like all of my professional career," Ginning said. "I think I had a great summer and came here prepared and ready to do the work. The coaches have been helping me out. They've been telling me what they want from me, showing me video clips and all that to make sure that I know what they want form me. (The communication) has been very good."
Don't miss Snow The Goalie, tonight (10/15) live at Chickie's and Pete's of Malvern, 10 Liberty Blvd., at 6PM. The show will broadcast from a different Chickie's and Pete's location every week throughout the Flyers season.
