Flyers Activate Denver Barkey, Place Nikita Grebenkin On IR

According to a team announcement, the Philadelphia Flyers have activated forward Denver Barkey off injured reserve. In a corresponding roster move, Philadelphia placed forward Nikita Grebenkin on the team’s injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Barkey, 21, has been working his way back from a lower-body injury. He suffered the injury in the September 21st preseason matchup against the Washington Capitals when Barkey collided with Capitals defenseman Martin Fehérváry. Landing on Philadelphia’s season-opening injured reserve, Barkey unfortunately aggravated the injury at a Flyers practice, delaying the start of his 2026-27 season until tonight.

Although he wasn’t one of Philadelphia’s highly drafted forward prospects (95th overall, 2023), his pedigree has grown in recent years. In his two years with the OHL’s London Knights after the 2023 NHL Draft, Barkey scored an impressive 60 goals and 184 points in 114 games with a +91 rating. Additionally, he captained the Knights to a Memorial Cup championship in 2025.

Last season, the Newmarket, ON, native split his year between the Flyers and the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, performing well at both levels. In Lehigh Valley, Barkey scored seven goals and 16 points in 26 games with a -2 rating. In late December, Philadelphia recalled Barkey for his NHL debut, and he never looked back.

He didn’t light the league on fire, but Barkey finished with a respectable five goals and 17 points in 54 games with a -6 rating, averaging 13:24 of ice time per game. In the postseason, the former third-round pick registered a goal and an assist in 10 contests. He’s expected to join the Flyers’ fourth line this evening next to Sean Couturier and Noel Acciari.

Meanwhile, Grebenkin has also been nursing an injury from training camp, though Philadelphia didn’t place him on the injured reserve until today. The former fifth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs is in his second season with the Flyers on the heels of scoring four goals and 14 points in 55 games last year. Unfortunately, the outlook is grimmer with Grebenkin, as Philadelphia has not provided a concrete timeline for his return.