Nikita Grebenkin making strong case for Flyers opening night roster

One of the main storylines throughout both training camp and the preseason has been which forward(s) on the bubble will be able to cement their spot on the Philadelphia Flyers\' opening night roster. A little over a week ago we took a look at which of the prospects up front were primed to win a battle, and four games later, we may have a clear frontrunner.

Going back to both training camp and the rookie games, Nikita Grebenkin has consistently stood out in a positive way. Now, midway through the Flyers\' preseason, he\'s making at least one of the decisions that the Flyers need to make easy. Let\'s take a closer look at what he showed us on Saturday against the Bruins.

The video room

Grebenkin was involved in the Flyers\' transition game throughout, beginning with his first shift of the game. His night began with him marking his man on the backcheck, blocking a passing lane, and carrying the puck through all three zones.

https://youtu.be/HxQAJ-jmYOs

At the beginning of the video, the Flyers outnumber the Bruins, who are mid-line change. Nick Seeler, recognizing this, joins Helge Grans in applying pressure on the puck carrier behind the net, Mark Kastelic. Grebenkin makes a good defensive read to not follow Marat Khusnutdinov behind the net, and instead lock down the most dangerous area of the ice. Kastelic still gets a nifty pass off towards the middle of the ice, albeit a slow one, that Grebenkin is able to stop. It\'s not that it was a difficult play -- the speed of the pass lowers it quite a bit -- it\'s more about sound defensive positioning. He gets the Flyers from defense to offense with relative ease, and a bit later in the shift makes a strong play along the boards to keep the cycle alive.

His second shift was pretty uneventful. He fanned on a shot, backchecked, and slightly interrupted the Bruins in the neutral zone. It wasn\'t a bad shift, there\'s just not much to talk about there. A few minutes and an icing later, Grebenkin\'s presence in the neutral zone showed up again, this time providing a needed outlet for Adam Ginning.

https://youtu.be/6BvH6ejE4DM

After being the first forward to exit the zone, it\'s Grebenkin who circles back and gives Ginning support on the Flyers\' side of the red line. He quickly makes a cross-ice pass to Jett Luchanko and heads to the bench. This type of support and quick decision making should go a long way in earning the trust of Rick Tocchet and company.

The second period saw Grebenkin come close, but ultimately fail, to spring Matvei Michkov on a breakaway, before moments later batting the puck out of mid-air to tie the game.

🚨 TIED UP! 🚨

The Russian connection comes through. 🔥 #BOSvsPHI | https://t.co/qu7Cj9oPPa pic.twitter.com/oU7NDhUeZb

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) September 27, 2025

You\'ve got to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good, right? The bounces that went the Flyers\' way on this play might have been a bit lucky, but he wins his battle in front of the net, puts himself in a position to score, and then the skill takes over with the bat. A few minutes later, Grebenkin was awarded a penalty shot after a Bruins defenseman threw his (broken) stick at him in an attempt to stop a scoring chance. Ultimately, he hit the post, but the skill was once again evident.

Following the failed penalty shot, Grebenkin can be found supporting the defense and starting the breakout. Later in the shift, we again find him at the center of the Flyers\' transition game.

https://youtu.be/c0geBGD__Yw

His pass under tight coverage to Couturier at the end of the clip was impressive, and his playmaking abilities would continue to pop, leading to a quality scoring chance in close.

https://youtu.be/gdAmrl_4WjY

Another puck retrieval along the boards, and a nice cut to the middle of the ice that draws attention and creates space for Konecny and Couturier to create. It\'s worth noting the turnover at the end of the clip, because it\'s not as if Grebenkin had a perfect game. There were two, maybe three offensive zone turnovers, a failed zone entry early in the third. But he doesn\'t have to put together a perfect game, that\'d be unrealistic. He just has to do more good than bad, which was overwhelmingly true in both this game and the preseason as a whole so far.

Throughout the night, Grebenkin was active along boards, winning more battles than he lost, keeping with his mark on the backcheck, and in general showed NHL-level defensive instincts. Take this shift, which shows off a little bit of everything.

https://youtu.be/6GkG6meDA0Q

He starts the exit effort, sets Couturier up for another dangerous chance, and wins a few puck battles along the way. When we talk about driving play, this is it. Moving the puck from defense to offense, winning along the boards, and generating chances.

After two pretty unremarkable shifts, Grebenkin has his worst stretch of the night, with back-to-back turnovers on entry attempts. However, the shift ends with him setting up another scoring chance, this time for Ginning.

https://youtu.be/Mv6PfCgX6ME

On the first entry attempt, maybe the right play would be to dump the puck in. The forwards are mid-line change, he\'s alone, and a turnover in that spot can lead to disaster the other way. The second is a bit of a tougher spot for him, as Khusnutdinov is on him almost immediately as he receives the pass. As we said before, he doesn\'t have to be perfect, and it\'s important to show an accurate depiction.

His final shift of the game was pretty tame. He had one entry that was a bit suspect, but ultimately successful, and participated in an outside cycle.

The Flyers may have ultimately lost the game, but Grebenkin continued to show why he should be on the opening night roster. In fact, it shouldn\'t be viewed as a particularly close race anymore. He’s clearly leading the charge among the prospects, with Rodrigo Abols being the only other bubble forward showing anything close to the same positive impact. Things have gone even worse for the defensemen on the bubble , so Grebenkin giving the Flyers an easy decision should be welcomed by all.

The video room

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