Nikita Grebenkin brings the Philadelphia Flyers everything they need and more from a player like him and he deserves to not be dragged in and out of the lineup like he has to start his season.
When the Flyers initially acquired Grebenkin as a part of the Scott Laughton trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, there was a general sentiment of “Oh, it’s the funny prospect that said that thing and that clip went viral. That’s neat.” And then, after looking just slightly further into what he’s actually like as a hockey player, peeling back the layers of his current ability and potential, the hype was growing.
Here was a player that was just tossed in a deadline trade by a team trying to solidify a chance to at least win two consecutive playoff rounds for the first time in decades, and he’s young enough to be exciting but experienced enough to immediately make some sort of impact.
After a very solid showing as a member of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms through the remainder of last season and playoffs, and then impressing as a physical force in rookie camp, training camp, and preseason, Grebenkin made his way to be on the Flyers roster to open the 2025-26 NHL season. To start the year, he’s been stapled to the fourth line and while that can be his role, he’s been in and out of the lineup a little too often.
Through the Flyers’ first six games of the season, Grebenkin was a healthy scratch for the season opener and then also for a weekend matchup against the Minnesota Wild last Saturday. Alongside fellow rookie Jett Luchanko, the 22-year-old Russian winger has made way for the more experienced veteran duo of Nic Deslauriers and Rodrigo Abols for those two games. And not to speak poorly about those two players, but Grebenkin more than deserves to not be unsure if he’s going to be in the lineup each gameday.
While through the first weeks of the season it was more out of curiosity than anything else — wanting to see what the rookie looked like in the NHL against tough competition in games that actually mattered. But, after Monday night’s performance against the Seattle Kraken, it’s clear that Grebenkin shouldn’t be sitting up in the press box for any reason.
Grebenkin proved he belongs in one single game
In the entertaining 5-2 win over Seattle, the Flyers threw everything at them and bullied them to taking a loss, and Grebenkin was at the center of it. The Russian rookie, just four games into his Flyers tenure, was already sticking up for teammates on the ice. After Kraken blueliner Cale Fleury bowled over forward Garnet Hathaway, Grebenkin went right at him and promptly took him down to the ice after getting a couple punches in.
Nikita Grebenkin made quick work of Cale Fleury in this fight 🥊🥊🥊 pic.twitter.com/CodPgzxggG
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 20, 2025
That is what we’re talking about. A young player just instantly fitting in with the team — being absolutely everything the Flyers are about and what young and old fans can cheer for. Grebenkin didn’t earn any points in the game and only linemate Hathaway finished with fewer minutes played than the rookie’s 7:37 TOI, but his impact went beyond that. He didn’t even have a shot on goal; all he had was one attempted shot in terms of individual offense, but he was still all over the ice.
Additionally, Grebenkin wasn’t just punching faces and being a physical young adult on the ice. The winger made a skill passing play, connecting with captain Sean Couturier for a scoring chance that only truly top-end talented players can even start to think about. A backhand pass as he skated away from the slot and set Couturier up for a very solid scoring opportunity while in motion, just adds to the reasons why Grebenkin should stay hanging around and be on the ice as much as possible.
Even when it comes to the underlying numbers, Grebenkin had a heck of a game Monday night. While the 22-year-old was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Flyers had a 10-3 shot attempt advantage, a 9-2 unblocked shot attempt advantage, a 5-1 shot on goal advantage, and 82.96 percent of the expected goals share. Basically, the ran over Seattle in the seven-plus minutes that Grebenkin was able to be out there.
So, Grebenkin was a strong play driver, creating a scoring chance that only someone with a very good amount of skill can pull off, and he also punched a dude while hyping up the crowd. If that doesn’t say Philadelphia Flyer, then I don’t know what does. And we’re not begging head coach Rick Tocchet to suddenly make Nikita Grebenkin a first-line left wing, or even to keep him on the line with Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras that he unleashed in garbage time against Seattle (which looked awesome). We just think the Flyers are a much better team with him contributing his 10-12 minutes a night, than someone else who is typically a healthy scratch.
Unless Grebenkin really needs to hit the video room hard, or watch the game from up above because he’s making too many mistakes, the time where he’s on the sideline should be done and over with. Two games are enough to figure out what group of players make you the best team possible, and that involves Grebenkin.
