The Flyers' scouts had zeroed in on Nikita Grebenkin as the Scott Laughton trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs was coming together.
"Our guys were really high on him, got excited when his name started being mentioned as a possibility," general manager Danny Brière said of the forward prospect after the NHL's trade deadline last Friday.
A top-10 protected first-round draft pick in 2027 was a core part of the haul coming back to the Flyers, too, but as Brière was speaking to the media about the trade talks with Toronto, he alluded to there being another option on the table, but in a situation where they ultimately valued Grebenkin more.
"He was definitely a target for us," Brière continued. "[The scouts] valued him more than a third-round pick."
So the Flyers went after and got their guy.
The plan, Brière said, is to have the 21-year-old Grebenkin start with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL, but that the organization does see him becoming a future Flyer.
The Russian winger still has to report to Lehigh Valley, as the prior acquisitions of Andrei Kuzmenko (since flipped to the Kings) and Jakob Pelletier from Calgary have shown that getting the visas for players from Canadian NHL teams is a bit of a process right now, but then on Monday, in and appearance on Leafs Morning Take, Brière added that he hopes the Phantoms will have him by the weekend and that he'll be able to play a few games up with the Flyers before the end of the year.
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This last stretch of the Flyers' season is only rapidly falling out of the playoff picture and into evaluations for the future anyway, as head coach John Tortorella acknowledged earlier in the week.
No harm in getting an NHL look at your new prospect as soon as you can at this rate.
But what is he coming in with already?
Grebenkin made the jump over to North America this season, and in 39 games with the AHL's Toronto Marlies, he's posted nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points and a minus-1 rating. He also racked up 34 penalty minutes.
The year before in the Russian KHL, he had 19 goals and 41 points through 67 games.
Grebenkin also had a run up with the Leafs in late November and early December – his first go in the NHL – but didn't produce any points and went minus-3 skating at an average ice time of 8:45 across seven games. He also carried a low 39.04 expected goals for percentage in the small NHL sample size, per Natural Stat Trick.
His AHL highlights so far, though (and as seen below), do flash the promise in his game that could make him a part of the Flyers' long-term picture.
Grebenkin is strong and agile on his edges, which enables him to make sudden shifts in direction that twist defenders up or to make long lateral strides that keep him square to the net, which draws the goalie's eyes and checkers to him while he waits for a shot or a passing lane to open up.
He has offensive skill and vision, and at 6'2" and 209 pounds, strength and the awareness to use it, too. You're not going to catch him backing down from anyone. In fact, you're likely to see him fully lean into physicality with a smile on his face, as this fight from the preseason against Ottawa shows:
And then this quote from December, too:
“I play, you play. Don't stop. Don't relax. You play NHL. You understand. I kill you, you kill me. It’s business. No problem."
The grind doesn’t stop for Nikita Grebenkin! pic.twitter.com/pUswAqYSLd— BarDown (@BarDown) December 3, 2024
If Grebenkin pans out, Philadelphia is going to love him.
Brière and the Flyers are hoping he will as they continue to push their rebuild plans forward.
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