A lot of people were caught by surprise when the Flyers made the playoffs last season, partly because some new players made unexpected contributions.
One of those was forward Nikita Grebenkin, who was among several Philadelphia freshmen to have a positive impact on coach Rick Tocchet’s team.
On Thursday, Grebenkin, a native of Serov, Russia, was signed to a two-year, $2.2-million contract according to team general manager Daniel Briere.
Grebenkin, 23, played his first full NHL season in 2025-26 and recorded four goals/14 points in 55 games with the Flyers.
During the 2024-25 season, he appeared in seven NHL games with Toronto and 39 games with its American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound forward, who was originally selected by Toronto in the fifth round (135th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, was acquired by Philadelphia on March 7, 2025.
Following the trade, he recorded three goals/seven points in 11 AHL games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and contributed one goal/four points in seven Calder Cup Playoff contests.
Before coming to North America, Grebenkin played parts of three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) from 2021-24. He registered 28 goals/67 points in 120 career KHL games.
During the 2023-24 season, Grebenkin finished second on his team with 19 goals/41 points in 67 games and earned a spot in the KHL All-Star Game. That same season, he helped his club capture the KHL Gagarin Cup Championship.
Following his first full KHL season in 2022-23, Grebenkin received the Alexei Cherepanov Award as the league’s top rookie.
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