When people talk about Nikita Grebenkin, a word that tends to come up is personality.
He has plenty of it. Just ask Egor Zamula.
The two went to Metallurg Magnitogorsk, the well-known Russian program in which Evgeni Malkin developed into a star. Despite Zamula being three years older than Grebenkin, he couldn’t help but notice the outgoing kid.
“I remember him when he was young, running around, doing some stupid s— around the older guys,” Zamula said with a laugh about two weeks ago. “Great guy, brings a lot of energy, always smiling. I’ve always enjoyed talking with him because we’re from the same country, pretty much the same city and grew up together. A lot of good stories.”
Grebenkin is back with Zamula and trying to write his story with the Flyers. The 22-year-old came to Philadelphia in the Scott Laughton trade last season.
Ever since the rookie games last month, Grebenkin has stood out. So much so that he made the big club out of camp and collected his first career NHL point two nights ago in his Flyers debut.
There’s personality off the ice, but his game has it, too. Grebenkin hunts the puck and is driven to win battles. He impressed last Saturday night with how noticeable he was on the fourth line alongside Garnet Hathaway and Jett Luchanko.
“He’s determined to get the puck back, wherever it is,” Hathaway said Monday morning ahead of the home opener against the Panthers (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP). “That’s what we want to be. We call it sticky a lot, just being in that situation, being on it and being relentless, really.
“Wanting to get it and then he has got the vision and the skill to make plays with it, too. He has got the patience to hold onto it and the skill to hold onto it. You get someone that hounds the puck and then holds onto it, it’s just going to be time before the offense starts clicking.”
Rick Tocchet said Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube used that term “sticky” when describing Grebenkin’s game. The 2022 fifth-round pick played seven games for Toronto last season. He has the ability to scale the lineup.
“He’ll jump on those loose pucks and compete hard,” Sean Couturier said about two weeks ago. “He has got some good skills, can make plays, can do a little bit of everything.”
Grebenkin has a happy-go-lucky spirit. There’s a likability to him with how hard he works at his English.
“Right away, he’s somebody that wants to talk to you,” Travis Konecny said at the start of this month. “He makes it easy, he wants to learn, he wants to understand what you’re trying to say to him. He’s a lot of fun.”
He’s a kid that has grown into an NHL player. But he won’t lose his personality.
“He’s a big boy,” Zamula said. “Still doing stupid s—.”