Fresh off Nikita Grebenkin’s first NHL goal, his maturation continues: ‘He can be a really valuable part of this team’

NASHVILLE — The Noah Cates, Travis Konecny, and Nikita Grebenkin line is sticking together for now.

It should.

According to Natural Stat Trick, across 8 minutes, 13 seconds at five-on-five Tuesday, they outchanced (4-3), outshot (6-2), and outscored Montreal (1-0), with Grebenkin notching his first NHL goal to tie the score in the third period against the Canadiens. The Flyers won in a shootout.

The trio has played a total of 12:34 together this season, with 4:19 coming when coach Rick Tocchet put his lines in a blender during Sunday’s loss to Calgary. They outshot (2-0) and outscored the Flames (1-0), with Konecny getting the Flyers on the board in the 2-1 defeat.

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Cates and Konecny are established NHLers who played consistently together in 2022-23, Cates’ first full season, with former Flyers winger Joel Farabee getting the lion’s share of time alongside them on the line. The two draw on that chemistry now with the 22-year-old Grebenkin on their wing.

“He’s one of the players who has the skill that you can’t teach, as far as, like, poise with the puck, and he’s good at creating space and opening up ice for guys,” Konecny said of Grebenkin.

Added Cates: “He just always seems to get some space from a guy, or find some room there, and be able to beat guys. So he’s a special player, and it’s been fun playing with him. He’s just got to keep growing and developing, but he can be a really valuable part of this team.”

Tuesday marked Grebenkin’s ninth game of the season. Across his first six, when he often skated on the fourth line, he averaged 8:53 of ice time, picked up one assist, and logged a plus-minus of minus-4. After sitting out for a pair of games, he has averaged 10:50 in the last three, posting a goal, an assist, and a plus-2 rating.

Tocchet has said he needs to find more ice time for Grebenkin. But when asked Saturday before the Flyers’ loss to Grebenkin’s old club, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the bench boss said that for the Russian winger to be a full-time player, he needs to be consistent and know where to go at certain times, like pressure situations.

On Thursday in Tennessee, Tocchet said Grebenkin recently grabbed him on the ice and told him he feels he’s thinking too much in games.

“He wants to do the right thing,” Tocchet said. “Sometimes he’s caught in between, but when he’s just playing — now, listen, there’s reads he has to be good on [and] he’s got to know when to stop in the slot defensively and stuff like that — but when he overthinks, I think he’s caught in between.”

Asked if it was offensively or defensively, Tocchet said it’s a bit of both, but he noted that, while he’s “at his best” when he’s sticky around piles, he thinks that’s when he’s in his head the most.

“When he loops in and out [of piles of players], that’s where I was saying, he thinks the game too much,” Tocchet said. “He’s in, but he’s like, ‘Oh my God, am I supposed to be here?’ And then he loops out, and then the puck’s there. I want him to [think] ‘No, no, when there’s a pile of people, I want you to be sticky in there’ — and that’s his gift. So when he loops out of there, maybe he’s thinking too much, or maybe the guy like myself is giving too much information."

Konecny and Cates also are helping Grebenkin with his structure and positioning.

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“He’s willing to listen and learn, and he’s trying to understand the right way to play, and that goes a long way,” Konecny said.

“When you get so much information and you’re a guy that’s maybe in and out of the lineup and playing in different situations, I could see how you overthink certain things,” added Konecny, who said he has a lot more to give with his own game.

“But he has so much skill that if he just figures out his abilities, and he’s confident, he could be a really effective player.”

Grebenkin has just 16 NHL games under his belt, but Tocchet really likes what he sees from the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder — especially his drive and determination.

“I give him a lot of credit because he wants to show the coaches that he wants to do the right thing, but we can’t overload him sometimes,” Tocchet said. “I’ve got to take a little bit of the blame where maybe I’m giving him too much information. But there’s also the fact that the language barrier sometimes, that’s something that, I’ll be honest with you, we’re trying to navigate through, because it’s not the easiest thing for him to understand.

“But he’s a great kid to coach. I mean, he wants it. So I’ve got all day in the world for that guy.”

Goalie Dan Vladař will make his second straight start Thursday against the Predators (8 p.m., NBCSP) and his fourth in eight days. … Sam Ersson was activated from injured reserve Thursday and will back up Dan Vladař. The Swedish goalie went on IR last week after suffering a lower-body injury in practice. In a corresponding move, Jacob Gaucher was loaned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. … According to Tocchet, the defensive pairings will remain the same Thursday, but there is a game-time decision among the forwards.