Nikita Grebenkin hopes to make his return to the Flyers lineup a permanent one
The 22-year-old Grebenkin, who has played in just 12 of 21 games this season and has sat out the last three, has a chance to show coach Rick Tocchet he can be trusted against the Florida Panthers.
SUNRISE, Fla. — There are a few X accounts that ask the question, “Is [blank player] playing today?”
It’s starting to feel like one of those accounts should be made for Nikita Grebenkin. If it were to be up and running on Wednesday, it would simply say, “Yes.”
After sitting for the last three games, the Russian left winger will slot back in on the fourth line alongside Garnet Hathaway and center Rodrigo Ābols when the Flyers take on the Florida Panthers tonight at 7 (NBCSP). Nic Deslauriers will come out of the lineup.
So what does Rick Tocchet want to see from Grebenkin?
“I’ve got to see some good forechecking. He’s got to know where he goes sometimes in the D zone,” Tocchet said after morning skate. “Obviously, I want him to play mind-free. And just really, kind of don’t think too much.
“I think when he’s out there, sometimes he thinks too much, and he plays a slower game. So I think if he just kind of reacts off a puck and just goes, that’s when he’ll be at his best.”
This is a game in which Grebenkin can show what he can do. The Panthers like to play man-on-man in the defensive zone, and the key to beating that, according to Tocchet, is to keep the feet moving, beat your check to the net, and bring energy.
Enter Grebenkin, who is not only an energy guy but excels below the hash marks.
“Plain as day, is very good,” Hathaway said of Grebenkin’s play in the bottom half of the offensive zone. “It’s a big part of his game, and it can allow us to create offense. We’ve played together against a few man-on-man teams, I think, and it’s our job now to say, hey, how can we get the puck down there? How can we puck possess? And then how can we get a guy like Grebby the puck who can puck protect and then create offense out of that?”
According to Natural Stat Trick, the line of Grebenkin, Hathaway, and Ābols has played 26 minutes, 16 seconds together this season. They have allowed one goal and have been out-chanced, 12-6. But they do have 22 shot attempts to the opposition’s 20.
Grebenkin has played in 12 of the Flyers’ first 21 games and has just 19 total NHL games under his belt. He notched his first NHL point in his season debut on Oct. 11 against the Carolina Hurricanes and his first NHL goal on Nov. 4 in Montreal.
Tocchet recently said the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Grebenkin needs to be more predictable, which is something he has wanted to see more of from his group as a whole. The Ābols line will meet before puck drop to discuss how to hit Tocchet’s request.
“We’ll talk about the keys that as a line we need to focus on that will make us more predictable,” Hathaway said. “I think that’ll allow us to keep our speed, stay in lanes to support each other. We’ve talked a little bit about having our toes facing the same way when we’re forechecking. We’re in there together and a closeness that allows us to keep puck possession and hold on to pucks.”
Skating with the veteran Hathaway and Ābols, who doesn’t have many more NHL games than Grebenkin under his belt but played a long time in Europe before joining the Flyers last season, will help Grebenkin. He is under a bit of a microscope and assuredly wants to stay in the lineup. Hathaway said they will pull out the iPad if needed, and when the timing is right, Ābols also speaks Russian and can chat with the young winger.
“Yeah, those situations you can see when they talk to their coaches, and you kind of see their lost face, then I kind of slide in,” Ābols said. “I’m going to try any way I can, whether it’s translating or helping any way I can.”
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Breakaways
Dan Vladař (8-4-1, .912 save percentage) will start against the Panthers. He is 1-1-0 this season against them with a 2.02 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. The Flyers lost the season opener, 2-1, and beat Florida, 5-2, in the home opener at Xfinity Mobile Arena. … Defenseman Noah Juulsen will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last two games. Egor Zamula will sit.