Robin Press couldn’t believe his eyes when he first saw what his teammate, then 20 years old, was trying to pull off.
As part of the KHL’s All-Star Game festivities, Nikita Grebenkin took the ice in a shootout challenge. The KHL is far from a development league and isn’t exactly kind to youngsters. Playing opportunities for young players can be rare, as Press, a 29-year-old Swedish defenceman, can attest. Those who do play have to make a serious impression right away.
That’s what Grebenkin did.
The brash winger first donned a bald cap meant to impersonate his Metallurg Magnitogorsk coach Andrei Razin, an old helmet Razin wore through his lengthy career in Russia and a Razin jersey.
To top it off, Grebenkin brazenly pulled off a one-handed deke Razin himself was known to use.
“(Razin) would be on him a little bit because he was a young guy throughout the year. Some tough love at times,” Press said. “But that made it that much more fun.”
For his effort in the KHL All-Star Game shootout challenge, #LeafsForever prospect Nikita Grebyonkin impersonated his head coach Andrei Razin (complete with a throwback Metallurg jersey) before pulling off the Forsberg pic.twitter.com/NcJyKrS3Hg
— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) December 10, 2023
Grebenkin’s appearance showed off what he’s known for: brazen confidence, skill and a cheeky side, too.
“Everyone loved that over here,” Press said, still laughing months later. “It was hilarious.”
Now Grebenkin is hoping to show off these different sides of him in his first NHL training camp. After spending his entire career in Russia, little is known about the 6-foot-2, 210-pound winger. But coming off a breakout KHL season, Grebenkin has a history of surprising onlookers.
While he is still raw in many ways, he remains the dark horse in Leafs training camp.
“I would describe (Grebenkin) like an ace. Individually, he can do pretty much whatever, at any time,” Press said. “A game-breaker kind of guy.”
While he might feel like a Marlie-in-waiting, Grebenkin still spent his opening day of Leafs on-ice activities skating on a line with Pontus Holmberg and Max Pacioretty, two players who seem destined for the Leafs lineup this season. With an energy-heavy game, willingness to get physical and an evident scoring touch, Grebenkin seems engineered to play for new Leafs coach Craig Berube. He earned an unprompted mention from general manager Brad Treliving when discussing a small crop of young Leafs pushing for a roster spot.
“(Grebenkin) is a big, strong guy. I was impressed with him,” Berube said after the first practice of training camp, raising his eyes in obvious appreciation. “It was a tough practice, but his pace did not drop off.”
Could Grebenkin’s next surprise be cracking the Leafs opening-night roster?
Years before Grebenkin even stepped foot in North America as a Leaf, it felt like he was being readied to make his debut on the current team.
Back when he was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Draft, Sheldon Keefe was the head coach and Kyle Dubas was the general manager. And though no one could have predicted it, Grebenkin was already putting together the kind of pro-ready game that fit the uber-physical and aggressive world of Berube and Treliving.
“The word that came back to us on him was machine-like,” then-Leafs director of amateur scouting Wes Clark said of Grebenkin at the draft. “He’ll go and try and battle for a spot in the KHL. We like that. We like the competitiveness.”
Battle he did.
Grebenkin was eligible for the 2021 NHL draft — and ranked No. 37 among international skaters — but was passed over. Scouts wondered about a clunky stride. In his draft season in the MHL, Russia’s junior league, Grebenkin’s numbers for a scoring-minded winger were hardly gaudy: 12 goals and 34 points in 54 games.
He returned to the MHL as an overage player and added a new element to his game: playmaking. Grebenkin learned how to use his size to hold off defenders and set up teammates, posting 47 assists in 58 games, second in the league. The confidence to make plays in tight spaces stuck out to the Leafs, as did his ability to raise his game come playoff time. His 13 points in nine postseason games were tops on his team. Combined with a towering frame, the Leafs saw a player who might only be beginning his ascent.
“For a young guy, I would say physically he’s not the biggest guy. He’s ‘skinny strong,’” Press said. “But then on the ice, he’s fast and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get hit hard. With some forwards like that, they love to have the puck and in small areas, they get killed sometimes. But somehow (Grebenkin) gets out of trouble. He’s strong for his age.”
Next, Grebenkin would have to succeed in the KHL. If he couldn’t, his North American professional future would likely have to wait.
But Grebenkin answered most of the questions about his future early in the season.
Game by game, the faster pace of play and intense physicality didn’t faze him. In the KHL, he looked less like a rookie trepidatiously dipping his toes in the pond and more like a wily veteran ready to dive in headfirst.
“He’s very intense, his feet are always moving. And still somehow it seems like a puck is still always going his way,” Press said.
When any player reaches the pro level, regardless of which country they play in, it can take multiple seasons to figure out what kind of player they will become. Players can quickly become the best player in their city in junior hockey, but the skill level will move leaps and bounds in professional hockey.
To Grebenkin’s credit, he keyed in on his role very quickly. And it’s the same type of role he could eventually occupy with the Leafs: a power forward who keeps his foot planted on the pedal.
Grebenkin’s skating improved. And instead of trying to strictly dangle around defencemen, Grebenkin played a heavier game with the puck, blending scoring — his 0.61 points per game was third among all KHL players 21 and under, only behind Matvei Michkov and Danila Yurov — with a propensity to mix things up in the ugly areas of the ice.
“Usually you have (players like Grebenkin), but they go in the corner and half of the time they lose (the puck) just because their hands and feet are too quick for their mind in a sense,” Press said. “But put him in an offensive corner, and I would love to be on his line. He’s so creative.”
Even at just 20, Razin had no choice but to regularly play a youngster who acted like a seasoned veteran, and kept playing him into the Gagarin Cup playoffs.
“Guys obviously get so many chances because he’s drawing one, two, sometimes three guys to him, but still manages to just be strong on the puck by turning and twisting. And so guys are going to be open just from that,” Press said.
Grebenkin’s playoff-ready style clicked when it needed to. And as he progressed through the season, the hype around him grew. A move to the Leafs organization seemed inevitable.
Less than a month after Grebenkin and Metallurg Magnitogorsk won the KHL championship, he signed a three-year entry-level contract.
As Leafs training camp opened, Grebenkin looked eager to chat with players from different countries, skill levels and positions on the ice. He even shared a few smiles with Leafs assistant coach Mike Van Ryn as the intensity heightened during a drill.
Grebenkin could operate the way he did because of an innate fearlessness in his personality. He’s equal parts brazen and fun-loving. Even among teammates he doesn’t share a language with, Grebenkin is quick with a joke.
“A ball of energy,” Press said.
Energy when it matters feels like a prerequisite on Berube’s team.
Remember how sincerely the Leafs wanted to add Matthew Knies after he spent just one season at the University of Minnesota? They didn’t have a young player with both his size and skill set. The combination, as we saw against the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs this year, could pay dividends in the postseason. And the Leafs still don’t have plenty of players coming through the pipeline with that skill-size combo. That is partly why Grebenkin began training camp playing alongside NHL players.
“There is some really good stuff there,” Berube said of Grebenkin. “I love his size.”
Does he have a realistic shot of becoming the surprise in Leafs training camp, a la Fraser Minten last season? Or is a full season with the Marlies in the AHL more likely?
Early indications are that Grebenkin is unpredictable with the puck, both positively and negatively. He can surprise defenders, but also gets caught making errors. Defenders bounce off him. Grebenkin’s shot is powerful and accurate. Yet the NHL pace of play is a level he has yet to reach early.
Those who know him bet not only that he can get to that level quickly, he can continue to surprise people in Toronto.
“It’s a different style of hockey. It’s a little more straight (in the NHL),” Press said, noting Grebenkin will have to “pick his spots” better. “We had a really good team last year, so he was our ace, and someone was always covering for you. I think he’s a smart enough kid to adapt and change his game to whatever he needs to.”
(Photo of Nikita Grebenkin crashing the net against Spartak Moscow: Sergey Bobylev / Sputnik via AP)
