Nikita Grebenkin

Playing career

Grebenkin first played professional hockey on December 8, 2021, for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL, appearing in a 6-4 win over Kunlun Red Star. That was his only KHL game that season. He spent most of the 2021-22 campaign with Stalnye Lisy in the MHL, putting up 17 goals and 64 points across 58 contests. That performance caught the attention of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who picked him in the fifth round, 135th overall, at the 2022 NHL draft. It was his second year of eligibility; he had gone undrafted the previous year. Metallurg then loaned him to Amur Khabarovsk for the bulk of the 2022-23 KHL season, where he earned the Alexei Cherepanov Award as the league's top rookie. The next season, he returned to Metallurg and helped the team capture the 2024 Gagarin Cup. Shortly after, he inked an entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs. Having spent his entire career in Russia, Grebenkin crossed over to North America for the 2024-25 season, joining the Toronto Marlies, Toronto's AHL affiliate. After 13 games with the Marlies, tallying four goals and ten points, he got the call to replace an injured Max Domi and made his NHL debut on November 20, 2024, in a 3-0 shutout of the Vegas Golden Knights. On March 7, 2025, the Maple Leafs traded Grebenkin and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 draft to the Philadelphia Flyers for Scott Laughton and two draft picks.