At the time, the Toronto Maple Leafs trading away young winger Nikita Grebenkin at last season's deadline felt like the cost of doing business. The high-spirited Russian was someone that brought levity when he made his brief stint in the NHL last season but overall, it felt like the Leafs needed to go get someone more NHL-ready.
Unfortunately, Grebenkin is set to make a sizeable impact on his new team.
Grebenkin, along with a first-round pick, was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for the services of Scott Laughton. At the time of the trade, Laughton had enough term on his deal for Toronto to get two playoff runs out of the veteran centre and the Flyers retained half of his salary, making him a very cheap and somewhat reliable option in the bottom six.
Basically, while it was a higher price than we all envisioned the Maple Leafs paying for a player like Laughton, we would be fine if it led to something more.
Well, unfortunately, the Leafs are now without Laughton to start the season as he's out week-to-week, and south of the border, Grebenkin just so happens to be making the Flyers roster out of training camp. Not only is the 22-year-old making the roster, but he's on their first line with some very talented players.
Lines and pairs in warmups:
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) October 2, 2025
Grebenkin - Couturier - Konecny
Tippett - Zegras - Michkov
Foerster - Cates - Brink
Deslauriers - Dvorak - Hathaway
York - Sanheim
Seeler - Drysdale
Zamula - Ginning
Ersson
That's right. Grebenkin, who the Leafs thought was an easy price to pay for a veteran bottom-sixer, is set to start the 2025-26 season on a line with Selke-winning centre Sean Couturier, and Team Canada winger Travis Konecny -- forming a very annoying trio to play against for anyone facing Philadelphia early on.
To add to the pain, everyone from Flyers staff to his new teammates cannot stop praising the positive attitude Grebenkin approaches the game with (as we know well). And, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet even asked Leafs head coach Craig Berube what to expect and got the description of a "sticky" player. Which is probably exactly what the Flyers needed to balance out their skill-first top six with the likes of Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras.
Rick Tocchet said Craig Berube told him Nikita Grebenkin was a sticky player. You can see it. He hunts pucks and competes hard for them.
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) October 2, 2025
Now, it's not like the Flyers and Leafs will be competing for the same spot in the Eastern Conference -- barring a complete disaster in Toronto and a surge up the standings from Philadelphia for the two teams to be battling in the Wild Card race. So, it doesn't hurt them right now but with so many prospects on the way and Grebenkin to be featured heavily in the Orange and Black, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving might already regret adding the winger to the deal last March.
The Leafs face the Flyers on November 1 for the first time this season as they go down south to visit Philadelphia -- and there might be a revenge game in store.