The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed their 2022 5th round pick, Nikita Grebyonkin, to a three-year Entry level contract that starts immediately.
The 21-year-old Russian winger is coming off a Gagarin Cup championship where he scored three goals and six points in 23 playoff games. During the regular KHL season, he finished second on the Metallurg Magnitogorsk in scoring with 41 points, 19 of which were goals.
His ice time fell during the KHL playoffs, but Grebyonkin proved himself as one of the Leafs better (and more underrated) prospects in the 2023–24 season.
After being drafted in 2022, he scored 26 points in 45 games for the Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL for the 2022–23 season. He was loaned there by Metallurg after going seven scoreless games to start the year.
This season was a big leap for Grebyonkin.
With the Toronto Marlies eliminated, he will have to wait until next season to start his North American pro hockey career. But he should be a mainstay in the Marlies forward group if he doesn’t compete for a spot on the Leafs.
With Toronto in such a peculiar spot if they don’t pull off a comeback against the Boston Bruins, the look of the team moving forward could change a ton. There will be room for forwards to compete for a spot on the NHL roster.
At just 21, the chances Grebyonkin plays for the Leafs next year are slim. But he looks like he could be a key piece for the team in a couple of years, hopefully entering the league around the same time as Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan.
