RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rick Tocchet and his staff watched the video of the Flyers' 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday again and noticed something: there was not enough of a net-front presence.
Enter Nikita Grebenkin.
"I think a guy like Grebenkin, he can really help us with net-front," said Tocchet of the Russian who will make his Flyers debut. "We're playing another man-on-man team. So can you beat your check and get to the net? If you can beat your guy to the net, you're going to get some opportunities. Play the outside, you won't get opportunities. I think he's an inside player."
The Flyers are taking on Rod Brind'Amour, Tocchet's former teammate with the Orange and Black, and the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday (7 p.m., NBCSP). Tocchet has called Grebenkin "sticky," and the 6-foot-2, 209-pound winger is a strong puck possessor who goes into the dirty areas and thrives on being a net crasher.Flyers'
In the Flyers' preseason game on Oct. 2 against the New York Islanders, he didn't get the assist, but he screened the goalie perfectly for a Travis Konecny rip from atop the circle.
"[The] team wants [me] to play inside, and I understand this," Grebenkin said after the game. "I speak to Coach, and I understand my game, and what Coach wants for me, to see for my game."
There is a balance for Grebenkin to find, and the 22-year-old will have some help with that, skating on a line with two-way center Jett Luchanko and gritty veteran winger Garnet Hathaway.
"You've got Jett with his speed, and then you get Grebs, he's got that finesse, but also that hard nose to him. So I think it pairs well," Hathaway said.
"I think, playing with two guys I didn't play with last game, it's OK when can we make a play and when can't we?" he added. "And realizing that our speed, maybe that tenacity too, will help us get the puck back, and then that, that possession and confidence of holding on to it and making plays."
Luchanko made his NHL debut last season, skating in four games with the Flyers before being sent back to Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League, and will begin a new nine-game audition on Saturday. The only options available for the 19-year-old are the Flyers or juniors due to the CHL-NHL rule regarding players under the age of 20; the rule will change next season, when one U20 player can go to the American Hockey League.
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Although the trio is slated as the fourth line, Tocchet thinks the Flyers are a four-line team, especially early in the season. "We have a lot of good players on this team who need to get on the ice, and I think balance is better [because] then we can play a harder game," he said.
So don't expect this fourth line to play limited minutes, especially with the Flyers' 2024 first-round pick, Luchanko. Tocchet, who thought the speedy center with a high hockey IQ got better as the preseason went on -- he did miss development camp and rookie camp with a lower-body injury -- now wants Luchanko to keep his legs going in his season debut.
"I think once he's getting over the blue line, he stops skating, and I think that's youth," Tocchet said. "The speed through the neutral zone is great. But keep that speed everywhere else.
"He can be terrific on a deep delay -- one-on-one on a defenseman, you do a deep delay, that's a hard thing to check a guy with speed -- now he's going to have time and space. He might take it to the net, he might make a play, I don't care if that, but I think he has to continue that aggressive style in the offensive zone."
Goalie Sam Ersson will start in net for the Flyers. ... Forwards Nic Deslauriers and Rodrigo Ābols are the healthy scratches. ... Submit entries for Around the Rinks, which highlights the local ice, ball, and inline hockey scenes, Thursdays online and Fridays in the paper, by noon every Thursday with Around the Rinks in the subject to jspiegel@inquirer.com. Entries can include info about your league, big moments on the ice, upcoming rivalry games, favorite players, etc.