Leaf prospect continues to flourish after being loaned by one KHL club to another, named Rookie of the Week
Drafted in the 5th round at 135th overall in last summer's entry draft, Nikita Grebyonkin has turned his KHL season around in a big way. To begin the season, he skated in 7 games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk before being sent to Amur Khabarovsk on loan. In his first 7 games with Magnitogorsk, Grebyonkin failed to register a point and found himself a healthy scratch more often than he was playing.
Since moving to Khabarovsk, Grebyonkin has skated in 37 games where he has posted 8 goals and 21 points. The 6'2 winger has 3 goals and 6 points in his last 5 games and 4 goals and 8 points in his last 10 games. Those numbers were good enough for him to receive the honour of being named the KHL's Rookie of the Week last week. Grebyonkin leads all U20 players in the KHL in points this season.
Like a handful of European prospects that Kyle Dubas and the Leafs have drafted in recent years, he was described as a "long-term" project by scouts. However, given the playing time he is receiving now, it would appear that his development is ahead of schedule and while he won't be making the trip to North America any time soon, the Leafs may have found a serviceable middle/bottom six forward that has the tools to be able to provide some secondary scoring.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 30 | 33 ANSWERS Leaf prospect continues to flourish after being loaned by one KHL club to another, named Rookie of the Week Will Grebyonkin hit 35 points this season? | ||
| Yes | 24 | 72.7 % |
| No | 9 | 27.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
