-Vintage Canuck- Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Russian forward inks a one-year deal: The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the team has signed forward Mikhail Grigorenko to a one-year contract for the upcoming 2015-16 season. Grigorenko, who was a restricted free agent, was acquired from Buffalo on June 26 along with defenseman Nikita Zadorov, forward J.T. Compher and a second-round pick (31st overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft. In exchange, the Avalanche traded forwards Jamie McGinn and Ryan O’Reilly to Buffalo. Grigorenko, 21, was Buffalo’s first-round choice (12th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft. He split this past season between the Sabres and their American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester. Grigorenko appeared in 25 games for Buffalo, tallying six points (3g/3a). The 6-foot-3, 209-pound center has played in 68 career NHL games, notching 14 points (6g/8a). A native of Khabarovsk, Russia, Grigorenko won medals for his country at the 2012 (silver), 2013 (bronze) and 2014 (bronze) IIHF World Junior Championships. Prior to turning pro, Grigorenko played parts of three seasons of junior hockey for the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL), who were coached by current Avalanche Head Coach/Vice President of Hockey Operations Patrick Roy. In his first season with Quebec in 2011-12, Grigorenko was named to the QMJHL First All-Star Team, QMJHL All-Rookie Team and named the Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year. http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=775025 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Stammer- Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I thought he was going to the KHL, I guess he just didn't like Buffalo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucks-4-Life Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I'm jealous the Avs were able to snatch this guy up. Tons of potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I thought he was going to the KHL, I guess he just didn't like Buffalo Negotiation tactic. He didn't exactly like Buffalo after the way they handled him either, and on top of that there was all the competition for center spots ahead of him, so it was a foregone conclusion he was going to get out one way or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdubuya Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I also think he just wanted to play in NHL. Buffalo saw him in the AHL. Thats where the rumors to K started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatedkid666 Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Between the O'Rielly crash and this signing, this trade is looking really good for the Avs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Plus he is with Roy, his junior coach. On a team that just traded a top 6 centre. If he were like Hodgson he might not report on the prospect he would have to play behind McKinnon & Duchesne... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 For those thinking that we have a good crop of youngsters, and don't need to rebuild, consider what we're going up against when this core group of youngsters hit their prime: Landeskog - Duchene - MacKinnon Greer - Grigorenko - Rantanen Barrie - Zadorov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Standing_Tall#37 Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 For those thinking that we have a good crop of youngsters, and don't need to rebuild, consider what we're going up against when this core group of youngsters hit their prime: Landeskog - Duchene - MacKinnon Greer - Grigorenko - Rantanen Barrie - Zadorov Unfortunately there's about 15 teams like this in the league and no we are not one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Unfortunately there's about 15 teams like this in the league and no we are not one of them.This is the thing. Every team has prospects. And holy crow do they have DEFENSE among them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Unfortunately there's about 15 teams like this in the league and no we are not one of them. Yup. Some of them (i.e. Anaheim, Tampa, Chicago) not only have significantly better prospects than us, but will be adding them to an already-contending team. ...Pull the pin, already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 For those thinking that we have a good crop of youngsters, and don't need to rebuild, consider what we're going up against when this core group of youngsters hit their prime: Landeskog - Duchene - MacKinnon Greer - Grigorenko - Rantanen Barrie - Zadorov Unfortunately there's about 15 teams like this in the league and no we are not one of them. This is the thing. Every team has prospects. And holy crow do they have DEFENSE among them. Yup. Some of them (i.e. Anaheim, Tampa, Chicago) not only have significantly better prospects than us, but will be adding them to an already-contending team. ...Pull the pin, already. Echo all of this. While there are Canucks prospects to get excited about, other teams also have prospects who look a lot better in all positions, not just a couple. When you have a team like the Islanders who have zero problem giving up a top defensive prospect (which doesn't happen often) in Griffen Reinhart, because they have so many great defensive prospects in the system, that's scary. But what's even worse is that it's not just the top prospects where other teams have us beat (in quantity and quality), but it's also how great other teams are at mining later round picks for great talent. I'm glad that the Canucks drafting looks better than it did, but it's not as if other teams have taken their foot off the pedal at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Another good example is Dallas. Up front they have Seguin (23) and Benn (25), who are already elite talents, and just entering their prime (scary thought). Then they have Nichuskin and Gurianov ready to come onto the scene with sky-high offensive potential. And after that a slough of talented "B"-level guys (Ritchie, Ully, Pollock, Dickenson, etc.) who should form a nice supporting cast. So they have just as much (if not more) young talent up front as Vancouver does. We have Horvat and Virtanen, followed by similar secondary forward prospects like McCann, Cassels, Shinkaruk, etc. But the difference is, Dallas will be adding them to two of the best players in the league in their prime, while we will be using them to prop up the fading Sedin twins (don't get me wrong, I love them, but I'm not expecting many more years like the last one.) And then, on top of that, Dallas has been amassing an absolute BOON of young defensive studs: Klingberg, Honka, Oleksiak, Nemeth, Johns... I'd take any one of those guys ahead of Clendening, Corrado, Subban, etc. So add it together, and in a couple of years Dallas will be wiping the floor with us...if not sooner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyCuddles Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Sky is falling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Sky is falling. I don't think any of us Chicken Littling the Canucks situation. More than anything, what we're pointing out is that Canucks fans should really temper their excitement and expectations of our current prospects. Otherwise, what I expect to happen is that people will absolutely panic should prospects like Virtanen, Cassels, Shink, Subban, etc not jump in and make waves in their first two or three years. People need to keep in mind that they are joining a Canucks team that is definitely on the downswing. A team that is 4 years removed from their Cup run. A team that only has the Sedin's, Burrows, Edler, Hamhuis, Higgins, and Hansen remaining from that run. My point, along with other people who have posted, is that it's really important for this fan base to truly understand the Canucks situation going forward. I would hate for our prospects to get crapped on because expectations were through the roof; when in reality, this team is nowhere near setup to compete in the next 3-5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon45ca Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I thought he was going to the KHL, I guess he just didn't like Buffalo Does anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keredz Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 The difference is these prospects will get a chance to play and Canucks will ice another older veteran squad with no room for players like Virtanen etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I don't think any of us Chicken Littling the Canucks situation. More than anything, what we're pointing out is that Canucks fans should really temper their excitement and expectations of our current prospects. Otherwise, what I expect to happen is that people will absolutely panic should prospects like Virtanen, Cassels, Shink, Subban, etc not jump in and make waves in their first two or three years. People need to keep in mind that they are joining a Canucks team that is definitely on the downswing. A team that is 4 years removed from their Cup run. A team that only has the Sedin's, Burrows, Edler, Hamhuis, Higgins, and Hansen remaining from that run. My point, along with other people who have posted, is that it's really important for this fan base to truly understand the Canucks situation going forward. I would hate for our prospects to get crapped on because expectations were through the roof; when in reality, this team is nowhere near setup to compete in the next 3-5 years. It's not just a team that is 4 years removed from a cup run. It's a team that has gone 3-12 in the playoffs since, missing them altogether once. It's a team that has had only one player from their prospect pool (Tanev) step into a key role since that run. It's a team whose only bluechip prospect at the time of the run (Hodgson) ended up jack squat. It's a team that only has one of Hockeysfuture.com's top-50 prospects (Virtanen, #31). Now, I know that Hockeys Future isn't the be-all, end-all, but it's still a decent overview. Compare that with: - Winnipeg (Ehlers #3, Morrisey #21) - Calgary (Bennett #4) - Edmonton (Nurse #6, Draisatl #9, Reinhart #14) - Anaheim (Gibson #8, Theadore #17, Ritchie #19) - Chicago (Teravainen #10, Dano #47) - Nashville (Fiala #12, Saros #42) - Dallas (Honka #22, Ritchie #36) - St. Louis (Fabbri #27, Barbashev #30) (This is pre-draft, so doesn't factor in McDavid et al.) So not only do these teams have FAR better NHL-ers in the 25-and-under category than Vancouver, but they likely also have more/better top prospects coming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaku Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 That team is oozing with young talent... the Av's are going to be a a powerhouse when these players hit their potential and are playing in their prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 For those thinking that we have a good crop of youngsters, and don't need to rebuild, consider what we're going up against when this core group of youngsters hit their prime: Landeskog - Duchene - MacKinnon Greer - Grigorenko - Rantanen Barrie - Zadorov By that point in time Mack should be a centre again and Grigs will probably be on the LW. Anyways that top line will never happen. Landy and Mack just don't mesh with Dutchy for whatever reason. He seems to be a hard guy to find chemistry with. Would expect the core to look more like: Landy - Mack - XXXX Grigs - Dutchy - Rantanen Zadorov - EJ Bigras - Barrie The last spot could end up being filled by Bleackley (he'll be a RW if he ever makes the team) or even Radulov but it's pretty wide open at this point. Zads will probably play with Barrie this year but long term he's more likely to be EJ's partner. Bigras plays a safe game that will complement Barrie better in a few years anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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