Mikhail Grigorenko fueled by newfound swagger

When Mikhail Grigorenko was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in the draft-day trade that sent Ryan O’Reilly northeast, he was almost considered a throw-in by many, including Sabres GM Tim Murray. After three tumultuous years that included multiple starts and stops to his NHL career, Grigorenko found new life last season in Colorado as his junior coach, Patrick Roy, helped nurture him back to believing he belonged in the NHL.

A 27-point (6 g/21 a) season for a former top draft pick doesn’t jump off the page but Grigorenko steadily worked his way from opening night scratch to a fixture in Colorado’s top six by the end of the season and his improvement was noticeable to everyone paying attention. Thus far, he’s started this season off with a strong training camp and after tonight’s two-goal effort against the Los Angeles Kings, has three goals in two preseason games.

Grigorenko largely attributes his strong start to increased confidence but also recognizes how much the organization’s belief in him last season helped him reach this point.

“Last year helped me a lot and I felt like getting somewhere and proving (myself),” Grigorenko said. “Then, this year since the start of camp I was feeling good and my confidence is at a good level.”

Confidence was a common theme throughout his multitude of postgame interviews and he’s already learning under his fourth head coach in his NHL career. When it comes to impressing the new boss, Grigorenko has wasted little time in leaving his mark.

“I thought he was outstanding tonight,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “Poise with the puck, making plays, moving his feet. That’s the best I’ve seen from him in this training camp. He’s been good but tonight I thought he was exceptional. He was the driving force behind that line…Some of the plays he’s making, the give-and-go’s, and finding ice. He did a real nice job both offensively and defensively.”

Praise like that certainly won’t hurt the burgeoning confidence of a player who has historically struggled with that particular mental aspect of the game in previous years. The new coach has clearly played a role in him finding his game early on.

“I’m feeling confident and that comes with just knowing systems and stuff and so far it’s been a lot of fun playing for Jared,” Grigorenko stated. “I’m enjoying a good camp so far and I hope to keep it that way.”

Having lived the frustrations of things going poorly so often already in his young career, Grigorenko understands how important it is to get everyone on the same page as the roster is still in flux with guys still seeking their first NHL ice time since returning from the World Cup.

“The most important thing is everyone wants to know what to do and the guys coming from the World Cup are already up to speed. I think we’re playing good hockey and I’m sure there’s a lot of things to learn. I’m confident we’ll be ready to start.”

Maybe the most intriguing part of Grigorenko’s preseason success has been the spot he’s achieving it – center. The long-time center was moved to wing last season and he flourished. With the team’s top three centers away at the World Cup, he was given an opportunity to move back to the pivot and his success has caught even himself off guard.

“Honestly, I’m a bit surprised I’m able to contribute offensively playing center,” Grigorenko explained.”In the past, I used to focus on being good defensively as a center. I’m happy I’m able to manage that both ways. I think that’s the systems we play. It’s really good for centers. You’re always around the puck and you always know where to go and that helps a lot. So far, guys have been doing a really good job so that makes it easy.”

Those who paid close attention to his play last year can certainly attest to his sound defensive game and attention to detail on that end of the ice. To see him adjusting to the new system in such a positive way certainly makes the prospect of how Nathan MacKinnon, Carl Soderberg, and Matt Duchene take to Bednar’s systems, assuming all three take turns at the center position at some point.

Scoring goals is always great but to be a successful center in the NHL, there’s also the tricky work of handling faceoff responsibilities, something Grigorenko struggled with mightily last season to the tune of a 43.3% win rate. Tonight, he won 13 draws versus just five losses, giving him a 72% win rate in the circle, an enormous improvement and a solid bounce back from the 45% he experienced against the Minnesota Wild in his first preseason game.

To hear him tell it, Grigorenko makes it sound like his success tonight was almost an accident as he didn’t work on it over the summer but rather just paid attention to how guys were having success against him. He also points towards his summer training.

“I got stronger and bigger,” Grigorenko said. “That helps a lot and being around the league looking at a lot of faceoff guys, you’re always trying to improve and you just got to go out there and focus and sometimes it doesn’t work. Tonight, it worked out really good.”

For the Avalanche, if Mikhail Grigorenko’s preseason success translates to the regular season, especially at center, they could be back to their days of touting a three-headed monster down the middle while also sporting the kind of strong two-way play they’ve sorely lacked since O’Reilly’s departure. For a guy who was considered a throw-in as recently as last summer, the Avalanche just may be thinking they won the trade, after all.