Mikhail Grigorenko finding renewed confidence for Colorado Avalanche

Mikhail Grigorenko’s path to NHL success has run through Colorado Avalanche Head Coach Patrick Roy for a long time. The two were paired together in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League when Roy was the coach and overlord of the Quebec Remparts while Grigorenko was the top prospect, registering 85 goals in 115 games played for the team. Grigorenko was rated as the 3rd-best skater in North America by Central Scouting Service heading into the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and was selected 12th overall by the Buffalo Sabres.

Following a fractured three seasons in Buffalo, who shuttled Grigorenko between Quebec, their AHL team in Rochester, and Buffalo, Grigorenko was re-united with Roy in last summer’s trade that sent Ryan O’Reilly to Buffalo. Now in Colorado and looking to achieve the kind of success many thought possible during his draft year, Grigorenko has faced an uphill battle early on by playing limited minutes predominantly on Colorado’s fourth line, averaging just 7:50 of ice time per game through the first nine games he’s played.

A strong defensive effort combined with improved decision-making on offense precipitated a move of Grigorenko to Colorado’s second power play unit and while he hasn’t produced any points there yet he has been involved in multiple goals scored, either as the screener in front of the net or the guy who started the play down low that led to a goal. Grigorenko reached a high mark in Tuesday night’s game against the visiting Calgary Flames, registering 14:33 of ice time, putting one shot on goal and being one of Colorado’s few plus players in Corsi on the night.

When asked about Grigorenko’s expanded role in the Flames game, Roy said:

“I thought he was okay. He had some good moments and moments that were not so good. Overall, I thought he did a good job. We see that he’s working hard at his compete level. That was a thing that was a question mark for us when we made the trade and we see that he’s working hard at it. I thought he defended well….I think offensively the more he’s going to play the more confident he will be”

While not exactly an over-the-moon review of his play, Roy certainly left the door open for Grigorenko to continue seeing more ice time as responsible defensive players have consistently been given long leashes since Roy took over the Avalanche just over two years ago.

Yesterday, I sat down with Grigorenko for a couple of minutes and talked about his game against the Flames, what it’s like to play for Roy again, and how he’s enjoying playing in Denver. Check out the full audio below!