Rumor: Kyle Dubas met with Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Nesterov (KHL)

[De Montreal]

Grigorenko must be close to 35 year old now

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Meh. Why not I guess.

 

[Weast]

I, for one, really like Grigorenko with the Avs. Guy was slow as all hell and didn't really have any hands and was kind of daft. Well now that I think about it, I really only liked his shot and saying his name

 

[Moskau]

Grigorenko tries to play the game similar to Joe Thornton where he holds on to the puck and distributes from the wall/face-off circle. The problem with his game at the NHL level was he somehow makes Joe look intense and has 1/2 of his strength and puck possession. It led to him being a black hole at both ends of the rink. He wont kill you defensively and wont do much offensively.

 

[BLONG7]

Can they add anyone? Do they have cap space??? It seems they don't?

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

No harm in that at all. It's no secret Leafs gotta find some low priced players to fill out roster with the high priced guys they have. IMO all GMs should be doing this.

Good on Dubas for getting out there. I'm sure more GMs are doing this too but obviously we just hear more about what TO does always.

I'm not a fan at all of these 2 players but hey, why not... well done Dubas

 

[FerrisRox]

No harm in that at all. It's no secret Leafs gotta find some low priced players to fill out roster with the high priced guys they have. IMO all GMs should be doing this.

All GM's do do this. Did you think Kyle Dubas invented signing guys from the KHL?

 

[AcerComputer]

Can they add anyone? Do they have cap space??? It seems they don't?

It literally says they will be UFAs next year.

 

[tucker3434]

You guys literally just traded for one of our bargain bins and remarked how well he looked in camp so no, there are a ton of good pieces they brought in.

Ha. Rosen wasn’t exactly the linchpin of the Barrie trade. And yeah, we hope he’ll be a decent bottom pairing defenseman for us in the future. For now, he’s still in the AHL. And that’s kinda my point. Most of these guys are replacement level players, give or take. Your odds are probably a bit better if you can discover a late bloomer that went undrafted. But these guys that have had their shot in the NHL probably didn’t stick for a reason.

 

[garyturner3]

There is zero downside to signing either of these players because they'll both be making next to nothing. How people find a way to complain about this is beyond me. Grigorenko's obviously not going to turn into the type of player people hoped, but he's clearly got NHL talent.

 

[Carltons Cup]

Marner probably owes Dubas an apology for having him go half way across the world to shop at the Dollar Store in hopes of finding an unexpired bin item...

 

[Pens x]

Yikes...

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Lol nesterov is awful , hes not even nhl worthy

 

[Tralfamadore]

No, he doesn't.

You're right. He's just trash at the NHL level.

 

[Palio]

Why not? Mikheyev has been fantastic, doesn’t hurt to take keep looking

 

[Hostile Offer]

Neither is very good honestly. Not sure what happened with Grigorenko, he seemed like a future star player.

 

[dfunk]

Lol everyone acting like Dubas has signed them already. Relax it was a meeting (apparently)

it’s a GM doing his job scouting stuff out. Mikheyev has worked out so far, Zaitsev was a disaster. Rosen, Borgman, meh. Not great. But every single one of them came and got a shot and didn’t cost a pick, player, or prospect. Jesus. I’m sure GMs of other teams are doing the same thing but since it’s the leafs everyone goes haywire

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

All GM's do do this. Did you think Kyle Dubas invented signing guys from the KHL?

I meant these 2 particular players

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Neither is very good honestly. Not sure what happened with Grigorenko, he seemed like a future star player.

Maybe he won't ever be the player he was projected to be, but I think it's not outlandish to think that he can be better than what he's shown in the NHL so far. I think it's safe to say that getting bounced between the NHL and juniors for his first 3 seasons in Buffalo didn't help his development at all. And, then he came to Colorado and played on two bad teams, including the 2016-17 dumpster fire, and then he was gone. I'm not sure he'll succeed with another chance on a good team, but I can see why a GM might be interested to see what he can do on a team that isn't horribad.

 

[Sens]

Grigorenko tries to play the game similar to Joe Thornton where he holds on to the puck and distributes from the wall/face-off circle. The problem with his game at the NHL level was he somehow makes Joe look intense and has 1/2 of his strength and puck possession. It led to him being a black hole at both ends of the rink. He wont kill you defensively and wont do much offensively.

He has since developed... he’s totally a different player in the KHL...His skating has improved along with his decision making.

He’s become a very good player

 

[glucker]

Lol everyone acting like Dubas has signed them already. Relax it was a meeting (apparently)

it’s a GM doing his job scouting stuff out. Mikheyev has worked out so far, Zaitsev was a disaster. Rosen, Borgman, meh. Not great. But every single one of them came and got a shot and didn’t cost a pick, player, or prospect. Jesus. I’m sure GMs of other teams are doing the same thing but since it’s the leafs everyone goes haywire

Zaitsev wasn’t even a disaster, he was a decent 4/5/6 kinda guy. Lou was just a disaster.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Rummaging around in that bargain bin.

Why not? That's how they found Mikhelev and Moore both were cheap depth free agents

 

[Chainshot]

And if he signs them? So what…? It isn’t like the Leafs haven’t shown a willingness to sign pro players from Europe as depth pieces and if they don’t make the Buds, the Marlies are stacked.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Grigorenko's first goal was against us.

He was drafted by the Sabres at the same time Girgensons was.
Leafs fans had an outcry that the Sabres were drafting C's and good ones and we were not.
Rielly (and Ceci now) were good consolation prizes

 

[dubey]

Lol nesterov is awful , hes not even nhl worthy

He isn't in the NHL

Can't find a spot for Bracco(and a couple others in the AHL)... but sure go and sign Grigorenko because it's way more creative.

lol what