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By Matthew Wuest - www.RedWingsCentral.com January 22, 2007 The Detroit Red Wings expect to sign Igor Grigorenko this summer, and the plan is for him to play in the National Hockey League next season. The 5-foot-10, 209-pound right-winger is competing in his fourth season in Russia since suffering serious injuries in a May, 2003, car accident. He is reportedly making $1 million U.S. and has nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 35 games with Lada Togliatti of the Russian Elite League. “We’ve talked to him and his agent, and he knows it’s time for him to get over,” said Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill. “We’re going to bring him over and see how he is. He’s an older player who’s played elite hockey for the last seven years. His mindset and our mindset is for him to come over and make the Detroit Red Wings and that’s what it should be.” If it weren’t for the car wreck, Grigorenko, 23, would probably be in Detroit already, perhaps — with all due respect to Tomas Holmstrom — even riding shotgun on the wing with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Originally selected in the second round (62nd overall) in 2001, Grigorenko quickly became a top scorer in Russia and won MVP honors and a gold medal at the 2003 world junior championship in Nova Scotia. He was subsequently ranked the world’s ninth-best prospect by The Hockey News. He represented Russia at the 2003 world championship in Finland and looked comfortable on the top line with Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk. The Red Wings planned to sign him then, but the accident happened first, leaving Grigorenko with a broken left femur and two fractures in his left tibia. His comeback was gradual, but he has reached a plateau in the last year and a half, sitting at about 85 or 90 percent of his former self. His quickness is still not what it was and continues to hold him back. Hakan Andersson, Detroit’s director of European scouting, saw Grigorenko play for Russia’s national team late last year. He also received report on Grigorenko from his Czech scout, Vladimir Havluj, last month. “Vladimir said this year, he likes the same stuff we liked then — he likes his thinking on the ice, he likes his hands, but he did not like his quickness,” said Andersson. “When I saw him play I liked what I saw. That was a fairly high level. I really liked his thinking, I really liked his hands. He looked in very good shape. He’s a stocky guy with very good balance.” Grigorenko has 70 points in his last 115 games in Russia (0.61 per game). For comparison’s sake, Datsyuk had 31 in his last 57 games in the same league before coming to North America in 2001-02 (0.54 per game). Nonetheless, Grigorenko isn’t a lock to play on Detroit's top three lines. “For the past couple of years, I’ve been excited about the thought of Grigorenko coming back to what he was ... that’s pretty exciting,” said Andersson. “But you start to worry it won’t happen. A couple of years later and he’s still missing something. Will it happen? There’s a chance it might happen, and as a team, we have to find out where he stands.” There have been reports out of Russia that Grigorenko still feels pain in his leg and that he has been prohibited from jumping in training. He has undergone numerous operations in Russia, but Andersson wonders if the Red Wings can help him even more once he gets to Detroit. “He could be one simple operation away in the U.S. from everything being fine,” Andersson suggested. “At the same time, there might be something you can’t fix going on with his leg. But if he had a problem, I hope he lets the Detroit doctors know. Who knows? Maybe it’s something they can fix.” Nill, who scouted Grigorenko at the same national-team tournament as Andersson, said he thinks Grigorenko can get his extra step back. “I saw him last year and he was close to being back to that step,” Nill said. “He was never a real speed-demon to start with. What I was happy with was his head and his hands were what they were in the past.” Grigorenko’s game has always been based on power, balance and terrific offensive ability. He is dangerous down low and on the power play, and he works well along the boards. His intensity is unmatched. Grigorenko scored just once in his first 17 games, but now has eight tallies in his last 18 contests. Whether that success translates in Detroit will depend on how he adjusts to the speed of the NHL game, Nill said. “The game is really fast now and you’ve got to learn to move quick,” he said. “It’s not a high-tempo game in Russia. I’m hoping once he gets here, he can get used to (the faster game). I don’t think he is going to get much better playing over there. Once he comes over, that will be his real test.” HOT: Center Shawn Matthias (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) had two goals this week and has tallied 26 times in 45 games, a pace for 40 goals. The big speedster has more goals than any Wings prospect in major junior ... Winger Dick Axelsson (Huddinge, Sweden’s second level) scored three goals in two games this week. He has nine goals in his last 14 games. At the same age and in the same league in 1998-99, Zetterberg had 15 goals in 37 games. COLD: Winger Gennady Stolyarov (Dynamo Moscow, Russian Elite League) has just one assist in his last 10 games after a solid start ... Winger Mattias Ritola (Leksands, Sweden’s second level) has just one assist in his last eight games ... Winger Jan Mursak (Saginaw, OHL) has plenty of points, but his goal-scoring has slowed. Mursak, named the OHL’s academic player of the month for December, has found the net four times in 19 games. NOTES: Center Evan McGrath was demoted to the Toledo Storm of the East Coast Hockey League this week and had a goal and three assists in his first three games ... Tyler Donati, a 20-year-old free agent, is tied for the OHL scoring lead with 88 points in 46 games. The Wings plan to invite the Belleville center to training camp in the fall along with his twin brother, Justin (66 points in 41 games for Sudbury). Both came to camp last year. The following is this season’s statistical report to date:
The following is this season's statistical report for goaltenders to date:
LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; ECHL -- East Coast Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; RUS-2 -- Russian second level; FIN -- Finnish Elite League; FIN-J20 -- Finnish under-20 junior league; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-3 -- Swedish third level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 junior league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; NCAA -- National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1; USHL -- United States Hockey League. |
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