Grigorenko destroyed by Buffalo?

[krt88]

Grigorenko does not look coach able at this stage of his career and I fear he will head off to Russia on a loan in a few days and we will never hear from him again. The kid doesn't want to work hard and doesn't have the desire to earn his NHL spurs.

 

[FamilyGuy716]

Grigs clearly was not ready for prime time and never should have been up here but that doesn't mean he's ruined. He'll be better off going back to junior and then playing in Rochester next year and then we'll see where he is. Hopefully he gets faster and stronger and his play without the puck gets better.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

I just flat out don't believe, barring extreme circumstances, that an organization or coach can "ruin" a young player. If a guy has it in him to work hard and succeed then he'll eventually do it. If he doesn't then ultimately it's his own fault, whether by lack of talent or a bad attitude.

If anything, Grigorenko should learn from his lack of success so far in Buffalo and perhaps build off his success in the WJCs. If somehow the process he's been through has actually hurt his progress, then he doesn't have much chance at overcoming the adversity he'll face in the NHL. An organization can screw up and push a guy early or hold him back too long, but making or breaking a career is on the player.

 

[Matte99]

I was very unimpressed with him during WJC (seems very lazy). Why is he in Buffalo at all? Shouldnt he develop elsewhere first?

 

[stokes84]

Please tell me where he would be flourishing right now...

 

[Chainshot]

I was very unimpressed with him during WJC (seems very lazy). Why is he in Buffalo at all? Shouldnt he develop elsewhere first?

The previous regime wanted to force his development. He wasn't ready last year and yet they kept him around, botched that so that his ELC started and then the same knuckleheads brought him back to start this season even though he's not shown to be physically mature enough to be ready. "Ruining" is strong terminology for where he is at so far -- if he was still in the Q, we'd have people pimping out his scoring totals without looking at the holes in his overall game (oh... wait... that happened last year too!) as being "dominant" when in fact, he's far from it. He's a gifted offensive player who it will take time to rasp off the warts. The best place for him is not in Buffalo at this point, but playing against his peers and showing development in his game away from the puck and in determined puck reclaimation at the junior level. It seems with the import loophole, he'll get that opportunity within a few days.

 

[cramdizzl]

Grigorenko does not look coach able at this stage of his career and I fear he will head off to Russia on a loan in a few days and we will never hear from him again. The kid doesn't want to work hard and doesn't have the desire to earn his NHL spurs.

There is just no chance of him bolting for the KHL at this point. Unless he never cracks an NHL roster, he'll be in North America because this is where he wants to make his name. How can you glean all of that from his short stints in Buffalo so far? I think that is just completely farfetched and unfounded.

Also, this
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[Disengage]

"What you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

 

[Meichel Kane]

Column needs more long dashes.

 

[hizzoner]

Grigorenko has to work on his skating (he is ok by most Canadian standards for his size but pales by comparison to most of the Euros) and he needs to be more consistent. But to knock him as some posters do is just too much. He led the Russian junior team in scoring and was used to kill penalties-which he did damn well. He was on the ice in key situations and he justified his coach's faith. He may turn out to be a flop but a lot of very good players did not show their stuff until 23 or 24....

 

[sabresandcanucks]

His style of play is only going to be dominant once he can protect the puck along the boards without being thrown around like a rag doll by the opposing team. That means he needs to physically mature which will take time.

 

[lecherous]

How about "Grigorenko's development stunted by AHL age restrictions"

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

lol at Grigorenko demanding a buyout. That is just....that is just pure comedic gold. Was this an onion article?

 

[Moskau]

Buffalo Sabres Mascot

 

[SackTastic]

How about "Grigorenko's development stunted by AHL age restrictions"

Probably the most reasonable comment in this entire thread. :p

 

[Clock]

The dramz.

I'm not even sure what the point of that article was. The Sabres aren't playing Grigorenko, therefore they must not want him in the system...?

 

[BananaSquad]

Grigorenko got destroyed by a buffalo? Damn that sucks. Kid had great potential...... RIP Grigo!

 

[Keaganizer]

My gut does tell me that he will never develop into the player that we all wanted him to be. BUT I do by no means think his career is ruined or even close to being done. Mishandled, yes. I stay away from sabresnoise for the most part due to the clueless negativity just because it's a rebuilding year.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

I think the Sabres have made mistakes all along. He shouldn't have started in NHL but there is a reason he dropped in the draft. We're discovering what others figured out before passing om him.

Did he drop to 12 by accident?

 

[ozpensfan]

For memory (correct me if im wrong) but he was slated for top5 but then got injured prior to the draft.

Also I think we can all agree he was mismanaged but the team last year, but hes still young and has time to develop. Maybe (and just maybe) if he feels like his game and development was hindered by the sabres organisation so badly he may pull a Radulov ASAP, but you wont know until his current contract is up....

 

[DixonWard15]

I don't know if Grigorenko will be a star or not but Regier absolutely made several mistakes in handling him. He wasn't ready for the NHL so he should have been down, of course ideally that would have been the AHL but that just wasn't an option so it had to be juniors.

 

[BananaSquad]

For memory (correct me if im wrong) but he was slated for top5 but then got injured prior to the draft..

Ranked number 2 behind Yakupov until Final rankings where he was ranked at 12.

 

[Cirris]

There is just no chance of him bolting for the KHL at this point. Unless he never cracks an NHL roster, he'll be in North America because this is where he wants to make his name. How can you glean all of that from his short stints in Buffalo so far? I think that is just completely farfetched and unfounded.

Also, this
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Filatov said all the same things when he was drafted. Eventually he took off for Russia.

When your career is turning into a mess and your frustrated, It's easy to head to home to a league in your home country that suits your skills better than the NHL.

 

[Corto]

The article is over the top and melodramatic, and flat out wrong on some stuff...

But... The article aside, Grigorenko's development has been pretty crap in Buffalo, and while he is a boom-or-bust project and a lot of that might be on him, it's been borderline disastrous from Buffalo's side - culminating with Grig hanging in limbo now, at a crucial age, not playing and/or not playing enough.

 

[ozpensfan]

Could be worse, no matter what happens with Grigs, Sabres will never be as bad as the Bluejackets draft record....