The short, happy life of Igor Grigorenko
Successful prospects are all the same; every unsuccessful prospect is unsuccessful in his own way. Igor Grigorenko has certainly suffered through tragedy but he’s likely brought about the endgame of his career as a Red Wings prospect. The winger’s demand to be put on Detroit’s roster was bound to eventually happen. He forced the organization’s hand yesterday by issuing a “call me up or I’m going back to Russia” ultimatum. Unfortunately the organization agreed to give him the callup.
For the record, the Red Wings have been refreshingly consistent in their appraisal of the once “can’t miss” prospect.
“I’d say he’s 85 to 90 percent of what he was, from the reports I’ve heard,” said Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill, who is headed to Russia next month to scout Grigorenko. “We’ve heard his hands are back, and he’s got great hockey sense, but now it’s if his skating can come back to the level it was. His whole thing is skating.”
The Red Wings tried to get him to look at the big picture this summer when they knew he wasn’t quite ready to claim a scoring-line slot.
“We think he’ll be a really good second-line guy that might suit Datsyuk. He has the potential to be a star, but it’s one day at a time to start. For instance, if we want him to go to the minors to catch up with the speed, how does he accept that? It won’t do him any good to struggle up here and not play much. A lot of Europeans don’t respect the AHL, but four weeks in the minors might be the best way to get up to NHL speed.”
That four week estimation ended up being overly optimistic. Ken Holland replied to reporters that he told Grigorenko and his agent that it would be best for Grigorenko to remain a Griffin. That request - by an organization that clearly knows what the hell they’re doing - was met with a threat. There’s no one who is to be taken seriously that is going to tell you Igor Grigorenko has earned a spot in Detroit - he’s done next to nothing during the pre-season and in Grand Rapids. Here’s what some other Grand Rapids alumni have done before earning a spot in Detroit.
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | +/- | etc |
|
Jiri Hudler |
205 | 72 | 135 | 277 | +20 | 2nd team AHL All-Star |
|
Niklas Kronvall |
102 | 15 | 51 | 66 | +11 | 1st team AHL All-Star Eddie Shore Award |
|
Tomas Kopecky |
279 | 67 | 80 | 147 | +34 | - |
|
Valtteri Filppula |
93 | 29 | 61 | 90 | +21 | - |
|
Matt Ellis |
309 | 77 | 88 | 165 | +20 | OHL & CHL +/- Award |
Prior to the start of the season I expected the team to carry Grigorenko as a bit of a charity case as the 14th forward. Let him practice with the big club so you don’t lose his him and take a full season to figure out if there’s still anything there. But that was before Matt Ellis earned a spot on the fourth line and Aaron Downey beat Kyle McLaren in a fight that turned the tide in a battle with San Jose that helped the Wings pull out a win.
Aaron Downey has cleared waivers so he can be sent down to Grand Rapids. The timing is curious though as the Wings play a heavy tilt of games against Central Division foes next month. In all there are nine inter-divisional games and two of them will be against the Nashville Predators. There’s one player they need to keep in mind as they consider whether to send Aaron Downey down to Grand Rapids in order to keep Grigorenko on the roster: Jordin Tootoo.
There’s no other player in the division [with the possible exception of Jared Boll] who’s as likely to take a cheap shot at one of Detroit’s top forwards, and losing a member of the ZDH line - which happened for the final 19 regular season games last year due to a cheap shot - could have a significant impact on the team. That’s where Aaron Downey comes in. By holding his own as he beat the 6′4″ Kyle McLaren down to the ice, he’d provide the deterrent necessary to keep the 5′9″ Tootoo in check. Downey isn’t going to be much of a deterrent if he’s a Griffin. I doubt Tootoo could tell you what day tomorrow will be, so thinking ahead to what Downey might do in a matchup a month or two later isn’t likely to enter his mind and deter him.
Sure AARP card-carrier Dallas Drake might be able to go after Tootoo but the fourth line of Downey-Ellis-Kopecky has actually been a good hockey line in addition to having a middleweight enforcer on the ice. Downey hasn’t been sent down yet as Detroit was able to put Johan Franzen on the injured reserve list and keep the healthy skaters with the big club. But Franzen is going to be good to go within about one week, and the Wings will likely need to make a decision at that time. Grigorenko hasn’t earned a spot on Detroit’s roster, so if there’s anyone who should be sent to Grand Rapids regardless of the consequences it’s Igor. His days as a Red Wing could very well be numbered - and if that’s the case it’s a consequence he’s brought entirely upon himself.
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I used to be very excited that Igor was finally going to make it over here. But as time has passed, I’ve become very disillusioned with him. You’re right, he has in no way earned a spot on the Red Wings roster. He hasn’t even earned the right to practice with them. But I don’t want him in GR either. I was at the Griffins home opener, and he hardly played at all. The only time I noticed him was when he took a dumb penalty. He was being harassed, and the Griffins were about to get a PP. However, he turned around and gave the guy a Tootoo-esque shove in the face. He ended up with a penalty himself. A minute later, the Griffins took another penalty and gave up a goal on the 5-on-3 that followed. You would not see a guy like Matt Ellis do something like that. Being in GR isn’t helping Grigs because he doesn’t want to be there, he refuses to accept that this is what he needs, and thus he refuses to play hockey. From what I’ve seen, he goes out and skates in circles for a while, then spends the majority of the game on the bench. Not only has Igor not earned a spot in Detroit, he doesn’t deserve to be a Griffin. If he’s not willing to put in the work, I say send him back to Russia.
[…] MacLeod reports that Johan Franzen worked on the second power play unit to there’s a chance he gets a look there. Bruce also speculates that Hudler could get scratched. If that’s the case it’s likely because the opponent dictates playing an enforcer like Downey over Hudler on the fourth line. So that will be something interesting to keep an eye on during the game. I wrote about the decision of dealing with players like Jordin Tootoo in this post. There’s no other player in the division [with the possible exception of Jared Boll] who’s as likely to take a cheap shot at one of Detroit’s top forwards, and losing a member of the ZDH line - which happened for the final 19 regular season games last year due to a cheap shot - could have a significant impact on the team. That’s where Aaron Downey comes in. By holding his own as he beat the 6′4″ Kyle McLaren down to the ice, he’d provide the deterrent necessary to keep the 5′9″ Tootoo in check. […]
I am sooo glad Grigorenko is gone!
I love Aaron Downey, I think another good move would be to get rid of Dallas Drake, Downey is a much better,
younger player. Wish he knew how much we (I) really like him here in Detroit.