In the summer of 2010, Brian McGrattan was the odd man out.
Derek Boogaard was signed to the New York Rangers as Jody Shelley was added to the Philadelphia Flyers. Two of the NHL's best fighters signed on the same day, but McGrattan found himself out of a job.
The 6'4" 235-pound enforcer was ranked third on HockeyFights.com's official top ten ranking of the NHL's best fighters at the time.
Having no contract after finishing the 2009-10 season with the Calgary Flames, it took until mid-September before McGrattan saw hope of playing in the NHL again.
He earned a tryout with the Boston Bruins and was signed to a one-year contract.
He spent the season in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, never able to take the NHL enforcer job away from Shawn Thornton. On February 28th, McGrattan was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for David Laliberte and Stefan Chaput.
With George Parros adequately filling the Ducks' need for an enforcer, McGrattan was essentially in the same situation as he was with Boston: filling the AHL enforcer role while a fan favorite served the NHL team.
Anaheim re-signed McGrattan this past summer. It ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Jason Sapunka
Brian McGrattan Fights His Way Back to the NHL with the Nashville Predators
November 18th, 2011 by Jason Sapunka Leave a reply »
Advertisement