Buffalo Sabres center Mikhail Grigorenko is in the familiar yet unwelcome position he was in during his abbreviated rookie season last year. The young player is a healthy scratch just a handful of games into the regular season due to a lack of "urgency," according to his head coach Ron Rolston, per Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.
The 19-year-old former first-round draft pick has just one goal and five points in 29 career games spanning this and last season, and he hasn't lived up to the high expectations with which he came into the league.
It's come down to head coach Ron Rolston making the decision to sit the highly skilled center until he sees him be someone who can "be an impact in a game."
It's all fine and dandy to want to see a more competitive performance from a young player who's expected to be a point producer for your squad, but when he's not put in enough positions to succeed how can you expect him to make an impact?
While no one will—nor should they—accept this potential reasoning for Grigorenko's seeming lack of fire on the ice, one could make the argument t ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Michael Straw
Buffalo Sabres Need to Handle Mikhail Grigorenko Differently
October 10th, 2013 by Michael Straw Leave a reply »
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