Montreal to sign Mikhail Grabovsky

Mikhail Grabovsky
The Montreal Canadiens are about to sign 22-year-old Dynamo Moscow forward Mikhail Grabovsky, according to a news item that appeared yesterday on the Russian web site gazeta.ru. The items quotes Grabovsky's agent, Gary Greenstin (who is also the agent for Pavel Datsyuk) as saying, "Mikhail Grabovsky will almost certainly leave to play for Montreal next season. The Canadiens have been in constant contact with me, and there has been enormous interest shown from their side."

Drafted in the 5th round (150 overall) by the Canadiens in 2004, Grabovsky has spent the majority of his pro career playing in the relatively low-scoring Russian Super League, where he has put up 26 goals and 37 assists in 108 games playing for Dynamo Moscow and Neftkhimik over the past two seasons.

Grabovsky is second in scoring at the current IIHF World Championships with 8 points (5 goals and 3 assists) in 5 games, playing for Belarus, including a hat trick on Saturday against Ukraine.


Mikhail Grabovsky (#84, center)

Mikhail Grabovsky's player profile, from Russian Prospects:

Mikhail Grabovsky is a talented scoring line forward who has speed, vision, skill and shooting ability as his primary strengths, with his lack of size (5-11, 180) and ineffectiveness in physical play as his primary shortcomings. Skating is definitely one of Grabovsky’s top strengths, with an above average top speed and very good acceleration. A gifted player with strong puckhandling skills, effective in one on one situations with opposition players and is imaginative with the puck. Has an above average wrist shot with a quick release and a precise slap shot with a quick release. Makes precise passes on the tape. Possesses an impressive vision of the ice, seeing plays developing and creating scoring chances for himself and his linemates. Returns to help out in his own zone and at times is even deeper in the defensive zone than some of the defensemen. Is aggressive and works hard to harass the opposition.

Update 6:56pm - Thanks to a tip from the Montreal Canadiens message forum, I have found a link to another source for this story. It's in Slovakian, I think, but you can still understand it pretty well.