A pair of players have decided their underwhelming NHL careers are over for now, as Nikita Nesterov and Mikhail Grigorenko have both signed three-year deals with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. Nesterov’s agent had recently reported that he had at least two NHL offers, while Grigorenko did not receive a qualifying offer from the last place Colorado Avalanche.
Talent continues to stream away from the KHL despite any thoughts of Olympic participation, with players like Vladimir Sobotka, Evgeni Dadonov, Vadim Shipachyov, Alexei Bereglazov, Viktor Antipin and Klim Kostin all coming over in the past few months. Even non-Russian players like Jakub Jerabek and Stephane Da Costa are leaving the KHL for greener pastures. With that, the league has tried desperately to recruit some of their former talent back, getting Nikita Tryamkin and others to return before today.
We’ve written extensively over the past few days on Nesterov, who has had trouble finding a role in the NHL. Though his offensive ability suggests he should be able to quarterback a powerplay and take advantage of third pairing matchups, he’s never consistently shown that he can perform in those roles. A mid-season trade to the Canadiens was an even worse fit than with the Lightning, and ended with him going unqualified by Montreal this offseason.
Grigorenko on the other hand is an even worse story. Drafted 12th-overall in 2012 after dominating the Canadian junior ranks, Grigorenko was supposed to develop into a powerful center capable of playing in all scenarios. Buffalo began developing him before quickly realizing he wasn’t going to be that top-line player, and including him in a trade to Colorado for Ryan O’Reilly. In Colorado, given all the opportunity in the world with skilled players and on the powerplay, Grigorenko was still only able to reach a career-high of 27 points. He just didn’t play as big as he looked, and had trouble bringing a consistent effort.
Now just 23, it’s far from over for Grigorenko in terms of an NHL career. Should he find his game in Russia and develop into the two-way center his skills should allow, there will likely be several suitors in a few seasons to bring him back. He clearly had dreams of playing in the NHL, coming over to play in Canada when he was just 16. That dream isn’t dead, but it will be put on hold for a while.