Grabovski, bought out before the start of free agency by the Toronto Maple Leafs, is still on the market. Initially, the thinking was that he'd opted to wait until his honeymoon was over before making any big decision. That, according to Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons, is not exactly the case.
According to one NHL GM, he wanted too much money and too much term in the early days of free agency.
“He was trying to cash in on getting the buyout and double dipping,” a general manager said. “And once everybody who wanted a center signed them, there was no place for him to get the kind of deal he wanted.”
Grabovski, by virtue of his buyout, will receive a little less than $1.8 million over the next eight seasons from the Maple Leafs. Simmons uses the 29-year-old's 32-point-pace under Randy Carlyle as an argument against paying him more real money, and that's valid enough, but Grabovski's story -- as covered to death all over the place -- goes well beyond points.
Specifically, his linemates possess the puck more with him than other players, Phil Kessel included. If puck possession metrics aren't your thing, there's also this: Grabovski's linemates scored more with him than Tyler Bozak, the Leafs' nominal first-line center and, essentially, the player Toronto chose to retain over him. Also, Randy Carlyle played Grabovski in a fourth-line role most of last season. Good luck producing offensively when your main linemates are Nikolai Kulemin and Jay McClement.
Again, none of this is new. Grabovski is a favorite of the analytics community (and there's not much else to talk about) so his strengths have been dissected ad nauseam. The point is that he's unlikely to sign for much, and remains a productive player when put in the right situations. If someone pays him like a third-line center, they're likely to get more than their money's worth.
