Playing Career
Grabovski was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens 150th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and played his first NHL game with Montreal on January 6, 2007, against the New York Rangers. He played three games in the NHL before being sent back down to Montreal's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Grabovski helped the Hamilton Bulldogs win the AHL Calder Cup Championship in 2006-07 season.
Grabovski started the 2007–08 season with the Canadiens, recording his first NHL point (an assist) on October 20, 2007, against the Buffalo Sabres and his first goal two days later against the Boston Bruins. After a March 6, 2008 game in Phoenix for which he was a healthy scratch, Grabovski, apparently frustrated by his exclusion from the lineup, flew to Los Angeles ahead of the rest of the team to speak with his agent, creating controversy in Montreal.
Grabovski was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 3, 2008, in exchange for the draft rights to Greg Pateryn and a 2010 second round pick. He was suspended for three games in January 2009 for shoving an official during an altercation with his fellow Belarusian countryman Sergei Kostitsyn of the Montreal Canadiens, with whom he has maintained an ongoing feud dating back to his time with the Canadiens. Grabovski went on to finish with 20 goals and 48 points in his rookie season leading all NHL Eastern Conference rookies in scoring.
The Toronto Maple Leafs rewarded Grabovski for his rookie season performance by re-signing him to a 3 year contract worth a total of $8.7 million. This contract represents an average annual cap hit of $2.9 million. His 58 points in the 2010-2011 NHL regular season is the highest amongst Maple Leaf centres since Mats Sundin's 78 points in the 2007-2008 NHL season.
On March 6, 2012 the Toronto Maple Leafs re-signed Grabovski to a 5 year contract worth a total of $27.5 million. The contract represents an average annual cap hit of $5.5 million.
On September 25th 2012, Grabovski signed with CSKA Moscow of the KHL to play with during the 2012 NHL lockout..
Read more about this topic: Mikhail Grabovski
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