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TheMooterus

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Forum: Armchair-GMFeb. 28 at 11:30 p.m.
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>KingofRnR</b></div><div>Heard he’s a rugged stay at home defensive bulldog type of a player with a high compete level. That’s all I know myself. Seems more likely to make the NHL than Kyrou anyway

Scouting Report: The Russian defenseman is an excellent skater, a skill he is learning to use better to control gaps. Is more than willing to use his body to break up plays, but also can be disruptive with his stick. His play with the puck is improving; he has emerging vision and poise that should continue to get better as he matures.

Artem Grushnikov: Defence-first, space-closing, defensive defenceman. Little-to-no inclination to hold onto puck or provide individual offence, low-risk facilitator. Not overly physical, but can play “bully” in the defensive end if needed.
Ceiling: Top-4 shutdown D-man
Floor: AHL D-man
Playstyle comparables: Esa Lindell, Danny DeKeyser

Congrats to DAL! They Won the Tanev Sweepstakes and under paid for him 75% retained</div></div>

I agree with parts of this and disagree with other parts. He is a fantastic skater that is definitely a defense-first defenseman. Honestly though, I've been waiting to see him take the next step in his development for the last year or so and I just haven't seen it. He's been buried on the Texas Stars depth chart all year and even as a U19 in Hamilton last year, he didn't look any more mature than he did during his U18 season.

I still think that due to the way he plays the game that he has a pretty safe floor as a top AHL defenseman/7th NHL defenseman, but I don't see his ceiling being much higher than that of a 3rd pair, defense-focused shutdown defenseman that gets some minutes on one of your PK units. I hope that he can get some top-4 minutes out in Stockton and grow into an NHL talent because I'm a huge fan of the way he plays the game.