Coaches who tell their players to go to the net if they want to score can site Graves as an example. The Tecumseh, Ontario, native spent his 16 NHL seasons going to the dirty areas and making life miserable for opposing goalies. His rewards included two Stanley Cup championships and the second 50-goal season in the history of the New York Rangers.

The Detroit Red Wings selected Graves, a forward from Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League, in the second round (No. 22) of the 1986 NHL Draft. Graves would go on to get 100 points (45 goals, 55 assists) in 66 games with Windsor the following season, and in 1987-88, he got his first taste in the NHL, playing nine games with Detroit and getting one assist.

Graves made the NHL to stay in 1988-89, getting 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 56 games. But on Nov. 2, 1989, he was part of the package Detroit sent to the Edmonton Oilers in a trade that brought high-scoring center (and Detroit native) Jimmy Carson to the Red Wings.

On a team loaded with veteran talent up front, the "Kid Line" of Graves, Joe Murphy and Martin Gelinas brought youth and feistiness. Graves scored nine goals and 21 points in 62 regular-season games, then contributed 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 22 postseason games to help the Oilers win the Cup for the fifth time in seven seasons.

Graves became a restricted free agent in the summer of 1991 and signed an offer sheet with the New York Rangers, with whom he would soon be joined by former Oilers teammates Mark Messier and Jeff Beukeboom. Playing left wing on a line with Messier, Graves shattered his previous NHL career highs with 26 goals and 59 points in 1991-92, helping the Rangers win the Presidents' Trophy, awarded to the team with the best record in the regular season, for the first time.

After scoring 36 goals in 1992-93, Graves had a career year in 1993-94, scoring a team-record 52 goals (a total not surpassed until Jaromir Jagr scored 54 in 2005-06) and an NHL career-high 79 points. The Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy for the second time in three seasons, then ended a 54-season championship drought by winning the Cup for the first time since 1940. Graves scored 10 goals in 23 games during the run to the Cup, including one in the first period in Game 7 of the Final against the Vancouver Canucks.

Neither Graves nor the Rangers got close to those heights again during the next seven seasons, but he remained productive, scoring at least 20 goals in every season from 1995-96 through 1999-00, including 38 in 1998-99. He also scored the series-ending goal in overtime of Game 5 against the New Jersey Devils in the 1997 Eastern Conference semifinals.

After winning the Masterton Trophy as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, Graves was traded to the San Jose Sharks on June 24, 2001. He played two seasons in San Jose before retiring in 2003.

In 1,152 NHL games, Graves 616 points (329 goals, 287 assists), as well as 65 points (38 goals, 27 assists) in 125 playoff games.

Graves returned to the Rangers after retiring, working in a variety of positions. New York retired No. 9 in honor of him and Hockey Hall of Fame forward Andy Bathgate in 2009.