Exceptional speed, shiftiness and a penchant for penalty killing have helped Grabner carve out a lengthy NHL career.

Grabner was the second player from Austria to be selected in the first round (Thomas Vanek was the first in 2003) when the Vancouver Canucks chose the speedy forward with the No. 14 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft.

Grabner was drafted out of Spokane of the Western Hockey League. He played three seasons with Spokane, scoring a team-high 36 and 39 goals, respectively, his final two seasons.

After Spokane was eliminated from the 2007 WHL Playoffs, Grabner joined Manitoba, Vancouver's affiliate in the American Hockey League, for the final two games of the regular season and the playoffs.

Grabner played the next two seasons with Manitoba, scoring 22 goals as a rookie in 2007-08 and 30 goals in 2008-09. He scored 10 goals and had 17 points in 20 AHL playoff games to help Manitoba advance to the Calder Cup Finals.

Grabner made Vancouver's roster out of training camp before the 2009-10 season and played his first NHL game Oct. 16, 2009, getting an assist against the Calgary Flames. He scored his first NHL goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 21, 2009, but after nine games was sent back to Manitoba for four months. He was recalled in March and got his first NHL hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks on April 2, 2010.

Grabner was traded to the Florida Panthers on June 25, 2010 but was waived prior to the season and claimed by the New York Islanders on Oct. 3, 2010.

In 2010-11, his first full season in the NHL, Grabner was first among rookies with 34 goals, third with 52 points and a finalist for the Calder Trophy. He also finished second in the NHL with six shorthanded goals. At NHL All-Star Weekend, he won the fastest skater award during the skills competition.

In five seasons with the Islanders, Grabner scored 90 goals, 11 of them shorthanded, and had 144 points in 297 games. On Feb. 27, 2014, Grabner scored two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Islanders traded Grabner to the Maple Leafs on Sept. 17, 2015, and he scored nine goals and 18 points in 80 games in 2015-16. An unrestricted free agent, Grabner signed a two-year contract with the New York Rangers on July 1, 2016.

Grabner scored 27 goals and was plus-22 for the Rangers in 2016-17. He scored 25 goals in 59 games for New York in 2017-18 before being traded to the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 22, 2018. But after scoring two goals in 21 regular-season games for New Jersey and being scratched in three of five games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Grabner signed as a free agent with the Arizona Coyotes on July 1, 2018.

Playing for Austria at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Grabner tied for the tournament lead with five goals.