Lack of size can be a pretty big strike against a hockey prospect, but Grimaldi never let his 5-foot-6, 160-pound frame stand in his way of making it to the NHL.

The shortest player at the 2011 NHL Draft combine, the former University of North Dakota star showed enough to become a second-round pick (No. 33) by the Florida Panthers.

A mass of energy and hustle on the ice with natural goal-scoring ability and a willingness to play along the boards, Grimaldi needed every bit of energy and stamina when he played a rare hockey doubleheader on Nov. 18, 2014.

The day began in Texas with a 10:30 a.m. CT home game with San Antonio of the American Hockey League, but during the second intermission the Panthers summoned Grimaldi as an emergency injury replacement for their game that night in Los Angeles.

As San Antonio was wrapping up a shootout victory, Grimaldi flew 1,353 miles to join the Panthers for their 7:30 p.m. PT start. That night, Grimaldi took two shots and had 10:36 of ice time in a 5-2 loss to the Kings.

Three days later, Grimaldi's first NHL goal, with 43 seconds left against the Nashville Predators, helped the Panthers salvage a point in a shootout loss.

In 2015-16, Grimaldi saw his first Stanley Cup Playoff action in the first two games of Florida's first-round loss to the New York Islanders. However, the Panthers traded him to the Colorado Avalanche on June 23, 2016. He spent most of the next two seasons with San Antonio before signing with the Nashville Predators as a free agent on July 2, 2018.

Grimaldi got his first extended chance to play in the NHL in 2018-19, finishing with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 53 games. He reached double figures in goals for the first time in 2019-20 and was rewarded on Feb. 24, 2020, when he signed a two-year contract.

At North Dakota, Grimaldi was named rookie of the year in 2012-13 and, as the leading scorer the next year, won the Cliff "Fido" Purpur Award for exemplifying hard work and creating excitement on the ice.

Internationally, Grimaldi scored the tying and winning goals for the United States against Sweden in the gold-medal game of the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.