Grigorenko, a native of Khabarovsk, Russia, is capable of playing center or either wing.

In some ways, he made a quick impact in the NHL, playing for the Buffalo Sabres on opening night of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season straight out of junior hockey. Six games into the season, at age 18, he became the fifth-youngest player in Sabres history to score a goal.

But the 6-foot-3 Grigorenko, the No. 12 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Sabres, would not become an NHL regular until he joined the Colorado Avalanche for the 2015-16 season, after a trade from Buffalo.

Between his NHL debut with Buffalo on Jan. 20, 2013 and the trade that sent him to the Avalanche on June 26, 2015, the Sabres dispatched Grigorenko to either his junior team or their AHL affiliate nine times. That included five assignments with Rochester of the AHL during the 2014-15 season.

The trade reunited him with Avalanche coach Patrick Roy, the legendary goaltender who coached him with Quebec of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. While playing for Roy, Grigorenko was named the Canadian Hockey League's Rookie of the Year in 2011-12 after scoring 40 goals and 85 points in 59 games.

Grigorenko quickly cracked the lineup with the Avalanche and had his first multi-point game of the season on Nov. 14, 2015, when he had a goal and two assists in a 6-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens.