The Calgary Flames made another trade deadline splash, sending defenceman Chris Tanev to the Dallas Stars in return for a second-round draft pick, a conditional third-round draft pick, and defence prospect Artem Grushnikov.
General Manager Craig Conroy decided that this was the offer that passed his own internal threshold, and Grushnikov is a big reason why.
Here’s a deep dive on Grushnikov, the newest member of the Flames organization.
Grushnikov’s statistics and bio
Hailing from Russia, Grushnikov turns 21 on March 20, is a left-shot defenseman, stands at 6’1″, and weighs in at 194 lbs. He was drafted 48th overall by the Dallas Stars in the second round of the 2021 draft.
In his rookie season with the Texas Stars of the AHL, Grushnikov has put up one goal and five points in 44 games. He is a stay-at-home, defensive defenceman, so offence is really not the thing to look at when trying to evaluate this player. Any statistics or models rooted in offence are not going to be particularly useful in this case.
Grushnikov has a few notable championships on his resume, too. He has a gold medal from the World U17 in 2018–19 and from the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2019–20. He also won an OHL championship with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2021–22.
Scouting reports on Grushnikov
Back in his draft year, Grushnikov was ranked quite high—inside the top 50 overall. FC Hockey identified his patience, physicality, active stick, shot-blocking, and overall defensive ability as key strengths. Here are some key notes from their report on him:
Grushnikov might the best defensive and most reliable player in the class. He shows good patience, not rushing his decisions. When the play is coming at him, he’s good at keeping his opponent to the outside of the defensive zone and limiting their angle to get a shot off. He is not afraid to be physical in the corners and can win puck battles, which is very promising. He plays with an active stick and is good at closing off passing lanes as the plays transpire. He is not afraid to block shots and battle hard in front of the net, maintaining his position so that his opponent does not gain space.
He’s very quick on his edges, with good movement in all four directions.
FC Hockey 2021 Draft Guide
There are definite deficiencies in his game, but those almost exclusively come in the offensive zone. When it comes to defending, it looks like Grushnikov is on his way to becoming a potentially high-end shutdown defender in the pro ranks.
Mitchell Brown tracks and records microstats for non-NHL players, and Grushnikov’s chart comes out like this:
In just eight games of tracking data, you can see that Grushnikov is well below average in many offensive categories, but on the defensive side, he shows very well. He’s solid at exiting his own zone and preventing zone entries by opponents.
The Athletic ranked Grushnikov as the Stars’ 10th-best prospect earlier in the year, which is saying something as the Stars have a very deep and talented group of prospects. Here are some key highlights from their report:
Grushnikov is a fascinating case study in that despite a statistical profile that virtually never translates to the NHL, he has always had some believers because of his skating, length and ability to defend.
He’s got balanced posture and control in his skating, which he uses effectively gapping up. He’s an excellent backward skater. He’s got a disruptive stick and an ability to track and then close out physically.
He has defended well for a 20-year-old rookie in the AHL.
The Stars clearly have belief in him or they wouldn’t have drafted him in the second round, signed him and bypassed the ECHL for the AHL.
Scott Wheeler of the Athletic
One last tally in the “yes” column is this note from Derek Neumeier, a scout with McKeen’s Hockey.
Clearly, NHL teams and those who have followed him closely think highly of Grushnikov’s defensive game, which is very good news.
The Flames’ outlook on Grushnikov
Despite not sitting Tanev out for a single second while trade rumours swirled around the coveted shutdown defender, Conroy did hint at mitigating the risk of injury as a factor in trading him nine days before the deadline. The Stars including Grushnikov in the deal was a clear trigger in making the deal.
Conroy had this to say about Grushnikov last night:
He’s having a good season and the numbers are deceiving.
He kills penalties, good stick, great skater, makes simple puck plays—he knows what he is.
From all the stuff we have in terms of background checks he’s a quality person and he’ll do whatever it takes to be in the NHL one day.
Craig Conroy to Eric Francis of Sportsnet
Conroy also had this to say to Post Media’s Wes Gilbertson:
It would make sense that the Flames were very familiar with Grushnikov. He was taken four picks after the Flames drafted William Stromgren in the 2021 draft; perhaps he was next on their list.
Grushnikov himself had this to say about his game:
I’m a defensive defenceman, I play strong hockey.
[I] try to do the best for the team in the D-zone, penalty-kill, everything.I’m working on my offensive game (too), trying (to grow).
Artem Grushnikov in conversation with Flames TV’s Brendan Parker
We don’t know a ton about the player, but it looks like Grushnikov was targeted for his ability to complement the Flames’ defensive prospect pipeline. They have a few defensemen who lean heavily towards the offensive end in Jeremie Poirier and Hunter Brzustewicz, and now have a couple that lean heavily towards the defensive end in two Russians, Yan Kuznetsov and Grushnikov.
An NHL future for Grushnikov with the Flames
Conroy went out and got a guaranteed second-round pick, a chance at an additional third-round pick, and a prospect he feels helps the pipeline. It’s hard not to see this acquisition as a win.
Grushnikov will join the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers right away, but with a pending Noah Hanifin trade around the corner, one could even bet that Grushnikov will see NHL ice before the season is done.
Photo from Dallas Stars.
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