Russian forward Mikhail Grigorenko has signed a two-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk, the KHL club announced on Friday.

“He’s vastly experienced playing in the NHL, international tournaments with the Russian national team, as well as the Gagarin Cup, of which he is a three-time winner,” Traktor GM Alexei Volkov said about Grigorenko. “He is equally capable of playing in several positions, is creative and has a great shot. Add excellent human qualities here and we get a really great top-line player, capable of making the team even more competitive.”

Born in Khabarovsk, in the far east of Russia near the Pacific coast, Grigorenko moved to Moscow as a child and played for the famous CSKA club. At age 17, he went overseas to play junior hockey for the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, and then a year later was drafted 12th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Grigorenko played parts of three seasons with Buffalo before he was part of a blockbuster trade at the 2015 Draft, going to the Colorado Avalanche in a deal that also included Nikita Zadorov, J.T. Compher, Ryan O’Reilly, Jamie McGinn and a first-round pick. Grigorenko’s two seasons in Colorado were his most productive in the NHL, recording 27 and 23 points, respectively.

After two seasons back in the KHL, Grigorenko had one more 32-game NHL stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season, recording 12 points. In all, he had 76 points and 36 penalty minutes in 249 career NHL games.

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In 481 career KHL regular-season and playoff games, Grigorenko has 371 points – mostly with CSKA, but he played last season for SKA St. Petersburg, where he had 48 points in 71 games.

Internationally, Grigorenko has represented Russia at one IIHF U-18 World Championship, three World Junior Championships and three senior-level World Championships. He’s also played in the Olympics twice, winning gold with the Olympic Athletes from Russia in 2018 and a silver with ROC in 2022.

Traktor Chelyabinsk finished first in the KHL’s Eastern Conference last year and advanced to the Gagarin Cup finals, where it was swept by Lokomotiv Yaroslav. In addition to Grigorenko, the team has under contract for 2025-26 goaltender Chris Driedger, former NHLers Vladimir Zahkarov and Jordan Gross, as well as prospects Arseni Koromyslov (St. Louis Blues), Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (Toronto Maple Leafs), Matvei Guskov (Minnesota Wild) and Alexander Rykov (Carolina Hurricanes).

© Tim Fuller-Imagn Images.

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