Grabner's stellar season no surprise to former Maple Leafs teammates
Michael Grabner is becoming arguably the comeback player of the year, a shock to some, but not to his former teammates in Toronto.
Ahead of the Rangers' second clash with the Maple Leafs in the span of a week, some of Grabner's former teammates spoke of the 29-year-old's impeccable year, that sits him among the league leaders with 19 goals.
"I'm not surprised at all,'' Nazem Kadri said, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun. "He had a ton of chances last year. It seems like he had a breakaway every single game. He's always had that goal-scoring potential in him. He scored 30-plus goals before. With that incredible speed he has and how good his stick is - he comes up top and forces the defenseman to make bad plays. He's just unbelievable at that.''
Grabner was acquired by the Maple Leafs during the offseason last year as the team was desperate to free up the number of contracts they could carry. He ultimately went unsigned by Toronto this past summer, but as head coach Mike Babcock admits, the decision didn't have much to do with his on-ice performance.
"Grabby is a guy we really liked here; he did a real good job for us," Babcock said. "We would have loved to have kept him, but we felt that, with the wingers we had coming, one of these kids wouldn't have gotten the ice time.''
Having not hit the aforementioned 30-goal mark since the 2010-11 season, Grabner is now making the most of a two-year deal with the Rangers. The Austrian has already surpassed last year's output by 10 goals and nine points in 36 fewer games and is on his way to setting a career high, all while making very few adjustments to his game.
"He played exactly the same way he is now, but he just didn't score; they didn't bounce in for him," said Leo Komarov. "He got a breakaway almost every game. He was really good. He probably had like 30-40 breakaways last year. This year he's scoring, too. He's got the confidence back. He's a good player and he's obviously showing everyone that.''
Grabner has become a great redemption story, but with the Maple Leafs and Rangers both currently holding down playoff spots, it's unlikely either party is too upset about how things worked out.