UPDATE: Renaud Lavoie of TVA (Canada) is reporting the NHL rejected Columbus' one-year contract with Mikhail Grigorenko. The contract violates section 50.8(d) of the collective bargaining agreement, which states a team and player "cannot enter into a contract that does not cover at least part of the current league year."
More information came late Monday, via TSN's Bob McKenzie:
On the NHLs rejection of the contract that CBJ submitted for Mikhail Grigorenko for the 20-21 season, it could be as simple as CBJ/Grigorenko re-submitting the contract when the 2020-21 UFA period opens (July 1 or later if 19-20 hockey is played in the summer).
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) April 21, 2020
The Blue Jackets are bringing a former NHLer back to North America.
After spending three seasons in the KHL with CSKA Moscow, forward Mikhail Grigorenko has signed a one-year deal with Columbus that begins with the 2020-21 NHL season. The 25-year-old was a first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2012 and was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in the Ryan O'Reilly deal.
Per Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, Grigorenko's one-year deal with the Blue Jackets is worth $1.2 million.
This is a big upside play for the Blue Jackets: There's very little risk here with a player coming off two highly productive seasons in the KHL.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 20, 2020
Grigorenko will be a UFA in July 2021.
Grigorenko's last NHL campaign was 2016-17 when he scored 10 goals and totaled 23 points in 75 games with the Avalanche.
The Khabarovsk, Russia native has spent the past three seasons with CSKA in the Kontinental Hockey League, combining for 46-70-116, 28 penalty minutes and a +64 plus/minus rating in 147 games from 2017-20. He finished second on CSKA in goals and fourth in assists and points in 2019-20 with 19-22-41, four penalty minutes and was +16 in 47 outings. In 2018-19 he was named to the KHL First All-Star Team after leading CSKA in assists and points, while finishing eighth-T in the league in assists and 10th-T in points with 17-35-52, 10 penalty minutes and a +33 plus/minus rating in 55 regular season contests. He also led the club to the 2019 Gagarin Cup championship after leading the KHL in playoff goals and points with 13-8-21 in 20 games.
Grigorenko has also represented Russia seven times in international competition, most recently at the 2019 IIHF World Hockey Championship.
