Twice — twice! — Derek Grant had experienced last season the elation that can only come with scoring your first NHL goal ... only neither of them counted.
One was disallowed. The other, admittedly, was his fault: He entered the zone offsides, he says.
The journeyman center had played in 86 career NHL games -- a little over one full season, spread out over five years -- for five different organizations: The Senators, Flames, Sabres, Predators and Ducks. And not once had he scored a single goal.
Until Oct. 20th of last year, that is.
That night, in Anaheim's 6-2 win over Montreal at the Honda Center, Grant not only scored, he did it twice:
"Getting those ones and seeing the puck at center ice after the first one was a good feeling, for sure," the Penguins' new center said Saturday on a conference call with Pittsburgh beat writers. "It's something you try and not think about when you go that long without a goal counting, but it was nice to get them in and hopefully that jumpstarted me to do a lot more."
Little did Grant or anyone else know that his two-goal outburst was only a harbinger of things to come.
Due to injuries and circumstances in Anaheim, he carpe’d the diem out of his 2017-18 with the Ducks. Playing in an increased role, Grant established career highs in goals (12), assists (12), points (24) and games played (66). His previous best at the NHL level had been four assists in 46 games in 2016-17 split between the Sabres and Predators, both of which had claimed him off waivers.
The key to last year, he says, was capitalizing on his opportunity and getting some fortunate bounces that had eluded him before. Mainly, though, he gained confidence in himself and his ability to compete at the highest level.
"It was a big year for me personally," he says. "Confidence, obviously, goes a long way. I think every day I came to the rink, I tried to learn from the guys that I was surrounded with and tried to get better every day and I think I've done that throughout my career.
"Maybe didn't catch on as early as I'd hoped. But I guess some people say (I'm) a late bloomer or whatever. But it's something I try to do every day and continue to do. I just try to get better every day and hopefully can build off that from last year and throughout this summer and into training camp."
Typically, teams wildly overpay in free agency. Not so in Grant's case. Players coming off a 12-goal season can command upwards of $3 million on the open market. Bryan Rust, 13 goals in 2017-18, got $3.5 million. Riley Sheahan, who scored 11 goals last season, got $2.1 million. Grant is coming to the Penguins at the bargain basement price of $650,000 after signing a one-year contract on Thursday.
Signed, sealed, delivered. He's ours.
Welcome to the team, @DGrant57! pic.twitter.com/Vbn1yzDKbc
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 20, 2018
To be clear, Pittsburgh was not his first choice. He believes he had a deal lined up with another team on July 1 at the start of free agency, but that deal fell through. He remained un-signed for three weeks before getting a call from Jim Rutherford.
"Obviously, an organization that if you get a chance to come play for, you want to jump on that opportunity," he said. "It's a special group of guys here, I'm just excited for the opportunity."
Grant becomes the Penguins' sixth center for four spots and he’s behind Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Derick Brassard, Sheahan and Matt Cullen. Like the latter two, Grant has some position flexibility. Though he's a natural center and had a fine 53.1 faceoff win percentage last season, he can play left wing as well.
"It's an adjustment but it doesn't take too long," he said. "I think I've done it enough over the last few seasons that I'm open to it. I think the way I've bounced around over the last few years, you just kind of take every opportunity you can and make the most of it whether that be at center ice or at the wing. I'm pretty comfortable playing both."
Should Grant crack the lineup, he'd bring a little more size at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds along with some snarl.
His ability to play either spot or in any situation helps to explain his longevity in the game. He'd been a 20-plus goal scorer in 2014-15 and 2015-16, albeit in the AHL, but he's had to reinvent himself a bit. In recent years, he has settled into a bottom-six role and he's embraced the challenge.
But if the 28-year-old is to stay in the lineup, he'll have to show last year was no fluke.
"I think the past that I had in my career prepared me for last year," he said. "I'm pretty thankful for that. Obviously, it's not the way you think about it when you're coming into the league or growing up, but I'm thankful for what it's gotten me and I'm excited for the opportunity to come."
