Here’s some dated video of the four players the Avalanche acquired in the Ryan O’Reilly/Jamie McGinn NHL draft-night trade to the Buffalo Sabres.
The first two are Sabres’ “Blueprint” videos of their two young Russian first-round draftees — F Mikhail Grigorenko and D Nikita Zadorov — before the 2013-14 season. Yes, that’s nearly two years ago. But the players talk about things outside hockey — like growing up in Russia and name pronunciation. You can get a feel for their personalities.
The latter two videos feature NCAA highlights of Michigan captain J.T. Compher and Boston University true freshman A.J. Greer. Keep in mind the Avs turned the O’Reilly/McGinn trade into a 6-for-2 player deal on June 27 by trading the 2015 31st pick (acquired from Buffalo) to San Jose for the 39th (Greer) and a Sharks’ 2016 second-rounder and a sixth in 2017 (both originally owned by Colorado).
Mikhail Grigorenko, Sabres’ Blueprint:
Nikita Zadorov, Sabres’ Blueprint:
JT Compher 2014-15 Michigan highlights:
AJ Greer from the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four, after scoring a goal against North Dakota in a semifinal victory (please excuse the background hazing):
