Michael Grabner

In the subsequent off-season, he was selected 22nd overall by the Spokane Chiefs in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft.

Grabner believed that playing major junior in North America would help his goal of making it to the NHL.

He had been exposed to Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz through a connection with his head coach in EC VSV, Greg Holst.

Michael-René Grabner (born 5 October 1987) is an Austrian former professional ice hockey player.

Grabner grew up playing for the local team in Villach, EC VSV.

He moved to North America at the age of 17 and joined the Spokane Chiefs of the major junior Western Hockey League (WHL) to further his hockey career.

He played in the 2001 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a youth team from Austria.

Grabner joined his EC VSV's junior team, scoring 10 points over 13 games in 2002–03.

The following year, he improved to 32 goals and five assists over 23 games, while also debuting with EC VSV's men's team in the Austrian Hockey League.

Grabner left Austria to join Spokane for the 2004–05 WHL season, but suffered a broken collarbone in his first exhibition game.

He missed approximately a month with the injury and scored his first WHL goal on 29 October 2004, in a 4–2 loss against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

He went on to record 13 goals and 24 points in his rookie season.

The following season, he improved to 36 goals and 50 points.

Playing in his NHL draft year, he competed in the CHL Top Prospects Game and scored a goal and two assists.

Grabner's draft stock went up significantly in the second half of the season, as he scored 22 goals in the final 23 games of 2005–06.

After his second season with the Chiefs, he was selected 14th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Grabner played one more season in the WHL before moving to the American Hockey League (AHL), where he played two seasons in the Canucks' farm system.

He entered the 2006 NHL Entry Draft having been ranked 23rd overall among prospects playing in North America by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.

He participated in his first NHL training camp in 2006, before being returned to the Chiefs for the 2006–07 season.

Early in his third WHL season, he suffered a hip pointer after receiving a slash.

Due to lingering pain from the injury he was in and out of the lineup for several games before being sidelined for a month in November and early-December.

Shortly thereafter, he notched his first WHL career hat trick on 4 February 2007, in a 7–5 win against the Tri-City Americans.

In mid-February, he recorded six goals in a span of three games to be named WHL and CHL Player of the Week ( 12–18 February 2007).

Grabner with 39 goals and 16 assists in 55 games for a point-per-game pace over the course of the season.

However, he was criticized by his coach for his lack of physical play.

After the Chiefs were eliminated from the 2007 WHL playoffs, Grabner joined the Canucks' American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose for their final two games of the regular season and the playoffs.

Grabner joined the Moose for his first full professional season in 2007–08, recording 44 points in 74 games as a rookie.

The following season, on 26 February 2009, Grabner was recalled by the Canucks to replace Pavol Demitra who suffered a fractured finger the night before.

However, later that day, Grabner was reassigned to Manitoba after Demitra was deemed fit to play.

He finished his second season with the Moose improving to 30 goals, tied for the team lead with Jason Krog, and 48 points in 66 games, helping the Moose to the league's best regular season record.

After eliminating the Toronto Marlies and Grand Rapids Griffins in the first two rounds of the 2009 playoffs, Grabner scored the series-clinching goal in the sixth game of the semifinals, a 3–1 win over the Houston Aeros.

Grabner finished with 17 points in 20 games as the Moose finished as Calder Cup runners-up.

Coming off a successful second AHL season, Grabner was expected to challenge for a roster spot at the Canucks' 2009–10 training camp, but was sent back down to the Moose before the start of the regular season.

He was traded during the 2010 NHL Entry Draft to the Florida Panthers, but was claimed by the New York Islanders after Florida placed him on waivers with the intention of assigning him to their AHL affiliate.

Internationally, Grabner has appeared for Austria in both junior and senior tournaments, and played in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Grabner was born in Villach, and began playing hockey at the age of five.

He was chosen 14th overall by the Vancouver Canucks.

Grabner was admittedly surprised to be chosen in that position of the draft, as he was projected to be a late first-round to early second-round pick.

He had been scouted as highly skilled offensively with his speed and his shot his strengths.

Grabner spent five seasons with the Islanders before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015.