The move gave the Leafs some financial relief under the NHL’s new salary cap regulations, but whatever explanation they gave to Grabovski clearly did not sit well with the 29-year-old.
Grabovski made his feelings known about Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle in an interview with TSN’s Jonas Siegel on Thursday, and he held nothing back.
“I play in the [expletive] Russian KHL, I make lots of [expletive] points and what’s going to happen? He makes me [expletive] play on the fourth line and he put me in the playoffs on the fourth line and third line again,” Grabovski said. “Yeah, I don’t score goals. I need to work more about that. I know that. But if you feel support from your coach [you’ll find success]. I don’t feel any support from this [expletive] idiot.”
Wow. Tell us how you really feel, Mikhail.
After posting 50-plus-point totals in each of the past two seasons, Grabovski’s production plummeted this year. He managed just nine goals and seven assists in 48 games for the Leafs, a drop that may be contributed to Carlyle’s decision to play him in a more defensive role. But even after his frustrating campaign, which ended when Toronto blew a three-goal third-period lead to the Bruins in Game 7 of the Leafs’ first playoff series in nearly a decade, Grabovski was not eager to leave.
“Of course I feel [expletive] sad,” he said. “I played [expletive] five years here. I’m supposed to feel upset about that. I loved it [here]. Toronto fans are one of the best fans in the world.”
Grabovski had four years left on his contract, having just signed a five-year extension prior to the season. The Leafs will pay him $14.3 million over the next eight years.