Based on Grant's play early this season coupled with his outrageous AHL year and Stajan's struggles I thought Grant had a decent chance of earning that 4th line centre role on merit. If Grant hadn't broken his jaw in practice I really think he might've cemented himself a spot already.
They tried Grant at wing this recent call up but it looked forced and Grant looked lost. If Stajan can play on Backlunds wing it solves a couple problems at once, freeing up the 4th line centre role for the bigger, stronger Grant who has some faceoff prowess.
Imagine our 3rd/4th lines as the following
Stajan-Backlund-Colborne
Bouma-Grant-Hathaway
That 4th line would be an absolute pain to play against. And that 3rd line could be one of the best two way checking lines in the league. Me likey.
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