[AC]

Aaron Vickers described Grusnikov heading into the draft:

"Grushnikov might the best defensive and most reliable player in the class. He shows good patience, not rushing his decisions. When the play is coming at him, he’s good at keeping his opponent to the outside of the defensive zone and limiting their angle to get a shot off. He is not afraid to be physical in the corners and can win puck battles, which is very promising. He plays with an active stick and is good at closing off passing lanes as the plays transpire. He is not afraid to block shots and battle hard in front of the net, maintaining his position so that his opponent does not gain space. However, he does tend to cross his feet too early when defending the rush. He battles hard in his own end, knowing when to commit and chase a puck into the corner and when to hold back in his position. There are times when you can see him thinking about when to commit and when to not, thinking that will need to speed up moving forward – he’ll need to improve the speed of this processing. He tends to be the net-front presence in his own end, battling hard and tying his man up well. He’s definitely a defensively-minded defender. When attacking the puck carrier, he does well to get stick on stick, and then follow that up with his body. He’s not afraid to throw his body around and get in the carrier’s way. He’s very quick on his edges, with good movement in all four directions. While his straight-line speed isn’t overall impressive, he does show some intriguing movement. He has good posture from his ankles to knees and opens his hips well in his pivots. His puck-moving ability is slightly lacking however. With the puck, he tends to look to his defensive partner before looking up the ice. When looking up, he tends to just dump the puck. Through the season, he proved that he has the faith of the coaches, being utilized in all situations. There may not be much offensive upside with Grushnikov, but his defensive game could be one of the more intriguing in this class. The defensive ceiling could be very high and could see him rise up draft boards.