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Sabres top prospect, C Grigorenko, eager to secure more permanent spot in Buffalo

Associated Press
Published | Updated

In this Jan. 13, 2013 photo, Buffalo Sabres first-round draft pick Mikhail Grigorenko, right, talks with equipment manager Rip Simonich following the Sabres, first team practice, at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Where every other Sabres player has been assigned a stall in the locker room for training camp this week, the 18-year-old rookie center is relegated to an armless chair and a TV stand in the corner, an obvious reminder that the Sabres aren't yet ready to award him a spot on their season-opening roster. (AP Photo/The Buffalo News, Harry Scull Jr.) TV OUT; MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT; BATAVIA DAILY NEWS OUT; DUNKIRK OBSERVER OUT; JAMESTOWN POST-JOURNAL OUT; LOCKPORT UNION-SUN JOURNAL OUT; NIAGARA GAZETTE OUT; OLEAN TIMES-HERALD OUT; SALAMANCA PRESS OUT; TONAWANDA NEWS OUT ( (The Associated Press)

In this Jan. 14, 2013 photo, Buffalo Sabres first-round draft pick Mikhail Grigorenko, of Russia, skates during practice at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Where every other Sabres player has been assigned a stall in the locker room for training camp this week, the 18-year-old rookie center is relegated to an armless chair and a TV stand in the corner, an obvious reminder that the Sabres aren't yet ready to award him a spot on their season-opening roster. (AP Photo/The Buffalo News, Harry Scull Jr.) TV OUT; MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT; BATAVIA DAILY NEWS OUT; DUNKIRK OBSERVER OUT; JAMESTOWN POST-JOURNAL OUT; LOCKPORT UNION-SUN JOURNAL OUT; NIAGARA GAZETTE OUT; OLEAN TIMES-HERALD OUT; SALAMANCA PRESS OUT; TONAWANDA NEWS OUT ( (The Associated Press)

So long as center Mikhail Grigorenko remains on the Buffalo Sabres roster, it doesn't matter where the team's top prospect sits in the locker room.

For now, that spot is a makeshift stall set aside in the corner where Grigorenko has a chair and computer monitor stand to place his belongings.

So far, that's good enough for the 18-year-old, Russian-born first-round draft pick, who joked that at least he has a chair.

Grigorenko's intention is graduating to a more permanent spot now that the team's four-day training camp is over.

His immediate future will be decided as early as this week, when the Sabres set their 23-player roster before opening the regular season hosting Philadelphia on Sunday.

Another option is returning Grigorenko to his junior team in Quebec.