With 446 NHL games under his belt, Derek Grant is among the most prominent figures on Team Canada’s roster. Since his move to Zurich in 2023, the stocky centre has rediscovered his offensive spirit.

When the ZSC Lions were looking for a foreign centre in the summer of 2023, coach Marc Crawford remembered an old acquaintance: Derek Grant. A big man, standing 1.91 metres tall, whose spot in the ever-rejuvenating NHL was in peril after being a fringe player for the past ten years. Crawford has known Grant for over 20 years – Grant was once a teammate of Crawford’s son, Dylan – now the video coach of the Vancouver Canucks - in the small Canadian town of Langley. And the coach, who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996, regularly helped out there. ‘I have known him for such a long time that I can judge his character well. He is a consummate professional and a leader. I am very pleased that we were able to sign him – he is a very welcome addition for us. He is most definitely good enough to continue playing in the NHL’, said Crawford about Grant in 2023.

It is not uncommon, after all, for coaches to praise their players a little too highly. And there was reason for skepticism; Grant was 33, tall, and heavy - not exactly promising features for the National League with its staggering tempo. But Crawford’s assessment proved to be completely correct; Grant was one of the positive surprises of the 2023-24 season and played an integral role helping the ZSC Lions capture their 10th national title. He emerged as one of the league’s best, most reliable two-way centres and was a highly respected leader within ZSC. He scored two hattricks and 9 total goals in the playoffs. The man with the noticeable gap in his teeth is now, at the age of 34, playing even more unleashed – after the first half of the season, he has registered 23 points in 22 games, making him the highest scoring Canadian in the National League only behind… Adam Tambellini, who will be playing for the host HC Davos.

Grant says he is not surprised by his offensive renaissance towards the final stage of his career. ‘I was always a more offensive player in junior hockey. But I had to change my game to make it in the NHL. I learned a lot from Luke Richardson in that regard.’ Two years into his economics degree program, Grant ended his studies early in order to work with the Canadian coach in the Ottawa Senators organization. A risky decision that paid off. And his coach, too, advanced his career. Richardson was head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks with Philip Kurashev until the beginning of December - he has since been fired. In 2016, he took a sidestep and worked for Hockey Canada. There he led Team Canada to a Spengler Cup title, beating HC Lugano 5-2 in the final.

Maybe that’s a good sign for Grant, who together with the Canadians is targeting the 17th triumph. If Richardson’s lessons were solid enough to keep him in the best league of the world for a decade, then the ice hockey teacher surely has a few tips on what it takes to celebrate the big party in Davos on New Year’s Eve.

Text: SLAPSHOT, das Hockey-Magazin der Schweiz   Foto: Keystone/Urs Flüeler