BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato demanded to have Jordan Greenway on his roster.
"He was pounding the table on this one and saying I know that there is more to this player," Kevyn Adams said about Granato before they made the trade with the Minnesota Wild to bring the big, physical forward to Buffalo.
"He is a high character person, a very good athlete... He's got a lot of potential," Granato said.
He's gotten to see Greenway's potential for quite a while. Just like another 6-foot, 6-inch forward on the Sabres roster, Tage Thompson, Greenway spent time on the U.S. National Development team with his new head coach.
"We had a great relationship prior. He really was able to help me make that next step... I haven't been playing to who I am, and I think he sees something that he can help," Greenway said about Granato.
Greenway skated with Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo ahead of his Sabres debut against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.
"This is a guy that I've coached and I've coached hard, and he hadn't always liked some of the ways I had to push, but he pushed through it," Granato said.
"It's pretty comforting to know we brought another good person into the organization that's pretty talented."
