The 6'5 blueliner came to Hull having iced in both North America and his native Latvia, where he joined the Stingrays from in the summer. He was the second of the 'twin towers' that Cloutier referred to in the summer and at just 21 he became one of the youngest ever imports to sign for the club joining compatriot Aivars Gasins on the roster.
However, despite a resume that boasted stints in the Canadian junior leagues, ECHL, CHL and, last year, Belarus top flight, he struggled to get to grips with regular shifts in the Elite League.
His lack of physicality, particularly for someone 6'5, was worrying and a number of mistakes that crucially cost his side goals and ultimately points early in the season forced player-coach Cloutier to bench the blueliner. That decision put the writing on the wall for Grundmanis and despite improving in recent weeks, which was largely down to the Riga native keeping his game simpler in the defensive end, he was today relieved.
Ironically his best performance, at least statistically, came last night in his final game in a Stingrays jersey, as he bagged himself a Gordie Howe hat-trick, registering his first goal and first assist of the season while also fighting for the first time this year.
The former Latvian junior international departs Hull having netted that solitary goal and assist in 16 games with the club in a defence that needed shaking up after failing to shine in front of Christian Boucher.
Speculation now mounts as to who Cloutier will replace Grundmanis with, having lost out on his number one target Martin Ondrej, who made a U-turn on his decision to join to club to instead signing in Italy.
A replacement will not be in place for the league fixture in Sheffield on Wednesday nor will he likely join the club in time for games against Newcastle and Belfast at the weekend, however, it is thought that Cloutier is closing in on his target.
