 After spending 4 years in Finland developing his skills the newly minted Colorado Avalanche (formally the Quebec Nordiques) still owned his negotiating rights but Gronman was not offered a professional contract by the Avalanch, however soon after Quebec transferred their franchise to Colorado renaming themselves the Avalanche, Gronman's NHL negotiating rights were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks by the Colorado Avalanche on July 10th, 1996 in exchange for The Chicago Blackhawks Second Round Pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Colorado selected Phillippe Sauve with that pick.A little more than a year later on October 27th, 1997 the Chicago Blackhawks traded Gronman to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for veteran forward Greg Johnson.On October 18th, 1998 while playing in a game for Pittsburgh's farm team the Kansas City Blades of the IHL, Gronman suffered a significant knee injury causing him to miss the majority of the 1998-1999 IHL season.