This is what I find funny. Everyone was screaming and whining about Yeo placing Granlund on the fourth line and scratching him. And yet Granlund came out and played harder and better on the fourth line and after being scratched. And Granlund looked as good tonight as ever. But the thing is, he's not asked to do too much on the 4th line. And that's the big key I think in his development. Cullen and Brodziak probably get the nod over Granlund because they are veterans. Yes, both of them aren't having good seasons but they aren't going to get overwhelmed. We threw Granlund into the fire and he responded terribly to the responsibility. Not to mention that we had one scoring line and the second line was doing absolutely nothing, which was not only Granlund but a few other players. Yeo probably understood this, recognized it and adjusted accordingly. Granlund should be on the 4th line, if he's going to stay at center. Let the kid learn and grow without adding the immense burden of generating offense. It's not going to hurt his development to stay there a few games, maybe bump him up to 3rd line and see how he's developing. But the fact is, we had huge expectations (not us, but the Wild organization) for Granlund and he floundered. They had to pull back the reins a bit, adjust and let Granlund acclimate to his new environment and putting him next to character guys like Rupp and Mitchell and Konopka is probably the best for his development, so that not only does he get used to moving his feet, learning to make his beautiful passes, but has guys that'll keep people from breathing down his neck. Yes, Rupp, Mitchell, Konopka aren't great offensively, but for now, let Granlund develop his game and then we can start developing his offense a bit more. What is worse is pairing up Granlund with a guy like Seto and have two guys fail miserably.
