Mikael Granlund - from overhyped prospect to underrated nhler?

[PatrikBerglund]

Many Fin threads in 2018 there are.

/ Yoda

 

[57special]

He was understandably overhyped by a lot of Finnish posters here.. Like the OP said he was our best prospect in a long time and helped us win the WHC gold first time since 1995, as 19 yr old kid he was one of the tournaments best players. Also probably the best forward in Liiga.

But when he came to the NHL, he was relatively slow and very weak physically, losing a lot of 1 on 1 battles. I still remember Granny saying he was surprised how tough the NHL is, and realized he has a lot of work to do.

And, it took him the next 3 years to work on his physique, skating and obviously gain more experience. These days he's actually quite buffed for a guy of his size/body shape.

Now he's doing what he was basically doing back in Liiga as a 18-19 yr old. He put in the work to get in great shape in NHL standards and it's paying off. The talent never goes away, and he's always been a very responsible team player.

Obviously when his production jumped so much last year and the Wild had the type of year they had, i wasn't sure if he was going to keep that kind of production up. But he's on a pace for 72 points, so basically he's continuing where he left off last year (69 pts).

Right now he's a legit 1st line player, basically meeting any hopes/expectations anyone could've realistically had.

Good post. Putting him on the wing has also coincided with his improvement. He simply isn't strong enough nor fast enough to play C in the Wild's system. Right now, they have Staal, Koivu, Coyle, Cullen and EK playing there, who all are either big, or can skate. In the past they had Haula, also, who can fly and is good defensively.

Granlund has slowly gotten faster to the point where he is slightly quicker than average, and stronger (and smarter)to the point where he is VERY effective along the wall. He still isn't going to bully anyone, but his inventiveness and skill in small areas is something to behold.

Over all, a real gamer. If he was faster he'd be a star, as opposed to a really good player, which is what he is now.

 

[Jugitsu]

And he didn't have any concussion history when we drafted him...they started accumulating while he was playing overseas though and it sure was worrying.

Actually he did. He had concussion twice in Liiga and missed a lot of games in back to back seasons. In the latter injury he also suffered a neck injury which was actually worse than the concussion at the time and kept him away for a long time.

 

[biturbo19]

I never really had the sky high opinion of Mikael Granlund as a prospect that many seemed to have based on his raw puck skill and "creativity". Always thought he had too many of those physical toolset obstacles to be a real gamebreaking star. He's really proved me wrong the last year and a bit though, and starting to make a bit of a fan out of me.

The biggest thing is still that i don't see him ever being that sort of Top-6 Center that you truly build around. Yet with his skillset and the way he's finally figured out how to adapt it to the North American game, he's going to be the sort of player that commands a substantial salary. That $5.75M is still just a high-end bridge to what he's ultimately going to want, and probably be able to find...even as a winger.

Philosophically, i still have reservations about building a team around a player like Granlund as a Winger in that mold...where the points are always going to be the primary contribution and high enough to demand the sort of salary i'd rather see allocated to anchors down the middle. But he's absolutely grown into a quality Top-6 forward who can absolutely pile up "top line" level point totals and has come a long way as an all-around player too. And he's a lot of fun to watch when he's on his creative game.

 

[kooma 13]

He had similar hype in Finland as Laine has had recently. Which is a lot.

To be honest, Granlund had wayyy more hype than Laine in Finland. When you think about it now it sounds absurd because Laine has gotten alot of hype but i still remember that Granlund had way more hype.

 

[Klumppa]

To be honest, Granlund had wayyy more hype than Laine in Finland. When you think about it now it sounds absurd because Laine has gotten alot of hype but i still remember that Granlund had way more hype.

A few trash magazines in finland keep making the titles to their articles "Patrik Laine's team" did this and that almost every time when they talk about Winnipeg. It's really annoying. Don't remember them doing that to Minnesota with Granlund

 

[elmaco]

Elite player after put on wing.

 

[Jarey Curry]

Only time I heard he was compared to Crosby was about his vision and hockey IQ.

 

[agent082]

Only time I heard he was compared to Crosby was about his vision and hockey IQ.

And their lacrosse goals.

 

[Emery]

I remember the hype around him being pretty big... he did something at the WHC too, something that gets my Stamp of approval..

 

[57special]

I never really had the sky high opinion of Mikael Granlund as a prospect that many seemed to have based on his raw puck skill and "creativity". Always thought he had too many of those physical toolset obstacles to be a real gamebreaking star. He's really proved me wrong the last year and a bit though, and starting to make a bit of a fan out of me.

The biggest thing is still that i don't see him ever being that sort of Top-6 Center that you truly build around. Yet with his skillset and the way he's finally figured out how to adapt it to the North American game, he's going to be the sort of player that commands a substantial salary. That $5.75M is still just a high-end bridge to what he's ultimately going to want, and probably be able to find...even as a winger.

Philosophically, i still have reservations about building a team around a player like Granlund as a Winger in that mold...where the points are always going to be the primary contribution and high enough to demand the sort of salary i'd rather see allocated to anchors down the middle. But he's absolutely grown into a quality Top-6 forward who can absolutely pile up "top line" level point totals and has come a long way as an all-around player too. And he's a lot of fun to watch when he's on his creative game.

C'mon man, bend a bit. Granlund is a bona fide first liner. I had my doubts about him too, but there is no doubt that he is a top line winger.

 

[BusQuets]

C'mon man, bend a bit. Granlund is a bona fide first liner. I had my doubts about him too, but there is no doubt that he is a top line winger.

He's something like 0.88ppg in the last season and this season put together so far. If he can keep that pace to the end this of this season you can start making case for a "star-level player". Especially when you factor in that he's pretty good two-way forward and plays penalty kill.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

From the beginning of last year until now, Granlund is in the company of these notable players when it comes to PPG:

(within 0.05 PPG, which would be 4.1 points over an 82 games season)

Behind
Benn
Draisaitl
Voracek
Girioux
Seguin
Barkov
Panarin
Hall
Matthews

Tied
MacKinnon
Laine

Ahead of
Schwartz
Kuznetsov
Ehlers
Forsberg
Monahan

 

[Uberdachen]

God help you all if he ever realizes that shooting is just passing to the inside of the other team's net.

 

[rynryn]

Actually he did. He had concussion twice in Liiga and missed a lot of games in back to back seasons. In the latter injury he also suffered a neck injury which was actually worse than the concussion at the time and kept him away for a long time.

Didn't those happen after we drafted him? He played in Finland post-draft

 

[DANOZ28]

glad mgmt didnt giveup on him. i was disappointed the first few years. good player now. needs to pop in a few more goals though.

 

[Silver Tuna]

Hype was crazy. Was like a rock star in FIN.

 

[BagHead]

Yeo had nothing to do with it. JFC people. Granny couldn't stay on his skates to save his life his first year here. He admitted it was a problem and worked on it the offseason. He was physically unprepared for the NHL. Simple as that. He was always willing--too willing--to throw his body around but it didn't do him any good. And he didn't have any concussion history when we drafted him...they started accumulating while he was playing overseas though and it sure was worrying.

Yep, thinking back to his version of physicality reminds me of how Ennis plays, now. Undersized, too light to actually disrupt things, can't stay on his feet and turns the puck over too much because of it. Granlund was slower, but with better hands. Granlund has come a long way since those days. I'd say his balance now is one of his strengths, which is saying something if you think back to how great a weakness it really was. I mean... sometimes it looked like a yard sale of his gear on the ice. Stick and gloves just all over the place. That certainly wasn't Yeo's fault.

As for his game in the present, he's one of the most creative playmakers I've ever seen. He attempts passes regularly that I've only seen maybe 3 or 4 guys before him ever even try, and he completes them. Those 3 or 4 guys have names like "Gretzky" and "Lemieux". If Granlund had the goal scoring chops to match his playmaking skill, he'd be a superstar.

 

[NotCommitted]

To be fair, Granlund has always been a beast for Team Finland in every tournament he has played in and often one of the best players in the tournament of any team. In that light the hype in Finland is more understandable + there was that ridiciluous lacrosse goal against Russia in the WHC, that's the kind of stuff media and people love. That goal was a huge factor. He's finally becoming that player in NHL as well, but it took quite a bit of time. Apart from the obvious physical reasons it also seemed to me maybe adapting to NHL + small ice wasn't easy for him and then there was the whole playing center thing, which I think is ultimately the wrong role for him, but his two-way game probably wouldn't be at the level it is today without that experience. Really glad to see him finally perform well in the NHL consistently, not just for little stretches here and there.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

To be fair, he was phenomenal in WHC 2011. It was like watching Laine in 2016.

 

[kooma 13]

A few trash magazines in finland keep making the titles to their articles "Patrik Laine's team" did this and that almost every time when they talk about Winnipeg. It's really annoying. Don't remember them doing that to Minnesota with Granlund

Obviously i was referring to pre-NHL time. After 2011 Championship and lacrosse goal, Granlund were everywhere from that point to a point when he entered the NHL.

 

[RandV]

The finish Markus Naslund basically.

 

[JabbaJabba]

I expected his points to go up when Boudreau took over Minnesota. Of course, Granlund's play is much more than just points.

Granlund won over the people and got the attention of the media during the 2011 WC and by scoring the lacross goal and being super humble about it "it was just a one goal blaablaa". Mertaranta's hype over him was probably a factor as well. And yeah, he was the most promising Finnish prospect in a long time so even though the trash magazines kept focusing on his personal life and relationship status, he was still a legit hockey prospect who got a lot of attention due to lack of similar level prospects. When he went to the NHL and didn't impress immediately, the mainstream media forgot him. It's interesting how now when Laine is the center of the media attention even though there are a bunch of other great young players and promising prospects. I guess it has something to do with his personality, he's not the typical guy who gives boring answers all the time or maybe that's just the image of him I have. Or maybe they want to focus on the one who is considered the best.

I'm happy how Granlund turned out, his potential was high but I never bought into the crazy superhype he got because everything he did got magnified 'cos there was no one else to hype.

 

[torniojaws]

We drafted him to be a #1C, so in that sense it's a touch disappointing

Well, no wonder since before the Wild, he almost never played as C He has always been a winger.

It's like drafting Anze Kopitar to be a D-man...

 

[Hagged]

Granlund has been a disappointment ever since the Junior C. I still am disappointed despite the 70 point pace. And since he has possibly peaked already it is highly unlikely to ever change, unless he learns how to shoot like Laine. Then he would become a real threat for the opponents.