Value of: Mikael Granlund

[Canadian Canuck]

Zucker Staal Granlund in 16-17 was probably the best line the Wild ever had.

Well that's probably the biggest exaggeration I've ever heard...

 

[BB88]

No returns or exchanges.

I’d say 2 yrs st $3M cap.

DeBrusk- Krejci- Granlund

Would expect 50+ point seasons from hin with good defense, versatile player at 28y.

Willing to make that bet at 5

 

[Mick Jagr]

Go back to Minnesota. They need centers so badly that I doubt they would mind that he can't actually play center as well as he can wing.

 

[780il]

Cheap 1-2 year deal to play on a line with Mcdavid and Puljujarvi?

 

[Wasted Talent]

I'd love to see proof of these "Selke votes" he received. There is zero chance that happend. I'd take Granlund in Vancouver to play RW next to Gaudette if he signs at a good price.

He did get some Selke votes in 2016-17 when he was playing with Selke-finalist Koivu and Zucker.

Granlund was only 13th in the voting so it's not like he was close to being a finalist, but he got some votes nevertheless.

 

[traffic cone]

I'd love to see proof of these "Selke votes" he received. There is zero chance that happend. I'd take Granlund in Vancouver to play RW next to Gaudette if he signs at a good price.

Patrice Bergeron of Bruins wins Selke Trophy

You are welcome.

"Average defensively".

 

[traffic cone]

He did get some Selke votes in 2016-17 when he was playing with Selke-finalist Koivu and Zucker.

Granlund was only 13th in the voting so it's not like he was close to being a finalist, but he got some votes nevertheless.

"Only" 13th. Yes.

Here's the list.

1. Patrice Bergeron, BOS 1147 (71-39-24-11-11)
2. Ryan Kesler, ANA 945 (45-45-25-15-10)
3. Mikko Koivu, MIN 752 (28-34-28-28-10)
4. Mikael Backlund, CGY 310 (3-12-26-16-18)
5. Jonathan Toews, CHI 273 (5-9-17-17-24)
6. Mark Stone, OTT 113 (0-2-7-16-16)
7. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 111 (1-6-4-9-12)
8. John Tavares, NYI 80 (1-5-2-6-7)
9. Jordan Staal, CAR 55 (1-3-2-3-5)
10. Sidney Crosby, PIT 51 (3-1-2-1-1)
11. Ryan O'Reilly, BUF 51 (0-1-5-4-7)
12. Brad Marchand, BOS 50 (1-3-3-1-1)
13. Mikael Granlund, MIN 33 (0-1-1-6-3)
14. Marian Hossa, CHI 31 (1-0-2-3-2)
15. Anze Kopitar, LAK 30 (0-0-2-5-5)
16. Connor McDavid, EDM 28 (1-0-2-2-2)
17. Aleksander Barkov, FLA 21 (1-0-1-1-3)
18. Henrik Zetterberg, DET 21 (0-1-2-1-1)
19. T.J. Oshie, WSH 20 (2-0-0-0-0)
20. Nazem Kadri, TOR 19 (0-1-2-0-2)

I'm pretty sure all of these players can be considered at least great defensively. Not sure why Granlund would be an exception.

"Because he played with Koivu!1" isn't enough.

 

[57special]

Put me down as someone who doesn't think he has great defensively, and I probably saw 95% of his games in Minnesota. He was slightly below average at first, then ended up being slightly above average. Sneaky good in corners for a guy that isn't big or strong, though.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I wouldn't consider him anything more than "average" defensively based on his time in Nashville. He's generally aware and responsible, so at least you don't end up shouting at him and shaking your head at his lapses or anything, but he does nothing special. He did get into a little groove on the PK when Hynes shook things up in January and suddenly bumped him and Turris up in PK time. So for a little stretch there he was regularly killing penalties with some success. It seemed like kind of a short-term burst to me, though, something designed more to kick other players in the backside by taking away their usual icetime, not something I would have expected to see sustained over a whole season given my general impression of Granlund's usual mediocre level of defensive play.

 

[Stickpucker]

He should come to Finland west, aka Raleigh to play with Aho and Turbo on a short term deal to up his value.

 

[ctmagic]

He’s such a good kid, I hope he thrives wherever he lands. Solid hockey player with outstanding vision/passing. Pair him with a finisher and he will do great.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

There are rumors that Kekalainen has been trying to acquire Granlund for a while now. The team certainly needs a high end playmaker.

I want to know:

- Why did he struggle in Nashville? They tried him with every linemate didn't they? I want a detailed picture. Any tactical issues?

- How good is he in transition? Can he carry blueline to blueline? Can he be the primary puck-carrier on his line?

I think there are multiple parts to his struggle in Nashville. I think he gets a total pass for the end of the 2018-19 season. His wife was literally in labor when he was traded from Minnesota and suddenly he's on a new team in a new city? That is a difficult transition with a newborn.

I think there was some early hope with a Forsberg-Duchene-Granlund line out of the gates in 2019-20, but it wasn't sustained. The Preds were constantly blending their top-2 lines trying to get everybody going at once. And it never happened. Granlund was always in the mix with the top players, though, he never got cycled back even when he struggled. Then when Hynes came in he basically decreed that Granlund was going to be his #1 forward, and suddenly Granlund was sometimes getting 20 minutes a night and killing penalties... he never got short-changed by Laviolette, but suddenly under Hynes he was elevated right to the top of the pecking order in all situations. He got something like 23 minutes one game. And he responded reasonably well, iirc he had something like 15 pts in a 20-game stretch or so, and we thought he might finally have turned the corner.

Then Covid shutdown happened. And a family tragedy with a stillbirth during that time. And he was basically totally invisible again in the play-ins when things started back up.

I don't think he had any chemistry whatsoever with Duchene. Duchene carries the puck a fair bit, and Granlund isn't really a guy to trail the play or support Duchene's rushes ideally. Granlund probably does better with the puck on his stick more often, and he didn't get that a lot. I always thought he might play better with Johansen who played more of a Koivu-style game, more physical and pass-first. But Johansen always had the historical connection with Arvidsson in that role instead. So in the play-ins, the Preds got great success going back to Forsberg-Johansen-Arvidsson, while Turris, Duchene, and Granlund all just looked totally out of synch and baffled with what eachother were doing on the 2nd line.

So I think there was a lot that happened in a short timeframe for him in Nashville, personally, and then on the ice compounded by our coach having outlived his time, our PP being a disaster the whole time, our lines struggling to find chemistry. Granlund didn't exactly step up and fix anything, but there was certainly plenty of chaos around him too.

All in all, I think it's pretty fair to just write off his Nashville time. He just needs to find a better fit and get settled somewhere. Let him settle in and find some chemistry and he'll probably do fine and produce ok.

 

[Wasted Talent]

I think there are multiple parts to his struggle in Nashville. I think he gets a total pass for the end of the 2018-19 season. His wife was literally in labor when he was traded from Minnesota and suddenly he's on a new team in a new city? That is a difficult transition with a newborn.

I think there was some early hope with a Forsberg-Duchene-Granlund line out of the gates in 2019-20, but it wasn't sustained. The Preds were constantly blending their top-2 lines trying to get everybody going at once. And it never happened. Granlund was always in the mix with the top players, though, he never got cycled back even when he struggled. Then when Hynes came in he basically decreed that Granlund was going to be his #1 forward, and suddenly Granlund was sometimes getting 20 minutes a night and killing penalties... he never got short-changed by Laviolette, but suddenly under Hynes he was elevated right to the top of the pecking order in all situations. He got something like 23 minutes one game. And he responded reasonably well, iirc he had something like 15 pts in a 20-game stretch or so, and we thought he might finally have turned the corner.

Then Covid shutdown happened. And a family tragedy with a stillbirth during that time. And he was basically totally invisible again in the play-ins when things started back up.

I don't think he had any chemistry whatsoever with Duchene. Duchene carries the puck a fair bit, and Granlund isn't really a guy to trail the play or support Duchene's rushes ideally. Granlund probably does better with the puck on his stick more often, and he didn't get that a lot. I always thought he might play better with Johansen who played more of a Koivu-style game, more physical and pass-first. But Johansen always had the historical connection with Arvidsson in that role instead. So in the play-ins, the Preds got great success going back to Forsberg-Johansen-Arvidsson, while Turris, Duchene, and Granlund all just looked totally out of synch and baffled with what eachother were doing on the 2nd line.

So I think there was a lot that happened in a short timeframe for him in Nashville, personally, and then on the ice compounded by our coach having outlived his time, our PP being a disaster the whole time, our lines struggling to find chemistry. Granlund didn't exactly step up and fix anything, but there was certainly plenty of chaos around him too.

All in all, I think it's pretty fair to just write off his Nashville time. He just needs to find a better fit and get settled somewhere. Let him settle in and find some chemistry and he'll probably do fine and produce ok.

This sounds like solid analysis for his time in Nashville, but I would like to add that Granlund's play had already dipped for a month or two prior to the trade. I wouldn't be surprised if this slump was one of the reasons that drove Fenton to trade him.

First 38GP:
11G-26A-37P
2.48 P/60

Last 25GP before the trade:
4G-8A-12P
0.83 P/60

Basically he played some of his best hockey for 2-3 months and then fell off the map 2 months before the trade.

 

[BagHead]

Well that's probably the biggest exaggeration I've ever heard...

He really wasn't exaggerating. The next closest line would probably be Fedoruk - Demitra -Gaborik. Or maybe Demitra - Koivu - Gaborik, but that line was only together for a couple games.

The Zucker - Koivu - Granlund line was dominant. They had great advanced stats, especially the expected goals stats and high danger chances for vs. against, and it really showed up in their +/- that year, flawed as that stat may be. Basically, they allowed almost no chances against, much less goals, and scored quite a few themselves. You may look at them and see that they didn't have a 40 goal scorer like Gaborik on their line, but looking solely at the goals and assist columns would mislead you in this case. There was a stretch of about 20 or 30 games that season that marked the only time I've ever said "I think the Wild might have the best line in the NHL" without sarcasm in my tone.

 

[GothenburgJet]

I'd love to take a chance on Granlund on the Jets as a 2C centering Laine and Ehlers. Laine and Ehlers are both great trigger guys and having a guy like Granlund feed them good passes could be just what the doctor ordered for Winnipeg.

 

[Canadian Canuck]

He did get some Selke votes in 2016-17 when he was playing with Selke-finalist Koivu and Zucker.

Granlund was only 13th in the voting so it's not like he was close to being a finalist, but he got some votes nevertheless.

Patrice Bergeron of Bruins wins Selke Trophy

You are welcome.

"Average defensively".

Interesting thanks for the information guys. I don’t believe he’s still at that level and that the players he played with such as Koivu really made him look better than he was defensively. He certainly didn’t look above average defensively when I watched him 4-5 times this season.

 

[ownal]

Come to Pittsburgh to play with his old buddy Zucker.

Granlund - Malkin - Zucker

 

[Bruce Granville]

Come to Pittsburgh to play with his old buddy Zucker.

Granlund - Malkin - Zucker

Pay him 6x6 and he might sign.

 

[NotCommitted]

I've always had a very high opinion of Granlund, and I guess I still do but don't know what happened to him these past couple seasons... I mean he's been a hard working forward with very good passing and vision, surprisingly good in corner battles for his size and solid defensively. Just the kind of guy most coaches would love to have in the top-6. Also he usually seems to step it up a notch in big games - playoffs, international tournaments and the like.

BUT I saw barely any of him in NSH and what I did, he seemed lackluster and not like the player I remember. So it makes me wonder what's going on, if there was something specifically about NSH that didn't work out for him, or if there's injuries or something else going on in life which makes him a worse hockey player than he used to be. So he is a question mark at the moment for me. But if he can get back to his best form, he could potentially be a steal for someone.

However I don't think he excels at center, I think he's best used as playmaking wing who can do some C duty if needed and has something of a 2-way game. From WPG perspective I guess Ehlers-Granlund-Laine *could* work, but I'd rather have a bit of a gamble and have him wing Scheifele with one of Laine or Connor. That way 1st line would have two lethal scorers and a playmaker in Granlund. Convince Wheeler to play center and you could have Connor-Scheifele-Granlund and Ehlers-Wheeler-Laine.

The upside is a quite versatile forward you can slot anywhere in top-6 if needed and who can score 60-70 points... but there are questionmarks, but I guess if the price is right, even at worst you are getting a 40-point winger who can PK, which seems quite a lot less exciting, but isn't a disaster.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Always been somewhat unconvinced about this player. Picked a bad time to have a down year.

4 million per is the best I can see him doing at this point.

 

[57special]

I don't see anyone handing out a contract like that for a " maybe" player in Covid times.

 

[JJTT]

Any news? Will he take a one year deal somewhere?

 

[57special]

He might be SOL this year unless he takes a one year contract at a very low salary.

 

[mattihp]

Surprisingly quiet about this guy.

 

[Prairie Habs]

If Sweeney had a pair of big brass ones he would put Marchand and pasta on ltir all season and replace them with granlund and Hoffman, then activate everyone for the playoffs.