Value of: Mikael Granlund

[Flying Dego]

The Penguins should but won't sign him.

Zucker-Crosby-Granlund
Guentzel-Malkin-Rust

Would be a glorious top 6 as that Malkin line was unstoppable for a long stint last year and Zucker-Granlund have a documented chemistry.

Instead our GM signed a couple contracts off the trash heap that won't contribute much, if anything. We'd also face the hurdle of Sid giving up Guentzel which seems to be impossible unless he's hurt.

 

[Volica]

We'd have to trade Ryan (might be hard) or Hanifin (probably not hard) for futures if the trade is out there to make it work, but it would be a good boost. He is a better version of Hudler.

Tkachuk-Lindholm-Mangiapane
Gaudreau-Monahan-Granlund
Bennett-Backlund-Dube
Lucic-Nordstrom-Simon
Sounds pretty good.

Doing a Hanifin trade for futures just to sign Granlund should get someone like Treliving fired.

 

[Flameshomer]

Doing a Hanifin trade for futures just to sign Granlund should get someone like Treliving fired.

Totally depends what the future is IMO. Agreed that giving Hanifin away in relative terms is not a good strategy. But if you could turn Hanifin into a Cole Caulfield type of prospect, that might be something worthwhile. LD is the organization's deepest position by far.

 

[Mersss]

Totally depends what the future is IMO. Agreed that giving Hanifin away in relative terms is not a good strategy. But if you could turn Hanifin into a Cole Caulfield type of prospect, that might be something worthwhile. LD is the organization's deepest position by far.

And why would Habs give out a top15-20 prospects for a 3rd pair d-man exactly?

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

My guess is he would earn more playing hockey

Lol. Well, he can make some money while he waits for a hockey offer. And I do pay my "performers" well.

 

[Flameshomer]

And why would Habs give out a top15-20 prospects for a 3rd pair d-man exactly?

I wasn't being specific, Caufield was just an example prospect. But, Hanifin is better than you're giving him credit for by quite a bit. IIRC Montreal is short on LD, and Hanifin would grow well there.

NJ for someone like Mercer might work.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

And why would Habs give out a top15-20 prospects for a 3rd pair d-man exactly?

Hanifin is a #3 at worst.

 

[Djp]

We'd have to trade Ryan (might be hard) or Hanifin (probably not hard) for futures if the trade is out there to make it work, but it would be a good boost. He is a better version of Hudler.

Tkachuk-Lindholm-Mangiapane
Gaudreau-Monahan-Granlund
Bennett-Backlund-Dube
Lucic-Nordstrom-Simon
Sounds pretty good.

Hanifin for futures.

only about 6 teams can do thst but they are looking at filling space by getting sweeteners. The ones rebuilding aren’t sending futures.

 

[PAZ]

Hanifin for futures.

only about 6 teams can do thst but they are looking at filling space by getting sweeteners. The ones rebuilding aren’t sending futures.

Teams would still pay for Hanifin, the dude is 23 - he would instantly be a key part of the rebuild.

They aren't going to get full value for Hanifin at this point, but they'd get something back.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Columbus seems like a solid fit on a one year deal.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Calgary isn’t looking to dump Hanifin.. that’s ridiculous. If anything someone like Ryan or Rittich would be dumped for Granlund.

 

[Devilinlillinois]

I wasn't being specific, Caufield was just an example prospect. But, Hanifin is better than you're giving him credit for by quite a bit. IIRC Montreal is short on LD, and Hanifin would grow well there.

NJ for someone like Mercer might work.

No way i give Mercer for Hanifin

 

[FreeMcdavid]

Friedman says one of Granlund or Hoffman will most likely go to Columbus

 

[majormajor]

Friedman says one of Granlund or Hoffman will most likely go to Columbus

Portzline says they aren't interested in Hoffman. No word on Granlund.

I'm undecided whether the team really needs another body. Even with Nyquist out that just means one of Bemstrom, Grigorenko, or Foudy slides up into the top 9. That's not a problem at all. I want to see how Granlund would play in Columbus: to see if he could be rejuvenated, to see if he could meaningfully improve the PP or team playmaking. But that's a reclamation experiment, not a need.

 

[57special]

At this point, maybe we should ask ourselves what teams have a need for him or can afford him, assuming that he will want at least a 3M/yr contract?
The Wild won't/ can't.
TBL can't
NYI can't
TOR can't
VAN can't ?
NSH won't
STL can't

 

[DomY]

At this point, maybe we should ask ourselves what teams have a need for him or can afford him, assuming that he will want at least a 3M/yr contract?
The Wild won't/ can't.
TBL can't
NYI can't
TOR can't
VAN can't ?
NSH won't
STL can't

VAN reportedly has / had a deal in place with a top 6 forward but needs to clear salary first. Whether that means trading salary out or waiting to LTIR Ferland I'm not sure.

 

[biturbo19]

When he is playing well he can do either wing pretty well, though I think he is best on the off side. If he is trying to ink a long term deal right now I think he is making a mistake. I certainly wouldn't want to sign him for more than 4 @ 15, which is a fraction of what it was thought he was going to get just a couple of years ago where there was talk of 7/50M.

Yeah. The play for Granlund if i were his agent at least, would be to sign a "cheap" deal with the perfect situation. Put in the production this coming season, and then try again for that long-term deal next year. He's still young enough to do that, and coming off such a disastrous season.

He's not a complete player, he has flaws...but he does have strengths that a lot of teams could use as well. The biggest thing to me, still seems to be that he needs to find a coach that's going to allow him to do what he does and flourish on the scoresheet again. Essentially...he needs to seek out the most "Boudreau-like" coach he can find. Outside of that...he's been pretty disappointing and far more like a mediocre 40pt "tweener" forward with liability issues. Which team/opportunity, is going to let him play like Boudreau did? He's got a ton of talent...but trying to find a RW spot where he can play like Boudreau let him, means if he's going to pick his shot like that...it's going to be a narrow window. Which means...probably taking a paltry salary for the year to make it happen, and bet on himself.

Another year like this last, and he's bouncing around bad teams on "bargain bin deals" for the rest of his career (which at 28/29, isn't long if he doesn't re-establish himself as a quality player). So i can see the financial security aspect, if he can find a 4 year $15M deal out there somewhere. There's something vaguely PA Parenteau-esque to his situation (despite the obviously different draft pedigree).

I wouldn't want to be a GM on the hook for 4 years of Granlund at $3.75M even...until i really know what he is, and will be in my team and system. That'd take him to what...playing into age 32? That's not what you want on the books if it goes south.

 

[mattihp]

Yeah. The play for Granlund if i were his agent at least, would be to sign a "cheap" deal with the perfect situation. Put in the production this coming season, and then try again for that long-term deal next year. He's still young enough to do that, and coming off such a disastrous season.

He's not a complete player, he has flaws...but he does have strengths that a lot of teams could use as well. The biggest thing to me, still seems to be that he needs to find a coach that's going to allow him to do what he does and flourish on the scoresheet again. Essentially...he needs to seek out the most "Boudreau-like" coach he can find. Outside of that...he's been pretty disappointing and far more like a mediocre 40pt "tweener" forward with liability issues. Which team/opportunity, is going to let him play like Boudreau did? He's got a ton of talent...but trying to find a RW spot where he can play like Boudreau let him, means if he's going to pick his shot like that...it's going to be a narrow window. Which means...probably taking a paltry salary for the year to make it happen, and bet on himself.

Another year like this last, and he's bouncing around bad teams on "bargain bin deals" for the rest of his career (which at 28/29, isn't long if he doesn't re-establish himself as a quality player). So i can see the financial security aspect, if he can find a 4 year $15M deal out there somewhere. There's something vaguely PA Parenteau-esque to his situation (despite the obviously different draft pedigree).

I wouldn't want to be a GM on the hook for 4 years of Granlund at $3.75M even...until i really know what he is, and will be in my team and system. That'd take him to what...playing into age 32? That's not what you want on the books if it goes south.

You are a bit harsch on his two-way game. I don't know if it is your intent, but to me it sounds a bit like you think that Boudreau let Granlund cherry pick and not pull his weight. Granlund always pulls his weight and is a good team player, several interviews with team mates and coaches attest to that.

I think he is more reliant on finding a place where he feels at home and can build up his confidence again, because if we disregard from lacking chemistry with his linemates in Nashville.. Then what we can see of his play of late is that he does not have that same confidence to do his cheeky moves and try creative things with the puck. His work in the corners was worse the last season, maybe because he has always picked odd ways of getting it out of there, akin to Tomi Kallio who in his brief career with the thrashers was one of the league's best at getting the puck out of the corner without being a physical player.

I think Mikael can still be a 55-70 point player in the NHL. But I do think he needs to be more confident in his ability. Being traded in such a crucial part of his life for sure must have rattled his confidence.

 

[57special]

Granlund actually does have a pretty complete game. It's only limited by his lack of speed and strength. His shot isn't great, either. The only thing that Boudreau did was take him off C, and put him on the wing.

His passing ability is off the charts good, and puck handling isn't far behind it.

 

[HotDish]

Granlund actually does have a pretty complete game. It's only limited by his lack of speed and strength. His shot isn't great, either. The only thing that Boudreau did was take him off C, and put him on the wing.

His passing ability is off the charts good, and puck handling isn't far behind it.

Wasn't that John Torchetti that did that?

 

[57special]

You could be right

 

[TS Quint]

"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.

By the stats it was Suter and Spurgeon who carried the Granlund line.

 

[Stickpucker]

Since he grew up in Boston I really want to see Hanifin traded to the Habs.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Since he grew up in Boston I really want to see Hanifin traded to the Habs.

Am I missing something. This is a granlund thread.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

The Penguins should but won't sign him.

Zucker-Crosby-Granlund
Guentzel-Malkin-Rust

Would be a glorious top 6 as that Malkin line was unstoppable for a long stint last year and Zucker-Granlund have a documented chemistry.

Instead our GM signed a couple contracts off the trash heap that won't contribute much, if anything. We'd also face the hurdle of Sid giving up Guentzel which seems to be impossible unless he's hurt.

The difference is those contracts are almost all for the minimum. Granlund is out of the Pens price range. Rutherford was given the order to cut real money payroll to under $75 million. Surprisingly he was able to do that while improving all positions but a few.

I rather have Kapanen who is much younger and faster than Granlund. Also even if the Pens offered the money it doesn't mean Granlund would of signed with the Pens. I hate when everyone assumes it is that easy.

I only see two spots on the Pens that are downgraded and that is 3RW and backup goalie. Top 6 is much better than what the Pens had at the start of last season. Simon was our starting 1RW and Galchenyk was our starting 2LW. 3RW is going to need someone to replace Hornqvist and if the Pens didn't need to cut real money that drastically then Granlund would of been a nice add. I am fine to see if someone like Poulin can prove ready to play on that 3rd line.

I actually like the addition of Jankowski. That type of player is a nice no risk gamble to see if he can get back to his stats before last year when he had 17 and 14 goals season's. At 26 I see no reason why Jankowski couldn't get back to his first two years over his 3rd year when he played with scrubs. Play Jankowski with McCann and Poulin and I like his chances of reaching that 14 goal and 32 point season in his last full year.

Granlund would be nice but almost every team has to make player cuts this season. Pens improved the top six and the defense while weakening only 2 positions so all take that.