Markus Granlund Watch

[jjgallow]

Markus is a winger. And he is not nearly as good as Mikael.

Grandlund is no better of a prospect than Reinhart, Ferland or Nemisz

Markus is a Centre.

http://flames.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8476440

Yes, he often plays on the same line as his brother, who is also a Centre.

No, he doesn't always play on that line. When his brother isn't on the ice, he's a Centre.

He is versatile at this point, but is widely considered a "playmaking forward" and a natural centre.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=565827

Reinhart, Ferland, and Nemisz are Nowhere near this level and they never have been. Not even Nemisz.

It's not just me. Read the article above, he was ranked 9th of all European skaters Before the 2011 draft. For his year, he'd be in the top 3 now. And in the top 5 overall. Not trying to knock Reinhart and the rest, I just don't see how you can begin to compare them.

[Ring-a-ding-dong-dandy]

there is no point arguing with you, you don't back down no matter how wrong you are.

you have your opinion, i have mine

and mine is that Grandlund while having a much higher skill level, is much less likely to make the NHL

[ali-iggy]

i think our top 5 prospects are

Baertschi

Irving

Granlund

Reinhart

Ramage

i think Granlunds good but not Micheal Granlund good at all

[jjgallow]

there is no point arguing with you, you don't back down no matter how wrong you are.

I'll give you that. I'll even give you a plus for that. But I feel that I would if my points were addressed. I know I can be wrong as much as anyone (ie., Kolanos). But, Markus, I feel very strongly about, because of the facts presented. I feel very strongly about Baertschi too, but that's not controversial.

[jjgallow]

i think our top 5 prospects are

Baertschi

Irving

Granlund

Reinhart

Ramage

i think Granlunds good but not Micheal Granlund good at all

I like your ranking. I was Very careful to say that Granlund is one of our top two "forward" prospects...this was to make room for exactly the prospect you've mentioned: Irving.

But I would only agree with this because I am extremely high on Baertschi and Irving. I believe there was a huge dropoff after these two. Now, Granlund has joint the elite group (and, it is Very elite). My ranking, by size:

Baertschi

Irving

Granlund

Ortio

Reinhart

Ramage

[Crzydrvr]

^^^ You have Joni Ortio rated pretty highly for a guy who couldn't even make it in the AHL this year. He was beaten out by Danny Taylor, who was only brought in because Irving was called up. And he's a career AHLer in all likelihood.

It's not just me. Read the article above, he was ranked 9th of all European skaters Before the 2011 draft. For his year, he'd be in the top 3 now. And in the top 5 overall. Not trying to knock Reinhart and the rest, I just don't see how you can begin to compare them.

By overall do you mean the draft? I have really high doubts that he's anywhere near Larsson/Huberdeau/Landeskog/RNH levels. And the consensus top three Euros (by consensus I mean the three guys who were considered the best) were Adam Larsson, Mika Zibanejad, and Joel Armia. And Armia's tools are still better than Granlund's (size, speed, aggressiveness with the puck).

Honestly, if he were really making such huge waves he'd be on HockeysFuture forums or something being labelled "Can't miss prospect". Obviously people are impressed, but he hasn't blown anyone away. Not yet.

[jjgallow]

^^^ You have Joni Ortio rated pretty highly for a guy who couldn't even make it in the AHL this year. He was beaten out by Danny Taylor, who was only brought in because Irving was called up. And he's a career AHLer in all likelihood.

By overall do you mean the draft? I have really high doubts that he's anywhere near Larsson/Huberdeau/Landeskog/RNH levels. And the consensus top three Euros (by consensus I mean the three guys who were considered the best) were Adam Larsson, Mika Zibanejad, and Joel Armia. And Armia's tools are still better than Granlund's (size, speed, aggressiveness with the puck).

Honestly, if he were really making such huge waves he'd be on HockeysFuture forums or something being labelled "Can't miss prospect". Obviously people are impressed, but he hasn't blown anyone away. Not yet.

Obviously not RNH. Huberdeau is also obviously above him. But that still leaves 3 spots in the top 5 and there might just be some room for him there now. I'm not expecting anybody to agree with me on that just yet.

As for Europe...hard to compare Larsson, obviously. He out produced Zibenejad in this year's world juniors:

http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/statistics/

He matched point production with Armia, although Armia had more goals.

Since that tournament, things have changed. In their last 10 games:

Armia has 8 points and 4 goals (which is actually pretty good for him this season)

Markus has 11 points and 5 goals

http://www.sm-liiga.fi/pelaajat/11-12/assat/armia-joel/ottelu-ottelulta.html

http://www.sm-liiga.fi/pelaajat/11-12/hifk/granlund-markus/ottelu-ottelulta.html

Personally, if the player is over 5'10, I would take the better scorer. Yes, Armia is still bigger. No, he can't keep up with Markus anymore. Not if Markus keeps this up. And my guess is that he will.

[wloff]

Hey guys,

HIFK fan here, I was googling around and stumbled on this thread. Thought I might give you my thoughts on Granlund as I've seen him play quite a lot this season.

The way he's improved is really impressive. He had a slow start to the season, back in autumn he kind of looked like a junior playing among men, but then the whole team was struggling a lot and he was still getting used to the league. Since then the team has finally figured out how to play and Granlund has become one of the backbones of the team.

He's got a great shot, he's more aggressive than his brother and might actually have even more skill than him. He lacks strength but that's going to get fixed - the kid is only 18. Sure, some people have been saying he's only doing well because he's playing alongside Mikael, but honestly I think that just helped him get accustomed to the league and Markus has been doing well even when his brother had a bit of a slump. At the moment some stupid flu has knocked something like 8 or 9 big players, including Mikael, but last night we still managed a hard fought and extremely important 2-1 win against one of the top sides and Markus played a very good game, scoring the first goal and fighting hard throughout.

If he keeps this up and does well in the play-offs I think he'll win the top rookie award hands down, and it's all because of his own skill, not because of his brother.

Markus has a long way to go until he's ready for NHL, but considering that I expected him to play mostly in juniors this season, he's done way better than I expected and he's improving at an amazing pace. I think you guys might like him a lot in a year or two, in the meantime I'd be happy to see him play for HIFK still.

[kehatch]

Hey guys,

HIFK fan here, I was googling around and stumbled on this thread. Thought I might give you my thoughts on Granlund as I've seen him play quite a lot this season.

The way he's improved is really impressive. He had a slow start to the season, back in autumn he kind of looked like a junior playing among men, but then the whole team was struggling a lot and he was still getting used to the league. Since then the team has finally figured out how to play and Granlund has become one of the backbones of the team.

He's got a great shot, he's more aggressive than his brother and might actually have even more skill than him. He lacks strength but that's going to get fixed - the kid is only 18. Sure, some people have been saying he's only doing well because he's playing alongside Mikael, but honestly I think that just helped him get accustomed to the league and Markus has been doing well even when his brother had a bit of a slump. At the moment some stupid flu has knocked something like 8 or 9 big players, including Mikael, but last night we still managed a hard fought and extremely important 2-1 win against one of the top sides and Markus played a very good game, scoring the first goal and fighting hard throughout.

If he keeps this up and does well in the play-offs I think he'll win the top rookie award hands down, and it's all because of his own skill, not because of his brother.

Markus has a long way to go until he's ready for NHL, but considering that I expected him to play mostly in juniors this season, he's done way better than I expected and he's improving at an amazing pace. I think you guys might like him a lot in a year or two, in the meantime I'd be happy to see him play for HIFK still.

Thanks for the update. Great news.

[jjgallow]

Hey guys,

HIFK fan here, I was googling around and stumbled on this thread. Thought I might give you my thoughts on Granlund as I've seen him play quite a lot this season.

The way he's improved is really impressive. He had a slow start to the season, back in autumn he kind of looked like a junior playing among men, but then the whole team was struggling a lot and he was still getting used to the league. Since then the team has finally figured out how to play and Granlund has become one of the backbones of the team.

He's got a great shot, he's more aggressive than his brother and might actually have even more skill than him. He lacks strength but that's going to get fixed - the kid is only 18. Sure, some people have been saying he's only doing well because he's playing alongside Mikael, but honestly I think that just helped him get accustomed to the league and Markus has been doing well even when his brother had a bit of a slump. At the moment some stupid flu has knocked something like 8 or 9 big players, including Mikael, but last night we still managed a hard fought and extremely important 2-1 win against one of the top sides and Markus played a very good game, scoring the first goal and fighting hard throughout.

If he keeps this up and does well in the play-offs I think he'll win the top rookie award hands down, and it's all because of his own skill, not because of his brother.

Markus has a long way to go until he's ready for NHL, but considering that I expected him to play mostly in juniors this season, he's done way better than I expected and he's improving at an amazing pace. I think you guys might like him a lot in a year or two, in the meantime I'd be happy to see him play for HIFK still.

Great to have you on board, wloff! This is Really encouraging. When he's the lone Granlund on your team next year, to you think he'll be a Center or a Wing?

Would love to get updates!

cheers

[Zirakzigil]

Hey guys,

HIFK fan here, I was googling around and stumbled on this thread. Thought I might give you my thoughts on Granlund as I've seen him play quite a lot this season.

The way he's improved is really impressive. He had a slow start to the season, back in autumn he kind of looked like a junior playing among men, but then the whole team was struggling a lot and he was still getting used to the league. Since then the team has finally figured out how to play and Granlund has become one of the backbones of the team.

He's got a great shot, he's more aggressive than his brother and might actually have even more skill than him. He lacks strength but that's going to get fixed - the kid is only 18. Sure, some people have been saying he's only doing well because he's playing alongside Mikael, but honestly I think that just helped him get accustomed to the league and Markus has been doing well even when his brother had a bit of a slump. At the moment some stupid flu has knocked something like 8 or 9 big players, including Mikael, but last night we still managed a hard fought and extremely important 2-1 win against one of the top sides and Markus played a very good game, scoring the first goal and fighting hard throughout.

If he keeps this up and does well in the play-offs I think he'll win the top rookie award hands down, and it's all because of his own skill, not because of his brother.

Markus has a long way to go until he's ready for NHL, but considering that I expected him to play mostly in juniors this season, he's done way better than I expected and he's improving at an amazing pace. I think you guys might like him a lot in a year or two, in the meantime I'd be happy to see him play for HIFK still.

Thanks for the update. I think hes like you said, 2-3 years away before hes even close to NHL ready. That could really change though depending on how he fills out.

[wloff]

Great to have you on board, wloff! This is Really encouraging. When he's the lone Granlund on your team next year, to you think he'll be a Center or a Wing?

Center if he can cut it, I'd imagine. There'll be a lot of changes in the team for the next season so there's a big role for Markus if he's up for it. He did play one match as a center when basically all our regular centers were ill or hurt, it was a bit of a disaster: -4 for him Not really his fault as he was forced to play with pretty crap wingers and he wasn't really at fault for any of the goals but I think he'll have to wait till next season for his next Center shot.

Next season is going to be a big one for Markus, I'd say this time next year we'll know if he can be a real star in NHL or not. So far he's been on schedule or a bit ahead of it IMO.

[ali-iggy]

Markus will never be as good as his brother but markus is showing huge improvements and i can't wait til he is an nhler with the flames imagine the line of

Baertschi Backlund Granlund (Sik)

also who knows maybe markus will better then micheal in the future but as for right now Micheals the best prospect out of the nhl.

[Crzydrvr]

Markus will never be as good as his brother but markus is showing huge improvements and i can't wait til he is an nhler with the flames imagine the line of

Baertschi Backlund Granlund (Sik)

also who knows maybe markus will better then micheal in the future but as for right now Micheals the best prospect out of the nhl.

You just contradicted your first statement....in the same post.

And it's Mikael, not Michael. Pronounced MEE-kell, not MY-kell.

[ali-iggy]

You just contradicted your first statement....in the same post.

And it's Mikael, not Michael. Pronounced MEE-kell, not MY-kell.

ya i said markus will be never better then his brother then i said who knows maybe markus will be better i meant that i could be wrong about Mikael being better

[jjgallow]

+1 for creativity

Oh, and Markus had another three-point night.

[ali-iggy]

+1 for creativity

Oh, and Markus had another three-point night.

Oh thats great can't wait to see him in training camp

[wally31]

Oh thats great can't wait to see him in training camp

Will he be at camp next year? Wasn't sure if he had another year over seas?

[ali-iggy]

Will he be at camp next year? Wasn't sure if he had another year over seas?

i think he will be in camp not 100% sure but........

[Ring-a-ding-dong-dandy]

i think he will be in camp not 100% sure but........

unlikely, from what I understand he still has to fulfill his military obligations and the Euro seasons start too early for Euros to attend normal training camp. He should be around for the rookie camp in the summertime though

[wloff]

FYI, Markus' total points tally in the regular season was 34 (15+19) in 47 games. That was the most points by a rookie this season. (By far, the guy at second place had just 22 points.)

To put that in perspective, most points overall was Ryan Lasch's 62 points in 59 games. Low scoring league and all that. Markus was 37th overall in the league.

[ipavaiva]

Could someone tell little bit how Markus has done in junior camp?

[jjgallow]

Could someone tell little bit how Markus has done in junior camp?

Depends on your perspective...from my perspective, dissapointing. But, I was admittedly overly-high on Granlund. It became obvious to me at the development camp that Granlund's chances of becoming a First-Line forward (ie., Centre) in the NHL are not very high at this point. If I could spin it another way, I would. Admitting you are wrong just sucks.

The positives:

His touch around the net, his stick handling skills, and his raw talent. Nobody rivalled his shootout success. Not even Baertschi.

If he develops into a Centre, then he was easily the most promising Center at development camp in terms of potential (Nemisz being the overall best Center).

Probably in the top 5 of most promising forwards at the development camp.

So, depending on your expectations, this was a successful camp. The talent is there.

The negatives:

Skating. It's not bad, don't get me wrong. But this is the bottleneck which is holding his development back the most. While he may be one of the top 5 most promising forwards, there is a Noticeable gap between him and players like Baertschi, Gaudreau, even Jankowski. It can be described in different ways, but I felt that the root of this difference was his skating, and possibly his overall strength.

There were a host of other deficiencies which I would consider secondary. He appeared hesitant, and in the same breath missed simple, effective plays in favour of moves which rarely work at the professional level.

Reporters were notably concerned about his lack of English. I feel that he demonstrated difficulty adjusting to North American hockey, probably on and off the ice. Which is fine, considering his age.

Overall: He displayed a lot of potential, but lacked some of the necessary skating skills to translated it to success in the NHL. Because of this, I feel that if he works Very hard and continues to improve, he could develop into an NHL forward, possibly even a 2nd-line forward. He possesses Some of the elite skills you would want to see in a potential first-line forward. But, he also lacks some necessary components. I believe he can develop his skating to an NHL quality, but I don't see it as ever being "special" enough to make him an elite NHL player. It will likely hold him back and manifest itself in other weaknesses.

[another_one_bites_the_dust]

Hmmm,,,,hot topic, eh? ***joining the discussion***

Well, what to say, what to say? This topic hasn't been in discussion for nearly 20 days cuz it's SOOOOOOO well done steakING HOT!!!!!

First time I've ever seen a discussion forum make the Flames front page!

They must be really bored up in there!!!!

[C_worthy]

Hmmm,,,,hot topic, eh? ***joining the discussion***

Well, what to say, what to say? This topic hasn't been in discussion for nearly 20 days cuz it's SOOOOOOO well done steakING HOT!!!!!

First time I've ever seen a discussion forum make the Flames front page!

They must be really bored up in there!!!!

I saw that too and thought: what?

There is a live discussion on CP though - maybe that's what they meant!