Earlier in the season, PITB’s own Daniel Wagner compared to Markus Granlund to a Volkswagen Jetta. Featureless, bland, and competent. I'd say that's pretty apt.
I mean, the Finn is as subdued as they come, rarely showing emotion on the ice or during interviews. All the funnier that his teammates call him “Granimal.”
But perhaps we’ve assessed him all wrong. As the season winds down, he sits second on the team for goals scored with 19, and fifth in points with 32 in 69 games.
I will admit that when Vancouver traded Hunter Shinkaruk for Granlund, I didn’t like it much. Hunter was a first-round pick from the strong 2013 class, and he had just scored 39 points in 45 games with the Utica Comets. In a Canucks prospect pool without many bright lights, he was a strobe.
But then he was a Flame. Jim Benning effectively traded his lowered, neon yellow Honda Civic with a sweet spoiler for a trusty, beige Jetta with side airbags. Very safe, not flashy, just so… bland! Canucks fans like to pump the tires of recent acquisitions, but not so in this case. Most people had Granlund about where I pegged him: a third-line centre or wing; trustworthy, unremarkable.
But did we ever bother to pop the hood on our new ride? Could there be a 12 cylinder powerplant no one expected?
Well maybe. To start, there’s his bro. Markus was drafted in the mid-second round in 2011. That’s one year after brother Mikael was selected 9th overall by the Minnesota Wild. (Mikael, if you’ve been paying attention, has had a breakout year under Bruce Boudreau, posting 66 points in 71 games so far.)
No one suggests that Markus is as skilled as his older brother, but he’s no slouch. He consistently scored just under a point-per-game in the AHL from the get-go.
But here is an interesting comparison: at the same age, Mikael and Markus have put up similar point totals. Last year at age 23, Mikael put up 44 points in 82 games, with 1.34 points per 60 minutes of even strength play, while this year's Markus has 32 in 69, with a PT/60 of 1.30. Not very far off.
2015/16 was admittedly a down year for Mikael, but that data is still compelling. And Markus has done his scoring while sporting a respectable Corsi rating of just above 50%.
Since being placed in Vancouver’s top six alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Markus has excelled. In the recent game against Boston, he ripped home two rush wristers in rapid succession. (And then terrible things happened. Brad Marchand was there. Let's not dwell on it.)
Granlund's season success kind of caught me off guard. Like Emilio the butler, he is very, very sneaky. He is not showy or terribly fast, but he is increasingly proving to be effective; occasionally dominant.
In his last game against Edmonton, he accounted for a hefty number of Vancouver’s chances, with six shots on goal, at least five of which were primo chances. He was a Granimal with the Sedins and he was a Granimal with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi.
Everyone has a standout game once in a while, but what’s interesting is that immediately after that Edmonton game, he was shut down for season-ending surgery. Seems he’s been nursing a wrist injury all year.
Yep. 19 goals, fifth on the team in scoring, all done with a bum wrist.
Shinkaruk? Well he’s posting a little over 0.5 points per game in the AHL this season.
Is Markus Vancouver’s next 'Lund? Can we expect future Nike ads with Granlund skating through the streets? Nah. All I’m saying is this was an astute trade, and we should pay attention. Granlund has been better than advertised or expected. He's putting up similar numbers to Baertschi, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s got more to show.
A 12-cylinder Jaguar he likely ain’t, but this Jetta might look pretty good with a sick spoiler.
