Sheng Peng
The Mikael Granlund decision isn’t cut-and-dry.
On the surface for the rebuilding San Jose Sharks, the UFA-to-be seems like a clear Trade Deadline candidate.
Granlund is off to the best start of his career, 16 points through 15 games. He’s a valuable two-way center, who has garnered strong returns in past Deadlines.
In 2023, the Nashville Predators traded Granlund to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a second-round pick. In 2019 — keeping in mind that Granlund was in his prime then — the Minnesota Wild sent him to the Preds for top prospect Kevin Fiala.
Granlund, 32, is also on the wrong side of 30, and we don’t know what kind of contract that he’s looking for.
On the other hand?
“What do you need to do extra to be a good player?” Granlund asked San Jose Hockey Now recently. “What do you need to do to actually become a winning team?”
They were rhetorical questions, but Granlund seems to have as many answers as anybody.
Since joining the San Jose Sharks in the summer of 2023, a cap casualty in the Erik Karlsson trade, Granlund has not only been the team MVP, he’s also been the consummate leader.
That matters, as the rebuilding Sharks transition from Granlund as the go-to guy to the likes of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, and more.
Both head coaches, David Quinn and Ryan Warsofsky, have sung Mikael Granlund’s praises, and after just a half-season in teal last year, he was named alternate captain.
“Our organization,” Quinn said last season, “is in good hands when you got people like him leading.”
“He’s probably the least guy I’m worried about,” Warsofsky said, comparing Granlund to the rest of his roster, in training camp. “Just the way he’s a pro, it’s really good for both these guys to learn from him.”
You also need skill to play with skill.
For example, on Celebrini’s first goal on Thursday, how many Sharks would be able to corral Celebrini’s deflected pass back to the teen phenom?
Granlund’s positional flexibility is a plus too. You might not blame him, as the team’s top scorer, if he showed a strong preference for staying up the middle. But instead, with no complaint, he’s played wing for both Celebrini and Smith this season.
Skill also respects skill, a league source reminded SJHN. A Celebrini has a lot to learn from a Barclay Goodrow, for example, but the 2024 first-overall pick and 2010 ninth-overall Granlund probably have more in common, in terms of the expectation to carry the weight of a team on a nightly basis.
Between Granlund and Tyler Toffoli, to GM Mike Grier’s credit, this season’s San Jose Sharks have been designed where its most-skilled veterans are also its standard-bearers. You can make the argument that the Chicago Blackhawks, for example, haven’t been as thoughtfully constructed.
So…does Granlund even want to stay with the San Jose Sharks?
Stars like Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns all couldn’t wait to get out of San Jose to chase a Stanley Cup.
“Every player wants to win, and it’s the same thing for me,” Granlund said. “At the same time, I see so much potential in this group. It’s kind of cool to have a chance to be a part of it, be able to make these guys better, try to show them what it means to be a pro.”
For what it’s worth, SJHN doesn’t get a sense that Granlund is in a hurry to get out, unlike say Hertl and Karlsson.
Coming from Granlund’s mouth, this seems genuine: “There’s a lot of good things, work ethic-wise, what I see in practice, how guys really want to get better and try to help them with that…It’s really satisfying to see the growth of some of these young guys.”
It’s a little early in the season to be talking about a new contract: Granlund says, as far as he knows, that there haven’t been any talks. SJHN hasn’t heard anything either.
But as the Trade Deadline draws near, what will Grier do?
“I see a bright future in this group. Contract-wise, I really don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Granlund said. “I’m here now and I’m gonna put everything for this team. Everything for these guys to try to help them.”