Nashville Predators Grades: Petter Granberg is Better

The Nashville Predators made an unusual Waiver claim back on November 22nd, 2015. In fact, it was rather surprising.

The Nashville Predators were looking for forward and especially first line center help at that time and the last thing it seemed they needed was a “broken” defenseman from the waiver wire that would have to keep with the team.

They claimed young Petter Granberg on waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs who was coming off Achilles surgery in the offseason and had played a total of a whopping eight NHL games. In those eight games, he had zero points and six penalty minutes.

What was GM David Poile thinking? At the time, he had arguably the best defensive core in the league with Shea Weber and Roman Josi as the first tandem, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm at two, and Seth Jones and Barret Jackman as 2A. They also had Victor Bartley and Anthony Bitetto as healthy scratches every night.

At the time he was claimed, Granberg was still on Injured Reserve so didn’t yet count against the roster. But that was only temporary and the Nashville Predators would have to keep him on the roster or risk losing him to the Waiver Wire.

The other question was why the Toronto team had risked losing him on the Wire. Granberg was once considered a top defensive prospect for the Maple Leafs, a fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft. A big strong stay-at-home defenseman, he was known as playing very solidly defensively and war rarely caught out of position.

Not afraid to use his large frame to shield players away from the net and didn’t shy away from the rough stuff. New management had moved into Toronto and Mike Babcock prefers swift skaters and fast puck movers and Granberg didn’t fit that bill. Thus, they tried to sneak him through to the Marlies.

In December, the Predators sent him to Milwaukee on a conditioning assignment. He impressed Daniel Lavender of Admirals Roundtable:

(He has the) style of play of being a stay at home defenseman whose work can often go unappreciated unless you watch that type of player go to work in-person. I was a massive fan of Joonas Järvinen for that reason. And I actually see similarities between the two with one or more differences. The biggest of which was how unbelievably strong Granberg is. His highlight moment for me was seeing him throw Manitoba Moose forward Patrice Cormier to the ice as they jostled for position upon zone entry for a Moose offensive push. Cormier is 6’2″ and 216 lbs. He has the weight advantage on Granberg but it didn’t matter at all. The Swede gave him a shove, knocked him down, made it look effortless, and shut down an attack all by himself.

In early January, it all made more sense. Seth Jones was shipped off to Columbus for Ryan Johansen. Victor Bartley was sent to Montreal via Arizona and suddenly Granberg and Tony Bitetto were the 6/7 defensemen on the Nashville Predators.