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Nashville Predators: Mikael Granlund 2018-19 Season Report Card

By Colby Guy

ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 03: This shot attempt by Ryan Suter #20 of the Minnesota Wild is broken up by Mikael Granlund #64 of the Nashville Predators during a game at Xcel Energy Center on March 3, 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.(Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 03: This shot attempt by Ryan Suter #20 of the Minnesota Wild is broken up by Mikael Granlund #64 of the Nashville Predators during a game at Xcel Energy Center on March 3, 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.(Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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In his first 16 games with the Nashville Predators, Mikael Granlund looked less than impressive, but if you look at his season as a whole, it doesn’t look that bad.

Yes, after being traded for Kevin Fiala at the trade deadline and underperforming since joining the Nashville Predators, but his entire season as a whole hasn’t been all bad.

(Note: I will be using his numbers for the entire season, including his time with the Minnesota Wild, where he played the majority of the season)

When you look at just his Minnesota numbers, it actually looks like a regular season you would expect from Mikael Granlund.

In 63 games, Granlund scored 15 goals and added 34 assists for 49 points, which would’ve been 20 goals and 63 points on an 82 game pace, which  is very much a Mikael Granlund type season.

Granlund has always been an assist machine that is good for at least 20 goals a year, and he could go back to that next season as he is set to play next to Matt Duchene next season, however that is not what we saw after he got sent to the Nashville Predators at the deadline.

In 16 regular season games with the Preds, Granlund put up just one goal and four assists for five points, which was even less than what  Kevin Fiala put up in his 19 games with the Wild, as he scored three goals and four assists for seven points.

His power play production also took a drop off, as he scored 18 points on the power play with the Wild, but only two of them in Nashville, but that could also be a product of the players that he has been playing with.

This could’ve been a product of him playing with Kyle Turris, who only put up three assists in the 16 games the two of them played together. As a whole, Turris only scored seven goals and added 16 assists for 33 points.

Granted, it could’ve came from Turris playing injured, as he had injury problems throughout the year, but his play definitely had an effect on Mikael Granlund’s adjustment to the team.

It is especially hard to adjust to playing for a team you just got traded to, and you see that a lot throughout the league, which is why we will be generous when giving Granlund his grade for the year, which is why we’re giving him a B.

B. <img decoding=. C/RW. Nashville Predators. MIKAEL GRANLUND

Sure, he didn’t have the greatest season by his standards, especially after joining the Nashville Predators, but he still had a solid overall season if you look at second liners around the league.

A lot of teams have players in the 30-40 point range on their second lines, so this season definitely could’ve went worse for Mikael Granlund.

Next. Mattias Ekholm's 2018-19 Report Card. dark

Next season seems to be a prove it year for Granlund, with Matt Duchene coming in to be his linemate and his contract being up after the year, but let’s give him a chance to show us what he can do with an entire offseason to adjust to life with the Nashville Predators.

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