Mikael Granlund
Granlund is another unrestricted free agent that I’m not sold on that will return to the team. The team initially let him test the free agency water last offseason and he ultimately returned for another season.
It actually ended up being a respectable season for Granlund as he was tied for the team-lead in goals with 13 and fourth in points with 27. Did he do enough for the Predators to actually sign him to a multi-year deal. I’m not convinced in that.
I’d like to see Granlund return to the Predators and continue to be a top-six player, preferably on the second line, but what happens in the expansion draft will affect this planning for Poile.
Granlund is rated No.18 in The Hockey News’ top-30 unrestricted free agents. He’ll definitely draw some interest if he decides to test the open market again, and should get more interest than he did last offseason when there were more challenged with the Covid-19 pandemic.