By Jordan Long
The Minnesota Wild and center Mikael Granlund agreed to a new contract. The deal is for 3 years, worth $17.25 million. It will average out to $5.75 million a year. This was done to avoid arbitration.
Granlund will be heading into his 5th NHL season, all with the Minnesota Wild. Last year he had a career year in goals and points. Grandlund scored 26 goals and added 43 assists for a total of 69 points. The goals were second on the team; only Eric Staal had more at 28.
Granlund was valuable on full strength and power play opportunities. On full strength, teams had to be careful with him because one stride and it was a scoring chance for the Wild. Even if opponents tried to check him, his strength allowed him to keep the puck. Those would be scoring chances which ended in goals. Grandlund’s vision on the ice helped him feed his teammates for them to score. On the power play, Granlund played down low to tip the puck past the goaltender or for rebound chances. He had a total of 7 power play goals.
The Wild were hoping to keep Granlund since he was so valuable to the team. He didn’t want to play anywhere else. The only problem was money but they finally came to a number that Granlund seems is fair.
The Wild are overpaying Granlund, but they had to. His stats in the NHL are only going to improve. He is 25 and is entering the prime of his career. Teams will need to watch out for him because of his ability to score goals.
The Wild are in decent shape now that they have Granlund under a new contract. They should make the playoffs next season and he should be the top scorer on the team. They are hoping that Grandlund can help this team win a Cup. Hopefully for the Wild, that will happen in the next 3 years.
What do you think of the Minnesota Wild giving center Mikael Granlund a new contract?
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