2024-25 Playoff Focus: Mikael Granlund

Yeoman's work

Credit: NHL.com

Mikko Rantanen is a quick-strike magician. Roope Hintz is a 200-foot safety net. Mikael Granlund, for his part, is a small-ice pain in the ass. Neither physically imposing (5’10”, 185 lbs with a top speed below the 50th percentile) nor supremely talented, the forward fills in those gaps with a fierce competitive streak.

Dallas required every bit of it on Tuesday night, as Winnipeg mounted a strong push (56.6 xGF%) to even up their second-round series.

Granlund’s drive was most visible in puck battles. The undersized veteran dove into 50/50s and emerged with possession from the outset, providing his team with valuable touches in all three zones (DAL 64):

The oldest member of the Stars’ Finnish contingent ensured that they got off the ropes by pulling the point of attack away from the slot. Through his active stick and work rate, Winnipeg faced resistance on the high wall, low on the cycle, etc. It frequently built up pressure only for Granlund’s front-line persistence to grant Dallas much-needed breathers.

No coasting or casual stick checks here. Despite a size disadvantage, he muscled leverage away from the Jets on multiple occasions to turn the tide.

He put in stellar work from a purely defensive POV as well:

Peter DeBoer’s decision to move his versatile forward from center to left wing is paying off. Without expansive middle-ice responsibilities, Granlund can pour his energy into simpler tasks (e.g. covering trailers, point men, weak-side targets).

He appears quite comfortable in that role. Look at the clip above. He compresses Dallas’ rush defense to discourage Nikolaj Ehlers (WPG 27) from trying his luck inside but resists the temptation to challenge the Dane outright or race back to home plate. That lane integrity puts him in position to smother Haydn Fleury’s (WPG 24) bid.

Late in the second period, Granlund’s dependability shines once more:

Following Dallas’ failed breakout, Kyle Connor (WPG 81) scrapes the puck off the wall and slips into the circle. Since the Jets are down one and he wants to make a difference, he forgoes an open Dylan DeMelo (WPG 2) at the point in favor of Alex Iafallo (WPG 9) between the hashes. Unfortunately, Granlund’s priorities mirror Connor’s and he sinks into the weak-side shooting lane.

The 33-year-old is also contributing to the single biggest storyline of the series. No, not Rantanen’s offensive explosion. The Stars’ suffocating PK. After pacing the league in the regular season, the Jets’ PP is converting at a pitiful 6.3 percent clip in the second round. For Dallas, that boils down to vigilance:

Winnipeg loves its movement—especially the goal-line side switch (Mark Scheifele, WPG 55) that shuffles the deck and soaks up attention for another threat to sneak in elsewhere.

The Jets run through their point —> right flank —> strong-side goal line progression, but watch Granlund’s eyes. He scans his half of the DZ about 703 times on this sequence, enabling him to spot and smother the curling left flanker (Ehlers) turned back door option. Winnipeg remains stuck on the perimeter.

Granlund hasn’t looked this sharp defensively in years. Shifting over to the wing has helped. The belief that this is his best chance at a Stanley Cup probably hasn’t hurt either. At any rate, he’s locked in.

Then, of course, there’s the offense. While he wasn’t a chance-generating machine on Tuesday, his clinical finish produced the totality of Dallas’ offense in a 3-1 win. His hat trick further exposed Connor Hellebuyck’s (WPG 37) glove-side woes in the process:

• Goes backhand to forehand to shake Brandon Tanev (WPG 73) in the NZ, then takes the space afforded to him by Winnipeg’s awful gap on the PK. 1-0.

• Look-away roofjob on a odd-man rush. 2-1.

• Sharp-angle one-time rocket on the PP. 3-1.

We’re almost a decade removed from Granlund’s prime, so don’t expect this sort of thing on a regular basis. His numbers will come in spurts. Moreover, they’ll likely come as a byproduct of his all-around game. He delivered another strong showing in that regard, leaning on his guts and craftiness to guide the Stars to victory.

Here are the full highlights:

---