Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I am starting to wonder if Granlund might be a better prospect with a higher top-end than Backlund. He appears to be enjoying more success at a higher level in Europe than Backlund did at his age, and had a terrific WJC this last year as well. Is he as good as he appears, or is part of this a product of playing with his brother on a very good team? As someone who has the chance to watch him semi-regularly, I'm interested to know what your impression of Granlund is in the longer term.
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Since Backlund hasn't developed this year, it's tempting to say that the younger player has a higher ceiling. Tough to say. Granlund could well be more talented offensively, and he's already more succesful in his native country than Backlund was, but Mikael is an NHL player and Markus may never be good enough overall to get to the highest level.
I don't watch the finnish league nearly enough to act as an expert. Ideally the finnish updates would be made by someone who watches regularly. I could say a couple of things. First of all, the brother's haven't been so magical together in every game. And second, it seems to me that Markus has been scoring with other players as well, especially lately. It's certainly not just him connecting with his brother, even when they're on the same line.
I assume Markus has military next summer and during next season like his brother did this year. Also school. So I don't see him playing junior in NA nor do I see any reason for him to do that. Sometimes people forget that the prospects in Europe have a lot going on at this point in their careers. Consider how much Mikael has had on his plate this season: military service, finishing school, U20 national team, men's national team in the spring (he skipped the other tournaments), media demands being that he's one of the most interesting players in Finland, while at the same time being the MVP of his team. So when he looked a little less energetic at the WJC than we would have liked, I felt for him. Markus isn't going to have it nearly as tough but it's still going to be a challenge.