Quote:
Originally Posted by Read Only
We aren't choosing who is the best AHL prospect though and in his short time in the NHL Granlund looked way too small and way too weak.
He has the look of a guy who excels against the weaker competition in the AHL but can't translate it to the NHL.
Perhaps he changes that and gets stonger but from what he has shown his AHL numbers are nice (certainly not great) but not near good enough to show that he will score enough in the NHL to overcome his weakness.
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This description makes a lot of sense as for why you are not enthusiastic about a prospect, I just don't understand why you are using it to describe Granlund. I found Granlund's strength against NHL players unremarkable (either way) and he was starting to produce just as he has at every level. He had 3 points in 6 games (appeared in 7 but only played 12 seconds in the last one).
It is more likely than not that he'll get stronger... he turned 21 in April. And while he's not big, focusing on his size seems unnecessary. He's listed at 5'11 by the Flames and 6'0 by the AHL and some others and 185 lbs,
NHL average for forwards was 6'1 202 lbs in 2010.
The description of his AHL numbers as nice but not great is an understatement. From a cursory look at the top AHL scorers there are 6 players (Boychuk, Sceviour, Hoffman, Adam, Street, and Smith-Pelley) who scored more goals per game and none of those players were first year pros in north america nor as young as Granlund. According to the AHL he was 2nd in points per game for rookies behind Ryan Strome.
So compared to other rookies in the AHL Granlund was 2nd in points per game and 1st in goals per game. Those are great numbers.
He was also a remarkably consistent scorer.
Totals by month:
Oct: 6 GP - 3 P (.5 ppg)
Nov: 14 GP - 13 P (.93 ppg)
Dec: 9 GP - 8 P (.89 ppg)
Jan: 11 GP - 8 P (.73 ppg)
Feb 10 GP - 12 P (1.2 ppg)
Apr: 2 GP - 2 P (1.0 ppg)
Playoffs
4 GP - 5 P (1.25 ppg)
NHL
6 GP - 3 P (.5 ppg)
Anyways, I don't mean to jump on anyone about their opinion. I'm just a fan of Granlund and would like to encourage a little more excitement about a really good player in the system.