I don't think Ma Granlund's skating is an issue defensively but I admit that I hoped to see an improvement in that over the summer. I'd say his defensive positioning in excellent, far better than I expected based on what I saw of him in Europe.
Mikael Granlund used to be the poorer skater of the two which you wouldn't notice now watching him skate with Parise in Minnesota. A bit disappointing if Markus can't reach similar level of game speed (if not overall agility) given that he should have access to exact same training and knowledge - but I'm not entirely sure he's that much behind.
Offensive upside is an open question. Unclear what sort of profile he'll have in the NHL. Maybe it'll be his shot, or maybe overall game like Backlund.
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