Granlund the odd man out?

[GranteedEV]

I'm not saying he's not an NHL-calibre player - I think he is and someday he'll be sinking 15-25 goals a year and plenty of assists to go with that. But it's safe to say that at center, we're pretty deep. Backlund, Monahan, Bennett, Colborne, Stajan, Granlund, Jooris.

The first three of those are pretty untouchable for now, and Colborne is one of our few larger players who's looked comfortable enough on the right wing. Jooris has been an amazing energy guy with great skating and a lot more offensive ability than another of one of our energy guys *cough*.

So at first glance, Stajan is the one that "needs to be moved" - he's the veteran whose reputation has dropped from being a Top 6 Offensive Playmaker and the key piece in the Phaneuf trade to... essentially a 4th liner who gets a pretty nice paycheck.

But I find that I like Matt Stajan in that bottom line role more than I ever liked him in all these years pidgeonholed into scoring lines. His offensive skills seems so much more valuable and suited to setting up less skilled guys just crashing the net like Bouma than they ever were to opening up Iggy et al. He's a heady player, and to me feels like a calming influence when he's out there with four other guys stuck in their own zone. He's the kind of veteran that helps young teams grow, and he's versatile enough that you can slot him in on the wings, not just center.

On the other hand, Markus Granlund is only 21 and he has a ton of potential especially with an off-season to work on his strength. He's skilled, he's smart, and he's already contributing. It wouldn't be absurd to slot him in on a wing and see how he does - It's really tough to even talk about trading away this guy. But I feel like he's just.. redundant on this team and he's an awesome asset that could get help at the positions the Flames need to fill. In the long term, we obviously need to get quality D-men to relieve the awesome Gio/Brodie/Russell and you don't usually get good pieces trading away extras.

Is Granlund a core piece, or an excellent asset to help get that core piece?

[dissentowner]

When discussing center depth why does everybody always forget Jankowski? Guy is going to be a player.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

When discussing center depth why does everybody always forget Jankowski? Guy is going to be a player.

Yeah, it's crazy. I think Janko will at least be a good bottom six center with solid two-way play and good FO skills in the NHL, but there's also potential for more IMO. He's progressing nicely in college.

As for the guys listed in the OP, I think it's clear by now that Colborne is going to be a winger going forward. Maybe Jooris too ... and with Granny, I think he needs to work on his FOs a lot and get a bit stronget if he wants to be a center in the NHL. Could be better suited on the wing going forward.

Also, let's not forget Drew Shore and Billy Arnold.

[Da_Chief]

Janko is still 2-3 years away. That's why for the time being he's a forgotten man.

[neo45]

I love the way Granlund plays and I think he is part of our future for sure. Great hockey sense and hustle. He plays like Backlund but is better at the same age

[442scotty]

I expect Shore will be coming up by next weekend and Granlund going down. Granlund needs more time in the AHL. Flames will also bring up some skilled beef. Wolf or Ferland. Im thinking Wolf soon because they will want to see if he can play in the show and hes only on a one year contract. Then they can ditch Bollig.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Granlund is one of several odd men out.

He will likely be a career NHLer, but the Flames need a player in his age/skill bracket on defence more than they need another centreman.

We could slide him over to wing, but he's definitely more valuable as a centreman than he is as a winger.

A 21 year old centre with NHL experience and top-6 upside is a valuable commodity, one which the Flames dont have Room for, and which would be mostly wasted by switching him to wing.

[Geeoff]

Next few weeks should be interesting because something definitely has to give. It's a nice problem to have.

[ricardodw]

Can't really say who will be the odd man out... Granlund and Jooris would have the least trade value.

It depends what sort of level of d-man the Flames will be trading for and what it will take to get the deal done.

[metroneck]

Crazy that 4 years ago, we'd be begging for Granlund, and anointing him as our future 1C.

Almost an embarrassment of riches down the middle.

[Slava]

I really like Granlund, but 35% in the dot is nothing to write home about. Hopefully he heads down to Adirondack and gets some work there.

[Rick M.]

I think we should see what we have in Shore before we start talking about spare parts.

[Enoch Root]

Centre depth as I see it (current - as in, who would play tonight):

Backlund
Monahan
Stajan
Bennett (until he actually plays and moves up, but he was ahead of everyone else in camp)
Jooris
Granlund
Colborne (when Jooris and Granlund are available, they seem to slot in and Colborne moves to wing)
Shore (he has more points in the AHL than Arnold, and has more NHL experience)
Arnold
Jankowski (as a 'prospect', I would have him higher, but this is a 'current depth' list and he is unavailable)

IMO, Bouma, Byron and Reinhart are destined for wing, other than injury fill-in

We shall see over the next while where exactly Shore slots in, in relation to Jooris and Granlund. And that would go a long way in determining whether Granlund is in fact the odd man out.

Side note: If Bennett forces their hand and stays with the team when healthy, we could be looking at an AHL lineup of:

Granlund
Shore
Jooris
Arnold

down the middle. All of those guys can play in the NHL (and have). That would be an AHL powerhouse!

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Rick M.

I think we should see what we have in Shore before we start talking about spare parts.

Agreed. I'm in no rush to shuffle guys elsewhere until the off season at the earliest.

[Split98]

Personally I see Shore as an attempt at shoring (DING!) up the RW.

I don't know anything about him, but from what I've read it wasn't that huge a leap from Knight for the trade to have been #9 C on our depth. But he shoots right, and is big.

That being said, we can only have so many forwards so Granlund is definitely the odd man out.

I see Granlund and Backlund being in heavy competition for the 2-way C role. Monahan and Bennett have 1-2 locked (I know, I know, chickens before they hatch), so Granlund may be that over-the-top piece in upgrading our D or RW.

[Gaskal]

Too many centers. I think we'll try Shore at RW unless he's a faceoff genius. We don't have a lot of right shots and we definitely need size on the wing as well.

As for Granlund, it's pretty clear that he is maybe only 1-2 steps away from being fully NHL ready but in the meantime it'd be better served to give him the rest of the year in Adirondack.

[Harry Lime]

The one team that potentially believes Granlund has more value than others in the league is Minnesota because of the presence of his brother.

They have a problem in net as well.

Would we be interested in moving Granlund and Hiller in a package that would net us something along the lines of Blum, Folin, and Backstrom? Backstrom has one more year after this one, the same as Hiller. Blum and Folin would finally make our bottom 4 defensemen expendable, a luxury we don't have at the moment.

I don't put out many trade proposals, but the first thing I thought of when a saw Minnesota's goalie problems wasn't "Ramo and Hiller", but rather "Granlund".

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I'm not saying he's not an NHL-calibre player - I think he is and someday he'll be sinking 15-25 goals a year and plenty of assists to go with that. But it's safe to say that at center, we're pretty deep. Backlund, Monahan, Bennett, Colborne, Stajan, Granlund, Jooris.

The first three of those are pretty untouchable for now, and Colborne is one of our few larger players who's looked comfortable enough on the right wing. Jooris has been an amazing energy guy with great skating and a lot more offensive ability than another of one of our energy guys *cough*.

I personally don't see Backlund as untouchable and Bennett has yet to play in the NHL. so it might be early to pencil him in.

Stajan is the guy though that Granlund needs to make obsolete and I can see it happening as soon as next season.

[IgiTang]

I have yet to see anyone mention Reinhart to the Max also.

Our depth is nice and the injuries seem to be allowing Trelliving to not have to address this. But at some point all of them will be healthy.

I agree with an earlier post in that I hope we package some forwards for a solid blue chip D prospect.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

I have yet to see anyone mention Reinhart to the Max also.

Our depth is nice and the injuries seem to be allowing Trelliving to not have to address this. But at some point all of them will be healthy.

I agree with an earlier post in that I hope we package some forwards for a solid blue chip D prospect.

Max Reinhart IMO isn't good enough at any part of the game to be a mainstay NHL player. He's never the team's first choice for a call up and given that he's one of the older prospects in the system that's probably working against him.