Mikael Granlund facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mikael Granlund |
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Granlund with the Minnesota Wild in 2019
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| Born | 26 February 1992 Oulunsalo, Finland |
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| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre / Right wing | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| NHL team Former teams |
San Jose Sharks Oulun Kärpät HIFK Minnesota Wild Nashville Predators Pittsburgh Penguins |
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| National team |  Finland |
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| NHL Draft | 9th overall, 2010 Minnesota Wild |
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| Playing career | 2008–present | ||
Mikael Antero Granlund (born 26 February 1992) is a professional ice hockey player from Finland. He plays as a centre and is an alternate captain for the San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League (NHL). Before joining the Sharks, he played for teams like Oulun Kärpät and HIFK in Finland, and the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, and Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL. The Wild picked him as the ninth player overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Contents
Granlund's Hockey Journey
Starting Out in Hockey
Mikael Granlund started playing junior ice hockey with Oulun Kärpät in 2007. He was really good, often scoring more than one point per game. In 2009, he was even named a first-team All-Star in his junior league. He got his first chance to play professionally with Kärpät's main team when he was just 17 years old.
After a disagreement about his contract with Kärpät, Granlund decided to sign with HIFK Helsinki for the 2009–10 season. Kärpät tried to stop him from moving, but they eventually worked things out. With HIFK, he had an amazing season, scoring 13 goals and 27 assists in 43 games. He was the top-scoring rookie with 40 points! Because of his great play, he won the Jarmo Wasama Memorial Trophy as the best rookie in the SM-liiga (Finland's top league). He also won the Raimo Kilpiö trophy for being the most gentlemanly player, as he only had two penalty minutes all season. In 2009, he was even voted Finland's Young Athlete of the Year.
Granlund also played for the Finnish national junior team in big tournaments like the Under-18 and Under-20 World Championships in 2009 and 2010. At the 2010 U18 Championship, he led the tournament in assists and helped Finland win a bronze medal.
Experts thought Granlund was the best European player for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Even though he wasn't the tallest player, scouts were very impressed with how well he saw the game on the ice. The Minnesota Wild chose him as the ninth overall pick in the draft.
He played one more season with HIFK, helping them win the SM-liiga title. He was a key player, especially in the playoffs. After that season, Granlund joined the senior Finnish national team for the 2011 IIHF World Championship. He scored a famous "lacrosse-style" goal in the semifinal game against Russia, which helped Finland win the gold medal!
Joining the Minnesota Wild
In 2012, Granlund signed a three-year contract with the Minnesota Wild. Because of a player lockout in the NHL, he started the 2012–13 season playing for the Wild's minor league team, the Houston Aeros. When the lockout ended, he joined the Wild and made his NHL debut on January 19, 2013, scoring his first NHL goal against the Colorado Avalanche.
Granlund got even better in his second year, scoring 8 goals and 33 assists. He often played on Minnesota's top line with star players like Jason Pominville and Zach Parise. In the 2014 playoffs, he scored an overtime goal that helped the Wild win a game against Colorado. He continued to play well for the Wild in the following seasons, often playing on the top lines. In the 2015–16 season, his coach moved him to the first line as a winger, which helped him score even more points.
In 2017, the Wild signed Granlund to a new three-year contract worth $17.25 million.
Moving to Other NHL Teams
During the 2018–19 season, Granlund was traded from the Wild to the Nashville Predators. He had scored 49 points in 63 games for the Wild before the trade. He played 16 games for the Predators that season.
After his contract with Nashville ended, Granlund decided to try playing for another team. However, he ended up re-signing with the Predators for one year in December 2020. In July 2021, he signed another four-year contract with Nashville.
On March 1, 2023, Granlund was traded again, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played 21 games for the Penguins, scoring 5 points.
Then, on August 6, 2023, before the new season started, Pittsburgh traded Granlund to the San Jose Sharks as part of a big trade involving three teams.
Personal Life
Mikael Granlund has a younger brother named Markus Granlund, who also played in the NHL for several seasons and now plays in Switzerland. Mikael is a big fan of the English soccer team Liverpool FC.
Career Statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2007–08 | Kärpät | FIN U18 | 22 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Kärpät | FIN U20 | 35 | 21 | 36 | 57 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Kärpät | SM-l | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Kärpät | FIN U18 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 2009–10 | HIFK | SM-l | 43 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | HIFK | SM-l | 39 | 8 | 28 | 36 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 4 | ||
| 2011–12 | HIFK | SM-l | 45 | 20 | 31 | 51 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Houston Aeros | AHL | 29 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2012–13 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 27 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 63 | 8 | 33 | 41 | 22 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2014–15 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 68 | 8 | 31 | 39 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 82 | 13 | 31 | 44 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 81 | 26 | 43 | 69 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2017–18 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 77 | 21 | 46 | 67 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 63 | 15 | 34 | 49 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 63 | 17 | 13 | 30 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 51 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 2021–22 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 80 | 11 | 53 | 64 | 33 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 58 | 9 | 27 | 36 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 21 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 69 | 12 | 48 | 60 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 129 | 41 | 86 | 127 | 34 | 23 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 4 | ||||
| NHL totals | 819 | 157 | 387 | 544 | 249 | 59 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 10 | ||||
 Granlund at the 2010 World Junior Championships |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Finland |
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| Ice hockey | ||
| Winter Olympics | ||
| Bronze | 2014 Sochi | |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2011 Slovakia | |
| Gold | 2022 Finland | |
| Silver | 2016 Russia | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship | ||
| Bronze | 2009 United States | |
| Bronze | 2010 Belarus | |
International Games
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Finland | U17 | 6th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2009 | Finland | WJC | 7th | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2009 | Finland | WJC18 |  |
6 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2010 | Finland | WJC | 5th | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | |
| 2010 | Finland | WJC18 | |
6 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 4 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WC |  |
9 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2012 | Finland | WJC | 4th | 7 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2012 | Finland | WC | 4th | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2013 | Finland | WC | 4th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2014 | Finland | OG | |
6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WC |  |
10 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WCH | 8th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | Finland | WC | 5th | 8 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2022 | Finland | WC | |
9 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2 | |
| 2024 | Finland | WC | 8th | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 27 | |
| Junior totals | 31 | 11 | 36 | 47 | 8 | ||||
| Senior totals | 66 | 18 | 43 | 61 | 39 | ||||
Awards and Honours
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Liiga | ||
| Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy (Best Rookie) | 2009–10 | |
| Raimo Kilpiö trophy (Most Gentlemanly Player) | 2009–10 | |
| Kanada-malja champion (League Champion) | 2010–11 | |
| Finnish ice hockey player of the year | 2011 | |
| International | ||
| WJC First Team All-Star | 2012 | |
| Olympic All-Star Team | 2014 | |
| WC All-Star Team | 2016 | |
Images for kids
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Granlund (#64) and Teemu Lassila (beard) celebrating Finland's gold in the Hockey World Championship in Helsinki in 2011
