StaTuesday: Mikael Granlund on pace for Wild season

By Ryan Lund
Published

Standing out in 2010, a draft class that also produced Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall and Vladimir Tarasenko -- two of the league's best scoring wingers, flanking a top-five center -- was always going to be a tall order, even for a second-line forward on a contending team.

Of the top-10 picks, six are currently top-six forwards or top-four defensemen, while Tarasenko -- taken at No. 16 -- is among the league's elite.

And following a three-year career in Finland's top professional league, Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund -- the No. 9 pick -- looked poised to do the same.

After four years of fits, starts and one spectacular diving game-winner, it appears Granlund is finally living up to the high bar set by his peers.

Granlund started the season at his typical pace, posting 14 points in 24 games, right in line with his previous scoring rate of 0.55 points per game, but he seemed to turn a corner during the Wild's 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Since then his production has more than doubled.

Granlund has 34 points since that game -- two more than Sidney Crosby, four more than Alexander Ovechkin -- and now ranks 14th in the NHL with 48 points in 51 games.

His 12-game point streak is the longest in franchise history.

Granlund matched his previous career scoring high with an assist in a loss to Calgary last week, before blowing past it on Saturday, notching his first NHL hat trick and powering the Wild to a road win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Mikael Granlund, Career stats








































































































































His current pace -- 1.25 points per game since Dec. 7 -- would be enough to net Granlund around 87 points on the season.

That would have been good enough for third place last season, behind Patrick Kane and Jamie Benn.

NHL Scoring since Dec. 7, 2016
































































































































































































After a few years spent in the shadows of his former draft-mates, Granlund now trails Seguin and Tarasenko by just two points overall, and leads Hall by seven.

And nearly 500 games after they were drafted, Granlund is finally closing the cap on the class of 2010.

The 2010 Draft Class, by total points


























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Statistics courtesy of STATS LLC and Hockey-Reference.com