HIGHLIGHTS
- Mikael Granlund signed a three-year, $21 million contract with Anaheim on Tuesday
- The 33-year-old center scored 66 points split between San Jose and Dallas last season
- Read below for contract details and what Granlund brings to the Ducks
The Ducks finally opened up the wallet on free agency’s opening day.
Mikael Granlund inked a three-year deal worth $21 million with Anaheim on Tuesday, carrying a $7 million cap hit. That’s a nice raise from the $5 million AAV he’d been making the last four seasons.
Not bad for a guy who’s hit 60 points in three of his last four campaigns.
The 33-year-old Finn lit it up last season despite bouncing between the basement-dwelling Sharks and the contending Stars. He put up 45 points in 52 games with San Jose before adding another 21 in 31 regular season games after getting dealt to Dallas at the deadline.
Granlund kept producing when it mattered most too. He chipped in 10 points in 18 playoff games as Dallas marched to the Western Conference Final.
“He’s what I consider a hard worker,” Ducks GM Pat Verbeek said. “He goes to the hard areas, something that we needed more of.”
The versatility factor can’t be ignored either. Granlund can play center or wing, kill penalties, quarterback a power play, and win faceoffs. That flexibility gives new bench boss Joel Quenneville plenty of options as Anaheim looks to snap a seven-year playoff drought.
At $7 million per, it’s definitely on the pricey side for a 33-year-old. But the Ducks had cap space to burn and desperately needed scoring punch after finishing 30th in goals last season.
Granlund joins a forward group featuring young guns like Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier, plus the recently acquired Chris Kreider. With Quenneville behind the bench and some veteran leadership up front, the Ducks are clearly done with the rebuild phase.
Whether this gets them back to the playoffs remains to be seen. But you can’t fault Verbeek for taking a swing.
