Wild Looking At Granlund As Potential Playmaker

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Now that the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter fireworks have subsided, it's time for the Wild to look to other parts of its future.

One of those parts may be Mikael Granlund, a centre player.

Granlund's skills are about to go under the team's magnifying glass at the annual developmental camp. While at the camp, Granlund hopes to show the team he's ready for a roster spot.

"Mikael's a very smart, high-end, smart player," said Brad Bombardir, the Wild's director of player development. "He's got a tremendous amount of hockey sense...he's a great playmaker. You get him over the blue line in the offensive zone, and he sees plays."

The buzz is that if you play with Granlund, you'll play better.

"He's one of the most skilled players I've ever seen," said Jason Zucker, a Wild forward. "That's just the kind of player he is. He carries himself very professionally as well."

Granlund comes from Finland, the land of two of the team's top players. So he's already got a buddy system in place.

"I've only heard good things about [the] Wild," he said. "Of course, I know Mikko and I know Backstrom...they have told me lots about the organization of the team. And all I heard is good."