Markus Granlund
Granlund with the Abbotsford Heat in 2014
Born (1993-04-16) 16 April 1993 (age 30)
Oulu, Finland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NL team
Former teams		 HC Lugano
HIFK
Calgary Flames
Vancouver Canucks
Edmonton Oilers
Salavat Yulaev Ufa
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 45th overall, 2011
Calgary Flames
Playing career 2010–present

Kari Markus Granlund (born 16 April 1993) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward, who is currently playing with HC Lugano of the National League (NL). After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he elected to leave the KHL team Salavat Yulaev Ufa.[1][2] He is a second-round selection of the Calgary Flames, taken 45th overall at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Granlund played two seasons in the SM-liiga for HIFK before moving to North America to join the Flames organization in 2013. His older brother Mikael plays in the NHL for the San Jose Sharks.

Playing career

Granlund with the Calgary Flames in 2014

A native of Oulu, Finland, Granlund played minor hockey in his hometown before joining Helsinki-based club HIFK's junior teams in 2009. He made his SM-liiga debut in the 2010–11 season, appearing in two games with the senior squad, but spent the majority of the year with HIFK's junior team, where he recorded 20 goals and 52 points in 40 games.[3] The National Hockey League (NHL)'s Calgary Flames selected him with their second round pick, 45th overall, at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.[4] Granlund opted to remain in Finland for the 2011–12 season where he joined HIFK's senior team full-time and played on the same line as his brother, Mikael.[5] Markus finished the season with 34 points in 47 games, then recorded 30 points in 50 games for HIFK in 2012–13.[3]

Granlund moved to North America following his second year in the SM-liiga as he signed a three-year contract with the Flames on 19 April 2013.[6] He was assigned to Calgary's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat, to begin the 2013–14 season. He initially struggled to adapt to life in Canada, and while he had a clause in his contract that would allow him to return to Finland, Granlund opted to remain with the Flames organization.[5] He earned a brief recall to Calgary in late December 2013 but did not appear in an NHL game.[7] Granlund was the AHL's leading goal scorer among rookies with 23 at the time of his second recall in late February,[8] and made his NHL debut on 27 February 2014, in a 2–0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.[9] He recorded his first NHL point in his third game, an assist on 3 March against his brother's Minnesota Wild.[10] On the same day, the AHL named him that league's rookie of the month for February. He recorded 12 points in 10 games and was a +6 over that time.[11] Granlund scored his first goal two nights later in a 4–1 win over the Ottawa Senators.[12]

In the 2015–16 season, the last season of his entry-level deal, Granlund was reassigned to begin the year with new AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat.[13] The Flames recalled him after scoring a goal and assist in the Heat's inaugural game on 15 October 2015. After 31 games with the Flames, contributing with 7 points, Granlund was traded by Calgary to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Hunter Shinkaruk on 22 February 2016.[14] On 22 June 2018, the Canucks re-signed Granlund to a one year, 1.475M contract.[15]

During the 2019 offseason, the Canucks did not tender a qualifying offer to Granlund, releasing him as a free agent. On 1 July 2019, he agreed to a one-year, $1.3 million contract with his third Western Canadian club, the Edmonton Oilers.[16] In the 2019–20 season, Granlund struggled to make an impression with the Oilers collecting just three goals and 4 points in 34 regular season games before he was waived and reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. Granlund registered 15 points in 20 games with the Condors before the season was abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an impending free agent and left off the Oilers' return-to-play roster, Granlund halted his NHL career by agreeing to a two-year contract with Russian club Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the KHL on 17 July 2020.[17]

During the midst of his second season with Salavat, in March 2022, Granlund left Salavat Yulaev Ufa ahead of the playoffs due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[18]

As a free agent, Granlund continued his European career by signing a two-year contract with Swiss National League club, HC Lugano, on 19 July 2022.[19]


Medal record
Representing Finland Finland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Beijing
IIHF World U18 Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Belarus

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 HIFK FIN U18 8 9 17 26 6 — — — — —
2009–10 HIFK FIN U20 37 17 25 42 38 14 2 11 13 18
2010–11 HIFK FIN U20 40 20 32 52 49 5 4 5 9 6
2010–11 HIFK SM-l 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2011–12 HIFK SM-l 47 15 19 34 18 3 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Kiekko–Vantaa Mestis 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2011–12 HIFK FIN U20 — — — — — 1 1 0 1 0
2012–13 HIFK SM-l 50 10 20 30 18 5 1 2 3 4
2013–14 Abbotsford Heat AHL 50 23 21 44 22 4 2 3 5 2
2013–14 Calgary Flames NHL 7 2 1 3 0 — — — — —
2014–15 Adirondack Flames AHL 21 9 8 17 14 — — — — —
2014–15 Calgary Flames NHL 48 8 10 18 16 3 0 1 1 0
2015–16 Stockton Heat AHL 12 5 4 9 10 — — — — —
2015–16 Calgary Flames NHL 31 4 3 7 8 — — — — —
2015–16 Vancouver Canucks NHL 16 2 1 3 6 — — — — —
2016–17 Vancouver Canucks NHL 69 19 13 32 14 — — — — —
2017–18 Vancouver Canucks NHL 53 8 4 12 8 — — — — —
2018–19 Vancouver Canucks NHL 77 12 10 22 20 — — — — —
2019–20 Edmonton Oilers NHL 34 3 1 4 14 — — — — —
2019–20 Bakersfield Condors AHL 20 6 9 15 14 — — — — —
2020–21 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 50 23 30 53 26 9 3 5 8 6
2021–22 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 41 8 30 38 16 — — — — —
SM-l totals 99 25 39 64 36 — — — — —
NHL totals 335 58 43 101 86 3 0 1 1 0
KHL totals 91 31 60 91 42 9 3 5 8 6

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2010 Finland U17 10th 5 2 3 5 16
2010 Finland WJC18 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 1 5 6 4
2011 Finland WJC18 5th 6 2 8 10 6
2012 Finland WJC 4th 7 2 5 7 6
2013 Finland WJC 7th 6 5 7 12 4
2022 Finland OG 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 0 1 1 25
Junior totals 30 12 28 40 36
Junior totals 6 0 1 1 25

See also

References

  1. ^ Schram, Carol. "NHL Suspends Dealings With KHL As Russia's Ukraine Invasion Impacts Hockey World". Forbes.
  2. ^ "Snapshots: KHL Departures, AHL Signings, NHL Trade Market". Pro Hockey Rumors.
  3. ^ a b "Markus Granlund player card". National Hockey League. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Calgary Flames 2011 Draft Choices". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b Woodley, Kevin (4 February 2014). "Flames' Granlund ready to make his mark". National Hockey League. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  6. ^ "Flames sign C Granlund to three-year entry-level contract". The Sports Network. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  7. ^ Sportak, Randy (25 February 2014). "Young Flames forward up with big club, but no guarantee he'll see game action". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  8. ^ Wharnsby, Tim (26 February 2014). "Flames' Brian Burke will be front and centre as deadline approaches". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  9. ^ "Kings shut out Flames, win 2nd straight out of break". ESPN. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  10. ^ Sportak, Randy (4 March 2014). "Leaving his mark". Calgary Sun. p. S5.
  11. ^ Peterson, Torie (3 March 2014). "Granlund named AHL Rookie of the Month for February". Calgary Flames Hockey Club. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  12. ^ Gilbertson, Wes (6 March 2014). "Hosts heat up". Calgary Sun. p. S5.
  13. ^ "Flames assign Granlund to Stockton". Calgary Flames. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Canucks acquire Granlund from Flames". Vancouver Canucks. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Canucks re-sign forward Markus Granlund to one-year deal". Sportsnet. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  16. ^ "Edmonton Oilers to sign Markus Granlund to a modest deal". Edmonton Journal. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  17. ^ "Granlund joins the finnish ranks in Salavat!" (in Russian). Salavat Yulaev Ufa. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Venäläismedia: Markus Granlund jätti KHL-joukkueensa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Forward Markus Granlund completed the squad" (in Italian). HC Lugano. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.

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