Granlund missed the last two games with an upper-body injury but should be back in the lineup tonight and skate with Nino Niederreiter and Jason Pominville. Granlund has two goals and 10 assists as he continues to progress his game in the NHL. The Finnish phenom has more value in keeper leagues, but is still relevant in deep one-year leagues.
Granlund did not skate on Sunday or this morning after missing Saturday's contest with the Jets. The Finnish centre has two goals and 10 assists in 23 games. Mike Rupp will make his season debut tonight with Granlund out.
Killorn, 24, had a strong start to the season but has really cooled off as of late. Moving him onto a line with the red-hot Stamkos could get jumpstart Killorn. Whoever plays the LW on this line becomes a solid fantasy commodity. Ryan Malone had seven points in 12 games in that position.
Kreider has two goals and two assists in six games with Hartford. The Rangers don't play again until Thursday, but he was skating on the top-line this morning with Brad Richards and Derek Stepan. He was the 19th overall pick in 2009 but has yet to take the next step in his NHL career. This could be the chance he needs with all the injuries that have hit New York.
Kreider has been average during the preseason and might have played himself off of New York's roster. “A lot of players are close but really haven’t shown me they can play at this level on a consistent basis,” head coach Alain Vigneault said. “There are still guys [with a chance] who are going to play [against the Kings] but they have to play better.”
Granlund collected eight points (2-6=8) in 27 games with Minnesota this season. The 5-foot-10, 186-pound native of Oulu, Fin., recorded 28 points (10-18=28) in 29 games with the Aeros this season and added two points (1-1=2) in five playoff games.
Kreider was a minus-1 in 8:23 in Game 1.
Granlund recorded just one goal and one assist with a minus-2 in his last eight games. Minnesota is limping into the playoffs right now, so they are looking for a spark.
Brian Boyle was injured Tuesday.
Granlund is not fantasy relevant this season.
Brossoit was 37-8-7 as a member of the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL.
Granlund scored six points (1-5=6) in 19 games with Minnesota this season and registered a goal in his NHL debut vs. Colorado on Jan. 19. The 5-foot-10, 186-pound native of Oulu, Finland has recorded 28 points (10-18=28) in 29 games with the Aeros this season.
Kreider had a strong run in the playoffs last season posting five goals and two assists in 18 games. With his play in the playoffs the Rangers were expecting more out of him this year. He has just two goals and one assist in 17 games.
Kreider has 19 points in 42 games in the AHL this season. He had two points in 11 games with the Rangers earlier in the season.
The highly touted Finn and 2010 first-round pick had been scratched in four of the past eight games and needed to get playing. He hasn't scored a goal since opening night and had six points in 19 games.
Granlund has all of the potential in the world but has hit a rut similar to what we've seen with other rookies in this shortened season. The best case scenario would be for Granlund to spend some time in Houston playing instead of playing limited minutes with the Wild, where he won't be producing. We aren't downgrading Granlund for keeper league status, yet, but all yearly league owners should have Granlund dropped until he shows some signs of life.
With Kreider going back to the AHL this basically guarantees Rick Nash will be suiting up tonight.
No word on if Kreider will go if Nash can play or if he will suit up anyways. It's unlikely that Kreider will find himself at the forefront of the Rangers' offense on Sunday.
Kreider has 1 G, 1 A and +2 in 7 games this season.
