Remember When: Mikael Granlund was a Penguin for Five Minutes?

Yesterday's Four Nations Faceoff matchup between Canada and Finland brought back some undesirable memories for me.

In the final moments of the game, Sidney Crosby rolled through the neutral zone like a truck, blasted Finland forward Mikael Granlund, corralled the puck, and scored an empty netter all in one motion - an insanely impressive play.

Once upon a time in 2023, Crosby and Granlund were teammates. If you forgot about that, I wouldn't blame you. Granlund was very uninspiring in his time with the Penguins, especially at a juncture in the season where they needed scoring help.

Granlund Acquired from Nashville

Granlund was acquired from the Nashville Predators for a 2nd round pick on March 1, 2023 in hopes to help the Penguins fix a scoring issue. The now 13 year veteran has always been known for his ability to create goals, and he was brought in for that very reason.

In his 21 games at a $5M cap hit, Granlund scored a single goal in a blowout win and recorded four assists. Five points in 21 games, and zero of them were meaningful.

It was an absolute disaster of a move by Ron Hextall - a move that likely was part of the snowball effect to get him out of the Penguins front office (thankfully).

The mind-crushing part of all of it was just how uninterested he seemed to be in Pittsburgh. You wouldn't know it from this quote, but his time on the ice was some of the most uninspiring hockey I've ever witnessed.

Granlund has scored some big goals in his career, some of which have come after his time with Pittsburgh, which Kyle Dubas made sure to end sooner than later. But again, you would have thought he was a 43 year-old AHLer with how invisible he was on the ice.

The Karlsson Trade

If you look really closely, you can see Granlund's name heading to San Jose as a part of the biggest blockbuster in the NHL at the time.

We can do an Erik Karlsson trade retrospective another time, but seeing Granlund as a part of this deal is very relevant. Somehow, Kyle Dubas managed to offload all of his awful contract while acquiring the reigning Norris Trophy winner.

Does this mean Kyle Dubas got something for an abysmal Mikael Granlund? Eh, kind of, but not exactly.

Granlund Since Leaving Pittsburgh

Of course, ever since Granlund left the Penguins, he's been close to point per game. He had 60 points in 69 games last season with the Sharks, and he currently has 49 points in 56 games between San Jose and Dallas this season.

Even looking at since Granlund was traded to the Stars just a few weeks ago, he has four assists in four games, effectively tying his assist total in his Penguins tenure.

I'm convinced Granlund just hated Pittsburgh and decided to dog it down the stretch. He's a fairly emotionless guy, but I never saw his intensity level go above a 1.3 with the Penguins. Just watch his celebration to his only goal.

Whoa there! Chill out, Mikael! There are kids watching! Dial it back a few levels there, bud!

The Penguins were 9-10-2 (20 points in 21 games) during the Granlund era in Pittsburgh. The Penguins missed the playoffs by two points.

Granlund played well at the Four Nations Faceoff for Finland, but Sidney Crosby's hit and run on him yesterday embodies everything Penguins fans felt about his time in Pittsburgh. Good riddance.