Advertisement

On long-term injured reserve since the opening day of the season, once activated Petter Granberg was bound to waivers before he could rejoin the Marlies. Yesterday, Nashville — oddly enough, one of the deepest organizations at the right defence position — swooped in to make the claim.

A conditioning stint might have been an option for the Leafs, but, coming off a serious achilles injury, Granberg wasn’t going to see any NHL action without a significant chunk of games spent getting himself back up to speed in the AHL. It was a near certainty he was going to be exposed to waivers eventually either way. He also would’ve been in tough to stake a claim to one of the top seven or eight defence spots to avoid this very scenario back in September had he been healthy (that said, it seems less likely he would’ve been claimed back then).

The Leafs could’ve sent down Scott Harrington, who is on his ELC, but that would’ve made no sense at all given he’s been a useful piece and deserves his spot on the roster, or they could have facilitated a trade somehow, but that also wasn’t in the cards.

Granberg, 23, was on the radar of fans and management after Dave Nonis hyped the former fourth round pick as one of the organization’s best up and coming defensive prospects when he crossed the pond from Sweden in 2013. He made his first NHL appearance at the very end of the 2013-14 season, when he played well in a meaningless game in Ottawa, including this play to break up a 3 on 1.

He didn’t make another big club appearance until the second half of the 2014-15, when the Leaf season went up in flames in late January and February. That piece of context is important, and it was only a 63-minute sample, but Granberg struggled in those games to the tune of a 41.7% Corsi For, second worst to only Andrew MacWilliam among players to appear for the Leafs last season. Frankly, he didn’t look, observationally or statistically, like an NHL defenceman.

[Granberg was also the poor soul who was flown down to Florida as a last-minute emergency call-up for a game against Panthers, only for the Leafs to find out cap manager Claude Loiselle hadn’t got it approved by the league office due to a lack of cap space]

While Granberg offers size and a right-handed shot, 22 points in 126 AHL games is hardly suggestive of a player with even a modestly-productive future at the NHL level. Given his limited skillset as a defensive defenceman, his upside in today’s NHL isn’t obvious. Among the organization’s defencemen aged 24 and under, all of Harrington, Marincin, Corrado and Percy are ahead of Granberg at the moment, and arguably Viktor Loov is, too (although Corrado and Granberg are the only righties among this group).

There’s also the consideration that his injury recovery may hamper him for some time before he’s feeling normal again. No injury is exactly like another, nor does everyone heal the same, but this was Erik Karlsson, in February of 2015, speaking about his achilles injury sustained over two years earlier:

The lingering effects, he battles still, including an impact on his skating that continues to mystify him.

“Now it’s just a matter of getting the body to react the same way, doing the same things it used to. I still don’t think I skate as well as I used to.”

This waiver loss comes in part due to bad luck with the injury, but for every prospect the clock starts the moment they’re signed to an entry-level contract by their organization. Granberg didn’t earn a place on the team by the time his ELC expired, which meant waivers became a reality.

So it goes. Colour me surprised if this comes back to bite the Leafs.

The Leafs are now at 47 Standard Player Contracts.


Monday Links:

Quinn MacKeen: Shanahan and Soshnikov – The Kid Who’s Scared of Nothing (MLHS)
To me, it looks as though – for the first time in decades – Brendan Shanahan has the Leafs actively and aggressively engaged in searching Russia for serious talent — top-line talent, not roster filler, and that’s key.

Mark Rackham: Game Review: Toronto Marlies 6 vs. Binghamton Senators 4 (MLHS)
A game in which William Nylander extended his point streak to ten games and recorded his tenth goal of the season.

Jonas Siegel: Reimer’s improbable run shows no sign of slowing (TSN)

This run of his just keeps going against all odds. Reimer has started 10 of Toronto’s 11 games in November, including both ends of this most recent weekend back-to-back set.

Kevin McGran: Schedule might be holding Maple Leafs back (to back) (Toronto Star)
They play far too many games on consecutive nights for their own liking — 16 back-to-back series this season, 32 games in all. Why? Well, Toronto coach Mike Babcock acknowledges it’s the demands of the television schedule.

CP: Police: Former defenceman Ian White arrested in Winnipeg (Sportsnet)
Constable Eric Hofley, public information officer with the Winnipeg police, said in an email to The Canadian Press on Sunday night that White has been charged with “several weapons related offences.”