Midweek Stock Report: Granlund breaks through twice
Every Wednesday, FOX Sports North takes a look at which athletes' stock is trending up and whose is trending down.
In other words, who is heating up, and who is cooling off.
With that in mind, let's take stock of the current Minnesota sports scene.
The Dynamic Duo
Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns have a nickname. We have a pregame graphic to prove it. Just look at this photo. By all the laws of sports broadcasting, this is now a thing. Towns and Wiggins have exploded since Zach LaVine's injury; they combined for 56 points Monday to power the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 102-88 win over the Sacramento Kings. Wiggins has scored 20-plus points in a franchise-record 18 straight games, while Towns has averaged 29 points and 19 rebounds over his last four games. Dynamic indeed.
Mikael Granlund, Wild forward
We wrote about Granlund's crazy shooting percentage Tuesday, but to reiterate: Granlund is having an absurd season. The crafty Finnish forward isn't just a playmaker anymore, and now has a career-high 21 goals on the season after scoring back-to-back breakaway goals earlier this week. He sliced through three of the Los Angeles Kings' top players in overtime to lift the Wild to a 5-4 win. Granlund did it again to open the scoring Tuesday, sneaking in behind the Winnipeg Jets' defense and racked up three points in the first period and helping Minnesota to a 6-5 win.
Nemanja Bjelica, Wolves forward
The Wolves' bench came alive against the Kings, and Bjelica led the charge. Bjelica scored 10 points and added 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season despite going just 4-for-15 from the field. He played 35 minutes, his second-highest total of the season.
Ryan White, Wild forward
Apparently Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher knew what he was doing when he nabbed journeyman forward Ryan White as part of his pre-deadline deal with the Arizona Coyotes. The Wild sent a trio of draft picks to Arizona for White and 6-foot-6 center Martin Hanzal. But while Hanzal was considered one of the best rentals of the trade deadline, White has made an improbable impact early on. White registered a goal and an assist in his Wild debut, then scored his ninth of the season in their win over the Jets.
Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, Wild forwards
The NHL is once again dealing with a mumps outbreak, and the Wild are once again dealing with the fallout. Parise and Pominville were both diagnosed with the notoriously contagious virus ahead of their game against the Kings on Monday after a group of Vancouver Canucks players were sidelined with symptoms. The Wild are working to minimize the effect on their locker room, but the loss of two prominent players in the heat of the playoff race is a worrying development.
Adrian Peterson, former Vikings running back
"Former." Let that one sink in for a second. The Vikings declined to exercise the 2017 option on Peterson's contract Monday, making the franchise's rushing leader a free agent for the first time. Peterson was due a prohibitive $18 million salary in 2017, a figure that would have crippled the Vikings' ability to supplement their dismal offensive line. Peterson could still return to the Vikings at a lower price, but the veteran is expected to command plenty of interest on the open market.
Darcy Kuemper, Wild goalie
The Wild had yet to make an in-game goaltending change this season heading into their matchup with the Jets, the last team in the league to stick with a single goaltender in every game so far. Midway through the third period Tuesday, Bruce Boudreau finally pulled the plug. Boudreau replaced Kuemper with regular starter Devan Dubnyk after the former allowed five goals on 29 shots, as the Jets erased Minnesota's two-goal lead in a span of just 42 seconds in the third.
