Mikael Granlund
StaTuesday: Wild own top-scoring line in NHL
Mikael Granlund

StaTuesday: Wild own top-scoring line in NHL

Published Feb. 21, 2017 12:29 p.m. ET

Before the season began, Mikael Granlund moved to right wing after spending most of his first four seasons as the Wild's No. 2 center, joining forces with Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu on the Wild's second line.

On Nov. 25, Boudreau added speedy left wing Jason Zucker to the mix, replacing an underperforming Zach Parise with a forward looking to break out following a disappointing season.

It's a strategy that's paid dividends for Boudreau and Co.

Granlund and Zucker are in the midst of career seasons, while Koivu is turning back the clock in his age-33 season.

They've combined for 52 goals this season, and much of that production has come while they're on the ice together.

Zucker, Koivu and Granlund have generated 35 goals while playing together, more than any other single unit in the league.



























































































Team F1 F2 F3 GF GA
MIN JASON ZUCKER MIKKO KOIVU MIKAEL GRANLUND 35 9
TOR JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK MITCHELL MARNER TYLER BOZAK 34 28
CHI PATRICK KANE ARTEM ANISIMOV ARTEMI PANARIN 28 17
ANA JAKOB SILFVERBERG ANDREW COGLIANO RYAN KESLER 26 17
CBJ CAM ATKINSON BRANDON DUBINSKY BOONE JENNER 25 15
CBJ NICK FOLIGNO ALEXANDER WENNBERG BRANDON SAAD 24 16
TOR CONNOR BROWN ZACH HYMAN AUSTON MATTHEWS 23 14
BOS DAVID PASTRNAK PATRICE BERGERON BRAD MARCHAND 22 16
NYI JOHN TAVARES JOSH BAILEY ANDERS LEE 22 18
CGY MATTHEW TKACHUK MIKAEL BACKLUND MICHAEL FROLIK 21 14


Statistics courtesy Leftwinglock.com

And while the trio doesn't generate the shooting attempts that James Van Riemsdyk, Mitch Marner and Tyler Bozak do for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they've been remarkably effective in the offensive end.

The Zucker-Koivu-Granlund line leads the NHL with 35 goals as a unit, one more than Van Riemsdyk, Marner and Bozak, while converting on a blistering 14.71 percent of their shots on goal.

The website Left Wing Lock lists 10 different line combinations for the Wild this season, but only one has played together more than 10 percent of the time.

The Zucker-Koivu-Granlund line is on the ice together 16.51 percent of the time, nearly double the usage of the Wild's other lines.





































































Forward 1 Forward 2 Forward 3 Frequency
JASON ZUCKER MIKKO KOIVU MIKAEL GRANLUND 16.51%
NINO NIEDERREITER CHARLIE COYLE ERIC STAAL 9.91%
ZACH PARISE CHARLIE COYLE ERIC STAAL 7.86%
ERIK HAULA NINO NIEDERREITER JASON POMINVILLE 6.33%
ERIK HAULA JASON POMINVILLE ZACH PARISE 3.97%
JASON POMINVILLE MIKKO KOIVU MIKAEL GRANLUND 3.64%
CHRIS STEWART JORDAN SCHROEDER TYLER GRAOVAC 3.61%
ZACH PARISE ERIC STAAL JASON POMINVILLE 2.85%
ERIK HAULA CHARLIE COYLE NINO NIEDERREITER 2.63%
ZACH PARISE MIKKO KOIVU MIKAEL GRANLUND 2.25%
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Statistics courtesy Leftwinglock.com

 

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