Mikael Granlund 2014-15 Breakout Season

Lore & Background

By the third year of his NHL career, Granlund had already shown flashes—rookie-season speed bursts, a few highlight-reel dekes that made Finnish hockey Twitter lose its mind. But 2014-15 was different. The confidence was visible in the way he carried the puck through the neutral zone, in the fearlessness of his one-timers from the circle, in the way he attacked the net on the power play rather than waiting for a pass. He became the player the other Wild forwards looked to when the play broke down, and the player opposing defensemen had to track on every odd-man rush.

The season also mattered in the broader context of the Wild's identity. Minnesota had been a team of veterans and role players, a club that grinded and outworked. Granlund's style—artistic, fast, a little reckless—reminded fans what made the franchise's early years thrilling. He played with a joy that contrasted with the team's more methodical core, and that contrast became part of the season's charm. When he scored, the arena erupted in a way that felt personal, as if the building had been waiting for exactly this kind of moment.

The 2014-15 Wild made the playoffs, and Granlund's role in that run—contributing on both ends, drawing penalties, delivering in tight moments—sealed his place in the lineup. It was not a star season by the standards of a 40-goal winger, but it was a season that changed how the organization thought about its future. The 'young core' narrative that would define the next several years of the Wild was, in many ways, written in those 82 games.

In Their Own Story

The arena was half-full, a midweek Tuesday in January, the kind of night where the ice feels a little slower and the lights seem to hum. Granlund came down the wing with the puck, stick low, eyes already scanning for the screen. The defenseman bit on the shoulder fake. He didn't deke—just a slight shift of weight, a flick of the wrist—and suddenly the lane was open. He carried it to the circle, the puck glued to his blade, and then the one-timer: not a slap, not a wrist shot, just a clean, hard snap that buried the top corner before the goalie's glove finished tracking. The crowd noise hit in a wave, delayed by a half-second, as if the building needed a moment to process that a 22-year-old Finnish kid had just done that. He skated back on defense, already resetting, already looking ahead. That was the thing about Granlund in that season. The goal was the highlight, but the game was the habit.

Reader's Guide

The stakes: a Wild team needing to prove its young core could carry a game, not just survive one. Granlund draws the puck out of the zone, carries it through the neutral with a quick shoulder-to-shoulder move that freezes the first defender, then fires a one-timer from the left circle that beats the goalie's glove side. The crowd roars, but the game is still tight.

Second sequence: a power-play setup. Granlund at the point, receiving a pass with his back to the net. He pivots, reads the screen, and instead of the expected pass to the slot, he takes it himself—carries it to the circle, fakes the shot, and the defenseman commits. The backhand wrist shot drops in off the pad. The bench clears. It's the kind of play that makes a 22-year-old look like a 28-year-old.

The iconic moment: late in the third, a 5-on-5 rush. Granlund takes the puck at the blue line, accelerates past the last defender, and instead of shooting, he lays a no-look pass to the back post where a Wild forward tucks it in. Granlund doesn't celebrate. He just skates back, sticks the puck, and resets. That quietness after the flash—that was the season in a single image.

Wild fans still reference that year because it was the first time the franchise felt like it had a future that wasn't just 'Parise and Koivu for as long as they can go.' Granlund's 2014-15 was the season the next chapter started, and the memory of that quiet, confident, joyful hockey still colors how the fanbase talks about the team's identity.

Did You Know?

• Granlund was selected in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, making his 2014-15 breakout a genuine underdog narrative for a team that had invested a mid-round pick in a teenager from Helsinki.
• His playing style—speed, one-timer shooting, creative passing—gave the Wild a contrasting flavor to the more methodical, veteran-heavy identity of the Parise-Koivu era.
• The 2014-15 season was part of the broader 'young core' period for Minnesota, where Granlund, along with other young forwards, began to define the team's direction beyond its aging stars.
• Granlund is Finnish, and his breakout season generated significant buzz in Finnish hockey media, where he was seen as one of the country's most exciting young NHL talents.