Mikael Granlund

Mikael Granlund (born February 26, 1992) is a Finnish professional ice hockey centre who plays for the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played professionally in his homeland with Oulun Kärpät and HIFK of the Finnish SM-liiga. He was the ninth overall pick, selected by the Minnesota Wild, in the 2010 NHL Draft. He is the older brother of Markus Granlund.

Playing career

Granlund played junior ice hockey with Kärpät in 2007–08 and 2008–09, averaging greater than a point per game in both seasons, and was named a first-team All-Star by his junior A league in 2009. He gained his first professional experience late that season, making his debut with Kärpät's team in the SM-liiga on his 17th birthday. He played only two games before he became embroiled in a contract dispute with the team. Granlund and his agent alleged that the four year junior contract he signed with Kärpät in 2007 was invalid, because it failed to define what compensation he would get from the team, and that the team had altered the end date on his SM-liiga insurance application from April 2009 to April 2011 without his approval. The team admitted that mistakes were made, but that they were made in good faith as both the team and player wished to get him in their top team immediately.

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League (NHL; French: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The National Hockey League was organized on November 26, 1917, in Montreal, Quebec, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909 in Renfrew, Ontario. The NHL immediately took the NHA's place as one of the leagues that contested for the Stanley Cup in an annual interleague competition before a series of league mergers and folds left the NHL as the only league left competing for the Stanley Cup in 1926. The NHL started with four teams (all based in Canada) and, through a series of expansions, contractions and relocations, is now composed of 30 active franchises. The "nation" referred to by the league's name was Canada, although the league has now been binational since 1924 when its first team in the United States, the Boston Bruins, began play. After a labour-management dispute that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season, the league resumed play under a new collective agreement that included a salary cap. In 2009, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships, attendance, and television audiences.