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I need to do a better job keeping up with Griffins news on here, and there doesn't seem to be any better time to start than right now, as the Griffins have just added a superstar.
It's been confirmed that the Washington Capitals have loaned Michael Nylander to Grand Rapids for the duration of the season. Nylander appeared in five games with Grand Rapids after Washington sent him down for conditioning, putting up six points.
The story basically goes like this: Washington wants absolutely nothing to do with Nylander. They signed him to a ridiculous contract ($4.875 million cap hit), but he was nothing but a headache for them. In his first season with the Caps, shortened by injury, he still put up close to a point-per-game with 37 points in 40 games. But that's not to say he was a head case -- he just didn't live up to Washington's expectations.
The following season, things fell apart. He was billed as the possible center and setup man for Alexander Ovechkin. However, in his absence, that role was more than filled by Nicklas Backstrom. This relegated Nylander to the 3rd and 4th lines, where he struggled, producing only 33 points in 71 games. That meant the press box for him for the playoffs, but he did have a nagging injury as well.
After recovering in the offseason, Washington told him they don't want him to report for camp. He did, and Washington decided not to play him. His contract is completely unmovable, so their goal was to have him sign with a team in Europe. They apparently had European clubs interested, but those clubs questioned his conditioning. Not wanting to "waste" a spot on their own AHL team, where a prospect could get big ice time instead, Washington offered him to multiple AHL teams. Grand Rapids was coming off a bad road trip to start the year, so they took him on, hoping he would juice their offense.
I realize all of that makes him sound awful, but I assure you -- while disappointing in the NHL last year, his skill is on an entirely different level in the AHL. He very well might be the best all-around player in the league. This is what I wrote about him when I saw him in Grand Rapids' home opener against Abbotsford:
Michael Nylander: An interesting performance. It's hard to describe what a 600+ NHL points, 900+ NHL games player looks like against AHL competition. One one hand, he most assuredly had the puck on his stick more than anyone else in this game. So patient and composed, and made so many of the right plays. On the other hand, his legs aren't all back yet and he was just average speed-wise. But he made a lot of nice moves from early on in the game which gave him a lot of room, as no defenders wanted to face him and get burned. However, I had no idea that he had three points and got named second star. This would be an example of a game where you see the boxscore and assume he dominated, but the game told a different story. He was great, his skill level is obvious and he was very controlling of the play, but not exactly dominant. He had one good assist, then a "you score, I don't want to" pass to Mursak on the empty netter, and a second assist on a goal that Ritola really created on his own. So "three assists" is not really how I'd describe his game, if you see what I'm saying. Still, he's basically auditioning for European teams to prove that he's in shape and can still play. And I think he accomplished that. He has no business in the AHL.
Summary: He looked like a guy who hadn't played in a while, but he was still one of the best on the ice.
From a Griffins' standpoint, this is hilarious. Their offense sputtered before Nylander's original arrival, but he clearly made something click as it has been strong since then. Just this evening Grand Rapids put up seven goals on Toronto in a 7-2 win. Since their 1-4 start, they've gone 16-6. Five of those losses have come in their past ten games, so they've sputtered of late, but the offense isn't the issue. Their 90 goals is tops in the conference -- partially led by the emergence of Tomas Tatar, who has 14 points in his past 14 games despite being the youngest player in the league.
From a Detroit standpoint, it might be worrisome. Detroit approved of Nylander going to Grand Rapids in the first place, but at this point in the season it might take away from ice time for prospect. The only non-Detroit contracted player who plays regularly is John Vigilante, and he's an established veteran in the league. When everyone is healthy, the logical choice to come out of the lineup might be the struggling Dick Axelsson, a promising prospect for Detroit who has recently debated (to Swedish media) leaving Grand Rapids as he is homesick. Detroit would like him to stay, but he's fallen from the 1st line to the 4th line and a trip to the press box might put him over the edge. In addition to that, Ryan Oulahen is a regular for Grand Rapids who has not played this season because of a gruesome hip injury he suffered late last year. His timetable to return was January, so if he's on time, he may be ready in about three weeks.
So the Griffins next few games will be a big one as Curt Fraser must decide where Nylander slots in. Prospects like Tatar and Jan Mursak have been red hot of late, so Nylander may take away time from them. To be sure, the addition of Nylander makes Grand Rapids one of the top teams in the league, and they should be poised for a long playoff run.
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A quick site note before signing off. I'm still going to recap the Nashville game later tonight, but I spent a long time in the afternoon tinkering with settings and finally acclimating myself to all that Joomla (the blogging software Bloguin uses) has to offer. As a result, I've finally put up the regular pages I had on the old site. As most of you know, I follow prospects in detail, so the most fun thing up is the most recent edition of prospect rankings (which might be an interesting re-read for anyone who's already seen it, as the December rankings will be due out in a week or two), as well as the Highlight Reel (a more interesting name than Video Library, which is what it used to be called) which will be updated with new videos this weekend and a link to an archive of all the "Friday Prospects" articles I've written over at Winging it in Motown, for those who wish to read more on prospects. There may be some cosmetic changes in the next few days as I keep tinkering, but nothing drastic. Feedback is always appreciated.
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