Former Vancouver Canuck Markus Granlund put on waivers

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      Few things are more satisfying to a majority of Vancouver Canucks fans than seeing the two Alberta teams struggle. (Maybe that’s a glimpse into how ugly the Seattle rivalry might end up getting?)

      So even though Vancouver’s own season has already come with a litany of ups and downs, there’s been no short of entertainment from our neighbours to the east.

      First, it was the Calgary Flames that were struggling, though that team has seemed to right the ship after getting rid of Bill Peters and his racist past.

      Now, it’s the Edmonton Oilers who are stumbling hard after a fast start. The Oilers are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. They have an overall goals differential of minus-11 (shockingly bad for a team technically still in a playoff spot), the media has started to get the knives out for Connor McDavid of all people, and the management group led by general manager Ken Holland is trying to do anything to change things up.

      The latest of the latter meant putting two veteran players on waivers today.

      Canucks fans will be familiar with Granlund, who played the last four seasons with Vancouver. After a 19-goal campaign in 2016-17 mostly playing with the Sedin twins, Granlund put up a couple of supbar seasons.

      He became known for boring, non-event hockey, though coach Travis Green often trusted him (and Brandon Sutter) to play on the penalty kill and against the opposition’s best players.

      In the end, the Canucks opted not to re-sign him in the summer as they looked to revamp their forward group, a decision that many of the team’s fans applauded.

      Not that Granlund was terrible, he was just very bland. And on a team that was already lugging around Loui Eriksson, it was hard to rationalize finding a spot for him.

      But his 22 points (12 goals) in 77 games in 2018-19 meant that someone was probably going to come calling.

      So the Oilers took a chance on the Finn, signing him to a one-year, $1.3 million deal on July 1.

      Unfortunately for Edmonton, he’s been even worse offensively this year, registering four points in 31 contests.

      Granted, he’s seen about 11 minutes a night in Edmonton, a far cry from the 15-plus he routinely saw in Vancouver.

      He does have decent underlying numbers, but he’s not used much on the penalty kill (or the power play, which Green inexplicably had him on at times) and is part of the Oilers’ putrid bottom-six forward group.

      When McDavid and Leon Draisatl aren’t on the ice, the Oilers routinely get outplayed, and let’s just say that Granlund wasn’t exactly helping to dispel that notion.

      It’s hard to envision another team taking him on for that $1.3 million salary. Maybe he’ll sign somewhere for the league minimum or close to it next season. Or Europe comes calling.

      UPDATE: Granlund cleared waivers and will likely be sent to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. 

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