Mikael Granlund has yet to play a game for the Ducks after signing a three-year, $21 million contract on Jul. 1, but he's already made one thing clear to new head coach Joel Quenneville: he wants to win.

"I haven’t played a game with the team yet, so I'm sure understanding about that will be way better when the season actually starts," Granlund said. "But I've talked to people and I think they took a really big step last year with some of the new players that are coming in. With Coach Q coming in, I really feel like it's like, ‘OK, now we are taking the next step and it's not about just growing players and learning. It's about starting to win some hockey games. So that's really encouraging and that's why I'm really excited about it."

Granlund joins the Ducks after parts of two seasons with the San Jose Sharks and a brief post-trade deadline stint with the Dallas Stars. With the Stars up against the salary cap, even with the rising total, bringing back Granlund became improbable and the Finnish forward hit the open market.

"After things didn’t work out in Dallas with the salary cap and they didn’t have any room for me, I needed to go to a different direction, and Anaheim suited me well. With the team,
I think it's going the right direction with all the talent and the good veterans they have. A big thing for me was Coach Q coming to the team. He knows what winning takes. We're trying to get to that habit for winning, so that was a big thing. And with family stuff, that was the best option for me."

Granlund has played center for most of his career, but can shift to the wing if needed. San Jose's No. 1 center, he moved to the wing after being acquired by Dallas. After playing most of the regular season with Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, he was moved to a line with Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen, forming an all-Finland line. This line received the most 5-on-5 minutes during the playoffs for Dallas.

With the Ducks, Granlund can be utilized in a few different ways. With Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish pegged as future cornerstones down the middle, Granlund could help solidify the right side of the Ducks' forward corps. Although Cutter Gauthier and offseason acquisition Chris Kreider are primarily left wingers, natural left-handers Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano have played their off-hand throughout their time with the Ducks thus far.

"Very versatile player," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. "He was really good on faceoffs last year. Pretty stout and can kill penalties and play on the power play. He can go up and down the lineup. I thought he had a really good playoffs for the Dallas Stars. Someone who can play really good minutes in a tough environment."

Granlund's versatility will allow Quenneville to mix and match lines. He can place Granlund on Carlsson's wing to help provide more playmaking and assist with faceoffs. He could do the same with McTavish and couple the duo with Troy Terry to create an offensively adept trio. In a pinch, he could even drop Granlund down to the third line to create three strong lines, in the event that Killorn retains his top line spot alongside Carlsson and Gauthier.

"I talked to (Quenneville) briefly," Granlund said. "I told him I can play a lot of different roles. All I care about is winning and trying to do whatever I can for the team, so I don't care where I play. It is what it is, but I can do a lot of things and, hopefully, I can try to bring something good to the table."

Being in the same division as Anaheim for the past two seasons, Granlund faced his new team many times. He saw how much talent they had and admitted that it was fun to watch how they played.

"With the talent they have, it's gonna get only better. And they have some really steady, good veterans, so I think it's a good mix and we'll see where I fit."

"He goes to the hard areas, something that we needed more of," Verbeek said. "Not afraid to be a netfront presence guy. He's a guy who hangs onto pucks in the corners for more puck possessions. He's a very smart hockey player."

Granlund has represented Finland many times, playing for them at World Juniors, World Championships, the Olympics and, most recently, the 4 Nations Faceoff. In 2014, he won a bronze medal at the Sochi Olympics alongside former Ducks Teemu Selänne and Sami Vatanen. Selänne was one of the people whom Granlund spoke to about the Ducks to get an idea of how the organization is and why it would be appealing to him.

"He said only good things about the organization," Granlund said. "How good of care they take of you. About the team, how much talent there is, how it's going in the right direction, all that stuff. So that was really encouraging."

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Featured image caption: May 29, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars center Mikael Granlund (64) skates against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images