Round 4 Pick 116 – D Petter Granberg
with the 116th overall selection of the 2010 entry draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected defender Petter Granberg out of Sweden.
Granberg, much like Olden, played through the tiered Swedish Junior leagues.
Granberg went mainly unnoticed during his time for the Skellefta AIK under-18 teams, as he had just a single assist in 6 games. However, his time in the more difficult under-20 program was far more impressive, as the big-bodied defender posted 9 points in 40 games. Granberg also appeared in 1 SHL game during his draft year.
This bio, a 2014 entry from the Elite Prospects team, provides a good idea of Granberg’s play style.
"“[Granberg’s a] big and strong stay-at-home defensemen. Granberg plays very solid defensive game and rarely gets caught out of position. He plays a simple and safe game with the puck. [He does] not shy away from the rough stuff, but could probably play more physical. Hockey sense is decent, but Granberg will never be a high scoring defenseman.”"
After completing two more seasons with Skelleftea AIK, Granberg would sign his ELC with the Leafs at 19 years of age. The Swedish defender would take a 16-game victory lap for the historic Swedish club in 2012-13 before making the jump to North America in 2013-14.
Granberg would perform relatively well in 73 games for the Marlies, scoring 7 points in the process. The physical defender would also appear in 1 game for the Leafs that season.
The 2014-15 season would see Granberg take a considerable step forward in development, posting 15 points in 53 AHL games and appearing in 7 NHL games with the Leafs.
All was looking up for Granberg entering the 2015-16 season, as the then 23-year-old looked to be on the cusp of making a defensively deprived Maple Leafs squad. However, his window quickly shut and re-opened, after Granberg was claimed off of waivers by the Nashville Predators.
Much like Greg McKegg, Granberg would see significant NHL time and elevated opportunity once moving on from Toronto.
The powerful Swede would appear in 27 games with the Preds, adding 2 assists. Granberg would also appear in 6 games with the Milwaukee Admirals, Nashville’s AHL affiliate, notching 1 assist.
The next season, Granberg would find himself playing significant time for the Admirals, scoring 6 points in 50 games. Granberg would also sneak in 10 NHL games with the Preds, but went scoreless.
Granberg would spend the entire 2017-18 season in the AHL, scoring 14 points in 76 games with the Admirals.
However, Granberg knew his opportunity in the Preds organization was over, so he decided to head home. Granberg decided to return to Skelleftea AIK for the 2018-19 season, scoring 7 points in 49 SHL games.
The fan favourite is set to play out the 2019-20 season in the SHL with Skelleftea.