2021 MN Wild/NHL Thread

He is dynamic on the rush but a train wreck in his own end.

The guys who needed to score scored tonight which is good, hopefully it gets Fiala going, you could see the relief in his face as he scored the ENG. The powerplay is still trying to do too much out there, keep it simple…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

The guys who needed to score scored tonight which is good, hopefully it gets Fiala going, you could see the relief in his face as he scored the ENG. The powerplay is still trying to do too much out there, keep it simple…

Totally agree. I saw the stat with how many shots he has compared to other big names. Glad he finally tallied one.

TSN saying Jets are front runner for PLD.
Rumor Laine for PLD.
If the wild are in on anything it must pretty tight lipped cause I ain’t finding anything about wild.

I saw a tweet last night saying the Wild were out of the running, that makes me think BillyG didnt up his offer and felt the price wasn’t worth it…at least he made an offer though..

I’m hearing Liane and Roslovic and possibly a high draft pick for DuBois…Torts coaching Liane’s lazy a$$, get your popcorn ready!

So its a done deal, Liane and Roslovic for DuBois and a 3rd round pick… That’s a good deal for Columbus if they can get Liane to play hard every night (good luck with that!). I foresee arguments with Torts after a few games and then they are in the same situation DuBois was in…

DuBois now has to spend 2 weeks in quarantine to move to Canada…

My guess is Columbus demanded Kaprizov or Fiala for starters in any Wild offer…

Yeah that’s a non starter for me if those were the asks. I wouldn’t want to trade for that headcase. Now let’s focus on Barkov get it done Joe 😂

CaptainMusky wrote:

Yeah that’s a non starter for me if those were the asks. I wouldn’t want to trade for that headcase. Now let’s focus on Barkov get it done Joe 😂

Ha! if any good comes out of this trade for the Wild its the fact that BIG trades can and do happen, maybe other GM’s loosen their belts a bit..

CaptainMusky wrote:

eah that’s a non starter for me if those were the asks. I wouldn’t want to trade for that headcase. Now let’s focus on Barkov get it done Joe 😂

Totally agree, after reading some media reports on DuBaby I’m glad we stayed away. The Jets massively overpaid on this one, Columbus is laughing all the way to the bank. Total attitude and entitlement problem from start to finish with that @ssclown. Good luck to the Jets and all I can say is Paulbetter have a little chat with DuBaby on day one and establish who’s boss or this won’t go well.

Really a good effort from the Wild last night, with 30-something blocked shots. That was a hockey team that bought in and committed to getting the win any way they could.

In that 6 on 5 at the end, did anyone else see Fiala strangle his stick on the way in to score that empty netter? There were finger grooves in the shaft. Poor guy almost jumped in after the puck just to make sure it went in. Poor guy, I hope getting on the sheet helps him relax.

Then Greenway pots one from the dot as if he has a whole bucket of pucks to shoot at the empty net. I think Greenway is finding his role and keeping him with Joel Serious Ek is good for his game. It’s also good to have a big body on that line to defend Ek. What the hell does he say to guys to get them so whipped up? Even the broadcast crew last night commented they’d like to mic him to know. I’ve tried to read his lips but I just can’t see what he says. Russo commented last year that he can chirp with the best in the league, but you’d think these guys would be used to not reacting that.

Grouse

I think part of Ek’s “lack of charm” is that he’s kind of a goofy looking babyfaced kid talking trash and the other players are insulted by it in a kind of way…then when they get physical with him they surprisingly find out he’s as strong as an Ox!!

His line is in full “Beast Mode” right now, i’m sure Evason wants to try Ek with Parise and Kaprizov to see what it looks like, but doesn’t want to mess with it while they are playing so well together…

Oh and this almost happened last night…would have broke the internet had it gone in…

CaptainMusky wrote:

Yeah that’s a non starter for me if those were the asks. I wouldn’t want to trade for that headcase. Now let’s focus on Barkov get it done Joe 😂

Well if the jets gave up what they did for PLD I would say we have no shot at Barkov who I don’t believe gets traded in the first place. This trade set the market for this year.
Maybe Columbus and other teams don’t value Dumba like we all do.

So I finally took a minute to look up the “He’s on that Russian gas” saying you heard Parise and others saying in the player huddle after Kaprizov scored the OT goal in LA…funny

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Russian+Gas&amp=true

other than Burns dangling through 5 of our guys within a 20 sqr ft area to score the winner, lots of good things happened last night. Fiala looks re-energized and Kaapo was making unreal saves all night (let in 1 stinker) They really need to figure out how to use Kaprizov on the Powerplay, putting him in the high slot is doing NOTHING when they run everything off Fiala’s side…maybe try him on PP#2 in Fiala’s spot on the boards and get him shots there…

The % of 1-1 series splits is something like 70% this season so far, not sure why the let down after winning the 1st game of a series across the league, but its holding true sofar…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

other than Burns dangling through 5 of our guys within a 20 sqr ft area to score the winner

That was ridiculous. But he really really needs a haircut. Its so ratty and nasty looking right now too

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
other than Burns dangling through 5 of our guys within a 20 sqr ft area to score the winner

That was ridiculous. But he really really needs a haircut. Its so ratty and nasty looking right now too

Greasier salad = greasier goals.

waldo9190 wrote:

Greasier salad = greasier goals

Lol but that was definitely not a greasy goal. That was stick handling in a phone booth with a rooftop finish on the back hand. His hair is literally slowing him down.

lol, compare Burns with our clean-cut, go to the opera, volunteer at an animal shelter style defenseman (outside of Dumba)…Who knows what’s all growing in his beard and hair…from the looks of the play they were probably all scared to touch him out on the ice…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

So I finally took a minute to look up the “He’s on that Russian gas” saying you heard Parise and others saying in the player huddle after Kaprizov scored the OT goal in LA…funny

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Russian+Gas&amp=true

Do you listen to Chiclets? They talk about the Russian Gas every time someone brings up the KHL or Russia.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

lol, compare Burns with our clean-cut, go to the opera, volunteer at an animal shelter style defenseman (outside of Dumba)…Who knows what’s all growing in his beard and hair…from the looks of the play they were probably all scared to touch him out on the ice…

I know what you mean, but if anyone is going to volunteer at an animal shelter… it’s Burns. The guy basically owns an animal shelter!

Burns is like the quintessential Canadian hockey player… why would anyone ever want him to change?!?!

I’ve listened to their podcast a few times and follow them on Twitter, just never heard them mention it but that makes sense then why NHL players would be saying it….

Burns is quite the character…The NHL did a special on him a year or so ago where they went out to his ranch (in Texas maybe?) and followed him around for a few days. I think it’s funny he keeps his teeth out most of the time…

I don’t fault the Wild for trading him, at the time it was still unknown what exactly he would play and felt he didn’t deserve to double his yearly salary (which is what the Shark did). Nobody projected him skyrocketing up the league like he eventually did (it took him 3 years in San Jose before he took off). Obviously looking back now the trade really worked out for the Sharks who got a superstar, meanwhile Coyle was a good serviceable NHLer and Phillips never made the NHL….

Suter is only 2 months older than Burns and they both have 5 years left on their deals. It will be interesting to see how their careers look/compare in this final 5 year window. Burns is lugging around a much bigger body and takes alot more wear and tear than Suter does…it will be interesting to see if Burns role changes now that Karlsson is the lead horse in that D stable again and 5 years younger, we’re starting to see that a bit with Spurgeon and Suter…

Again, difficult to fault the effort on the Wild’s part, they have established that they are dangerous in all 3 periods. Great to see Fiala and Parise get on the score sheet with regular goals.

But of an unfortunate lapse letting Burns waltz through the crowd of innocent Wild bystanders, but that’s the way it goes, we had our chances.

Kaprisov is just lethal out there as a setup man. He misses nothing and his ability to anticipate and take away the puck is amazing. Despite the pain and agony we put ourselves through during the bitter “KHL Lost Years” saga, the bottom line is the KHL did us a huge favor in developing Kaprisov’s game.

The poor win percentage on faceoffs is very problematic. Hopefully we can improve at least a few % points as the season progresses.

The Wild aren’t exactly playoff solid gold, but they aren’t chopped liver either. They’ve been solidly in every game so far, which considering the wild and wacky season and startup process, is about the best you can hope for.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Again, difficult to fault the effort on the Wild’s part, they have established that they are dangerous in all 3 periods. Great to see Fiala and Parise get on the score sheet with regular goals.

Speaking of all three periods, the Wild are -5 in the second period through 6 games. Maybe that’s just a random low sample size stat or maybe it has something to do with the long change and inability to win draws. But -5 in one period is really bad for a team that is +3 overall.

I really hope Evason can find a line combination that can get Fiala or Kaprizov ticking at even strength. Greenway/Ek/Foligno is the 1st line right now and that feels like they’re wasting the two most dynamic forwards at 5 on 5.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Again, difficult to fault the effort on the Wild’s part, they have established that they are dangerous in all 3 periods. Great to see Fiala and Parise get on the score sheet with regular goals.

But of an unfortunate lapse letting Burns waltz through the crowd of innocent Wild bystanders, but that’s the way it goes, we had our chances.

Kaprisov is just lethal out there as a setup man. He misses nothing and his ability to anticipate and take away the puck is amazing. Despite the pain and agony we put ourselves through during the bitter “KHL Lost Years” saga, the bottom line is the KHL did us a huge favor in developing Kaprisov’s game.

The poor win percentage on faceoffs is very problematic. Hopefully we can improve at least a few % points as the season progresses.

The Wild aren’t exactly playoff solid gold, but they aren’t chopped liver either. They’ve been solidly in every game so far, which considering the wild and wacky season and startup process, is about the best you can hope for.

Grouse

well said…I think BillyG’s expectation for this shortened season is an extended audition to evaluate and setup this team for the next 4 seasons until Parise and Suter come off the books freeing $15 million to spend. He wants to get good looks at Fiala and Kaprizov to see what rate & term he wants to sign them for long term, he also wants to see what he can get for Dumba and his UFA’s at the deadline which probably then steers his decision making for the expansion draft and finally the normal draft where he’ll likely have a huge cache of picks to turn into prospects or trade with to finally get this team a top Center or two…

The future looks promising for this franchise….

I was just looking over capfriendly.com and how and the heck are the Colorado Avalanche going to be able to keep their players signed and under the cap? They have Landeskog, Makar and their goalie Grubauer up for new deals after this season, then you know McKinnon is going to want to renegotiate out of the last 2 years of his paltry $6.3 per year deal to be one of the highest paid players in the league. Then Bowen Byram is up in a few years and will be expensive too…

Ouch, I know its a good problem to have, but dang, there’s no way you can resign all of them…You end up being like the Oilers or Blackhawks with 3-4 guys taking up 40-50% of the cap…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Ouch, I know its a good problem to have, but dang, there’s no way you can resign all of them…You end up being like the Oilers or Blackhawks with 3-4 guys taking up 40-50% of the cap…

I think it’s gotten even harder to suck your way to success because in addition to sucking so badly that you pick up a generational talent with an 1 or 2 OA pick, you also have to have excellent timing (or luck) so that you have the other key pieces in place and on very favorable or rookie contracts while you make that run at the cup. Because of course now you see the downside is inevitable as soon as those superstar mega contracts kick in, the Blackhawk Side begins as they are forced to throw overboard key pieces that made it all happen in the first place.

I guess it’s mission accomplished from the NHL league’s standpoint, they have made it virtually impossible to form a dynasty team so competitive levels stay high. It’s just impossible to keep the band together and the cap makes other teams get better faster because there is basically a forced movement of players every year only because of the cap.

I don’t know what this year’s draft class looks like in the middle of the R1 pack, but with the Wild having 2 picks, I hope there’s something good at both positions because we could really do well for once.

Grouse

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I was just looking over capfriendly.com and how and the heck are the Colorado Avalanche going to be able to keep their players signed and under the cap? They have Landeskog, Makar and their goalie Grubauer up for new deals after this season, then you know McKinnon is going to want to renegotiate out of the last 2 years of his paltry $6.3 per year deal to be one of the highest paid players in the league. Then Bowen Byram is up in a few years and will be expensive too…

Ouch, I know its a good problem to have, but dang, there’s no way you can resign all of them…You end up being like the Oilers or Blackhawks with 3-4 guys taking up 40-50% of the cap…

First off, NHL players can’t renegotiate contracts so Mack is going to be the most underpaid player for the next 3 years. Erik Johnson is their only real bad contract and he comes off the books that same summer so his cap space will probably all go to Mackinnon lol. Mackinnon has talked publicly about his bargain contract and how taking less is what he feels will win them a cup. Easy to talk like that when he was coming off down years when he signed the contract, but maybe he takes another haircut on his next contract too.

Landeskog doesn’t really post the big stats like Mackinnon and Rantanen so he might not get a huge raise. Makar is going to be a big one if he signs long term for sure. Grubauer shouldn’t get much of a huge raise either, he’s a pretty average starter… if they even keep him.

The Avs will eventually have to do what other teams with big contracts do… gut their depth. Instead of having $3-$5 million depth players they will have league minimum veterans. Secondary scoring guys like Kadri, Burakovsky, and Donskoi will be gone.

But for now they have an incredible team. They are the poster child for a rebuild/retool/TWEAK on the fly, wasn’t it 3 years ago they were bottom of the league – historically bad! Certainly doesn’t hurt that they had a young Calder winning captain and a Hart caliber #1C to build around, but Sackic has done an excellent job filling in around them. Throw in the fact that they hit big on a couple high draft picks in Rantanen, Makar, and most likely Bo Byram.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I guess it’s mission accomplished from the NHL league’s standpoint, they have made it virtually impossible to form a dynasty team so competitive levels stay high. It’s just impossible to keep the band together and the cap makes other teams get better faster because there is basically a forced movement of players every year only because of the cap.

The only thing Bettman likes more than lockouts is his favorite P word… PARITY. And man does he love to talk about it.

tswoboda wrote:

But for now they have an incredible team. They are the poster child for a rebuild/retool/TWEAK on the fly, wasn’t it 3 years ago they were bottom of the league – historically bad! Certainly doesn’t hurt that they had a young Calder winning captain and a Hart caliber #1C to build around, but Sackic has done an excellent job filling in around them. Throw in the fact that they hit big on a couple high draft picks in Rantanen, Makar, and most likely Bo Byram.

Dead on! They made some huge moves that brought an influx of picks and then nailed on virtually every one of them. Sakic is savvy and he typically wins every trade he does.
Speaking of the Avs, they put Pateryn on waivers today. Not really a surprise, but they would have likely done that to Cole, but instead traded to MIN and got something in return plus a reduced salary.
We all knew Center was going to be tough, but I certainly didnt see us having this much problem on faceoffs. Man, they are terrible aside from Bonino. Ek is OK, but everyone else is just terrible.

putting Patryn on waivers does nothing unless he’s claimed right? Maybe it was a gamble by the Avs thinking because Patryn is cheaper he’ll more likely get picked up off waivers vs the more expensive Cole?