Bjugstad nearing a return. Who sits? Bjugstad is my guess. IDK how you sit Sturm he’s been great since moving to center.
Hohum more PPGs…
I think they’ll rotate Bjugstad & Rask in/out…Rask has been terrible even for Rask lately….
That play where Rask just stood there with the puck, panicked, and let the guy blow him up and take the puck was my favorite Rask moment so far.
That play where Rask just stood there with the puck, panicked, and let the guy blow him up and take the puck was my favorite Rask moment so far.
sames
That line is the best 3rd line in the NHL, but after Ek’s new deal this offseason and Greenway’s the year after it will also likely be the most expensive…if we keep our 4th line with minimum contracts you can afford an expensive 3rd line like that, but our current 4th line has a $13+ million cap hit which is just atrocious…no place else for Parise to play the next 4 years too…
This is exactly why I do not see them trading for a 1C. Financially with ZP playing fourth line you have to not pay somewhere else. It almost has be at the 1C position. Goalie is another and they are giving up some now, but I would think Bill wouldn’t mind having these two moving forward at there price points. More likely scenario is that Dumba is on the team during xpack draft and they hope they lose him as he is the most replaceable highest paid asset. They then try and move picks to get a 2/3C.
Boldy plays with Fiala which most likely needs a veteran on that line.
I just don’t see them trading Dumba plus some for a 1C and then losing another important player while trying to figure out how to pay a 1C. Going to need all of Dumbas money anyhow. If Seattle doesn’t take Dumba then you are looking for probably a center and a wing and can’t get them without moving Dumbas contract anyhow.
Your 1C Rossi because he is your best cheapest option.
Will be interesting if teams can convince players who likely wouldn’t get picked to lift NTC this time around.
Speaking of Rossi, I read an interview that was translated from German to English. You have to feel for the kid. Sounds like he is getting really close to working out again, but when you hear things like “dad, please stay with me when I sleep because I am worried my heart will stop” is heart wrenching for any parent.
I don’t agree with the idea of exposing Dumba. There’s a lot of middle ground between trade him for a high priced #1C and dump him for nothing. I understand wanting to clear his $6m cap hit, but then why not trade him for a pick and a prospect? He should get at least equal return as the Zucker trade in a futures deal. Teams were ready to give Nashville a 1st rounder and top prospect for Ekholm, and Dumba is younger and at least as good if not better player. Last fall WPG wanted to give up Nik Ehlers for Dumba. My point is that Dumba has trade value, so why the heck would they let him get selected in expansion? To protect Soucy, Foligno, Greenway, Talbot? 3 guys that have nowhere near equal trade value to Dumba. I don’t get it.
1) Trade Dumba for whatever they can get and lose Soucy in the draft
2) Keep Dumba, protect 8 skaters and lose one of the above named players
3) Made a deal like with Vegas, sky is the limits here
4) Expose Dumba, they take Dumba 100%
I think the main reason some talk about not trading Dumba is the fear of taking on more cap space. If it were for draft capital and prospects I think a trade makes sense. The growing concern is contract details for Kaprizov, Greenway, Ek, Fiala, etc.
I think moving Dumba is desirable, but not bringing back more cap.
Trading Dumba just for picks & prospects is gonna be tough with the flat cap, other than Detroit and Ottawa, nobody has capspace to take on $6 million without giving us a contract back in return to make the money fit…
Really the only chance at getting a legit 1C (and it’s a very slight chance) is that we put a huge package together for Barkov in Florida. Our trade package would likely need to include Dumba, Fiala, one of our 1st picks this draft and one of our center prospects like Khusnidinov or Khovanov and likely something else (maybe a 2nd round pick next year) This assumes we would get an agreement beforehand that Barkov will sign here long term….
It seems like a haul to pay, but if you look long term contract wise, it makes sense as we’ll likely not be able to afford all of our guys anyways…
Barkov would anchor our top line and Powerplay with Kaprizov for the next decade…
We’ll find out GMBG’s plan a month or so after the season is over, IF he’s going to make a move for a center, it’s likely going to need to happen After the xpac draft but before the amateur Draft, if he does nothing by then, then his plan is to fill the center slots via draft picks or 2nd level FA’s…
Speaking of Rossi, I read an interview that was translated from German to English. You have to feel for the kid. Sounds like he is getting really close to working out again, but when you hear things like “dad, please stay with me when I sleep because I am worried my heart will stop” is heart wrenching for any parent.
Look back about 10 posts in this thread
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
Speaking of Rossi, I read an interview that was translated from German to English. You have to feel for the kid. Sounds like he is getting really close to working out again, but when you hear things like “dad, please stay with me when I sleep because I am worried my heart will stop” is heart wrenching for any parent.Look back about 10 posts in this thread
I have made the mistake of clicking the last page forgetting where I left off reading posts. 
That play where Rask just stood there with the puck, panicked, and let the guy blow him up and take the puck was my favorite Rask moment so far.
lol, just watched that on the game replay
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I don’t agree with the idea of exposing Dumba. There’s a lot of middle ground between trade him for a high priced #1C and dump him for nothing. I understand wanting to clear his $6m cap hit, but then why not trade him for a pick and a prospect? He should get at least equal return as the Zucker trade in a futures deal. Teams were ready to give Nashville a 1st rounder and top prospect for Ekholm, and Dumba is younger and at least as good if not better player. Last fall WPG wanted to give up Nik Ehlers for Dumba. My point is that Dumba has trade value, so why the heck would they let him get selected in expansion? To protect Soucy, Foligno, Greenway, Talbot? 3 guys that have nowhere near equal trade value to Dumba. I don’t get it.
1) Trade Dumba for whatever they can get and lose Soucy in the draft
2) Keep Dumba, protect 8 skaters and lose one of the above named players
3) Made a deal like with Vegas, sky is the limits here
4) Expose Dumba, they take Dumba 100%
Why would Seattle take Soucy over Greenway or Folingo or Talbot from a talent stand point. If you trade Dumba for picks you lose Greenway or Folingo or worse Talbot. Now instead of filling one hole you are filling two.
Let’s assume they trade Dumba for not a number 1C as I think we all agree you would need to give up a lot more assets. Then lose Folingo in the draft. Now you need to find a center another middle six wing and hope your strong D doesn’t fall off by inserting Addison.
In Joes scenario you lose Dumba Fiala and then another possible wing and it’s a lot more holes to fill. Not saying they can’t be, but isn’t always easy filling in pieces.
I guess my point is you know what you have in EK line and that line plays really strong and big. (Playoffs this is something they have not had in the past and yet to be determined currently) If you value that as a GM the least affect losing a player is probably to lose just one in Dumba as he probably is the most replaceable as one of your top prospects has similar skill set.
If you knew they would take Soucy then sure but the depth of this team outside of center is what makes them what they are at the moment.
I just don’t think the scenario is that far fetched.
Either way it’s going to be an interesting off season with possible domino affects of moving players and the xpack draft. If you could convince Suter and ZP to lift there NTC then they would gain some leverage. I don’t see that happening however.
In my scenario we lose Dumba (and his $6 caphit) and Fiala (and his likely $6+ caphit starting next year) and unproven (but promising) talent and picks.
If we all agree that the Greenway-Ek-Foligno line should stay intact as our 3rd line, then Boldy needs to play in the top6 to get the best use of his skillset, so he could theoretically replace Fiala from a position standpoint. Calen Addison is ready to play in the NHL next year, he could either pair up with Brodin on the 2nd pair or Soucy or Cole (if they resign him) could replace Dumba and Addison slides to the 3rd pair until he gets comfortable. We lose out on a 1st round pick (likely in the 16-31 range) and 1 or 2 of our prospects who are still 2+ years away IF they even make it to the NHL.
The result of all of this is a franchise center you’ll have for the next 8+ years who will play 20+ minutes a night on the 1st line and powerplay and get the very most out of Kaprizov and others…
Again it’s a pipedream, but I would absolutely do that trade in a heartbeat if Florida knows Barkov is gone next year and starts taking offers, the Wild has a stable good young NHL proven talent and picks to offer, I don’t think many other teams can offer that (Kings have alot of top prospects, but not proven talent).. we’re 21 years as a franchise and have never had a true #1 center other than Koivu for maybe 1-2 seasons at his absolute peak. You have a rookie franchise type winger and a bunch of young talent coming up next year, take advantage of this window while you have it and before we start losing the young talent as they hopefully get better…
KK might be a rookie but he is definitely older and not going to be on a rookie pay scale going forward.
I agree Barkov would be incredible on the first line.
Can they really even financially go that route knowing they would have to also pay another top six wing. Probably a veteran to play with two rookies. Dumba and Fiala’s contract would be going into 2/3 KK and Barkov contract.
Why would Seattle take Soucy over Greenway or Folingo or Talbot from a talent stand point. If you trade Dumba for picks you lose Greenway or Folingo or worse Talbot. Now instead of filling one hole you are filling two.
Let’s assume they trade Dumba for not a number 1C as I think we all agree you would need to give up a lot more assets. Then lose Folingo in the draft. Now you need to find a center another middle six wing and hope your strong D doesn’t fall off by inserting Addison.
In Joes scenario you lose Dumba Fiala and then another possible wing and it’s a lot more holes to fill. Not saying they can’t be, but isn’t always easy filling in pieces.I guess my point is you know what you have in EK line and that line plays really strong and big. (Playoffs this is something they have not had in the past and yet to be determined currently) If you value that as a GM the least affect losing a player is probably to lose just one in Dumba as he probably is the most replaceable as one of your top prospects has similar skill set.
If you knew they would take Soucy then sure but the depth of this team outside of center is what makes them what they are at the moment.
I just don’t think the scenario is that far fetched.
Either way it’s going to be an interesting off season with possible domino affects of moving players and the xpack draft. If you could convince Suter and ZP to lift there NTC then they would gain some leverage. I don’t see that happening however.
Soucy over Greenway or Foligno, yeah probably not but Vegas had almost no good defensemen to pick from so Seattle might value a
D over F even if there’s less talent. There’s a lot of mixed opinions on Soucy too.
My point in trading Dumba is so they can protect all of the forwards you mentioned, plus Sturm. If they trade Dumba and protect 7 forwards that basically leaves Seattle to choose between Soucy and Rask. They’d actually have to extend a forward just to meet the minimum exposed threshold. Get futures for Dumba and lose nothing valuable in expansion. Talbot has been great, but he also is 34 next year.
Bottom line, trade Dumba for futures and they likely lose Dumba + Soucy, but also get a good pick and/or prospect in return. Keep Dumba and they lose one of Dumba/Foligno/Greenway for nothing.
Yes I see what you are saying. I was getting side tracked with trading for or adding a center and adding him to the list to protect.
I know one thing BG is going to be busy as there is not a lot of time between the end of season to xpack draft. From xpack to entry draft.
Whatever GMBG does it will improve this team no matter what, just depends on the route he goes. Its pretty amazing what this team has done this season considering who they have playing down the middle (excluding Ek and now Sturm at the 3&4 center spots). If Rossi gets back to normal this short offseason and they get another competent center via trade/FA they could fill those 1C/2C slots pretty well for next season without braking the bank and then sign Fiala for 3-4 more years and re-evaluate what the team needs in 3 years when Parise and Suter’s $15 million come off the books…
Whatever GMBG does it will improve this team no matter what, just depends on the route he goes. Its pretty amazing what this team has done this season considering who they have playing down the middle (excluding Ek and now Sturm at the 3&4 center spots).
One of the analytics talking heads posted numbers about Team faceoff % and their expected wins/possession time and it was surprising at how little negative affect it had.
It certainly doesnt reflect how our centers aren’t the most skilled and playmaking, but it doesnt seem to have a negative affect overall with play otherwise.
This xPack and who Seattle picks from the Wild is really going to depend on what other teams have available too. I dont recall their situation regarding a farm team, but they have to fill 2 rosters potentially unless they purchased one like I think Vegas did.
Suter waiving his NMC likely solves all the expansion problems as well. I doubt it happens as I don’t remember anyone around the league waiving NMC’s in the last xpac draft, but the media sure likes to talk about it and make it seem like a real possibility.
Sooo… Let’s say you’re GMBG, you ask Suter to waive his NMC for the draft, and he says “Yeah sure Billy, anything for the team ( 
). BUT if Seattle selects me, I’m going to retire.”
So in that case the Wild lose Suter, who right now is still a legit top 4D, but still get charged a $5m cap hit over the next 4 seasons. Obviously not likely that Seattle selects Suter, but the risk is still there.
Same scenario could go for Parise, but it’s not as beneficial to the team for Parise to waive and even less likely that Seattle would select him.
Suter waiving his NMC likely solves all the expansion problems as well. I doubt it happens as I don’t remember anyone around the league waiving NMC’s in the last xpac draft, but the media sure likes to talk about it and make it seem like a real possibility.
I agree with you that Suter getting exposed would be better for the Wild than Parise. It will be interesting to see what happens.
If he were to retire he could do more KwikTrip commercials. I can never get enough of those.
The one with the meals is hilarious. People blast him for him seemingly exerting the minimum effort while playing, then in the commercial he says “just 2 to 3 minutes in the microwave” and how long does he put it in there for? The minimum. LOL
Pierre Lebrun and Ryan Clark of the Athletic did a feature on teams they feel (6) will be looking/considering “side deals” for the XPACK draft. Guess who is on there?
People blast him for him seemingly exerting the minimum effort while playing, then in the commercial he says “just 2 to 3 minutes in the microwave” and how long does he put it in there for? The minimum. LOL
Just proves us right for blasting him……. 
Minimum effort, minimum personality, minimum cook time.
Looking forward to another entertaining game against the Yotes tonight.
Looking through the Wild’s stats today….
Do you know who’s leading the team in assists? Greenway!
Do you know who’s leading the team in +|-? Soucy! at +20!
Honestly I wouldn’t have guessed either were in the top 5…
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
Suter waiving his NMC likely solves all the expansion problems as well. I doubt it happens as I don’t remember anyone around the league waiving NMC’s in the last xpac draft, but the media sure likes to talk about it and make it seem like a real possibility.I agree with you that Suter getting exposed would be better for the Wild than Parise. It will be interesting to see what happens.
If he were to retire he could do more KwikTrip commercials. I can never get enough of those.
The one with the meals is hilarious. People blast him for him seemingly exerting the minimum effort while playing, then in the commercial he says “just 2 to 3 minutes in the microwave” and how long does he put it in there for? The minimum. LOL
I didn’t pay enough attention to this response! Lol 2 minutes!
Looking through the Wild’s stats today….
Do you know who’s leading the team in assists? Greenway!
Do you know who’s leading the team in +|-? Soucy! at +20!Honestly I wouldn’t have guessed either were in the top 5…
I noticed Soucy was leading a week ago. Was pretty surprised. Seems to have gotten a bit more comfortable again the last few games. He’s played well for us before so hopefully he can get back to that again.
I only watched the third, BUT seemed like allll Talbot this game. Happy KK buried the second attempt after the pipe.
I saw this last night…so true, but with Sturm now playing so well on the “4th” line i’m not sure who you can swap Rask out for? Boldy?
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I only watched the third, BUT seemed like allll Talbot this game. Happy KK buried the second attempt after the pipe.
Nailed it. Talbot stole that game. It could have been a rout in the first if it wasnt for him.
I saw this last night…so true, but with Sturm now playing so well on the “4th” line i’m not sure who you can swap Rask out for? Boldy?
I wouldnt want to take Sturm off the 4th line either. Boldy I am not sure would be the best to throw him to the Wolves between those two. Bjugstad is our only other option once healthy.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
I saw this last night…so true, but with Sturm now playing so well on the “4th” line i’m not sure who you can swap Rask out for? Boldy?I wouldnt want to take Sturm off the 4th line either. Boldy I am not sure would be the best to throw him to the Wolves between those two. Bjugstad is our only other option once healthy.
I don’t think that line needs an enforcer though…
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