2021 MN Wild/NHL Thread

You don’t want Suter’s awesome left-handed wrister coming from the point?

Netguy wrote:

You don’t want Suter’s awesome left-handed wrister coming from the point?

Yeah, not really. Thanks tho.

Talbot rated 25th out of 31.

https://theathletic.com/2308397/2021/01/10/nhl-goalie-rankings/

CaptainMusky wrote:

We just cannot have nice things. Rossi out indefinitely with an upper body injury.

This one is kind of a head scratcher…he’s been in covid lockdown since arriving in MN the day after Austria was eliminated from the WJC 8 days ago…He did take a slapshot to his skate in the WJC but appeared to skate fine afterwards…He’s already had covid so he should be naturally immune for 8 or so months… strange…

Thanks Captain & Grouse, fun reads!

Busgate!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
We just cannot have nice things. Rossi out indefinitely with an upper body injury.

This one is kind of a head scratcher…he’s been in covid lockdown since arriving in MN the day after Austria was eliminated from the WJC 8 days ago…He did take a slapshot to his skate in the WJC but appeared to skate fine afterwards…He’s already had covid so he should be naturally immune for 8 or so months… strange…

yeah I don’t get it either I watched a lot of the WJC but not every minute but don’t recall seeing him getting dinged up with an upper body type injury. I seriously hope it’s not serious but while I hoped he could make a difference and make the roster this year it really is a down the road type deal. I think he could play now, but he needs to be in a top 6 role with ice time. So waiting a year is probably the best. He will get some games this year when healthy though just to get a look at him.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
Fiala-Parise-Kaprisov

The problem with that is there’s no right handed shot. Assuming Parise is in front of the net. Dumba and Spurgeon are both right handed shots but Spurgeon is not a shooter. It’s vital to have the threat of a one timer from more than one angle.

Not a problem…

Ripjiggen wrote:

Not a problem

I could be proven wrong but there’s basically two ways to score on a power play:

Screen/deflection/rebound in front
or
One timer

Without a right handed shot at the left circle, the only right handed one timer is coming from Dumba on top and every other team knows it.

This is why players like Ovechkin and Stamkos have been so productive during their careers on the power play. They’re both right handed snipers

Dumba will be the right handed shot at the circle, or in certain rotational situations Spurg. Spurg will be at the top most likely. Fiala and KK on the other side. Most likelY Kk on the other circle. So yeah you have one timers coming from both sets of circles.

Generally you would prefer to have a right hand shot in the situations referenced, but it really depends how you set up the power play and how you cycle the puck. Ive seen Ovi score on the right side on the PP too. You can cycle the puck on the right side of the ice, work it up top then down low and across to the left. That type of movement works well with all left shot forwards. Its more about facilitating the space and getting movement and then having a D activate. Parise was one of the league leaders in PP last year and I dont think we had a RH shot with him. I am struggling to remember who was RH on the team last year besides a few D.

Spurgeon has a plenty good enough shot for the PP. It might not be a howitzer but he can snipe when he wants to and he has better decision making than most on the team.

gim wrote:

I could be proven wrong but there’s basically two ways to score on a power play:

Screen/deflection/rebound in front
or
One timer

That’s it huh

tswoboda wrote:

That’s it huh

Yep that’s how about 90% of the goals on a PP are scored these days in the NHL. If you don’t set up a one timer on each side, the goalie has time to get into position and he’s gonna save it almost every time unless you have a screen or deflect it or produce a rebound. If you watch enough NHL you’ll see that is the strategy of almost every team on the power play.

gim wrote:

Yep that’s how about 90% of the goals on a PP are scored these days in the NHL. If you don’t set up a one timer on each side, the goalie has time to get into position and he’s gonna save it almost every time unless you have a screen or deflect it or produce a rebound. If you watch enough NHL you’ll see that is the strategy of almost every team on the power play.

You could always do this:
https://www.nhl.com/wild/video/fialas-crafty-power-play-goal/t-277437412/c-5236711
Or this:
https://www.nhl.com/predators/video/fialas-top-shelf-power-play-goal/t-277437416/c-55337003
Or this:
https://www.nhl.com/predators/video/fialas-nifty-power-play-goal/t-277437416/c-55415903

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
That’s it huh

Yep that’s how about 90% of the goals on a PP are scored these days in the NHL. If you don’t set up a one timer on each side, the goalie has time to get into position and he’s gonna save it almost every time unless you have a screen or deflect it or produce a rebound. If you watch enough NHL you’ll see that is the strategy of almost every team on the power play.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
That’s it huh

Yep that’s how about 90% of the goals on a PP are scored these days in the NHL. If you don’t set up a one timer on each side, the goalie has time to get into position and he’s gonna save it almost every time unless you have a screen or deflect it or produce a rebound. If you watch enough NHL you’ll see that is the strategy of almost every team on the power play.

Again don’t see how this isn’t possible with the combination they have. You are going to have a right shot and left shot at the corner of the umbrella if that is the system they keep running.

Guess we’ll just find out starting this week. My prediction is that it will not work very effectively.

Pleas explain why. Since you brought Washington up. They have 3 right hand shots and two left hand shots. What is the difference. Just flip it. By the way there a many ways to run an offensive pp. An overload a 1-2-2 a 1-3-1 and many more. I just stated the umbrella as that has been traditionally one of the systems they have run in the past. Or a version of it anyway. Would like to know the logic that it will not work having your 5 best offensive players on the ice at the same time with a man advantage.

If it is not effective it will have nothing to do with having two right handed shot defensemen.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Would like to know the logic that it will not work having your 5 best offensive players on the ice at the same time with a man advantage.

The Wild had mainly Left shot players on their PP last year and it was pretty good down the stretch for sure. I dont recall what the season numbers were, but for sure under Evason they were clicking along pretty good.
I am just excited to see these guys get out there and flip the biscuit around. KK from what I could see was very shifty. He did seem to have a bit of an issue in the D zone, but the way they can get the puck out of their end will dictate if that becomes a growing problem or not. I would like to see the D pairing be the one with Brodin in it since he is a breakout machine.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Would like to know the logic that it will not work having your 5 best offensive players on the ice at the same time with a man advantage.

Maybe I am not following where you are picturing where each of the players is going to be placed.

2019-2020 stats indicate that the Wild were 21.3% on the PP which is about middle of the pack in the league. Anything over 20% is pretty good.

gim wrote:

2019-2020 stats indicate that the Wild were 21.3% on the PP which is about middle of the pack in the league. Anything over 20% is pretty good.

I am pretty sure they were over 25% while Evason was head coach.

I could put some diagrams up if you would like. Every team is going to be left or right dominant with an odd number of players 5. All it dictates is which side of the rink you prefer to set up on.

If we are looking at a true umbrella. Not sure as I have not watched the scrimmages. So not sure exactly what set up they are planning.

Parise in front of net which hand doesn’t matter.
Fiala up the middle which hand doesn’t matter
Spurg up top running the flow again which hand doesn’t matter.
Dumba right shot at top of left circle working to bottom and weak side post when not involved in the immediate play. He will be opened up for a one timer.
KK left shot opened up on top of right circle doing the opposite of Dumba.
Insert Fiala left shot in this spot if you would like.
A lot of good shots on the perimeter working in. With the king af garbage goals in front.

Many ways to skin that cat.

The one issue is ZP taking draws. If he consistently loses draws it may have to be tweaked.

Ripjiggen wrote:

The one issue is ZP taking draws. If he consistently loses draws it may have to be tweaked.

I read somewhere that he has a career faceoff % of nearly 54%. That’s serviceable IMO. Now that he is working on it more in practice I would think he would get even better at it.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
The one issue is ZP taking draws. If he consistently loses draws it may have to be tweaked.

I read somewhere that he has a career faceoff % of nearly 54%. That’s serviceable IMO. Now that he is working on it more in practice I would think he would get even better at it.

Agree just see it as a possible issue not a major one.

gim wrote:

This is why players like Ovechkin and Stamkos have been so productive during their careers on the power play. They’re both right handed snipers

Dumba is filling that role.

Spurgeon on top facilitating.
Fiala and Dumba trigger guys both on their off hand for OneT’s.
Parise and KK down low to clean up the garbage and retrieve pucks.
They’ll be fine once they get set up.

Maybe they’ll just roll what they did late last year and the strategy is get it to Fiala and see what he can do – that seemed to work well. It almost looked like squirt games at times last year where one kid is so much better than everyone else and both teams know exactly where the puck is going but still can’t stop it.

Ripjiggen wrote:

The one issue is ZP taking draws. If he consistently loses draws it may have to be tweaked.

This is my biggest concern. He’ll mostly be going against the other teams best face-off guys and a lost draw on the PP is an automatic icing every time. Is there anyone on the roster above 50%? I think Bonino is decent.

Realistically people get too hung up on preseason/training camp line combos – they usually don’t last more than a week or two into the season. Two years ago Greenway was a center. Last year Donato was second line center.

Over/Under Fiala points-per-game: 1.0. The optimist in me is taking the over.

Have the Wild ever had a PPG player besides Gaborik?

tswoboda wrote:

This is my biggest concern. He’ll mostly be going against the other teams best face-off guys and a lost draw on the PP is an automatic icing every time. Is there anyone on the roster above 50%? I think Bonino is decent.

Bonino was around 53 last year. Zuccarello was 64% in a small sample size, but his career numbers arent impressive.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
This is why players like Ovechkin and Stamkos have been so productive during their careers on the power play. They’re both right handed snipers

Dumba is filling that role.

Spurgeon on top facilitating.
Fiala and Dumba trigger guys both on their off hand for OneT’s.
Parise and KK down low to clean up the garbage and retrieve pucks.
They’ll be fine once they get set up.

Exactly or think KK/Fiala on the opposite side that Ovie sets up on. Which side the PP is run though is irrelevant. So is having three left shot vs 3 right shot. If Ovie was left handed they would just be setting him up on the opposite side of the rink.

tswoboda wrote:

Over/Under Fiala points-per-game: 1.0. The optimist in me is taking the over.

Have the Wild ever had a PPG player besides Gaborik?

Can not think of one off the top of my head.

tswoboda wrote:

Over/Under Fiala points-per-game: 1.0. The optimist in me is taking the over.

I’ll take those odds all day. What’s the bet

I think Fiala will actually digress a bit ppg wise this season… He’s now the #1 focus target for opponents and will need to learn how to produce with the target on his back. I also think Kaprizov and a healthy Dumba will take some powerplay shot opportunities away as well.