2022/2023 NHL/Wild Offseason-Season-Postseason Thread

CaptainMusky wrote:

I mean the only logical options to move Steel would be Ek or Hartman, but Hartman is one bad game away from sitting in the seats again.

Ek, Hartman, Freddy, Rossi, Dewar, a random AHLer, Victor Rask, Nordy, someone off this forum. Honestly I’m not sure there’s an option that’s worse than what Steel is accomplishing lately. They are completely ignoring him (for good reason) and every time he does touch the puck back things happen.

Hartman just needs to play center. Doesn’t matter what line, just get him back in the middle. There’s 2 different forms of Hartman we’ve seen in his 4 seasons here. The Hartman on the Wing: He plays physical, is a rat, takes bad penalties, and doesn’t score. Then there’s The Hartman at center: He plays physical, is a rat, takes bad penalties, and scores. I like the center Hartman a lot better.

Other than Kirill, Zuccy (who’s been a defensive liability and turn over machine) and Boldy (Who I thought he looked great last night) we have NOBODY creating anything offensively. I would suggest loading up the 1st line by putting Boldy at 1C and see how it goes (They play together after a penalty kill now anyways) Yes it allows teams to defend them easier, but the other lines haven’t been producing anything anyways so why not at least try it?

IF Deano and Staff give Hartman the 1C spot, then all of the previous talk of needing to earn it go out the window…he has shown nothing to deserve the 1C spot since coming back from injury or all season for that matter, I agree it’s about the only move that would make sense to try, but they should have done it sooner…. Steel’s 15 minutes of fame are over, but you also have Foligno AND Greenway playing terrible as well…there’s just too many holes to plug…The only other option is to make a callup (Walker) but with everyone healthy it will likely result in somebody they don’t want to lose getting plucked off waivers…

There’s no good/easy choices for GMBG other than letting it ride or making a “Hockey Trade” to change things up…

tswoboda wrote:

Hartman just needs to play center. Doesn’t matter what line, just get him back in the middle. There’s 2 different forms of Hartman we’ve seen in his 4 seasons here. The Hartman on the Wing: He plays physical, is a rat, takes bad penalties, and doesn’t score. Then there’s The Hartman at center: He plays physical, is a rat, takes bad penalties, and scores. I like the center Hartman a lot better.

well, it’s either 1C or 4C then…Deano isn’t moving Freddy or Ek…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

well, it’s either 1C or 4C then…Deano isn’t moving Freddy or Ek…

Said it before, move Freddy up to 1C and Hartman center Boldy. Or have Ek center Boldy.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Other than Kirill, Zuccy (who’s been a defensive liability and turn over machine) and Boldy (Who I thought he looked great last night) we have NOBODY creating anything offensively. I would suggest loading up the 1st line by putting Boldy at 1C and see how it goes (They play together after a penalty kill now anyways) Yes it allows teams to defend them easier, but the other lines haven’t been producing anything anyways so why not at least try it?
IF Deano and Staff give Hartman the 1C spot, then all of the previous talk of needing to earn it go out the window…he has shown nothing to deserve the 1C spot since coming back from injury or all season for that matter, I agree it’s about the only move that would make sense to try, but they should have done it sooner…. Steel’s 15 minutes of fame are over, but you also have Foligno AND Greenway playing terrible as well…there’s just too many holes to plug…The only other option is to make a callup (Walker) but with everyone healthy it will likely result in somebody they don’t want to lose getting plucked off waivers…

Kinda scary but I agree with almost all of this

Boldy looks frustrated having to create offense all by himself, I thought he was going to 2-hand Middelton last night. They put him between zuccy/kirill for a full period earlier this year and they dominated but didn’t score, I think they still haven’t scored together but get tons of chances every time. I don’t think that’s a full time line but a nice weapon to have in the arsenal… they could certainly lean into it right now.

Hartman’s not doing himself any favors to get put at 1C.. that’s why I’ve repeatedly said move him back to center, on any line, not necessarily 1C – although that is the ultimate goal.

If someone gets a non-injury call-up it’s gotta be Rossi. They can carry the extra forward for a few games, and then make the waiver decision if it’s working out.

If there is anything that has a chance at getting Hartman going I’d think being up with KK and Zucc would be it. I know he hasn’t earned it but it might be the only thing that can save his season at this point.

Freddy was pretty underwhelming between KK and Zuccy if memory serves but Hartman sure did well.

We should bring Rask back…

tswoboda wrote:

If someone gets a non-injury call-up it’s gotta be Rossi. They can carry the extra forward for a few games, and then make the waiver decision if it’s working out.

I think it’s gotta be Walker, if you bring Rossi up he needs to play top 6 and that means Freddy goes to 1C and I don’t think Freddy is much different than Steel (They are both soft on the boards and defensive play, they won’t go get the puck for Kirill and Zuccy) I agree Hartman is that guy, but it would mean Deano is eating his own words, if he’s willing to do that, then put Hartman at 1C and see what happens…

You all know how I feel about at least giving Rossi a shot at 1C to see if it sparks something….

I think the one thing Walker would bring to the lineup over anybody else is speed and youthful enthusiasm…he was a shot in the arm his last callup, I think he could even produce this time up after getting over the nerves of his 1st callup…

Obviously last nights loss isn’t the end of the world or season, we still have 2 games in hand on mostly everybody, but if a few of those shots that hit the pipe last night go in, that loss could have looked alot worse…there’s no question this team has been in a funk that past 10-15 games though, something needs to change or we could be back in the lottery discussion in a month…fortunately this year that’s not the worst thing in the world

Russo just tweeted that Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello skated as the top line in a small ice game today. Wonder if that will actually happen in the next game.

Yeah looks like Hartman is getting his shot, hope he takes advantage.

Also Brodin dinged up and doubtful for tomorrow so Goose draws in with Dumba. That D pairing has been a roller coaster.

i’ll be watching tomorrow night to see if Hartman can keep up with Kirill and Zuccy, that was his problem at the start of the season…he looked like he had cement skates and couldn’t keep up with them and was constantly behind the play…

This was pretty much Deano’s only lever to pull, we’ll see if it makes any difference before GMBG has to decide what to do…

As said above Hartman should be at center if for no other reason than to get his play off the boards and to see if the extra responsibilities will get him to stay out of the penalty box.
His bad shoulder will be a problem all year so don’t expect him to return to last year’s form.
Freddy has really stepped his game up from last year so you could try him at line one.
Boldy should get at least 2 games centering line 1 just to see what happens.
Greenway has never been effective with anyone other than Eek and Foligno and with a bad shoulder I don’t see him doing anything. Maybe long term IR wouldn’t be a bad idea.
GMBG has his hands full this year, maybe they should be sellers before the trade deadline. Nothing crazy like shopping KK but maybe send some of the players that don’t really impress for whatever he can get along the lines of, Dumba, Greenway, AHLers that didn’t impress.

Hmmm so Reavo is blocking a youngsters path for a shot at some offensive punch? Not weird Wild.

Tom schmitt wrote:

His bad shoulder will be a problem all year so don’t expect him to return to last year’s form.

I don’t like this excuse for Hartman, he was terrible to start the season before the fight when his shoulder got hurt, he’s been playing no different since he got back from injury, if he was injured the trainers wouldn’t clear him and he wouldn’t be playing, we have plenty of guys who could fill his spot…

Tom schmitt wrote:

Freddy has really stepped his game up from last year so you could try him at line one.

Gaudreau is behind last years points pace, he is what he’s always been, a career 4th liner/AHL player who’s getting NHL playing time here because he’s the coaches pet and we littorally don’t have better center options right now…

He’s been tried on the 1st line before, he doesn’t generate anything for his wingers, just like he doesn’t on the 2nd line…he’s not the answer….

Ripjiggen wrote:

Hmmm so Reavo is blocking a youngsters path for a shot at some offensive punch? Not weird Wild.

yeah, I don’t like how Reaves has been constantly in the lineup, it just doesn’t make any sense why they aren’t rotating players in/out of the 4th line…no sense…

Just wanted to throw a bump in here, that you guys are the real All-Stars. 114 pages and rolled right thru the All-Star break!

Well you are only rotating 1 guy with him at this point. If he was not on the team it would give them flexibility to rotate younger players. Then again everyone was complains of the players they were rotating in sooo, but sure would be nice to bring a guy up that might be a bit hungry to play in the NHL vs a guy that sits on the bench for 53 minutes

BigWerm wrote:

Just wanted to throw a bump in here, that you guys are the real All-Stars. 114 pages and rolled right thru the All-Star break!

We are just ahead of last years pace. Last year year we had 108 pages at this point.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Gaudreau is behind last years points pace despite getting alot more playing time this year,

Except that he’s actually getting less time on ice this season than last season (cool narrative though). More goals this year, and a lot less assists… hmmmmmm I wonder why that could be.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Hmmm so Reavo is blocking a youngsters path for a shot at some offensive punch? Not weird Wild.

I’m shocked, truly can’t believe it. Who could have ever seen this happening?!?!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Tom schmitt wrote:</div>
Freddy has really stepped his game up from last year so you could try him at line one.

Gaudreau is behind last years points pace despite getting alot more playing time this year, he is what he’s always been, a career 4th liner/AHL player who’s getting NHL playing time here because he’s the coaches pet and we littorally don’t have better center options right now…

He’s been tried on the 1st line before, he doesn’t generate anything for his wingers, just like he doesn’t on the 2nd line…he’s not the answer….

Freddy may be behind last year’s pase but the eye test has him playing better. Last year much of the time he was invisible, now he is noticeable and not in a bad way. But they do need to find a 3rd player for that line.
Hartman has been bad this year, shoulder or no, but he got hurt so early in the season it’s hard to say if last year was a fluke or not.

Give him 2 good linemates and he’s a 50 point guy. Give him 1 good linemate and he’s a 35 point guy. Give him no good linemates and he’s probably a 20 point guy. Freddy is a passenger, not a driver. He’s not the problem but he won’t be a solution either. He’s just kind of there, and for $1.2m AAV on a team with no cap space and no center depth… that’s OK.

That said I thought he had a rough game last night and was frustrating to watch. Boldy looked visibly annoyed all game.

tswoboda wrote:

Give him 2 good linemates and he’s a 50 point guy. Give him 1 good linemate and he’s a 35 point guy. Give him no good linemates and he’s probably a 20 point guy.

You can literally say that about any player good enough to make an NHL roster (awesome narrative though

My favorite “Freddyism” is when he beats his chest with a “My Bad” inference when he F’s up…

he’s got a set of mits on him though… I’ll give him that…

Joe you said he’s getting a lot more ice time this year when reality is he’s getting less

tswoboda wrote:

Joe you said he’s getting a lot more ice time this year when reality is he’s getting less

indeed I did, turns out he’s getting something like 16 seconds less sofar this season. I’d be interested in knowing if he’s getting less PK time this year with guys like Dewar/Duhaime/Shaw getting more and more. If that’s the case in means Freddy is getting more PP & even strength icetime which should equate to more offensive opportunities…

Yes, the Fiala effect has diminished his assists and it also feels like he’s scored several empty netters this year?

He’s getting less PP time and more PK time this year, i don’t even have to look that up. They basically run one PP unit and are killing a ton of penalties. There’s 5 players setting career highs in PP time and every PK player is setting career highs there. He starts every PK with JEEK, of course he’s getting more time there. Yes he has some ENGs too.

It’s not necessarily just missing Fiala, it’s that he doesn’t have Fiala and Boldy. Freddy needs 2 scorers to play with, he’s that bland. Boldy obviously misses Fiala, and Fiala was missing Boldy
before he got called up last year. Freddy was the exact same player last year before Boldy came up, then produced a lot of points when the BFF line was rolling in the second half. I just don’t get complaining about Freddy – he is who he is. Incredibly average player, consistent, and making close to league minimum. Aside from a few shooting slumps and heaters, he’s been the exact same guy his entire 100ish games here.

Did you know he has like 20 career penalty minutes ??

Ripjiggen wrote:

Hmmm so Reavo is blocking a youngsters path for a shot at some offensive punch? Not weird Wild.

So you would rather have slow lumbering do nothing Reeves who can only get worse over a speedy somewhat talented young player with a chance at improving who can kill penalties? Now that’s weird not Wild.

Tom schmitt wrote:

So you would rather have slow lumbering do nothing Reeves who can only get worse over a speedy somewhat talented young player with a chance at improving who can kill penalties? Now that’s weird not Wild.

No thanks, that sounds awful. Need size and physical presence in the lineup, make the boys feel 6″ taller ya know.

This is why we were jacked when they traded for Reavo.

Coming out of the break and losing to the lowly Coyotes, plenty of blame and finger pointing to go around.

Nobody really talking about Greenway. I know he’s a fan favorite but he’s having a miserable season. Might be time to ship him, tough to fix lazy.