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

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
The Fiala situation is different though

No it’s not. They sacrificed the expensive elite talent for depth, exactly how Billy G described it in June and what you just said right now. Paying the elite player would have cost them a couple good role players, backfilled by league minimum guys. It’s a bet they were willing to make on Fiala not being worth that sacrifice – and it very well might be the right move. But I still hate it right now.

but for a team that has $15 million in dead capspace it’s much harder to afford any depth players and have a competitive team. Can we agree, there’s no question the Wild would have been signed Fiala long term if the Wild didn’t have $15 million in dead cap the next 3 years?

in their current cap predicament, should they have paid Fiala, then trade away Foligno and Greenway and replace them with Dewer & Duhaime and then call up Beckman and Chaffe to replace their 4th line spots? Does that cause the Wild to lose or win more and keep the fans & more importantly Kaprizov happy? They are also betting that Boldy and Rossi turn into “Fiala level” players and will need to get paid as well…

It’s 3D chess with unknowns all over the place…if the GM’s decisions don’t ultimately pay off, he’s gone and fans stay pissed…

The dead cap was certainly the reason BG did what he did, but so be it. It was a tough decision, one he and others weighed for a long time and decided it was the thing to do and the consequence was loosing a streaky player. I liked Fiala a lot, but he disappeared for long stretches. Losing him for the sake of keeping more veteran guys was the right move in my eyes 10 out of 10 times at least right now. It gives us more ability to keep winning and not be a potential dumpster fire until the last year of KK97’s contract.

No, they should have traded 35 year old Zuccarello. And if that’s a no go because of the BFF factor (that still seems weird to me) then trade/don’t trade for/don’t extend Jost, Dumba, Goligoski. Keeping Fiala seemed impossible in June but now they’re here entering the season with $5m in cap space – only $3m short of what Fiala is paid. But I get that it’s easier by using Greenway and Foligno as your hypotheticals.

It’s still the same sentiment – expensive elite player or good depth players. I said it in March that either they blow a hole in the depth to keep Fiala or they dump him and run basically the same team back. If Billy G thought Fiala was worth $7.8m he absolutely could have made it fit. He made a bet that Fiala’s not worth the sacrifice of depth and an expensive long term contract. Personally I hate the decision, but I’m also willing to admit it’s probably the right move. Billy G and the coaches/front office had 3 years with Fiala so no one has a better idea whether or not Fiala’s worth that $7.8m.

tswoboda wrote:

then trade/don’t trade for/don’t extend Jost, Dumba, Goligoski.

IDK those decisions were made probably under certain other assumptions going down. We all know that Kulikov was going to get traded, but I think BG was hoping to get something in return, but that failed which now got us to the $5M cap space only recently. The Goligoski thing still rubs me the wrong way too. Yeah he is cheap this season, but I really didnt see the benefit of him here with some other options. We will see how it pans out, but in trading Fiala we secured an extra 1st rounder (which led to Yurov, who had a great game yesterday BTW) and prospect Faber who seems to be flying up the prospect charts the last year. Neither will help us for years Id imagine (moreso Yurov) so that is the main downside.

I don’t know if I read it from Russo or heard it on a podcast, but the assumption with the Goligoski contract was that GMBG promised him the 2 year extension if he were to sign the 1 year deal last year and BG wanted to honor his decision vs look bad to future FA’s by not honoring his word…

Its about the one thing that makes sense with the extension…if its a nightmare season, his buyout next year isn’t bad…

The $4.5ish in free capspace this season (after Rossi and Addison are likely adedd) is a little confusing in terms of what their plans are to do with it? As you pointed out, with the huge cap penalties we’ve been preparing for, having a surplus makes no sense… I don’t see them spending any of that on defense…maybe on a backup goalie if Gustavsson utterly fails? so who do you plan on upgrading on offense? Hartman or Gaudreau? I don’t see any other meaningful line slots they would change that requires using a big chunk of the $4+ aav increase to it, you’re not going to spend that on the 4th line…I don’t think they’ll touch the GREEF line at all this season (unless injury forces it) that was a failed experiment last year…

They knew Fiala was gone when they took him to arbitration last summer. The decision had been made.

Faber looks legit, I think there’s a real chance they got a future long time top 4 defenseman there. Might be their best overall D-prospect, which kills me to say considering my love for Addison.

That Yurov narrative is BS. Fans/media are just saying that because he’s the better prospect so it feels better to say the Fiala trade landed Yurov instead of Ohgren. If Ohgren becomes the better player, I guarantee you we start saying we got Ohgren because of the Fiala trade lol. The reality is they acquired the #19 pick from LA and used it on Liam Ohgren. They got Ohgren from the trade, not Yurov. Yurov was higher than Ohgren on their draft board (per Judd Bracket) and if they only had one first round pick (no Fiala trade) it would have been used Danila Yurov.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

so who do you plan on upgrading on offense?

Jost + D prospect + pick for Brock Boesser, make it happen Billy.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
so who do you plan on upgrading on offense?

Jost + D prospect + pick for Brock Boesser, make it happen Billy.

This year it works, but how do you clear enough space the NEXT 2 years for Boesser’s $6.65 and Boldy’s likely $4+aav bridge deal (Gaudreau & Duhaime likely get small aav increases as well) to fit? The cap penalty goes up $2 starting next year as well, perhaps another league wide $1 cap increase cuts that in half…

I like it (Boldy – Rossi – Boesser) is some serious 2nd line firepower with all of the pieces (passers and shooters) in place…

how lucky are we that Kirill plays for the Wild…skip to 4:15 of this video to see just an unreal zone entry and comical shift by Kirill

Another good game by Khusnidhinov today (2 assists). He looks like a much more polished player sofar this season…

This year it works, but how do you clear enough space the NEXT 2 years for Boesser’s $6.65 and Boldy’s likely $4+aav bridge deal (Gaudreau & Duhaime likely get small aav increases as well) to fit? The cap penalty goes up $2 starting next year as well, perhaps another league wide $1 cap increase cuts that in half…

I like it (Boldy – Rossi – Boesser) is some serious 2nd line firepower with all of the pieces (passers and shooters) in place…

You don’t resign Dumba and Freddie. Or other options as well. Seams to be easy for some teams to shed players that are overpaid.

I agree 100 percent TSW. I also think not buying out Sutter was an option. He could have been moved while eating salary and saved you significant millions.

I think the cap space this year was not part of there plan as Cam blew that up.
Not a fan of Brock. Maybe cause I know him personally. I don’t have the magic move to make as mine would probably not be realistic. I was down with looking at JT Miller earlier.

BG laid out a 5 year plan to Leo. It will be interesting to see if he is around to see that plan through. Most GM’s are not. I honestly think part of the plan was not to make the playoffs for some years and get some higher draft picks. KK kind of messed that up.
Covid shorten seasons probably didn’t help.

Just tell me it’s gonna be a good season?

lindyrig79 wrote:

Just tell me it’s gonna be a good season?

if Kirill stays healthy, we’ll be fun to watch and a playoff team and then who knows how far they go. If Kirill gets hurt for any duration, they miss the playoffs and enter the lottery in one of the best drafts in league history.

Ripjiggen wrote:

I also think not buying out Sutter was an option. He could have been moved while eating salary and saved you significant millions.

Suter wasn’t accepting a trade outta Minnesota. Only way off the Wild was a buyout or Billy calling in a Nancy Kerrigan for LTIR. I bet he considered it from what you hear he thought about Suter.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Just tell me it’s gonna be a good season?

Define “good”

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lindyrig79 wrote:</div>
Just tell me it’s gonna be a good season?

Define “good”

Better than last year. Out of the first round.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
I also think not buying out Sutter was an option. He could have been moved while eating salary and saved you significant millions.

Suter wasn’t accepting a trade outta Minnesota. Only way off the Wild was a buyout or Billy calling in a Nancy Kerrigan for LTIR. I bet he considered it from what you hear he thought about Suter.

He is not the only one that thought of Suter that way, but
We don’t know for certain that a trade was impossible. Especially if he knew his besty would not be on the team.
I am not arguing necessarily how it went down. Honestly it doesn’t really matter at this point. Probably shouldn’t have even brought it up.

It Will be interesting to see how long BG plan/ time he is given. Is it 1 year2-3 years after the buyouts. These next two off seasons are going to be interesting.

I know I am ready for camp to start as this last month of off season has been slow in the hockey world especially for the wild.

The Wild’s roster is pretty much set for the next few years (Boldy’s bridge deal is priority #1, then figuring out what to do with Dumba, Jost and Gaudreau and then Hartman, Foligno and Zuccy 2 years from now)… any movement is likely going to be from young players beating out veterans for roster spots…

Zuccy will be interesting in 2 years… is he still stuck at the hip with Kirill? Are prospects like Boldy/Rossi/Khusnidhinov/Yurov ready for 1st line responsibility in 3 years? If not how much term do you give Zuccy?

Just for the money factor. Getting bought out earned Suter an additional $11 million over the remainder of his original contract. That’s $11 million reasons to never even consider accepting a trade.

interesting game tactic pulled off by former NHL Russian great and CSKA Head Coach Sergie Fedorov this weekend in the KHL. In OT, his team gained possession of the opening face-off and he pulled his goalie to make it a 4-3, his team then scored to win the game on a make shift power play.

Will we ever see some NHL coaches pull the same move?

Quick edit – Turns out the NHL already thought of this and if a team pulls their goalie in 3-3 OT and loses, they DON’T get the 1 point (KHL doesn’t have that stipulation)… We could see it in the NHL on the last game of the regular season if a team needs 2 points to make the playoffs, but other than that, no way a team risks losing that 1 point….

Federov was doing that last year as well and it worked more than it didn’t. The NHL rule is so dumb but for other leagues without that stupid rule pulling the goalie for 4v3 is genius. 4v3 is the most dangerous strength in hockey and then factor in the other team can’t freely ice it like a normal PP. The Wild were like 4 for 5 or basically automatic in 4v3 situations last year… it really can’t be overstated how much more dangerous 4v3 is than a typical 5v4 powerplay.

tswoboda wrote:

Federov was doing that last year as well and it worked more than it didn’t. The NHL rule is so dumb but for other leagues without that stupid rule pulling the goalie for 4v3 is genius. 4v3 is the most dangerous strength in hockey and then factor in the other team can’t freely ice it like a normal PP. The Wild were like 4 for 5 or basically automatic in 4v3 situations last year… it really can’t be overstated how much more dangerous 4v3 is than a typical 5v4 powerplay.

yeah, didn’t the Wild have a couple 4-3 OT’s last year and the other team never touched the puck…(I beleive Calgary was one of them when Kaprizov scored)…too much ice to cover for the defenders…

Wild vs Blackhawk prospects series this weekend (I thought it was canceled?)

https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/release-2022-tom-kurvers-prospect-showcase-schedule/c-335429556

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Wild vs Blackhawk prospects series this weekend (I thought it was canceled?)

No, this replaces the thing they did in Michigan, Traverse City?

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Wild vs Blackhawk prospects series this weekend (I thought it was canceled?)

No, this replaces the thing they did in Michigan, Traverse City?

yep, knew that, I just figured it was cancelled this year after there’s been ZERO information released about it by Russo or any other Wild coverage sites and it starts tomorrow…. What prospects are playing in it? Wallstedt? Rossi? Haight?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

yep, knew that, I just figured it was cancelled this year after there’s been ZERO information released about it by Russo or any other Wild coverage sites and it starts tomorrow…. What prospects are playing in it? Wallstedt? Rossi? Haight?

Yeah that is a bit strange we havent heard anything. I wonder if Russo talked about it on one of his podcasts? I havent been listening to them lately.

I just looked up the regular season schedule and they have 15 Nationally televised games with 5 of those on ESPN+. I was hoping to not have to buy that again this year.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I just looked up the regular season schedule and they have 15 Nationally televised games with 5 of those on ESPN+. I was hoping to not have to buy that again this year.

ESPN+ is AWESOME for hockey fans! I just hope they maintain the number of games they show… These streaming packages typically start out great but then start removing content over time. Sucks they pulled KHL coverage but I get it with the current RUS situation….

JoeMX1825 wrote:

ESPN+ is AWESOME for hockey fans! I just hope they maintain the number of games they show… These streaming packages typically start out great but then start removing content over time. Sucks they pulled KHL coverage but I get it with the current RUS situation….

Speaking of ESPN+, remember Leah Hextall? There was a lengthy piece in the Athletic about what she went through with fans just berating her. Pretty sad. She wasnt good, but no one deserves that. Its not her fault she was hired for that job.