2022 MN WILD/NHL THREAD

Wild twitter is just Wild today. Woof. Calling for everyone’s heads even BG. Man, calm TF down people. We lost to a damn good team. If we wouldve won St Louis wouldve said the same thing about losing to us.

You’ll have that with such a disheartening end to a great season. Not sure which stage of grief calling for Billy G or Deano’s job is though, that’s borderline delusional.

Nothing more disappointing for me than Fiala’s performance. I saw the special teams coming, I saw the goalie stuff coming, but never expected to see 22 come out and lay an egg like that.

Ripjiggen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
I was really hoping this was going to be a long run because the next 3 might be bleak. I hope I am wrong.

I don’t necessarily agree. They had 113 pts this year. A large chunk of that core are signed. Should be able to get better at special teams. I mean can’t really get worse.

I don’t necessarily look at Fiala point total as a 1 vs 1 issue. I look at the line as a whole. I think they can replicate that point total or close too for 5 on 5 goals with some moving parts and Boldy playing a full season. We shall see what those parts consist of but I doubt they involve either Freddy hockey or Fiala.

I would think there’s more than a good chance Goudreau is back even if it’s with a raise. He certainly deserves a bit of a raise for the year he had. I know he didn’t have many games before this season, but I think he outperformed what everyone expected from him in terms of points.

Not to mention he’s Deano’s boyfriend.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I would think there’s more than a good chance Goudreau is back even if it’s with a raise. He certainly deserves a bit of a raise for the year he had. I know he didn’t have many games before this season, but I think he outperformed what everyone expected from him in terms of points.

Not to mention he’s Deano’s boyfriend.

Gaudreau has another year left on his contract.

Really, looking at the series as a whole I agree with the others who say it was basically an embarassing dumpster fire.

To have 6-20+ goal guys on a team and then have only one of them really contributing at their reg season level during the playoffs is a hot, steaming mess.

If you want to boil it down to only one thing it’s this: The Wild are basically just where we’ve been the previous 10 years. We got beat by our lack of better centermen. Now where have we heard this before…

Fiala. Worthless. He’s a crybaby headcase that goes into sulking phases just when the team needs his head in the game. 6 games and the net was he actually wasn’t even productive enough to have more assists than penalties. Totally agree with the above, he’s completely repaceable. Dump him. As I said, he (wisely) got the “prove it” contract and he didn’t even come close.

Don’t even get me started on Kulikov.

The gamble on Dumba that he would find his offensive game again didn’t work. Dump him.

I still don’t get what happened in goal. Why didn’t Cam start the series after winning what was it 13 straight? I thought perhaps minor injury/strain, but that appears not to be the case. And even then, why did we not alternate?

The only good news to me is the brain trust of Brackett and GMBG when it comes to talent evaluation. I feel like finally, finally, finally we have people who can really evaluate talent and get something out our top-round picks. The NHL is a VERY shallow draft pool compared to other sports and missing on your picks as the Wild GMs have so often done, has much more severe consequences than in other leagues where there is a much deeper draft.

Yes, yes, you can say it would be nice to start with a weak division like the West, but eventually, you’re going to have to win against a real team like STL or COL.

Setting team records led me to believe we were further along the path than we really are. Time to retool the salogan. At the end of the day, it’s not about winning, it’s about winning in the playoffs.

I have a topic to kick off the 2023 thread, who should get the C? Kirill’s the obvious answer, but my point in asking is Spurgeon sure didn’t play up to the title in this series imo. He had some pretty bad gaffe’s and really didn’t elevate himself or others, to put it nicely.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
I would think there’s more than a good chance Goudreau is back even if it’s with a raise. He certainly deserves a bit of a raise for the year he had. I know he didn’t have many games before this season, but I think he outperformed what everyone expected from him in terms of points.

Not to mention he’s Deano’s boyfriend.

Gaudreau has another year left on his contract.

I am not suggesting he is not on the team necessarily. Whether he is on that line remains to be seen.

Ripjiggen wrote:

I am not suggesting he is not on the team necessarily. Whether he is on that line remains to be seen.

Yeah that is fair. Rossi should slot in somewhere and its not with Moose or Greenway and likely not with Kaprizov.

Looking at the top 3 lines you lose Fiala and I think Freddy and Hartman’s spots will be up for grabs too. End up with Hartman/Rossi/Freddy/Jost fighting for those 3 spots. Rossi is the only pure center, the other 3 can play wing too. Don’t underestimate Deano’s love for Freddy, if he’s not starting the season as a top 9 center I think that decision comes from Billy G.

Don’t ever touch the GREEF line.

And likely not on the fourth line. Cap.😂

Agree TSW I also think it’s possible another name gets thrown on that list.

Ripjiggen wrote:

And likely not on the fourth line. 😂

Yeah, that wouldnt be good for his development. I think Jost is a good 4th line center and gives flexibility throughout the lineup when injuries hit.

For anyone interested in the young guns Russo had a good podcast with Tim Army where he breaks down all of the potential NHLers that played in Iowa this year:

Dewar – their best player, should be an NHLer
Rossi – needs to get stronger, expects to start in NHL, compared to Paul Stastny
Boldy – superstar, compared to Mikko Rantanen
Addison – got better defending, expect to start in NHL
Beckman – needs to get stronger, hope to make NHL in 2-3 years
Shaw – AHL scorer, likely a career fringe guy
Khovanov – FAT

Honestly I thought Beckman would be closer than that based on what I saw in the preseason. He must have regressed.

Not a die hard Wild fan but honestly have they had any more success than the T-Wolves? Maybe a little, but not much.

I think the perception is the Wild is this stellar, successful franchise but that’s really not the reality, is it?

If you’re an either championship or failure fan then I guess you could compare the Wild to the Wolves – and almost all other franchises across pro sports. But if you consider regular season wins and playoff appearances a form of success then the Wild and Wolves aren’t in the same universe.

stout93 wrote:

I think the perception is the Wild is this stellar, successful franchise but that’s really not the reality, is it?

Who’s perception is that? They were considered the most boring team in the NHL until 2021 when Kaprizov showed up.

2nd most points in the west and making the playoffs year in and year out is much more than the wolves have done.
I understand what you are saying however.

tswoboda wrote:

For anyone interested in the young guns Russo had a good podcast with Tim Army where he breaks down all of the potential NHLers that played in Iowa this year:

Dewar – their best player, should be an NHLer
Rossi – needs to get stronger, expects to start in NHL, compared to Paul Stastny
Boldy – superstar, compared to Mikko Rantanen
Addison – got better defending, expect to start in NHL
Beckman – needs to get stronger, hope to make NHL in 2-3 years
Shaw – AHL scorer, likely a career fringe guy
Khovanov – FAT

I also don’t think it’s out of this world to think they could also be looking outside the org to get better as well.

stout93 wrote:

Not a die hard Wild fan but honestly have they had any more success than the T-Wolves? Maybe a little, but not much.

I think the perception is the Wild is this stellar, successful franchise but that’s really not the reality, is it?

So the wolves dead last and by far the worst NBA Team a majority of their existence. Comparing to a Wild team that has made the playoffs 12 of 20 seasons in existence?

Wolves made the playoffs 10 of 32 seasons. They have been considered the laughing stock of the NBA Most seasons. Ask the TNT crew.

Both have been one step away from the ship once.

I don’t think you can say they are equal in any way except for win percentage in playoffs and both are in Minnesota.

Ripjiggen wrote:

I also don’t think it’s out of this world to think they could also be looking outside the org to get better as well.

Didn’t mean it like that. Just good prospect insight from the guy who knows them best. Rossi comments gave a clear reason of why he wasn’t in the NHL this year, not as NHL ready as everyone thought he was. And the Khovanov stuff was pretty damming.

wormdunker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>stout93 wrote:</div>
Not a die hard Wild fan but honestly have they had any more success than the T-Wolves? Maybe a little, but not much.

I think the perception is the Wild is this stellar, successful franchise but that’s really not the reality, is it?

So the wolves dead last and by far the worst NBA Team a majority of their existence. Comparing to a Wild team that has made the playoffs 12 of 20 seasons in existence?

Wolves made the playoffs 10 of 32 seasons. They have been considered the laughing stock of the NBA Most seasons. Ask the TNT crew.

Both have been one step away from the ship once.

I don’t think you can say they are equal in any way except for win percentage in playoffs and both are in Minnesota.

I think you made my point.

Talbot’s wife lit a hot flame under the Talbot trade rumors last night huh

Had a weird feeling about Kulikov all season but have to admit he was really good for his price and role during the regular season.

But holy sh!t the 2 playoff games he played might be the worst individual hockey games I’ve ever seen played. Looked like he was on a different planet than everyone else.

tswoboda wrote:

Talbot’s wife lit a hot flame under the Talbot trade rumors last night huh

I missed that she must have deleted it now.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I missed that she must have deleted it now.

She was getting after people in the comments of Russo’s tweets and called out the “easy decision” comments from Dean. Then posted a pic after the game that said something to the effect of ‘on to the next adventure where ever that takes us and a new home where ever Cam ends up.’

Something to keep an eye on is the Devils want a goalie just as bad as they want Fiala.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
I also don’t think it’s out of this world to think they could also be looking outside the org to get better as well.

Didn’t mean it like that. Just good prospect insight from the guy who knows them best. Rossi comments gave a clear reason of why he wasn’t in the NHL this year, not as NHL ready as everyone thought he was. And the Khovanov stuff was pretty damming.

I know you didn’t. Just making a point myself that I think there could be some movement in several directions this off season. Let’s be honest you know they are not satisfied with their team down the middle. Hell they tried Pitlick after he was waived.

Yeah I heard about Talbots wife sending out some Tweet about moving on. Wild created themselves a bit of a goalie predicament I think and not in a good way. Emotions are raw right now see what develops in the next few months.

Goalie future got blown up at the trade deadline and it’ll get rehashed again this summer. Not like they blew up a position of strength, but at least it was cheap. Not sure how they can get better there now without spending some money.

My positive take of the day…

Wild are so freaking lucky they had to do the Kaprizov deal last summer and not this summer.

I think the Wild and everyone else has Wallstedt already penciled as a future multiple time Vezina winner and he hasn’t touched a puck in the AHL yet. That’s the danger in highly touted picks and prospects. Nice if they do but you are wise to prepare for the event that it don’t pan out that way. I’ve seen too many first round picks and highly touted prospects not pan out.

It’s better to be pleasantly surprised than terribly disappointed.

I just meant the goalie future as in next season. Goalie prospects generally don’t get to the NHL until their early/mid-20s. So even if Wallstedt lives up to everyone’s hopes and dreams he won’t be here for a couple more seasons at best. Especially considering GMBG showing no willingness to rush prospects.