2022 MN WILD/NHL THREAD

There are Cam Talbots and aging flowers available every year. Hell that’s how we got both of them in the first place.

Ice Cap wrote:

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.

If you don’t draft one then you never know.

In regards to Rossi, he could have scored 50 points in his first 20 or so AHL games…there was never a chance he was going to play more than 9 games this season anyways with his ELC slide exemption…

The kid set Iowa Wild rookie scoring records and his comparables are Getzlaf, Rantanen and other studs… Yes he hit a wall the back end of the season, pretty much expected for a rookie and somebody who didnt play the previous 12+ months.

I fully expect him as our 2C and powerplay quarterback next season and battling for Rookie of the Year…

I also expect Bracket and GMBG to be VERY aggressive at the draft and package picks/players together to move up and try to get the top tier players who are likely closer to the NHL and hopefully impacting the big club in 1-2 years when the buyout pain is the worst.

IF Fiala can fetch a top 5 pick and we package our 1st and two 2nd rounders for another top 10 pick that could fill some lineup holes due to open up in a couple of years…

Anybody hear when GMBG is doing his end if season presser? Curious if he has any praise or if he sticks to his “its all about winning” and calls the season ultimately a disappointment….

I’m still a little concerned about Rossi’s durability. He’s injured now isn’t he? Hopefully a full off season of workouts will have him prepped for next season.

Good article about the Wild’s cap issues the next 3 years, not much new info, but they lay it all out in a few paragraphs…

Watching the Leafs Powerplay, the Wild need to find a Right handed shot!! Keep Kaprizov on his forhand board’s position and whatever Righthander we get on the other side, it allows so much flexibility with the 1 timer threat on either side… we’re way too predictable without a right handed shooter….

Watching the Leafs lose another game 7 is pure comedy. That team thinks they’re the Yankees but they’re actually the pre-2016 Cubs and NHL fans hate them like they’re the Cowboys.

tswoboda wrote:

Watching the Leafs lose another game 7 is pure comedy. That team thinks they’re the Yankees but they’re actually the pre-2016 Cubs and NHL fans hate them like they’re the Cowboys.

they’re the NHL’s Yankees in terms of $ they can throw around (outside of the cap obviously) but that’s about it…

I love watching them lose every year because it truly is a self inflicted implosion every season…

Losing Pointe is absolutely huge for Tampa…he’s the engine of that team…

I’d move on from Talbot in a heartbeat. Fleury is probably done too, so we need to find “the guy”.

Hard to make decisions right now. Still angry.

This Oilers vs. Jonathan Quick game is quite the show

tswoboda wrote:

Watching the Leafs lose another game 7 is pure comedy. That team thinks they’re the Yankees but they’re actually the pre-2016 Cubs and NHL fans hate them like they’re the Cowboys.

The Leaf’s problems are all self inflicted. They had the coach to teach them how to win, but the players decided they didn’t want to play that way.

Until the wild learn how to win some faceoffs, get a little more balance between righty’s and lefty’s and fire their special teams coaches it will be the same thing.
MX1825 is spot on about defending the PP.

Thought it was a gutsy performance by the Rangers in game 6 on the road to force a game 7 back in NY today against the Pens. Game 7 is usually when home ice comes into play. Unless you’re Toronto, of course.

Really didn’t see the Greasers having to make a 7 game series out of beating LA. But I REALLY didn’t see the Flames getting such a rough ride from the Stars. Thought that one would have been over in 6 at the most.

Players talk to the media tomorrow morning, Deano and GMBG on Tuesday morning…

When Johnny hockey scored in OT last night every Oilers fan screamed “Noooooooo” while every other hockey fan screamed “Yessssssss”

The battle for Alberta in the playoffs!!!!! Buckle up hockey world!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

The battle for Alberta in the playoffs!!!!! Buckle up hockey world!

Dallas had no business even being in that game. Calgary dominated them.

Two in-state/province conference semi-finals. Edmonton/Calgary and Tampa/Florida!

That Flames Stars series was a goal tenders duel for sure. Oettinger is the best goalie to ever come out of MN that I can think of. Kid is a stud.

Jesper Wallstedt posted a good bye to Lulea fans message on his social media accounts, expect a Wild signing announcement soon…

Here’s how I think the Wild’s goalie situation will play out the next 3 years…

* Wild Trade Talbot this offseason
* Wild resigns Fleury to a 2 year $8 million contract extension ($4aav)
* Wild signs a cheap veteran backup goalie to spot start Fleury for the 2022/2023 season
* Wallstedt starts in Iowa for the 2022/2023 season
* Wallstedt backs up Fleury for the 2023-2024 season (Fleury retires after)
* Wallstedt is the Wild starter 2024/2025 season

I think the Wild loves the idea of Wallstedt learning under Fleury for 2 years (1 year directly) before making the jump to Wild starter…obviously injuries and/or development setbacks can throw a wrench into this plan, but I think it’s what the Wild is hoping for…

Has Fleury talked about wanting to stay here? Or is that just fans hoping he stays here?

In order to sign Fleury to that type of deal there will need to be several other departures aside from Talbot to make it work. Kulikov and Fiala namely.

KP wrote:

Has Fleury talked about wanting to stay here? Or is that just fans hoping he stays here?

He mentioned he wants to play 1-2 more years, GMBG has hinted several times trading for him might not be just for a rental…I think it comes down to how much off his current $7aav contract is he willing to come down and sign for…I think 2x$4 is fair, maybe 2x$5 is needed to get it done…

CaptainMusky wrote:

In order to sign Fleury to that type of deal there will need to be several other departures aside from Talbot to make it work. Kulikov and Fiala namely.

Fiala is going to get traded, as will Kulikov, maybe Jost as well…We can’t afford Fiala, Kulikov is easily tradable and his aav is needed for resigning Middleton, Dewar can replace Jost if the intention is to keep him on the 4th line next season…if the idea is to put Jost in Fiala’s spot then they obviously keep him…

Throw the Columbus Blue Jackets in the ring as another team likely interested in trading for Fiala and signing him long term (I still think New Jersey and Ottawa are more likely) They need some star power in Columbus and they have two 1st round picks in the top 12 this year and a boat load of high quality prospects… The only worry is that they might be scared off having 2 stars who are such streaky scorers (Patrick Liane)

My preferred Wild trade return = Kent Johnson or Cole Sillinger and the #12 pick

Flower is a big risk – he went from Vezina winner in 2021 to pretty bad in 2022. Yeah it was a weird year but he’s also 37. So was he bad because he got traded twice or was he bad because most 37 year old goalies are bad?

I think Fleury was bad because he played behind a terrible team the majority of the year. He is still serviceable for sure. Would he be an upgrade at this stage over Talbot? Tough to say. Talbot didnt have that great of a year even though he was great down the stretch.

tswoboda wrote:

Flower is a big risk – he went from Vezina winner in 2021 to pretty bad in 2022. Yeah it was a weird year but he’s also 37. So was he bad because he got traded twice or was he bad because most 37 year old goalies are bad?

it’s a stopgap move until Wallstedt is ready, I think the relationship with Talbot is strained, but even if it was fine, they aren’t going to resign Cam longterm after next year anyways.

Name a better “getable” goalie in the NHL you would want to mentor Wallstedt other than Fleury? He’ll have a huge impact on helping Wallstedt get ready to take over in 2-3 years…

at somepoint we need to realize the Wild is one of the worst defensive teams in the league now, samething can be said about Chicago who was even worse.. The Wild decided to change the direction of the team (probably 2 years ago when GMBG took over and Kaprizov and gang can now actually push the pace offensively) to a more fast paced, risk taking offensive team, it’s a blast to watch, but it results in giving up more goals. Obviously this is something GMBG is going to want to improve on, but my point is no matter what goalie we put in the crease, they are going to give up more goals vs the oldschool Wild teams that focused more on shutdown defense…

I have no clue what to expect from this goalie situation. Cam was average 2 years ago and a little below this year. Flower won a Vezina 2 years ago and was bottom 3rd of the league this year. Both are old so a resurgent season might not come. Good luck predicting the future with this stuff, management is in a tough spot! Sure you can call them a stopgap to Wallstedt (putting a lot of faith in a 20 year old) but they have 4 guaranteed seasons left of Kaprizov and I sure hope they aren’t wasted with sub-par goaltending.

Wild are still one of the best defensive teams at 5v5, top 5 for sure. Yeah it’s different from the Yeo and Boudreau years where defending was the bread and butter of the team but certainly not bad. It’s the PK where all the goals are given up. Doesn’t help they played second least amount of 5v5 minutes in the NHL this year.

Fleury stated this morning that he would definitely like to come back next season.