2023/2024 NHL/WILD Offseason-Season-Postseason Thread

Snuggy is ready for the NHL, he would have slightly better than non-championship caliber college players passing to him in the NHL…kudos to him for wanting to go back to school, i’m just saying he’s risking injury and his financial future doing it…there were a ton of rumors that the Blues were going to sign him (there was ZERO reasoning for them not to) as they will be pretty tight to the cap limit next season and his ELC would help with that…the fact that he didn’t is very strange imo…especially for a 1st round draft pick NCAA player, he also would have burned the 1st season of his ELC in just a few weeks of work…

best of luck to him…While I had hoped the Wild would have drafted him instead of Ohgren (Imagine Snuggy dropping RH 1 timer bombs on the Wild Powerplay, we haven’t had that since Dumba’s magical season before he got hurt fighting Tkachuk) ultimately it lead to us taking Yurov which looks like he could be the steal of that draft class…

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

How funny was it that Freddy was the one put in the box after that whole end-of-game scrum? Lapanta and Carter didn’t even think Freddy was on the ice at the time, which shows how freaking invisible he is out there.

Favorite part of the whole game was when they announced 89 Minnesota 2 minutes roughing Carter “I don’t think Freddy even knows where the box is”

I laughed at how Freddy had that dumb look on his face (like he always does) and looked at the Ref and tapped his chest then pointed to the box…seriously there was like 5 seconds left in the game and he’s questioning about going into the box…Ref likely said “just get the F in there”…they could care less…

Maybe an offseason of riding his bike in the woods while its still dark out will solve his problems He obviously didn’t spend enough time shooting thousands of pucks in his state of the art backyard shooting station last offseason…

If he’s just as bad next season he’d be $920k x 3 years then $590k x 3 to buyout next season (Not gonna happen)…I still think that aav for a center could be traded though…

Charlie Stramel entered the transfer portal and indicated he already has a school selected… any guesses where?

Anybody else think the transfer portal is out of control? I saw Northern Michigan lost 13 players this week to the portal…

M I N N E S O T A

tswoboda wrote:

M I N N E S O T A

you think he’d want that pressure as a Wild 1st round pick? His confidence has to already be at an all-time low, he starts off slow with the Gophers the fans will be merciless…

I’ll say Michigan or BC…backfill whomever they likely lose to the NHL…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Anybody else think the transfer portal is out of control? I saw Northern Michigan lost 13 players this week to the portal…

That’s completely outrageous. Essentially half the team is gone.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Anybody else think the transfer portal is out of control? I saw Northern Michigan lost 13 players this week to the portal…

That’s completely outrageous. Essentially half the team is gone.

Why is outrageous? These kids only get a few years to play college and if the environment or coach is terrible they shouldn’t be stuck there. I have no idea if these was the case there, but it is on the program to keep their players happy.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Anybody else think the transfer portal is out of control? I saw Northern Michigan lost 13 players this week to the portal…

Yes, I mentioned it in that other thread about NIL and transfer portal.

help me out on the NCAA transfer rules, did they recently change it so you could immediately play the following season vs being forced to sit out a year?

tswoboda wrote:

M I N N E S O T A

That was my guess too because he asked schools not to contact him so he must have a plan.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

help me out on the NCAA transfer rules, did they recently change it so you could immediately play the following season vs being forced to sit out a year?

Yes. That’s why its ridiculous. It was changed about 5-6 years ago. You can put in for a transfer if you don’t like the color of the paint on the wall in the locker room. No more sitting out and losing a year of eligibility.

I do think there should be an exception if the coach you committed to leaves prior to when you arrive.

So now you sign of letter of intent, play for one season, or however long, and then bail. And bail again.

North Dakota lost their entire defensive group (7 players) from last season and replaced every single one of them this past season through the portal. Well, low and behold, they win the conference while the previous year they finished in 6th place. To hell with recruiting. We’ll just pick up some higher ranked free agents instead.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
help me out on the NCAA transfer rules, did they recently change it so you could immediately play the following season vs being forced to sit out a year?

Yes. That’s why its ridiculous. It was changed about 5-6 years ago. You can put in for a transfer if you don’t like the color of the paint on the wall in the locker room. No more sitting out and losing a year of eligibility.

I do think there should be an exception if the coach you committed to leaves prior to when you arrive.

So now you sign of letter of intent, play for one season, or however long, and then bail. And bail again.

North Dakota lost their entire defensive group (7 players) from last season and replaced every single one of them this past season through the portal. Well, low and behold, they win the conference while the previous year they finished in 6th place. To hell with recruiting. We’ll just pick up some higher ranked free agents instead.

thx, I figured that’s what is was but wasn’t sure of the timing…

good luck for Hastings and Wisconsin getting any 1st rounders to commit for awhile…

gimruis wrote:

To hell with recruiting. We’ll just pick up some higher ranked free agents instead.

And how do they pick up those free agents? Recruiting

NIL and transfer portal is currently a gong show and well covered in that other thread. I assume some regulation of it will happen eventually.

What’s going on with Northern Mich? There obviously has to be more to the story than just a bunch of selfish players and the big bad boogeyman Transfer Portal.

tswoboda wrote:

And how do they pick up those free agents? Recruiting

and isn’t that all just about how much NIL $ you can offer and what playing time is available?

Hockey doesn’t really have NIL $ like football and basketball does. Certainly the amount of playing time could play a role though. One would think that a player would put in for a transfer to another school solely based on the opportunity to win as well. Facilities and winning consistently probably helps. Really though, it could be just about any reason. They don’t have to give one, they can just do it.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
And how do they pick up those free agents? Recruiting

and isn’t that all just about how much NIL $ you can offer and what playing time is available?

Not sure how much NIL is impacting college hockey yet(!!) but certainly nothing compared to CBB or CFB. I remember rumors about Cole Eiserman getting more NIL money out east but I have no idea if that’s true at all.

gimruis wrote:

Hockey doesn’t really have NIL $ like football and basketball does

Sure, you can get paid cash money, but the real deal is free Burritos (just 1 per day though)
https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2023/04/07_NIL-Reaches-College-Hockey.php

curious how Dinkytownathletes splits up the money for the Gophers? They are getting some decent sponsorships lately (Grayduck Vodka gave them $1 million)

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Snuggy is ready for the NHL, he would have slightly better than non-championship caliber college players passing to him in the NHL…kudos to him for wanting to go back to school, i’m just saying he’s risking injury and his financial future doing it…there were a ton of rumors that the Blues were going to sign him (there was ZERO reasoning for them not to) as they will be pretty tight to the cap limit next season and his ELC would help with that…the fact that he didn’t is very strange imo…especially for a 1st round draft pick NCAA player, he also would have burned the 1st season of his ELC in just a few weeks of work…

What’s he risking? Not like football or basketball, he’s already been drafted and getting hurt next year won’t really change anything. Just adding a year to his ELC. I guess maybe he loses a limb or something and never gets that ELC signed??

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Snuggy is ready for the NHL, he would have slightly better than non-championship caliber college players passing to him in the NHL…kudos to him for wanting to go back to school, i’m just saying he’s risking injury and his financial future doing it…there were a ton of rumors that the Blues were going to sign him (there was ZERO reasoning for them not to) as they will be pretty tight to the cap limit next season and his ELC would help with that…the fact that he didn’t is very strange imo…especially for a 1st round draft pick NCAA player, he also would have burned the 1st season of his ELC in just a few weeks of work…

What’s he risking? Not like football or basketball, he’s already been drafted and getting hurt next year won’t really change anything. Just adding a year to his ELC. I guess maybe he loses a limb or something and never gets that ELC signed??

Freak injury that results in a diminished career…him playing another year at the Gophers does nothing other than adding career risk…(of course he gets another year of free education and chance at a national title because that’s what college athletics are all about right)

If he signed now he’d be locked into his 3 year ELC and only 6? years away from Free Agency? Yes, he’ll likely take out an insurance policy to help guard against that situation…chances of career injury are very low, but they are there…nothing guaranteed right now other than he has been drafted…

a non-career threatening, but year long rehab injury could also turn into him playing his senior college season and turning into a Free Agent…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Yes, he’ll likely take out an insurance policy to help guard against that situation…chances of career injury are very low, but they are there…nothing guaranteed right now other than he has been drafted…

I would suspect that any player drafted in the first round would have already done this.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Yes, he’ll likely take out an insurance policy to help guard against that situation…chances of career injury are very low, but they are there…nothing guaranteed right now other than he has been drafted…

I would suspect that any player drafted in the first round would have already done this.

yeah, no idea how it works, when they get them, how much it costs, etc

I do know the NCAA has injury insurance for athletes, but that only covers the procedure & rehab costs (the future earnings loss insurance is completely separate)

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Freak injury that results in a diminished career…him playing another year at the Gophers does nothing other than adding career risk…(of course he gets another year of free education and chance at a national title because that’s what college athletics are all about right)

If he signed now he’d be locked into his 3 year ELC and only 6? years away from Free Agency? Yes, he’ll likely take out an insurance policy to help guard against that situation…chances of career injury are very low, but they are there…nothing guaranteed right now other than he has been drafted…

a non-career threatening, but year long rehab injury could also turn into him playing his senior college season and turning into a Free Agent…

So he’s more likely to get injured in college than the NHL?? Minor performance bonuses aside, his ELC will be the same whether healthy or injured

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Snuggy is ready for the NHL, he would have slightly better than non-championship caliber college players passing to him in the NHL…kudos to him for wanting to go back to school, i’m just saying he’s risking injury and his financial future doing it…there were a ton of rumors that the Blues were going to sign him (there was ZERO reasoning for them not to) as they will be pretty tight to the cap limit next season and his ELC would help with that…the fact that he didn’t is very strange imo…especially for a 1st round draft pick NCAA player, he also would have burned the 1st season of his ELC in just a few weeks of work…

best of luck to him…While I had hoped the Wild would have drafted him instead of Ohgren (Imagine Snuggy dropping RH 1 timer bombs on the Wild Powerplay, we haven’t had that since Dumba’s magical season before he got hurt fighting Tkachuk) ultimately it lead to us taking Yurov which looks like he could be the steal of that draft class…

I’ll let Dave know you think he is ready, hell probably change his mind as a result. Watch the twittersphere for the following, “On Second thought JoeMX says I am ready.”

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Freak injury that results in a diminished career…him playing another year at the Gophers does nothing other than adding career risk…(of course he gets another year of free education and chance at a national title because that’s what college athletics are all about right)

If he signed now he’d be locked into his 3 year ELC and only 6? years away from Free Agency? Yes, he’ll likely take out an insurance policy to help guard against that situation…chances of career injury are very low, but they are there…nothing guaranteed right now other than he has been drafted…

a non-career threatening, but year long rehab injury could also turn into him playing his senior college season and turning into a Free Agent…

So he’s more likely to get injured in college than the NHL?? Minor performance bonuses aside, his ELC will be the same whether healthy or injured

The difference is the ELC is signed or not… he plays for the Gophers and somehow destroys his knee and his career ends he’s sol…

wormdunker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Snuggy is ready for the NHL, he would have slightly better than non-championship caliber college players passing to him in the NHL…kudos to him for wanting to go back to school, i’m just saying he’s risking injury and his financial future doing it…there were a ton of rumors that the Blues were going to sign him (there was ZERO reasoning for them not to) as they will be pretty tight to the cap limit next season and his ELC would help with that…the fact that he didn’t is very strange imo…especially for a 1st round draft pick NCAA player, he also would have burned the 1st season of his ELC in just a few weeks of work…

best of luck to him…While I had hoped the Wild would have drafted him instead of Ohgren (Imagine Snuggy dropping RH 1 timer bombs on the Wild Powerplay, we haven’t had that since Dumba’s magical season before he got hurt fighting Tkachuk) ultimately it lead to us taking Yurov which looks like he could be the steal of that draft class…

I’ll let Dave know you think he is ready, hell probably change his mind as a result. Watch the twittersphere for the following, “On Second thought JoeMX says I am ready.”

make sure to tell “Dave” (love the name drop btw) you thought Ben Meyers and Sampo Ranta were comps to his son, then take a picture of his face and post it here…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

The difference is the ELC is signed or not… he plays for the Gophers and somehow destroys his knee and his career ends he’s sol…

Do you ever say this stuff out loud before posting?

He’s a 1st round pick, not an undrafted free agent.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
The difference is the ELC is signed or not… he plays for the Gophers and somehow destroys his knee and his career ends he’s sol…

Do you ever say this stuff out loud before posting?

what dont you understand? His ELC isn’t signed yet, if he somehow tragically gets hurt at the U next season and cant play hockey anymore, you think the Blues are going to still sign him as a nice gesture?

I’m saying why even risk that and just sign your ELC and then if he gets hurt in the AHL/NHL his contract is guaranteed…

I repeatedly said the odds of a career injury are very low, but not zero and that he’ll likely get an insurance policy to help if it did happen.

Kinda strange the Blues would think another season of D1 hockey would be better a development situation than the NHL/AHL? Its been widely reported they wanted him to play in the NHL asap (this weeks games even) and burn an ELC year… reading the Jeremy Rutherford Athletic article about it seemed like most were surprised he decided to go back to the U, the comments are full of Blues fans fearing he’ll stay 2 years and go the UFA rout, but the article did also quote Jimmy saying he’ll sign next year though…

I want it on record that he will not stay 2 years and will sign with the blues next year. I think he may feel he has more to prove in college and that’s pretty normal. The chance of winning a national championship vs languishing in the ahl is very appealing.