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

Have zero sympathy for Suter or the stars.

They have 6 shots on goal nearing the end of the 2nd period. Not a good effort.

Suter will be the first NHL player bought out twice in a few weeks…

Wild prospect Hunter Haight playing in the Memorial Cup championship…

Suter with another timely penalty.

I initially had Dallas vs Florida in the finals, so my bracket is officially dunzo. I had the Panthers winning tho, and I think they will prevail in 5 games.

This should be a good series. Glad a Canadian team finally made it there. I think Edmonton was probably the last to do it too. We talk about MN sports ineptitude, but Canadian NHL teams are right up there with them.

All I know is I had Oil over Stars in 6 for my first ever accurate prediction. What do I win?

I originally had Canes over Oilers SCF because of the Canes defense. Now I think they shred Florida’s waiver claim plus Kulikov defense group. How ya’ll feeling about panthers 180 lb #1 shutdown D? Oil in 5.

Montreal won the western conference and made it to the SCF in 2021 ha

CaptainMusky wrote:

This should be a good series. Glad a Canadian team finally made it there. I think Edmonton was probably the last to do it too. We talk about MN sports ineptitude, but Canadian NHL teams are right up there with them.

The Oilers have won the Stanley Cup 4 times, with Gretzky.

Although it has been over 30 years since the last win.

tswoboda wrote:

Montreal won the western conference and made it to the SCF in 2021 ha

That is interesting considering they play in the EASTern conference.

That was the weird shortened covid season I think. I want to say 2021. They beat Vegas in the “west” finals but got destroyed by Tamapa in the finals.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
Montreal won the western conference and made it to the SCF in 2021 ha

That is interesting considering they play in the EASTern conference.

Yeah that’s exactly why it’s interesting. My favorite NHL trivia question

gim wrote:

That was the weird shortened covid season I think. I want to say 2021. They beat Vegas in the “west” finals but got destroyed by Tamapa in the finals.

Ah that makes sense because they had all the canadian teams in the west. That year doesnt count LOL

Florida is going to destroy the Oilers in 5…Barkov & Bennet trying to shut down McDavid and King Leon will be a treat to watch…Paul Maurice will get the Panthers to play smart and stay out of the box…

Love how you point out Panthers 180 lb Shutdown #1 D’s lack of size/weight and leave out his playing partner is the 6’4″ 215 lb monster Ekblad…Bigger/Stronger is the key ingredient to competing in today’s NHL Playoffs (Just look at the average Defenseman size of the teams that progressed through the playoffs, Edmonton & Dallas AVERAGES OVER 6’3″, Rangers and Florida were 6’2″)…Oilers got alot bigger and tougher the past few seasons and its paying off…

Outside of Middelton, ZERO chance the Wild’s D would survive 4 rounds of playoffs (heck, half of them can barely survive 1 round) It finally sounds like getting bigger/tougher is GMBG’s priority moving forward and why the crazy idea of trading Rossi might be on the table…very strange that he and Judd haven’t drafted any Defense monsters since they took over…

Only pointing out Forsling because they use him as their matchup shutdown guy. He’s Florida’s version of Chris Tanev or Jonas Brodin. Truly amazing he’s survived trips to the SCF two years in a row. I’m not a believer in the Panthers defense at all. They have a meh #1 OA pick and the rest of the guys are previous waiver claims, buyouts, and bad contract trades.

Then you have hot and cold Bobrovsky who could either steal the series or be the reason they lose on any given night

tswoboda wrote:

Only pointing out Forsling because they use him as their matchup shutdown guy. He’s Florida’s version of Chris Tanev or Jonas Brodin. Truly amazing he’s survived trips to the SCF two years in a row. I’m not a believer in the Panthers defense at all. They have a meh #1 OA pick and the rest of the guys are previous waiver claims, buyouts, and bad contract trades.

Then you have hot and cold Bobrovsky who could either steal the series or be the reason they lose on any given night

Forsling’s a super smart player and mostly avoids hits (he did take a good one last round) like our pal Suter has his entire career…Florida is a physically punishing team from all positions (they don’t pass up on finishing ANY checks) and Paul Maurice will get them dialed into a gameplan to slow down McJesus and KingLeon…I agree they are mostly made up with island of misfit toy castoffs, but I think Maurice has capitalized on that narrative with the players and they are running like a well “oiled” machine right now…

Maurice will likely need an hour long 1-1 meeting with Tkachuk to stop him from doing stupid crap after the whistles… The Oilers PP is humming again…

If you’re Judd Bracket and Berkley Catton somehow drops to pick #13 in the draft, do you take him?

I think this is a nightmare decision scenario for the Wild draft team and one in the back of their minds hope they don’t have to make…While Catton from a talent perspective belongs in the top5, he’s an absolute clone of Riley Heidt and gets knocked for his lack of size (he’s 5’11” 160 pounds) To be clear, he’s the BPA anywhere after the top 3 picks in the draft imo, i’m just saying it’s a decision that probably makes Judd squirm a bit knowing he already has Riley Heidt…

Just knowing the likely projection of our roster 2-3 years out, would you be ok with another “smallish” super skilled center/wing who would absolutely be the BPA at 13 vs a D prospect (more of a Need pick) or a more pro ready RH shot Wing with size like Michael Brandsegg-Nygard or a more 1 dimensional specialized player like Cole Eiserman?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

To be clear, he’s the BPA anywhere after the top 3 picks in the draft

Not sure how Catton is the obvious #4 player. The Athletic has him at 6, 8, and 12 in their recent rankings and mock drafts. Mackenzie list has him at 10.

Either way they need to take the guy they think will be the best NHL player, it’s really that simple. I’ll be happy as long as they do that, I don’t care if that’s a 6’6″ wing or 5’6″ defenseman or a 6’0″ center. The Wild have a good scouting staff, use it.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
To be clear, he’s the BPA anywhere after the top 3 picks in the draft

Not sure how Catton is the obvious #4 player. The Athletic has him at 6, 8, and 12 in their recent rankings and mock drafts. Mackenzie list has him at 10.

Either way they need to take the guy they think will be the best NHL player, it’s really that simple. I’ll be happy as long as they do that, I don’t care if that’s a 6’6″ wing or 5’6″ defenseman or a 6’0″ center. The Wild have a good scouting staff, use it.

just my opinion on BPA, I agree on taking the BPA/NHL projection, but my point was do you do that when you basically have an identical prospect taken a year earlier? Yes, Catton is a projected high 1st round pick and Heidt was taken at the end of the 2nd round, but they are VERY similar players/play styles, Heidt would likely be a 1st rounder on a re-draft… and the fact that the organization is putting out the vibe they would be interested in trading their top undersized center prospect that just put up the 2nd best rookie forward season in franchise history…

You can never have too many prospects regardless of position. Yeah I’d love a stud big center a big RHD man but if there is a skilled winger grab him. They could use him or others for trade chips if nothing else.

tswoboda wrote:

Either way they need to take the guy they think will be the best NHL player, it’s really that simple. I’ll be happy as long as they do that, I don’t care if that’s a 6’6″ wing or 5’6″ defenseman or a 6’0″ center. The Wild have a good scouting staff, use it.

I wonder if anybody (Judd/Billy) will EVER own up to the mistake of taking need last year with Stramel…There have been very subtle hints given every now and then, but obviously they aren’t going to bury their prospect publicly…

CaptainMusky wrote:

You can never have too many prospects regardless of position. Yeah I’d love a stud big center a big RHD man but if there is a skilled winger grab him. They could use him or others for trade chips if nothing else.

You aren’t drafting somebody 13th just to eventually trade them…this is more of a question around drafting eerily similar players (undersized, play style) high two years in a row…If you watch video of their highlights with the sound off, it would be hard to figured out who is who…

It would be a good question to get somebody like Judd to honestly answer…

Think Musky’s just saying even if the skilled small winger they draft is a stud but “they have no room for him” they can always trade him and get value out of picking the best player. A lot better than getting no value out of the Stramel pick.

Stramel book isn’t closed yet, the kid is still young… just using that example.

tswoboda wrote:

Stramel book isn’t closed yet, the kid is still young… just using that example.

Agreed! I wouldnt write him off yet. He is just such a good skater for a big center. Maybe he will flourish with a new opportunity who knows. It took Ek how long to be as good as he is? I think they are very similar players decent/good skaters, but may have some offensive upside and have some size/grit hopefully.

It’s next season or bust for the Wild and Stramel…He either plays good enough to warrant a Pro Contract from the Wild (that’s a tough task for somebody transferring to a new school) or he stays at Michigan State for his Sr season and then most likely becomes a UFA in August 2026 if not traded beforehand like Jack McBain was…

Eleven teams have never won a Stanley Cup and the Florida Panthers are one of them. I think the Panthers will make that list ten teams. Here is the list of teams.

Buffalo Sabres
Vancouver Canucks
San Jose Sharks
Florida Panthers
Arizona Coyotes
Nashville Predators
Winnipeg Jets
Minnesota Wild
Columbus Blue Jackets
Ottawa Senators (1992 incarnation)
Seattle Kraken

Hmm… how many teams will be left on that list when and if the Wild finally get theirs?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

If you’re Judd Bracket and Berkley Catton somehow drops to pick #13 in the draft, do you take him?

He won’t be there even if we had the 10 pick, so no way is he going to be there at 13.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

It’s next season or bust for the Wild and Stramel…

It will be interesting to see how much of his poor performance was due to Wisconsin coaches and how they utilized (or didn’t) him. Sconi had issues under Granato. A change of scenery and coaching staffs could be just the thing for Stramel.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

A change of scenery and coaching staffs could be just the thing for Stramel.

it will need to be and that’s my point, we only have next season to make a decision if we offer him a contract or not…if he stays in college and plays his senior season he will assuredly go the UFA route…

He just had a coaching change and did worse sooo…

Ice Cap wrote:

Eleven teams have never won a Stanley Cup and the Florida Panthers are one of them. I think the Panthers will make that list ten teams. Here is the list of teams.

Buffalo Sabres
Vancouver Canucks
San Jose Sharks
Florida Panthers
Arizona Coyotes
Nashville Predators
Winnipeg Jets
Minnesota Wild
Columbus Blue Jackets
Ottawa Senators (1992 incarnation)
Seattle Kraken

Hmm… how many teams will be left on that list when and if the Wild finally get theirs?

Don’t forget about the MN North Stars.