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

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Kucherov and Point are just next level players… they are playing 4D chess out there…

Kucherov is on an absurd point pace. Like 150 points this season.

Look at this goal by Owen Tippett tonight. Spin o Rama back hand roof job snipe?

https://twitter.com/NBCSPhilly/status/1748172024617357412?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

I think you’re going to start to see a few of the veteran players come up with nagging “injuries” to escape this gongshow of a season…

Get used to it could be this way for a while.
The whole organization is a mess currently.

Wonder how much the front office drama impacted the season. Just a disaster all around. About time to step away and let this dumpster fire burn.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Get used to it could be this way for a while.
The whole organization is a mess currently.

This was the season that worried GMBG the most when they thought out the buyout plan… injuries just made everything worse… they can trim some fat off the roster next year and at least have the flexibility to bring up anyone they want from Iowa and perhaps even sign a worthwhile bottom pair defenseman… Marat K should help the PK and at least inject some speed in the lineup on the 4th line, I expect next season to be better…

lindyrig79 wrote:

Wonder how much the front office drama impacted the season. Just a disaster all around. About time to step away and let this dumpster fire burn.

Oh it has an impact.
Firing a coach assistant GM and director of ops with 2 outside investigations mid season isn’t exactly a model of consistency.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Get used to it could be this way for a while.
The whole organization is a mess currently.

This was the season that worried GMBG the most when they thought out the buyout plan… injuries just made everything worse… they can trim some fat off the roster next year and at least have the flexibility to bring up anyone they want from Iowa and perhaps even sign a worthwhile bottom pair defenseman… Marat K should help the PK and at least inject some speed in the lineup on the 4th line, I expect next season to be better…

This is the season that I started to worry about GMBG.

I think this is more of what they expected the first year of the buyouts.
That they got better was a surprise.
Unfortunately BG gave those NMC’s with the extensions this year.
They really made the option of trading players difficult with either a total no trade clause or a trade to 10 teams only clause.
With Spurgeon having surgery they won’t be able to trade him even if they found a partner from his trade list.

We’re going to have to get used to finding the “good” in the losses that will pile up this year.

It will be interesting if Spurgeon is able to come back at all or if this is the end for him. This is the age where multiple injuries and surgeries piling up ends careers, or I should say puts them on LTIR until the contract runs out. You see it happen to a lot of tiny little baby defensemen around this age. Some notable ones recently like Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook, and Big Buff.

tswoboda wrote:

You see it happen to a lot of tiny little baby defensemen around this age. Some notable ones recently like Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook, and Big Buff.

Did you just call those three behemoths tiny? LOL

Yeah, that is 3 different injuries just this year for Spurg. That doesnt look good career wise for sure. The hip and back ones are the most concerning. Though a nagging shoulder injury is bad too.

Ripjiggen wrote:

This is the season that I started to worry about GMBG.

Taking out the in-house “stuff” that went on this season, let’s look into his hockey decisions this year as GM, are they really so bad?

Gus extension – We’ve seen the many different sides of Gus’s game this season, the very good and the not so much…IF Gus can find his game again, then GMBG signed a starting goalie for 3x$3.75aav and the term doesn’t box Wallstead into a corner.

Zuccy extension – I’m fine with the term and aav I think most everyone is as well, it’s only 2 years and he was over a ppg the first 30 games this season before he got hurt blocking a shot. They also need to keep Kirill happy…

Hartman extension – I didn’t like it right away as I thought it was too much aav for somebody who was very likely going to be a 3rd/4th line player for the duration of it. The more I think about it, i’m ok with it now as he’s a lineup chameleon. If they need a 1st line center injury replacement, he can fill in, if they need a 3rd line checker, he can fill in…those guys are very valuable to a coach. He has a limited NMC the last 2 years of the deal so he could be moved…

Gaudreau extension – 5 year term is a little heavy, but the aav is very good, he’s a center on a team with limited center options, so that added to the need to re-sign him. That contract could be easily moved if needed.

Johansson extension – it’s 2 years at $2aav for a top 6 wing, he hasn’t produced like he showed during a contract year (go figure) but he could be bought out next season if they want to and replaced with an ELC player at the same overall cap hit…

Foligno extension – I’m still not happy with the aav and the term, I think 3 x $3.25 would have been smarter. I think Foligno’s locker room presence probably adds to his value and that’s why he got the extra term and a bit more aav over his past deal. He has limited NMC the last 2 years and the contract is front loaded a bit. If the 1 extra year and extra $750k is considered your worst contract, then that’s pretty good for a GM…

Maroon and Bogo signing – When you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, these guys aren’t too bad…They can both be easily flipped at the deadline…

Not going to go into Merrill and Goose – they are bad, but cheap caphits, we all know that…

The cap is also expected to jump $10-12 million over the next 3 years, so the caphit % for all of these contracts will drop a bit…

Obviously the future Kirill, Faber, Rossi extension values will determine if GMBG gets to keep his job (if he can last that long) we’ll see…

unless the Defenseman they trade for is already signed to play next year and perhaps longer (thus being the UFA we would need to sign anyways) I see no reason why they would sign a rental for the rest of this season…just bring up different Iowa Wild guys to get them some NHL experience and see how they play…

one idea I read online that actually makes some sense is for GMBG to reach out to teams to take on bad pending UFA contract they might have right now with the Spurgeon LTIR money and get a draft pick or two in return…i’m sure there’s a few playoff teams that wouldn’t mind shaving off a $5+ aav pending UFA from their books and use that capspace on a better player at the deadline…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Taking out the in-house “stuff” that went on this season, let’s look into his hockey decisions this year as GM, are they really so bad?

Essentially, Joe, you’ve shown the problem with Gurin with your breakdown. If give those contract moves you highlight a letter grade, Gurin is sitting at a C average. Yep, there are some B+ moves in there and also some D- moves. No epic F’s, but no A+ star student player moves either. Same goes for the organization, he brought in Brackett, but he also seems to have issues working and playing well with others inside the Wild office.

GMBG should be called GM Average. The problem is that because the Wild has been so weak in the GM suite basically since the inception of the franchise, Gurin looks artificially good because he’s one grade better than any of the D and F grade GMs had in the past.

Gurin was a good recovery after the disastrous Fectard Fenton tenure, but I think his buttski should be feeling like he left the heated seats in the Range Rover on high for too long. The Wild should be shopping for an upgrade to get beyond GM Average. If we want to get into a legit contender position, what got us here won’t get us there.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

but no A+ star student player moves either. Same goes for the organization, he brought in Brackett, but he also seems to have issues working and playing well with others inside the Wild office.

They don’t have the capspace for any A moves (agreed that this was his doing with the buyouts, but they are what they are, it was a change he felt was needed and he put his job on the line for) reminder we’d still have Suter (1 goal, 7 Assists, +4 this season) on this roster and dealing with Parise recapture penalties and around $500k less in capspace if he didn’t do the buyouts..

Show me a GM that doesn’t have a handful of questionable contracts they signed? They all do…I think a difference with GMBG is that his “bad moves” (Merrill, Goose extension) are cheaper & short term …he’s also working within the huge cap restraints (again, self inflicted)

in regards to the GMBG the person, yeah, he’s got some anger issues, there’s plenty of examples of that during his playing days… but I bet the majority of GM’s in all sports have staff freakouts every now and then when their team is struggling and they have no means of fixing it…

Yeah plenty of top quality staffs have investigations that they lose the assistant GM and hockey opps guy. Just normal day to day stuff with top teams in the league.

You can’t separate the signings from the back of the house stuff. They didn’t with Fenton.

I actually agree with grouse on the grade. I just don’t see much that he has done that has moved this team forward.
Yeah yeah the buyouts are holding him back.
How is this team any different than the Parise and Suter Days once the buyouts are over?
It looks almost like the exact same team just changing names.

He has a lot of A work to do the next couple seasons to make this team relevant after the buyouts. Not even talking Stanley cup contending team.

With the first round exits it’s hard to say the team has been better but if we’re allowed to consider regular seasons successful then BG owns the 2 best regular seasons in franchise history, and also the 5th. Was that BG, was it Deano, was it Kirill? Who is to say.

The way BG handles the goalie position has been A work. He inherited Dubnyk and Stalock, dumped them after year 1, and the team has had average to good goaltending every year since. The A level work is he’s doing it for basically no cap hit. Lots of contenders around the league spending way more and getting way worse goaltending… Edmonton, Toronto, NJ.

The team is so bad right now. Personally I miss Deano. I hated the Hynes hire, then warmed up pretty quick, and now down bad again. It’s some really tough hockey to watch right now.

The off-ice stuff is trash, and kinda seems like we may never hear about it again. That is concerning to me.

Touché on the goalies, however I don’t even think BG thought Gus was going to be the Gus we see today. So there was a bit of luck involved there.

Don’t get me wrong there have been some good things. Made the best out of the Fiala situation he could when the trade portion was inevitable. Thought the situation could have been dealt with differently from the get go.

KK had a lot to do with the last two seasons success IMO.

I just don’t see this team as it is built when they come out of the buyouts as having the pieces in place to be significantly better than before.
Hope I’m wrong.

Another good one is Fiala, take that all the way back to Fenton. Between the two of them they managed to turn pending UFA Granlund into 3 years of Fiala on a cheap contract and then turn that into Brock Faber on ELC and a B+ prospect.

There’s no Brock Faber without the Parise buyout. Fiala would have been gone that summer and his value was nowhere near what it was when they traded him for Brock.

Yeah, I think the dogging on BGs decisions is a bit short sighted because its still a work in progress. Yes, there are issues within the house to be dealt with but after next year we should have a lot of flexibility whether its buying someone out to away from them or signing a FA. This offseason will be tough. The telling tale will be Spurgeon. If this is the end of him, which it may, then that opens a lot of options up ALA TB.

Don’t think anyone is dogging him. Been the GM since Aug of 2019. I think it is fair to critique a GM that has been in the position that long and question the direction of the team.
God I hope we are not getting out of salary cap hell and then go buying guys out. That would be really counter productive.
When is it alright to start questioning GMBG. After next season. 5 years from now. Ten years from now? Serious question.

Ripjiggen wrote:

When is it alright to start questioning GMBG. After next season. 5 years from now. Ten years from now? Serious question.

Whenever he’s deemed to not be a nice guy. That seems to be the determining factor in this town.

I have a feeling it’s going to get ugly against the Panthers tonight. They are on a roll, the Wild are playing a second straight night, this might get out of hand quickly.

Reminds me of the Flyers/Coyotes back to back home games from a week ago. Deja Vu

This is funny…

https://x.com/valessondra11/status/1748166308779172345?s=46&t=uoRWUp28rKzoSODmtmr3Lw

I think GMBG gets 2 more seasons after this one to show improvement (Making the playoffs next year and at least winning 3 playoff games, then getting past the 2nd round in 2025/2026 and the team is on a clear path for continued playoff success moving forward (they are in their cup window with Kirill in his prime) yes this assumes he gets Kirill to sign an 8 year extension…

Ripjiggen wrote:

Don’t think anyone is dogging him. Been the GM since Aug of 2019. I think it is fair to critique a GM that has been in the position that long and question the direction of the team.
God I hope we are not getting out of salary cap hell and then go buying guys out. That would be really counter productive.
When is it alright to start questioning GMBG. After next season. 5 years from now. Ten years from now? Serious question.

Man its easy to buys guys out that don’t have massive contracts. Don’t get so crazy.whether they do it or not remains to be seen. There are players that could be bought out with little issue overall. Not like we’re dealing with the parise and Suter contracts FFS

Maroon is skating/playing lately like he’s ready to hit the golf course… just zero effort lately….