2024/2025 NHL/WILD Offseason-Season-Postseason Thread

basseyes wrote:

Hopefully we give up a bunch of assets and draft picks in a futile attempt to get past the first round for this year and this year alone. F the future, it’s all about this year, cause this team is bound to get past the first round this year. Not sold on doing anything dumb to try and put a patch job on this season.

Not 100% sure KK resigns here and honestly ok with that. 3rd year in a row injuries late in the season. That is not a good look for him or the medical staff on this team.

Ek injury riddled again late in the year.

Center’s don’t matter. But constantly losing important draws does. Never seen a team who can’t win an important draw ever. How can a good defensively minded team be so pharking awful on the pk for going on what, getting close to well over half a decade now? It just doesn’t get touched at all.

Totally agree on the blow outs. It’s like the whole team took the night off mentally last night.

This team has done some fun things to watch this year, but this is nothing more than a first round exit team.

Anyone they get at the deadline that they give up significant assets for won’t be a rental.

Before the Ek injury frankly I didn’t think they would be able to do anything as they did not have the cap space. With the Ek injury they now have room to make a move for this season and in the future.
With Ek injured the guy they need is Brock Nelson but I think they will get outbid by more of a contender. I do still think he signs with the wild in the off season.

If you think KK walking is good for the franchise and somehow makes this team better. I don’t know what to tell you.

Tom schmitt wrote:

So the theory is the PK issue is one of talent not program?
If that’s the case the Wild have 2nd to last talent in the league.
I don’t believe our talent is that bad. No we don’t have elite talent but we have more talent than quite a few teams that have better PK and PP units.
I believe the issue is coaching and concept.

EVERY NHL player has played a significant amount of time over their total hockey career on special teams (remember these guys were always one of, if not the best players on their teams growing up through youth hockey, high school, junior, college, minors, etc and then when they make the NHL, they are most likely slotted into one or the other (PP & PK) some do both…

What i’m getting at here is that the players know what they need to do on the ice… for PKers, they know they can’t allow cross-ice passes or leave a guy alone in the bumper position, etc… They need to block shots and have quick sticks and outwork the PP guys to pucks, etc

Now there certainly could be an effort problem with the players, and if that’s the case, those players need to be moved out or the head coach isn’t doing his job…The players would also likely police themselves if they noticed somebody slacking on purpose…

I personally think the difference is what strategy/philosophy the coaches want the players to follow (partially based on what type of players they have available to use) but some PK coaches want to run a tight box, others want a diamond with pressure everywhere, there’s many options that have been used over the years. It’s upto to coaches to figure out what works for their team and perfect it or if its not working, figure out ways to improve it or go with a new strategy all together…our coaches have been failing at that for years…

another example of why I think the issue is our PK coaching philosophy/strategy vs players is that the Iowa Wild are dead last in the entire AHL on the Penalty Kill, they run the exact same system/structure as the Wild, so when players get called up, they know what the system is…The players all vary in skillset, body size, experience, etc… but the system they run is the same…

I know i’ve gone a bit back and forth on this (is it the players, is it the system) but i’m now convinced its the system… as others have mentioned, it’s crazy that they keep putting the same pairs of PK guys out night after night…how do you not shake things up a bit, why not try Rossi and Boldy, its obviously NOT working…

But John Hynes was 100% on the PK with Team USA, just need more of those players

Ripjiggen wrote:

If you think KK walking is good for the franchise and somehow makes this team better. I don’t know what to tell you.

That’s a level of cope only true Minnesota Sports Fans can achieve

I think it is probably a combination of both. Like you said there are only a handful of ways to run a PK. A wrong strategy or philosophy probably doesn’t make you virtually dead last.

Ripjiggen wrote:

A wrong strategy or philosophy probably doesn’t make you virtually dead last.

When you basically are in BOTH the NHL and AHL, that’s an awfully powerful indicator…or maybe we just somehow have acquired the worst PK players in both leagues…

I just hope one of the MN Sports writers challenges GMBG when he inevitably says they need to be better on the PK at the end of the season presser…I’m a GMBG fan, but he needs to answer to this multiple season failure…

Center’s don’t matter. But constantly losing important draws does. Never seen a team who can’t win an important draw ever. How can a good defensively minded team be so pharking awful on the pk for going on what, getting close to well over half a decade now? It just doesn’t get touched at all.

They were tenth in the league in 2022/23 second in 2020/2021.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Center’s don’t matter. But constantly losing important draws does. Never seen a team who can’t win an important draw ever. How can a good defensively minded team be so pharking awful on the pk for going on what, getting close to well over half a decade now? It just doesn’t get touched at all.

They were tenth in the league in 2022/23 second in 2020/2021.

OMG are you hinting it’s the loss of DARBY

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
A wrong strategy or philosophy probably doesn’t make you virtually dead last.

When you basically are in BOTH the NHL and AHL, that’s an awfully powerful indicator…or maybe we just somehow have acquired the worst PK players in both leagues…

I just hope one of the MN Sports writers challenges GMBG when he inevitably says they need to be better on the PK at the end of the season presser…I’m a GMBG fan, but he needs to answer to this multiple season failure…

I get it its hard to argue against that.
I just meant it’s probably a combination of all of the above type thing to be dead last.

OMG are you hinting it’s the loss of DARBY

No just noting that is hasn’t been bad for over half a decade.

We are probably missing Victor Rask. LOL

Ripjiggen wrote:

OMG are you hinting it’s the loss of DARBY

No just noting that is hasn’t been bad for over half a decade.

We are probably missing Victor Rask. LOL

Clearly it’s Parise and Suter

tswoboda wrote:

We are probably missing Victor Rask. LOL

Clearly it’s Parise and Suter

bravo gentleman… so the keys are to be overpaid, selfish and willing to give cheap a$$ cross-checks…

bravo gentleman… so the keys are to be overpaid, selfish and willing to give cheap a$$ cross-checks…

Might be better than leaving the bumper open.

IMO the only players who should not be given a try on the PK are Boldy and Zuccerello. When Kaprizov comes back he should definitely be given PK time. The Wild’s short handed scoring will double, and who doesn’t love a short handed goal.

Freddy is too soft for the PK, Trenin is to slow, Lauko and Marat should be the 1st rotation, then Hinistroza (I think he has a motor as is smart on the ice) and whoever…try anybody, there’s no wrong answers…

Sorry, but this season proved one thing: Guerin has to go or the PP and PP will NEVER be fixed and the Wild will continue to be first-round playoff fodder forever.

All these special teams coaches that have come and gone are all Guerin’s boys. No more “It wasn’t my guys.” excuses. Another 5-year GM Job Security Program/planning cycle isn’t going to fix anything because the first 5-year plan didn’t change anything.

It’s Deja Vu all over again. The Wild are still an injury-prone team that lacks special teams effectiveness. Either trait is an absolute playoff killer, but both of them together???? First-round exit every time.

The Wild need major changes, not tweaking. Hartman needs to get gone. Jojo obviously will be gone at the end of the season. Walstadt needs to get put on the “Rossi Summer Camp Program” where it’s clear to him he either makes major progress and becomes a real NHL backup or he’s outta here. And, of course, we still have the same need in the top 6 that we’ve had the past 2 seasons.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Sorry, but this season proved one thing: Guerin has to go or the PP and PP will NEVER be fixed and the Wild will continue to be first-round playoff fodder forever.

All these special teams coaches that have come and gone are all Guerin’s boys. No more “It wasn’t my guys.” excuses. Another 5-year GM Job Security Program/planning cycle isn’t going to fix anything because the first 5-year plan didn’t change anything.

It’s Deja Vu all over again. The Wild are still an injury-prone team that lacks special teams effectiveness. Either trait is an absolute playoff killer, but both of them together???? First-round exit every time.

The Wild need major changes, not tweaking. Hartman needs to get gone. Jojo obviously will be gone at the end of the season. Walstadt needs to get put on the “Rossi Summer Camp Program” where it’s clear to him he either makes major progress and becomes a real NHL backup or he’s outta here. And, of course, we still have the same need in the top 6 that we’ve had the past 2 seasons.

I mean with the injuries, how is it the Wild’s (GMBG) fault Spurgeon gets slewfooted into the boards, or Ek breaks his foot blocking a shot, same with Brodin? The Soft tissue injury Lauko has had COULD be looked at if the Medical staff/trainers handled it properly, Kirill had a Sports Hernia, how do you stop a hole forming in someone’s internal body?

The special teams issues are legit (powerplay has been good when everyone was healthy) we’ve discussed the PK disaster and that falls mostly on GMBG and Hynes… Next year’s roster will look VASTLY different than previous years (an extra $15 million in capspace will help)

Wallstedt has 2 more years to figure it out contract wise, goalies take longer, Wally needs a year of consistency on/off the ice…

Let’s let this play out….

Ripjiggen wrote:

30 percent on the draws and a save percentage of like .800

Can you get Detroit’s PK stats? are they similar to the Wild?

The fact the the wild were competitive during the buyouts is actually pretty impressive if you think about it. Strategy wise if it was the right move to stay competitive can be argued. We can beat the dead horse if the buyouts were the right move or not, but at this point it really doesn’t matter.

I’m not sure how vastly different the team will look next year, but finally getting out of the buyout should help improve this team. If it’s same results I think you can definitely go after BG. Until then I’m not sure he could have done much more to keep this team competitive.

Ripjiggen wrote:

I’m not sure how vastly different the team will look next year

We’ll likely sign a top6 UFA replacing Jojo, Yurov will take somebody’s job, Buium in the mix replacing either Chisholm or Merrill in the D rotation, Flower will be gone and I think one or both of Hartman and Trenin will get moved…Freddy stays as that aav is too valuable let go for somebody serviceable up & down the lineup if needed…

IF we can get a center like Cozens, that can change the entire makeup of the lineup with 4 deep down the middle with Marat moving to the 4th line…and Yurov likely moving to top6 Wing. If its a scoring wing they get, that improves all the lines…

Yes, there are some assumptions here, but things will look different for sure…

Detroit is at 51% on the dot for PK. So that is not their issue. There is an article in the athletic that details their issue that is way to long to post.

We’ll likely sign a top6 UFA replacing Jojo, Yurov will take somebody’s job, Buium in the mix replacing either Chisholm or Merrill in the D rotation, Flower will be gone and I think one or both of Hartman and Trenin will get moved…Freddy stays as that aav is to valuable let go for somebody serviceable around the lineup if needed…

IF we can get a center like Cozens, that can change the entire makeup of the lineup with 4 deep down the middle with Marat moving to the 4th line…and Yurov likely moving to top6 Wing. If its a scoring wing they get, that improves all the lines…

Yes, there are some assumptions here, but things will look different for sure…

Like you said a lot of assumptions. Agree moves will be made how many and how drastic remain to be seen. I don’t see them moving both Trenin and Hartman. One might be replacing the other however.
I will still stick to my prediction that Brock Nelson signs this off season.

Ripjiggen wrote:

We’ll likely sign a top6 UFA replacing Jojo, Yurov will take somebody’s job, Buium in the mix replacing either Chisholm or Merrill in the D rotation, Flower will be gone and I think one or both of Hartman and Trenin will get moved…Freddy stays as that aav is to valuable let go for somebody serviceable around the lineup if needed…

IF we can get a center like Cozens, that can change the entire makeup of the lineup with 4 deep down the middle with Marat moving to the 4th line…and Yurov likely moving to top6 Wing. If its a scoring wing they get, that improves all the lines…

Yes, there are some assumptions here, but things will look different for sure…

Like you said a lot of assumptions. Agree moves will be made how many and how drastic remain to be seen. I don’t see them moving both Trenin and Hartman. One might be replacing the other however.
I will still stick to my prediction that Brock Nelson signs this off season.

really the only assumption is moving Hartman and/or Trenin (Trenin has zero trade protection but an extra year of term so that might be tough, Hartman’s name is mentioned alot as a buyout candidate, but you could also retain some of his caphit that’s less than what the buyout hit would be if that helps trade him too)

The other changes are certain (Flower/Jojo/Merrill for sure will not be back, Chisholm is a ?) we just don’t have a name yet for the UFA/Trade addition, but they are adding somebody…

I keep forgetting Hinostroza is signed for another year at $775k, that’s a great value 4th line player to have and bumps one of the Iowa guys off the roster…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Wallstedt has 2 more years to figure it out contract wise, goalies take longer, Wally needs a year of consistency on/off the ice…

And what are we going to do for a backup while Wallstadt takes another 2 years to figure it out? More cap space burned. Guerin needs to quit playing favorites. It was obvious that he took a hard line with Rossi, it was get full-on NHL ready or you’re getting dealt. So why the softly-softly with others? We need a legit backup goalie next season, why should we be wasting cap on a R1 draft pick that can’t get even backup-ready in 4 years?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I mean with the injuries, how is it the Wild’s (GMBG) fault Spurgeon gets slewfooted into the boards, or Ek breaks his foot blocking a shot, same with Brodin? The Soft tissue injury Lauko has had COULD be looked at if the Medical staff/trainers handled it properly, Kirill had a Sports Hernia, how do you stop a hole forming in someone’s internal body?

Yet we remained competitive defensively despite injuries to key D men, but now with 2 offensive players out, we’re useless. It’s almost like we’re missing the same thing everybody has been saying we’ve been missing… Our top 6 is really a top 3.

My prediction is neither Ek nor KK will be truly playoff ready if the Wild even make it that far. Somebody besides Rossi is going to have to step up and start scoring consistently or the playoffs are going to be in serious jeopardy within 2 weeks.

Boldy needs to really start showing us on a consistent basis that he’s more than just a streaky player who can score when he’s on and pretty much worthless when he’s not.

Who is BG playing soft with and who is playing favorites with I’m confused?

“Yet we remained competitive defensively despite injuries to key D men, but now with 2 offensive players out, we’re useless. It’s almost like we’re missing the same thing everybody has been saying we’ve been missing… Our top 6 is really a top 3.“

That’s kind of what paying 15 million to two guys that don’t play for you will do no?

They had 1 bad game. Didnt we just talk about how well they were staying afloat without KK like 4 pages back?

Tom schmitt wrote:

Boldy needs to really start showing us on a consistent basis that he’s more than just a streaky player who can score when he’s on and pretty much worthless when he’s not.

Boldy has 7 points in his last 5 games, Rossi has 4, those guys are singlehandedly keeping this team above water right now…The top line is getting 100% of the top defensive matchups right now as there’s ZERO threat of the 2nd line scoring…it will be ugly wins for awhile until Kirill comes back…

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

And what are we going to do for a backup while Wallstadt takes another 2 years to figure it out? More cap space burned

Wallstedt has a 1 way contract the next 2 years, he will be the backup next year for GusBus and then Billy has a big decision to make…

Wally has had a tough season no doubt, dealing with a few injuries and some confidence issues, but he turned 22 years old in November, his first 2 pro season in Iowa he was an All-star on terrible teams…name any goalies (besides Flower, Patrick Roy and Carey Price) with NHL success 1-2 years after they were drafted? its not easy to do…

Tom schmitt wrote:

Boldy needs to really start showing us on a consistent basis that he’s more than just a streaky player who can score when he’s on and pretty much worthless when he’s not.

Are we talking about the same Boldy that leads the team in points. 2nd in goals 1st in assists. Is that the same Boldy that is 2nd in points in his draft class?

Outside of the PK, the sky is not falling…last night was ugly and they’ve had way too many of those types of games this season, but if they continue to bookend those blowouts between 5 wins in 7 games streaks i’m fine with it and we’ll be playoff bound…

Ripjiggen wrote:

They had 1 bad game. Didnt we just talk about how well they were staying afloat without KK like 4 pages back?

How quickly we all forget.