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

tswoboda wrote:

What’s the over/under on how many Kaprizov or Ek goals it takes for Grouse to post something even remotely positive?

However many it takes to win a cup with BG out of the office.

What’s everyone’s guess as to what number Zeev Buium will wear for the Wild? Ohgren has #28 and I doubt he offer it up…

I think he takes #8 or flips to #82

tswoboda wrote:

What’s the over/under on how many Kaprizov or Ek goals it takes for Grouse to post something even remotely positive?

Something positive. Okay I’ll try. Here goes:

I’m positive the Wild better figure out a way to give up less than 7 goals per game, or winning is going to get real difficult.

Yes? How’d I do?

Kirill’s missing tooth cracks me up…

I think it was Ryan Carter who said last night that it appeared the Wild players have been so wound up trying not to let in a single goal the past 2+ months as it was their best chance to win games that they finally exhaled and said “F it” last night when it appeared the game was going to be a shootout…

How about that PLD <–> Darcy Kuemper trade? It was a bad contract for bad contract trade; you take my problem and I’ll take yours. Now Kuemper is a likely Vezina finalist and PLD is leading the 1st place caps in 5v5 goals percentage and 2nd in 5v5 points.

We’ll see on Darcy, he’s been streaky his whole career.

Frozen Four arena looks less than half full for Denver vs Western Michigan… pathetic….

Russo mentioned the Wild want to sign Western Michigan’s captain Tim Washe who’s a 6’3” center and is the leading faceoff guy in the country… Russo said the Wild could offer him the 4th line center spot… He just won a clean draw on the powerplay that directly turned into a goal…

Denver is getting thumped. Aaaaand Buium just got hurt, doesn’t look bad hopefully

He’s back out, must be just a booboo

The kid is pretty dang tough! He took a big knee hit last game and shook it off and didn’t miss a shift.

Denver looks slow/Western Michigan is flying, but Western has failed to lay the knockout punch (missed 4 breakaways?) and all it takes is 1 and Denver is back in it!

Tim Washe has looked damn good, would love the Wild to sign him…

Its a clinic. Broncos are completely dominating the champs.

Well it stand?

Dang it Broncos

Completely different game in the 3rd period

Western Michigan failed to bury the dagger… all the momentum with Denver now.

I’m going with Alex Bump GWG

Lol, who does Buccigross love more? Buium or Bump?

Bronco Nation

Nice assist by Buium on the gwg

He’ll see if he wins the Hobey tomorrow and then fly to MN and likely play in the Ducks game…

Jets absolutely dominating the Stars 4-0 in 3rd.

Interesting article from the Athletic regarding the Conn Smythe bonus we were bantering about. Looks like Leonard and Nikishin also had the same bonus in their contracts. Apparently it has nothing to do with inflated egos and self-confidence, but is used as a tool to increase their bonus potential in years 2 and 3 of the contract. Brings me back to Yurov and the BS excuse of no cap space for him… if they wanted him, they’d find a way to get him here. Just need to get creative.

Amid the euphoria of Tuesday’s announcement that the 19-year-old Russian winger had signed a three-year entry-level contract (ELC) came this delicious nugget: The deal includes a $525,000 bonus if he wins the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the upcoming playoffs.

That was quickly (and understandably) misinterpreted by many on social media as a statement of intent from the fifth overall pick in the 2024 draft, who is parachuting directly into the final days of the Canadiens’ playoff push following a season where he more than held his own against men in the KHL.

Does Demidov believe he can follow in Ken Dryden’s footsteps by winning the Conn Smythe Trophy before even burning through his rookie eligibility as an NHL player?

No. Not exactly.

The actual thinking behind the structure of his contract and that Conn Smythe bonus was maximizing the amount he is eligible to earn in performance bonuses in Years 2 and 3 of the deal, according to league sources.

Let me explain: Every player signing his first NHL contract to begin late in the season runs into a challenge because of the 100 percent rule. That rule prevents anything more than a 100 percent increase in compensation from Year 1 to Year 2 of a contract, and stipulates that a subsequent year can’t see an additional increase that exceeds the lower of Year 1 or Year 2 compensation — which is problematic for a late-season signing because he isn’t going to play enough games right away to qualify for “Schedule A” individual bonuses or the “Schedule B” bonuses reserved for major league awards.

Well, at least none of the major awards that are handed out during the regular season. That’s where the Conn Smythe bonus comes in.

By securing that plus a $55,000 games-played bonus in his contract for 2024-25, Demidov was able to command $2 million in potential bonuses for 2025-26 and $3 million in potential bonuses for 2026-27. That contract structure will prove lucrative if he has a productive start to his NHL career.

Kirill on the mic

https://x.com/mnwild/status/1910506470086521156

tswoboda wrote:

Brings me back to Yurov and the BS excuse of no cap space for him… if they wanted him, they’d find a way to get him here. Just need to get creative.

What does “getting creative” mean in terms of the Wild’s cap situation/actual options they have? Sending Merril and/or Jojo to Iowa? Playing with 11/7 skaters? Carolina and Montreal have 3-4 million in capspace right now, Washington has like $15 million in LTIR space…Did you watch the latest Trade Deadline Beyond Our Ice episode, Matt Sells literally told Billy he couldn’t do anything on deadline day because they needed to get enough capspace to bring back Kirill and Ek and then have enough for signing Zeev and at that time they didn’t have enough to do either… so they chose to prioritize Zeev of Danila… I just don’t think they would mess with not signing him and risk him signing a 1-3 year KHL extension like Kirill did unless they truly had no options that Danila’s agent would be fine with (AHL tryout deal isn’t an option)

I’m excited to see what Demidov and Nikishin can do in the NHL…I swore Demidov had 1-2 more years on his KHL deal though? Did those get bought out?

Kaprizov is so fun to watch. So glad to see him back and playing at a high level. Ekker as well. Momentum into the playoffs is a great thing! Add in Zeev on the PP2?

Let’s slow down a minute. There is no guarantee Zeev is in the lineup come playoffs.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Let’s slow down a minute. There is no guarantee Zeev is in the lineup come playoffs.

You and Grouse are in a tight race for the Wild Player Hater of the year!

I agree. Faber was taylor made for the 3rd pair when he stepped in late, biggest strength was defending. And even then they weren’t planning to play him, until seeing him play NHL games first hand. Buium is a completely different player, maybe the same thing happens, maybe not. Sounds like Middleton will be ready for playoffs. So would they play Buium bottom pair with Bogo? Would they pair him with Spurgeon or Faber and move Middleton to bottom pair? I have no clue what happens with Buium for playoffs. I guess that makes me a hater too

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
Brings me back to Yurov and the BS excuse of no cap space for him… if they wanted him, they’d find a way to get him here. Just need to get creative.

What does “getting creative” mean in terms of the Wild’s cap situation/actual options they have? Sending Merril and/or Jojo to Iowa? Playing with 11/7 skaters? Carolina and Montreal have 3-4 million in capspace right now, Washington has like $15 million in LTIR space…Did you watch the latest Trade Deadline Beyond Our Ice episode, Matt Sells literally told Billy he couldn’t do anything on deadline day because they needed to get enough capspace to bring back Kirill and Ek and then have enough for signing Zeev and at that time they didn’t have enough to do either… so they chose to prioritize Zeev of Danila… I just don’t think they would mess with not signing him and risk him signing a 1-3 year KHL extension like Kirill did unless they truly had no options that Danila’s agent would be fine with (AHL tryout deal isn’t an option)

I’m excited to see what Demidov and Nikishin can do in the NHL…I swore Demidov had 1-2 more years on his KHL deal though? Did those get bought out?

Take a breath, Joe… come up for air. Ready? There’s no salary cap in the playoffs.

And yes Demidov and Nikishin both had their KHL contracts terminated.

tswoboda wrote:

Ready? There’s no salary cap in the playoffs.

That’s your creative idea? lol

Yes, we’ve burned out the idea that the salary cap doesn’t exist in the Playoffs…

I just saw that Zeev played 51:41 TOI last night, that was about 64% of the game…pretty crazy for a 19 year old…

It wouldn’t surprise me to see him get playoff games instead of Merrill…he’ll hopefully get the last game and then 2-3 practices depending on when the Wild’s playoff series starts…