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

Robin Lehner hasnt shown up to Vegas training camp so his contract will probably end up getting voided, we will see.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Robin Lehner hasnt shown up to Vegas training camp so his contract will probably end up getting voided, we will see.

at some point, these Vegas “cap fixes/scenarios” are no longer coincidences…

So if i’m the Vegas owner (who has unlimited $ he’s willing to spend on the team) and I call up Lehnar and say, hey, i’ll give you $5 million in cash in a dufflebag if you don’t report to training camp so we can then terminate your contract and get our $5 million in capspace back… if they are not stupid like the Timberwolves and Joe Smith were and don’t have any documentation of the transaction, who/what will to stop them? Their ethics? lol… Don’t say this stuff never happens, Jordan Tutu has gone on record saying one of the teams he played for (I can’t think of which one off the top of my head) told him to stay on LTIR and just get paid, no need to come back and play…

a counter argument will be that he at one time entered the player assistance program and him not showing up could be related, yes that’s possible…Now I absolutely know MOST players who enter it legitimately need help, but it also “feels like” this program could be used as a crutch in some situations it shouldn’t be (thinking back to Calgary saying that for the kid charged in the rape case)

If his absence is legitimate, I will absolutely eat crow, but there’s so much smoke around the Vegas accounting & medical departments the past few years that at some point the fire will ignite…

Can anybody think of a single injury/issue in the franchises history that DIND’T benefit Vegas?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Can anybody think of a single injury/issue in the franchises history that DIND’T benefit Vegas?

Maybe that time they missed the playoffs the year before winning the cup because half the team was injured most of the season ??

Leaner has a well documented history with substance abuse and mental health issues. Hope the guy’s doing alright after pretty much disappearing two years ago

Yeah I’m pretty sure this Lehner thing is legit. He was pissed at the team a few years ago aside from the substance abuse stuff

tswoboda wrote:

Maybe that time they missed the playoffs the year before winning the cup because half the team was injured most of the season ??

You mean the season after they traded the Vezina winner away, and traded away their best young player (Tuch) for a player needing experimental back surgery and who wouldn’t play his first game until mid-Febuary? and traded away a player at the deadline only to have that trade rescinded due to a NTC and awkwardly getting him back and playing him like nothing ever happened?

Yes they had some injuries to Stone and an aging Pacioretty and their goalie at the end of the season (who they replaced with their eventual future season starter) but that season was a cluster F due to the decisions by Vegas Management…

They won the cup with virtually the same roster the following season

Kaprizov on LTIR with a shiner and stitches today.

tswoboda wrote:

They won the cup with virtually the same roster the following season

Yeah, they had 67 regular season games of Eichel at ppg and he should have won the ConSmyth for his playoff performance.. They also turned Stone’s LTIR space into Barbashev who was huge for them in the playoffs…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Not very hard due to the lack of available roster spots, but here’s the likely starting lineup game 1 vs Columbus imo…of course Hynes will mess with the lines, but these are the 23 man roster…

Hartman is the wildcard imo, he could get slotted anywhere from 1st to 4th line depending if they want him at Center or Wing… Johansson will get the benefit of the doubt and start the season in the top 6, but if he falters it probably makes the most sense to bury him in Iowa (if he accepts the demotion) His play style just doesn’t work on the 3rd or 4th lines…Ek and Rossi could swap if they feel they need more defense on the 1st line, but I think Rossi excels playing with Kirill and Zuccy in preseason and they start the season with him at 1C…I also think we’ll finally see Hynes try Rossi out on Wing this season, especially if Johansson fails in the top6 and they keep Hartman as 1C…

Kaprizov – Rossi – Zuccarello
Boldy – Ek – Johansson
Foligno – Khusnutdinov – Trenin
Hartman – Gaudreau – Ohgren
Lauko swaps in with the 4th liners…

Brodin – Faber
Spurgeon – Middleton
Bogosian – Chisholm
Merrill

Gusbus – Flower – Wally

What say you Wild fans?

I think Hartman starts at 1C which puts Rossi at 3C and Khus on 4th line.

Ripjiggen wrote:

I think Hartman starts at 1C which puts Rossi at 3C and Khus on 4th line.

Yep, that’s how Hynes had it all setup today at the 3 practices:

Kaprizov – Hartman – Zuccy
Boldy – Ek – Jojo
Foligno – Rossi – Trenin
Gaudreau – Khusnutdinov – Lauko

Thinking they are going to put Ohgren in Iowa for the start of the season, get him 20+ minutes a game and see how he performs, if he’ll be better than Lauko, they’ll call him up…

Kirill’s interview today – https://www.nhl.com/wild/video/kaprizov-at-training-camp-9-19-6362169217112