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

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Feels like Jojo has slipped into another of his typical 7 game disappearing trick…

Yep

CaptainMusky wrote:

If boldy was half as strong on the puck as KK or even Rossi he would be an elite player. Coughs up the puck way too easy.

Well done, thank you for your service

Another good game against a good team

Spurg looked quick and spry on that play. Nice finish by Boldy.

Toronto is a very scary team to play in OT, 2nd only to the Oilers, we got a lucky chip too far that messed up a Toronto 3-1 that turned into a Boldy breakaway gamewinner…
They beat a good team while Kirill played terrible, that’s a really good sign… Spurgeon playing multiple games in a row is another…

tswoboda wrote:

Well done, thank you for your service

Another good game against a good team

you are very welcome LOL

The Wild are just playing a full team game. KK doesn’t score? Okay, so the Gus Bus stops all but one, Hartman has one bounce off him and in and then Spurgeon steals the puck to produce Boldy’s ot winner.

Also, the 4th line was just all over the Leafs last night. They didn’t score but the had the puck in the offensive zone and were giving the Leafs a panic attack every shift.

Looking at Faber the last 2 games, it gives me chills to think of adding Zeev Buium as well. As has been mentioned he’s super young but if he can be anything like the offensive threat that he is in college … I wonder what will happen come the end of the NCAA season?

Only thing I find concerning is the Wild are taking more penalties and scoring less on the PP.

The PP has been awful lately. I mean, we knew it couldnt last at the pace they were going at but what is it like 0 for 12 or something now?

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I wonder what will happen come the end of the NCAA season?

Zeev is 100% signing with the Wild as soon as Denver’s season is over with, sadly that might be as late as possible as Denver is favored to get back to the Frozen 4 again. I’ve watched several of DU’s games this season, Zeev just controls everything when he’s on the ice, never panics at all with the puck, he should have about 5 goals already to go with all of his assists this season but he’s been getting absolutely robbed. He’ll likely captain the tourney favorite Team USA at the World Juniors late December, that will be fun to watch…

The PP has been getting way too cute the past few games, routinely trying cross-ice saucer passes that get picked off…Faber needs to shoot more too…A future with Zeev and Faber looks very bright (I still can’t get over how good Faber is right now and he’s still improving offensively)

but we’re nitpicking

Danila Yurov watch, he has 5 goals, 5 assists, +5 in 17 games and is 51% on faceoffs…it took him about 5-10 games to get into game shape after his surgery recovery, but he’s been on a heater lately…His team is in the bottom 1/3 of the league this season…

Why wouldn’t Buium go back for another year? Not saying he will, just don’t think it’s such a sure thing he’s in St. Paul this April and to start next season. The list of college D starting in the NHL their D+2 year is pretty short.

I’d like to see Buium win a Hobey

tswoboda wrote:

Why wouldn’t Buium go back for another year? Not saying he will, just don’t think it’s such a sure thing he’s in St. Paul this April. The list of college D going to the NHL their D+2 year is pretty short. I’d like to see Buium win a Hobey

What else does he need to prove in College? What else can he win other than the Hobey? (Does any player ever stay in any sport just to try and win a singular award?) Why risk injury before signing his ELC? Why extend his timeline to become a UFA by a year when he can sign this April and burn the 1st year of that timeline in just a few weeks of work? You also want to remove ANY thinking for a top college player to just stay for their Senior year and becoming a UFA…

GMBG & Judd (and pretty much every other Hockey pundit) have gone on record that he’ll sign in April…His age and strength improvement are what kept him at Denver for his sophomore season, he’s still 18…

Top NHL Prospect contract timing/thinking has changed over the years, nowadays it’s all about getting the fully guaranteed max extension signed after your second ELC season so you’re setup for life at 20 years old and then you lineup your UFA years contract being your biggest signed before the age of 30…of course their play dictates if that thinking is possible…the days of the 2 year bridge deal are mostly over with (for the top prospects at least)

What did Cale Makar and Brock Faber and Adam Fox and Charlie McAvoy and the list goes on and on have to prove in college? But they all still went back for D+2, and even longer for some

JoeMX1825 wrote:

What else does he need to prove in College?

Verbatim, exact same line said about Heidt in the WHL and Wallstedt in the AHL

Is it too early to start planning the parade route? That’s gotta be down West 7th don’t you think?

tswoboda wrote:

Verbatim, exact same line said about Heidt in the WHL and Wallstedt in the AHL

Heidt was forced back to the WHL due to his age, do we really need to discuss Jesper’s situation this year? To think that him playing in the AHL this season was part of the plan is a joke…

tswoboda wrote:

What did Cale Makar and Brock Faber and Adam Fox and Charlie McAvoy and the list goes on and on have to prove in college? But they all still went back for D+2, and even longer for some

Makar left after his sophomore season, Adam Fox forced 2 organizations to trade away his draft rights (Calgary and Carolina) by threatening to go the 4 year College UFA route UNLESS he was traded to the Rangers, he was finally traded to the Rangers after his Junior season…McAvoy was signed after his Sophomore season right? Faber was a 2nd round pick nobody thought would turn into the player he is now, sounded like it was personal to him to come back for his Junior season and try to win a Natty…No idea if the Kings/Wild offered to sign him after his Sophomore season? (did we even own his rights then or was he still with the Kings?)

BigWerm wrote:

That’s gotta be down West 7th don’t you think?

Hopefully or they need to rename the Wild Podcast….

Joe as the IDO prospect expert I find it a little concerning you don’t know what a D+2 season is. The question is what college D are starting in the NHL their D+2 season, not their sophomore college year. Lots of really really good D (including the 2 best in the world the last 5 years) played two+ full college seasons after getting drafted. To say Buium is just way too good for college hockey is pretty silly

So recently it’s Owen Power, Quinn Hughes, not sure where Levshunov is right now, who else?

The whole conversation was around Zeev leaving AFTER his 2nd college season, You brought up the argument of Zeev staying and playing in his 3rd College season. I then brought up many reasons why he won’t, just like Makar, McAvoy and others, no idea where you then drifted off too…

Just checked and I put D+2 season or 2 college seasons after drafted in every single post i made about Buium so…. ??

Prospects are aged, grouped, and compared based on their draft year… not how many years they’ve played in whatever league they’re in

I’m sorry if that confuses you ??

I see no reason for Zeev to stay in Denver after this season. What else can he do there. He already has a conference playoff title and an NCAA title. Will very likely add a conference season title this year too. There’s nothing left to prove with the Pioneers.

The difference between him, Makar, Fox, and Mcavoy is that he already got his title. Those other guys never did. Faber came really close but his team collapsed against the Bobcats.

A reason to stay is college is the NCAA is a fantastic development league, probably the best in the world. NHL not so much. He’ll be 19 years old to start next season… play 35 weekend games in college with full weeks of practice and training to get bigger faster stronger better. Development happens in practice and training, not games.

Again not saying he will or should go back next year. But the sentiment that he’s too good for college hockey or it will somehow stunt his growth is just bananas to me.

As the resident IDO Player Development Expert, I find it concerning you want to hold back elite talent

The kid had 50 points as a 17/18 year old defenseman (hasn’t been done in 40+ years) and he’s on a better pace this season all while having terrible scoring luck sofar. When you watch him play this season he’s just toying with the other team when he has the puck, IT IS literally too easy for him…There’s a reason why the CHL leagues offer exception status for younger players or from a local perspective, why Elite MN high school kids leave early for Junior or Development programs, they need better competition & coaching to get better themselves…maybe he struggles early on in the NHL (odds are he will for a bit until he figures things out, gets used to the pace and physicality) but the guys who get paid to evaluate talent have said he’ll be with the club this spring because its the best for Zeev…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

IT IS literally too easy for him

Just like AHL was for Rossi and Wallstedt and the WHL is for Heidt and I’m sure there’s plenty of others I thankfully forgot. Wild have all these prospects that are just way too good, almost feel bad for the player development guys.

So is it better to jump into the NHL like Boldy and Faber?
Or crawl into it with baby steps over multiple seasons like Rossi?

And comparing it to MN High School and Canada bantam, c’mon. NCAA is the best development league in the world and Buium will be 19, still among the younger players.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

but the guys who get paid to evaluate talent have said he’ll be with the club this spring because its the best for Zeev…

Got any quotes?

tswoboda wrote:

NCAA is the best development league in the world and Buium will be 19, still among the younger players.

Can’t argue that. I’m sure money will play a role too, we all know that. These players see the dollars and they quite often can’t resist.

tswoboda wrote:

So is it better to jump into the NHL like Boldy and Faber?
Or crawl into it with baby steps over multiple seasons like Rossi?

I think it really depends on the player. Rossi definitely needed to go back to Iowa because he wasnt ready, but the others were better prepared and while they may have had a few growing pains (not many) they were better off spending less or NO time in Iowa.

Rossi missed the most critical year of his development with Covid, so yeah he needed more AHL cooking time and needed to get bigger/stronger (5’9″ 170lbs at the time)

Wallstedt came over at 19? and needed to get used to the smaller ice surface and everyone knows goalies take longer to develop (what’s he’s done in the AHL in 2 years is about as good as anybody could ask for) and the Wild planned on him splitting with Flower this season until the Gus trade fell through…

Heidt IS too good for the WHL, but due to his age it’s the ONLY league he could play in this season (other than the NHL and he showed in camp he’s physically/mentally not ready yet)

Straight to the NHL or baby steps in the AHL is totally dependent on the individual player, there’s no pre-defined checklist… My CHL/HS exemption player example is just highlighting the option created for top players who are too good for their respective league to get promoted to better competition vs holding them back to dominate at a level they’ve proven to be too easy for them…

I’ve heard GMBG and Brackett on several podcasts and radio shows say they expect to sign Buium in the spring and have him follow Faber’s path (minus the crazy minutes Brock played his rookie year due to Spurgeon’s injury)

You’re a google guru, go look for them….

(this one was an easy find) Scott Wheeler’s thinking – https://youtu.be/F48-wf0fOJ0?t=157

^^Agree Musky, definitely depends on the player. But the older a player is the more likely they are to hit the ground running in the NHL, like Faber.

Has any 19 YO played a single game for the Wild in Guerin’s tenure?

tswoboda wrote:

Has any 19 YO played a single game for the Wild in Guerin’s tenure?

Not with where the Wild pick in the draft…Wallstedt & Rossi had to be closest (20 year olds at their NHL debut?)

Russo just did a National Hockey podcast and said the Wild are doing every roster trick they can right now to accrue as much capspace as they can for the trade deadline…

He said they will be looking for an impactful top 6 forward on the last year of his deal with the expectation of re-signing them long term and possibly a big tough veteran defenseman…

Russo gave 2 names:
1) Brock Boeser
2) Brock Nelson

I would be happy to get Boeser, I think he could solve our 2nd line winger gap next year and possibly replace Zuccy on the 1st line in 2 years, we’ve always needed a RH Sniper…
I don’t get the Brock Nelson thinking as he’ll be 34 years old at the start of next season and he’s a center, unless he would be interested in signing for 2 years at around $3-4 aav (doubtful)

I think the Wild will be offering up ANY of their Iowa Defensive prospects and roster players like Freddy or Trenin…I think Freddy’s low aav will be attractive to teams looking to solidify their bottom 6. I think GMBG would move away from Trenin if given the opportunity, I think he would admit that was a mistake…
I don’t think they will offer up their 1st round pick this year, if they can’t get Boeser at the deadline, they’ll go after him in Free Agency…

I have seen those name thrown around before. IDK if Nelson makes a whole lot of sense because of what you said Joe. Boeser I am not so sure about either. I know he had a good season last year, but where is he at this year? I havent been following him at all. He could help us for sure.