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

But you DO think Rossi gets moved eventually?

Not necessarily.
What happens with this team really depends on what KK decides to do. Depending on what his decision is will affect everything else.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Regarding Foligno’s waved off empty netter, It was the Linesman’s mistake, he makes a judgement call on which player would have likely touched it when they reach the hash marks (defensive player always gets the tiebreaker) this is to avoid board collisions for players racing to touch the puck (remember Kurtis Foster’s broken leg injury many years ago?)

Yes that’s the way I understood the rule. I was wondering if there was some kind of empty net scenario where the rule was different. It’s so rare with an empty net that there’s any chance to beat out icing.

That was just bad. Especially with the way the play unfolded and the puck coming so far off the end boards there was no chance of a Foster style collision.

There it is. Jiricek

jack klusa wrote:

There it is. Jiricek

Wow.

From Sportsnet: Columbus will receive defenceman Daemon Hunt, a 2025 first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick and a fourth-round pick in return, while also sending Minnesota a fifth-round pick.

jack klusa wrote:

There it is. Jiricek

wow, a likely late 1st this year, God knows what a 2027 2nd round pick looks like right now, a 4th and Daemond Hunt… can’t believe we didn’t give up any established prospects (we know what kind of NHLer Hunt is)

If Jiricik pans out like he’s supposed to, look at our D core in a few years…there’s lots of reasons why he went 6th overall…. Love the pickup!

Looks line the 2025 3rd we got from the Acs also going to Columbus…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

If Jiricik pans out like he’s supposed to, look at our D core in a few years…

Even a year from now, almost certainly Buium will have joined so Faber, Jiricik, Buium, I mean that could be a D core that lasts for a decade.

The R1 is always a concern, but as you say likely a late R1 this year anyway. I would think the odds are against the Wild capturing lightning in a bottle again by turning a pick in the teens into Buium type player. It surprises me a little that there aren’t some conditions.

Spreading out the picks takes some sting out as well. Obviously, there’s a pretty high confidence level that this represents good value for Hunt so no issues there. Also, really some insurance with Brodin and Spurgeon injury situations.

The Wild’s 1st going to Columbus is Top5 protected, so a collapse has some protection…

Jiricek has been a stud everywhere he’s played, Columbus is an org where good prospects go to fail, Eild will get the best out of him, he’ll always be paired with another top D in Brodin/Faber/Buium

Billy g wiz at it again. I’m sure there’s NMC and NTC involved right grouse? Love this trade.

Sorry grouse I’m extra snarky tonight LOL

CaptainMusky wrote:

Sorry grouse I’m extra snarky tonight LOL

Look, as I’ve said on numerous occasions, I don’t think BG is bad.

I think he’s average. Which in the Wild organization makes him look like the second coming and I feel like there’s quite a bit of grade inflation in some situations. This trade imo looks solid for all anyone can tell at this stage.

So are you saying that this is a hockey genius A+++ move that only the Great Guerin could have pulled off?

Well BG did give up a bit more than others were offering so to say only he could pull it off is a stretch but to me it means he has confidence in his staff and their grading of him and it was worth the risk. The first round pick will likely be essentially a high second rounder. He embodies everything we need but needs to work on his skating. May not happen this year but he’s young. Still really like this trade. High skill offensively and size.

Merril has been stringing together some good games of late IMO. He was trash for quite a stretch but I think he’s upped his game. Trennin has been noticeable tonight as well.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Well BG did give up a bit more than others were offering…

I also think BG has read the tea leaves well. We have not 1 but 2 key D men who are key contributors but are aging.

BG paid more but we have a big gap to fill in coming years. Solid move.

To keep all of your top prospects and then ADD another that fills the remaining holes in your prospect pool is next level GM strategery…

I thought for sure Jiricek was going to cost us Ohgren at the very least, I expected the 2025 1st rounder as well as one of our Iowa D, I figured Columbus would want Lambos, not Hunt…

Sounds like we’ll see him on the Wild soon as a Brodin injury calluo…

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I also think BG has read the tea leaves well. We have not 1 but 2 key D men who are key contributors but are aging.

BG paid more but we have a big gap to fill in coming years. Solid move.

x1000

Russo reporting that there were 6-7 teams seriously negotiating for Jiricek, one team’s offer included 2 x 1st round picks…

I think the Wild’s offer was fine… the eventual 2nd rounder we gave up is a freshman in high school right now somewhere… think the current roster cares about that pick?

A good day for the Wild! Got the OT win and a good lookin trade coming our way!

I thought tonight’s game was the best Foligno played in a few years, physically dominating!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

To keep all of your top prospects and then ADD another that fills the remaining holes in your prospect pool is next level GM strategery…

I thought for sure Jiricek was going to cost us Ohgren at the very least, I expected the 2025 1st rounder as well as one of our Iowa D, I figured Columbus would want Lambos, not Hunt…

Sounds like we’ll see him on the Wild soon as a Brodin injury calluo…

I’m willing to make friendly bet Lambos never wears a wild sweater for more than a few games if at all.

Just think what their record would be if I didn’t bring my kid to two of their regulation losses.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Just think what their record would be if I didn’t bring my kid to two of their regulation losses.

Now we know who to blame!

Yeah, I have little to no confidence Lambos turns into an NHLer… The only hope left is that his development will be delayed due to being a covid draft kid (pretty common from that draft year)

Another point to think about when valuing the 1st round pick the Wild included for Jiricek is that the 2025 NHL draft class is widely considered by the pundits to be one of the weaker classes in recent memory…

So you lose a 20’s pick that likely has a similar ranking to a kid you can take in the 2nd round…

We have 9! Draft picks (every round) in the 2026 draft, some of those will likely be used on trade deadline moves….

Love the trade, or at least the idea of it. Gave up quantity for quality.

Not sure about the player though, I’ll say cautiously optimistic. Just a lot of red flags, but he’s young and full of potential.

tswoboda wrote:

Love the trade, or at least the idea of it. Gave up quantity for quality.

Not sure about the player though, I’ll say cautiously optimistic. Just a lot of red flags, but he’s young and full of potential.

that franchise is the place good prospects go to fail… I think he’ll thrive for the Wild…he won’t have the pressure of being “The Guy” on defense..

JoeMX1825 wrote:

… I think he’ll thrive for the Wild…he won’t have the pressure of being “The Guy” on defense..

The kid first off just turned 21 a few days ago.

Also I think the Wild are better at developing players and have reasonable patience. Look at Rossi and what he did over 1 summer. He came back bigger, stronger, and a better skater by some margin. No reason Jiricek can’t follow that path.

Just playing Devils advocate since every other wild fan seems to be doing the OMG 10 YEARS OF FABER-BUIUM-JIRICEK-INSERT RANDY MARSH COMPUTER MEME OMG

And again I’ll remind I do like the trade, but there is risk. Obviously the kid is oozing with potential of being exactly what they need and multiple teams were after him. But:

There’s a reason a #6oa pick is available 2 years after his draft
He couldn’t crack a very bad Blue Jackets roster
He requested a trade because he was sent to the AHL
He can’t skate
He absolutely was not expected to be “the guy” in Columbus. He couldn’t be “a guy” even though he and his agent seem to think he already is “the guy”. Werenski is very obviously the guy there, and playing like a Norris candidate right now
Columbus fans seem stoked to get rid of him, see many calling him a cancer to the organization… a fan base that generally doesn’t turn on anyone

There’s always risk in any trade and yes he’s had some questionable interactions with Blue Jackets management that you dont typically see from a prospect. the NHL fan consensus (not Wild fans) I’ve seen say the Wild did a massive overpay, I just dont see that at all, the likely 20’s 1st is in a terrible draft class, the 3rd and 4th rounders are picks we acquired last trade deadline and the 2027 2nd round pick is likely 7 years away from the NHL…

Bringing up Rossi’s name is a good comparison, he always did well at the AHL level but needed time to improve the areas needed to succeed at the NHL level. The other benefit coming to the Wild is that he’ll likely get paired with another elite defensemen, so they can play to their strengths…

My guess is we’ll probably see him get get a game or two if Brodin is out longer term, sounds like they want to give him a week or two to get acclimated first…

In other news, it’s December and your Minnesota Wild are in sole possession of 1st place in the National Hockey League

tswoboda wrote:

But:

There’s a reason a #6oa pick is available 2 years after his draft
He couldn’t crack a very bad Blue Jackets roster
He requested a trade because he was sent to the AHL
He can’t skate
Columbus fans seem stoked to get rid of him, see many calling him a cancer to the organization… a fan base that generally doesn’t turn on anyone

You’re absolutely right nothing is a sure thing.

However right now I don’t think we can judge anything about a player by what happens while he’s in Columbus. That team is a complete dumpster fire. They can’t find their puck with both hands down there.

When you’ve got a young player like Jiricek asking for a trade, something is major league effed up. I don’t think the Columbus fans feelings about the situation indicate anything. Obviously they’re going to be bitter, they just traded away a number six OA draft pick. They’re pissed about life in general right now.

Jiricek needs a reboot and everybody and their dog says the same thing. He needs help to bring his skating to an NHL level. Anybody want to take bets on where Andy Ness is going to be spending a lot of time starting this week?

The best thing that could happen for this guy is to just be in Iowa for a while with no expectations other than working on his game. I’m going to guess by the fact that his team is willing to trade him he’ll of cotton on to the fact that he’s not ready for the big time yet.

I’d agree Columbus has been a mess since Torts was on his way out 5 years ago, but the new staff looks to be turning it around. Take another look and you’ll see Columbus has a new front office, new coaching staff, and by points percentage they’re sitting in a playoff spot. I’m sure some bad blood with Jiricek has carried over from the previous generation but he had a chance at a fresh start this year and the new GM still sent him to the AHL and eventually shipped him outta there.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

The best thing that could happen for this guy is to just be in Iowa for a while with no expectations other than working on his game. I’m going to guess by the fact that his team is willing to trade him he’ll of cotton on to the fact that he’s not ready for the big time yet.

100% agree. Hopefully the kid (and his wacko agent) can be humble enough to put his head down and go to work.