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

Four Nations teams have been picked and are getting submitted to the league tonight. Supposed to be announced later this week, but I’m hoping we see some rosters leaked prior to that.

Yeah this should be a fun little tourney.

I think the NHL Network has roster unveiling shows this week, Sweden and Finland are first, I think its on Wednesday…USA and Canada are probably the following day… but yeah they will likely get leaked early…

Added bulk to the backline….He’s bigger than Bogo and Middstrom with a 21 year old frame that likely hasn’t hit the NHL Nutrition/Strength training program full speed yet…of course the Wild can only point him in the right direction for his development, it’s upto him to do the work…

He needs to work on his interviews though. He said “I heard its the hockey state you know”. No, its the state of hockey. LOL Excited to see what he can do, he has the tools so we will see how he develops.

CaptainMusky wrote:

He needs to work on his interviews though. He said “I heard its the hockey state you know”. No, its the state of hockey. LOL Excited to see what he can do, he has the tools so we will see how he develops.

at least he didn’t say “Minny”

you can’t teach size and he’s a monster…

Not a bad lake home setup for the Foligno boys… good lord….

with Jiricek in the mix and due to NMC/NTC’s we can project out what our Defense could look like next year (I noted any trade clauses each player has below)

Spurgeon (10 team NTC)
Brodin (zero trade protection)
Middleton (Full NMC)
Faber (zero trade protection)
Bogosian (zero trade protection)
Buium (zero trade protection)
Chisholm (zero trade protection)
Jiricek (zero trade protection)

So Bogosian and Chisholm are the 2 players most likely to get moved out, I think they would rather keep the younger Chisholm over the aging Bogosian. Chisholm then likely signs a 1 year deal so we can see how Jiricek pans out…

I think the 2025/2026 top 7 Defense looks like this:
Spurgeon – Brodin
Faber – Buium (I think these 2 will be partners until Spurgeon or Brodin are gone)
Middleton – Jiricek/Chisholm
*I think David Spacek turns into the new “Daemon Hunt” and is the 1st Iowa Wild D callup option

I don’t think they would ever move away from Brodin, in fact I think they’ll offer him a 2-3 year extension at some point (his recent years injury history is worrisome though and would need to factor in the decision to extend him or not) but if they could find a team that would take on Spurgeon’s $7.5 for the next 2 years, I think they would make that deal and use that capspace on the forwards or keep it for Buium/Jiricek extensions (Buium will burn his first ELC year this April)

Wild made some roster moves today: Forward Liam Öhgren and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt have been recalled from Iowa.

Forward Mats Zuccarello has been placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve. Defenseman Jonas Brodin and forward Jakub Lauko have been placed on Injured Reserve.

Have to think bringing up Wallstedt is to get him some time with Chabot at the NHL level since he has been struggling a bit.

Jake Middleton was on the most recent Spittin Chicklets podcast, Biz and Whit discuss the Jiricek trade for the first few minutes… Middleton is an absolute Beauty!

Middleton kind of broke the news in the interview that Brodin’s issue is his back… not good…

CaptainMusky wrote:

Have to think bringing up Wallstedt is to get him some time with Chabot at the NHL level since he has been struggling a bit.

Iowa is a disaster…McClean’s seat has to be hot…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Iowa is a disaster…McClean’s seat has to be hot…

Yes, it seems like suddenly all the development is going on up at the big club level. Wallstedt was the goalie of the future 2 years ago, now it’s suddenly shifted to “hope he works out at all”. Not good.

Brodin situation sounds bad. Russo commented in an article yesterday that he was moving very poorly at the practice facility yesterday. Not good.

Jiricek, I have a feeling, isn’t going to have to wait long for his Wild debut.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Brodin situation sounds bad. Russo commented in an article yesterday that he was moving very poorly at the practice facility yesterday. Not good.

go watch that Middleton Spittin Chickets interview, he says “Brodin’s Back is Done…”

So all of these Doctor consults Russo says Brodin is having done right now is probably to figure out if there’s any chance he can heal naturally and avoid season ending surgery…They did something similar with Liam Ohgren a year ago, he sat out for a few months and then got back to playing…

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Wallstedt was the goalie of the future 2 years ago, now it’s suddenly shifted to “hope he works out at all”. Not good.

I don’t think that’s the thinking at all…they likely just want to get him out of that bad vibes environment for awhile…that Iowa team plays zero defense in front of him…and they take a ton of penalties so it turns into a high quality shooting gallery on Wallstedt every game… That’s why I think Brett McClain’s days are numbered…

Wallstedt recall is a paper transaction for roster (LTIR) purposes. Has nothing to do with vibes or a bad environment in Iowa. All prospects and all goalies have ups and downs, right now he’s down – I’m sure soon enough he’ll be up again and the undeniable goalie of the future. Dude just needs to start stopping some more pucks – not exactly showing he was ready to be an NHL goalie this season

tswoboda wrote:

Wallstedt recall is a paper transaction for roster (LTIR) purposes. Has nothing to do with vibes or a bad environment in Iowa. All prospects and all goalies have ups and downs, right now he’s down – I’m sure soon enough he’ll be up again and the undeniable goalie of the future. Dude just needs to start stopping some more pucks – not exactly showing he was ready to be an NHL goalie this season

We know that now, at the time it was originally posted the reasoning was for a “Reset” per Russo…They likely want to do what he said, but in the effort to continue to accumulate cap, they went with the smoke & mirrors transactions to keep the cap meter running…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

We I know that now

fixed it for you

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
We I know that now

fixed it for you

Glad to make your day…

Hynes said Zuccy just starting to do light off-ice activities…that sounds like it’s gonna be awhile before he’s back in the lineup…

A lot to unpack here. I guess I will start with Juricek. I think this move is like buying lottery tickets. It’s a gamble. Could pay off huge. Might win a playback, and like any lottery good chance you just spent money on nothing. You also can’t win big without playing.

His skating is obviously a huge huge concern. Tough to stay in the NHL with even average skating. Sounds like he is well below average at the moment. Time will tell if it is a fixable thing. If it is you may have won the lottery. If not you may have just spent money on a piece of paper. Time will tell.
Penciling him to a future lineup I believe is premature at this point.
Losing Hunt is not my concern really. The first round pick this year may affect what we bring in at the deadline for this season however.

Things don’t sound good for Brodin. Which is a big concern for this season. It puts you one injury away from a real big problem this season. One that I don’t think Juricek can help with at the moment.

Iowa mess just doesn’t seem to get fixed no matter what they do. Why is it so bad and why has nothing worked to fix it. With Wallstedt I will say the biggest off season story is not finding a taker for Gus Bus. Where would this team be without him right now and into the future. I think Wallstedt still has a very bright future but to think he is ready to be the man, again that was just probably silly thinking he can come in a be a stud right out of the gate.
I always thought him working in as the 1b was way smarter than getting rid of Gus and riding Flower or Wallstedt at 1A. That play would have been real risky and even if Wallstedt was awesome out of the gate at the NHL you would have been looking for a backup next year either way.

The thing about Gus though is that he was TERRIBLE last season, so that’s where the idea of trading him came from, his last season. There’s no doubt he’s played alot better this season (Flower is 5-0-1 as well) so did we get lucky with BOTH guys having big bounce back years or is it more the team defensive play is so much better? of course looking back now we’re glad Liane (who’s back tonight) didn’t wave his NTC…

Reversing the situation in Iowa, who’s to say that if GusBus (or any other goalie) was their starter he wouldn’t be letting in the same amount of goals as Wally? That team is terrible defensively and plays half the game on the PK, Wallstedt probably feels like Goldberg from the Mighty Ducks. For sure it would be nice to give him some NHL games, but our team (and goalies) is too hot right now, can’t mess with it, so he stays in the AHL getting pummeled…
The Iowa Wild need a complete reboot staff wise (the Mclean hire felt rushed) all of our D prospects down there are rotting, nothing is working…I can’t imagine GMBG is happy about it and if the losing continues (they’ve only played 18 games) we’ll see if he makes any changes…

The thing about Gus though is that he was TERRIBLE last season, so that’s where the idea of trading him came from, his last season. There’s no doubt he’s played alot better this season (Flower is 5-0-1 as well) so did we get lucky with BOTH guys having big bounce back years or is it more the team defensive play is so much better? of course looking back now we’re glad Liane (who’s back tonight) didn’t wave his NTC…

Could the same not be said in the opposite direction about the D last year.

I understand why his name was floated but to basically only have 1 option in Wally could have made things very difficult. Flower has played only 6 games. Do you think his stats would be the same if he was playing half the games right now. Or 18 like Gus has?

Flower is basically getting his HOF year to wave to fans and play a handful of memorable games. Not that he doesn’t deserve it but isn’t really a great plan either.

If Wally can be equal or better than Gus then you have a good problem on your hands. If Wally was 1A/B this year and you had to count on flower playing half the games I think they could have been in trouble.
Hindsight I get it. Just glad Gus has figured it out so far and he didn’t get traded.

Besides every kid fan loves the Gus Bus. LOL

Ripjiggen wrote:

Flower has played only 6 games. Do you think his stats would be the same if he was playing half the games right now. Or 18 like Gus has?

What have you seen from Flower that would suggest he wouldn’t? I mean it’s all assumptions either way we argue it…Has Flower had a 6+ goal game like Gus did in Philly? Normally I’d agree that a 40 year old goalie would get slow & tired, but does Flower look 40?

Don’t know I have only seen him play in 6 games. He is on pace to play 20 this season.
His 2.64 GAA would put him right around 20 in the league. His save percentage would put him at 24th in the league.
Do you think the wild record is the same if he played in 18 games vs 6.

I’m sure Tom Brady could still sling a football if he only had to play in 5 games.

Flower was terrible last year too. I do think the defense is much better this year, thus helping both goalies.

I hope Wallstedt has a bright future. But haven’t seen much from him yet to be confident in that yet. Definitely glad we have Gus.

Vancouvers goalie is 10-0 on the road this year? Wow.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Vancouvers goalie is 10-0 on the road this year? Wow.

Yeah that is unreal I had no idea either but my goodness. Only 3 wins for them at home LOL

And they signed him during training camp as last minute injury insurance

Jojo is just so friggin soft on the puck, it must drive GMBG crazy…

Lots of speed in this game sofar!

Ek is friggin hilarious, every single shift he starts something!

He just smoked Sherwood!