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

CaptainMusky wrote:

Sweden has everything to play for and the US has nothing really to play for. That could be an upset. If Sweden wins in regulation and the other game goes to OT Sweden US championship. That would be pretty hilarious!

yeah, obviously everything will depend on the Canada vs Finland game at noon, if there’s a regulation winner then tonight’s game means nothing…

The NHL couldn’t have drawn it up any better, the NHL is getting ALOT of really good press for this tournament from outside of the typical NHL press circles and that’s a really good thing….

Has anybody seen the TV viewership numbers for the first few games? Hopefully they reflect the excitement shown on social media…nvm, I just found the ratings numbers, they are HUGE!

These TV numbers are a huge factor for future NHL TV Broadcast negotiations, hopefully it results in more NHL games to watch on easier (and cheaper) to access platforms…

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6140554/2025/02/16/4-nations-face-off-nhl-hockey-canada-usa/

Yeah we will know before the game tonight if it will mean anything. I wonder if they start Otter?

I’ll be honest, I thought it would be pretty lame and unentertaining. It hasn’t been. It’s been good hockey with a lot of passion from the players and fans. The McAvoy hit on McDavid showed something that you almost never get to see in an NHL game too: even superstars aren’t off limits.

I think it’s safe to say that the all star nonsense will be discontinued in favor of this in the future. The NHL would be fools not to.

not to be a Debbie Downer, but Danila Yurov left his Saturday game (helped off the ice) with an apparent knee injury…hopefully its just a ligament sprain and not any type of major injury…Hard to get any information on KHL injuries so I guess we just hope for the best…

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Chris Krieder is the same type of player as Tkachuk, so it wont be that big a loss if Mathew can’t go Thursday…
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This is the dumbest thing anyone has ever said in these threads. No one could replace those Tkachucks RN. You can go grab some printed stat or contract detail off contracts.com to try an prove your point but the game is not played on paper. There is NOTHING on paper that will come close to proving Kreider is as good a leader as MT. Nothing that will show the Heart that MT has. Nothing that proves he will play with Broken Ribs like MT has. You will notice how MT’s teams have been successful – at EVERY Level he has ever been. MT and BT are not playing for themselves, they are playing for their team, their Family, and USA. They pulled everyone into that game, no way Kreider ever does that. Al of that is why Kreider’s teams have NEVER produced to the end. I would add that even if Kreder showed up and performed above his normal intensity level, it would have been fueled by MT’s efforts Saturday night, because even in absence MT is a Natural born motivator.

wormdunker wrote:

Chris Krieder is the same type of player as Tkachuk, so it wont be that big a loss if Mathew can’t go Thursday…
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This is the dumbest thing anyone has ever said in these threads. No one could replace those Tkachucks RN. You can go grab some printed stat or contract detail off contracts.com to try an prove your point but the game is not played on paper. There is NOTHING on paper that will come close to proving Kreider is as good a leader as MT. Nothing that will show the Heart that MT has. Nothing that proves he will play with Broken Ribs like MT has. You will notice how MT’s teams have been successful – at EVERY Level he has ever been. MT and BT are not playing for themselves, they are playing for their team, their Family, and USA. They pulled everyone into that game, no way Kreider ever does that. Al of that is why Kreider’s teams have NEVER produced to the end. I would add that even if Kreder showed up and performed above his normal intensity level, it would have been fueled by MT’s efforts Saturday night, because even in absence MT is a Natural born motivator.
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it must suck not being legally able to get within 100 yards of your beloved Mathew… I can’t wait to watch “Kreder” tonight…lol

looking at the 4Nations stats, pretty crazy that Faber is 4th overall in TOI (1st on Team USA) as the 2nd youngest player in the entire tournament…Before the tournament I wondered if he would get the backseat a little bit with guys like Fox, McAvoy, Werenski on the team… nope… oh he’s also 2nd in the Tournament with a +4

I thought he looked a little frazzled the 1st period of the Sweden game, but after that he’s been bringing it! so awesome!

Faber did appear sorta nervous early in that first game but played solid since.

USA vs Canada – Part Deux Thursday Night!

Glad the Finns came back to make it close. Wouldn’t want the Canadians to think they had an off night when they played USA.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Yeah we will know before the game tonight if it will mean anything. I wonder if they start Otter?

I imagine they will rest hellebuyck.

Really hoping tonight has some speed even though it’s meaningless now.

Charlie W wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
Yeah we will know before the game tonight if it will mean anything. I wonder if they start Otter?

I imagine they will rest hellebuyck.

Really hoping tonight has some speed even though it’s meaningless now.

They announced Oettinger is in net tonight and Tkachuk and McAvoy are out, Kreider and Sanderson in…

TNT boys giving Faber props…

That’s awesome

35 seconds in and that bum Kreider scores.

AK Guy wrote:

35 seconds in and that bum Kreider scores.

yeah, he must have been fueled by Mathew Tkachuk’s energy from the press box….

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>AK Guy wrote:</div>
35 seconds in and that bum Kreider scores.

yeah, he must have been fueled by Mathew Tkachuk’s energy from the press box….

Brady looks ready to join him.

USA players dropping like flies…

I’d rather win than lose, but now that that game is done and over with, I’m OK with it. It almost felt inevitable. Nothing to play for, coming off such a huge high from Saturday night. Crowd seemed to want to get into it but hit a wall because there was only so much excitement to generate knowing the big deal comes Thursday night. Better to come back down to earth and build back up in a few nights. Plus you can tell that win meant a lot for Sweden.

Dan wrote:

I’d rather win than lose, but now that that game is done and over with, I’m OK with it. It almost felt inevitable. Nothing to play for, coming off such a huge high from Saturday night. Crowd seemed to want to get into it but hit a wall because there was only so much excitement to generate knowing the big deal comes Thursday night. Better to come back down to earth and build back up in a few nights. Plus you can tell that win meant a lot for Sweden.

its not like USA didn’t have their chances, Sweden’s goalie played well and we hit FIVE pipes… This game was all about getting through it healthy and that almost turned into a disaster…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dan wrote:</div>
I’d rather win than lose, but now that that game is done and over with, I’m OK with it. It almost felt inevitable. Nothing to play for, coming off such a huge high from Saturday night. Crowd seemed to want to get into it but hit a wall because there was only so much excitement to generate knowing the big deal comes Thursday night. Better to come back down to earth and build back up in a few nights. Plus you can tell that win meant a lot for Sweden.

its not like USA didn’t have their chances, Sweden’s goalie played well and we hit FIVE pipes… This game was all about getting through it healthy and that almost turned into a disaster…

I was channeling my inner Doug McLeod last night. Metallurgy save!

Can we all agree that the All Star Game can be replaced by this? it’s 100x more entertaining to watch. To be completely honest, I think its better than the Stanely cup finals. Especially if they add in Russia.

I too thought 4 teams wasnt enough, but if you add in more it would get too long. I think keep it to 4 and rotate 2 teams each time.

Angler II wrote:

Can we all agree that the All Star Game can be replaced by this? it’s 100x more entertaining to watch. To be completely honest, I think its better than the Stanely cup finals. Especially if they add in Russia.

it looks like you’ll probably get some type of all-star event on the years there’s NOT a World Cup of Hockey or Olympics. So looking forward, next year 2026 we have an Olympics, then in 2028 there’s a World Cup of Hockey and then another Olympics in 2030, so there needs to be something in 2027 and 2029, that’s where they likely do all-star game type of events, now they could mess with the All-Star game format, maybe do a North America vs World setup or whatever but this is the NHL we’re talking about, odds are it will still be lame…

Remember that the reason there was so much built up angst for this 4 Nations is because its been 10+ years since the last time the best played the best internationally…if you have something like it every year, its gets watered down quickly, just look at the Winter Classic/Outdoor games…

CaptainMusky wrote:

I too thought 4 teams wasnt enough, but if you add in more it would get too long. I think keep it to 4 and rotate 2 teams each time.

6 teams would be the max. Add a Russia and “Europe” aka rest of the World teams, after that the rosters get too weak and you’re going to get Canada, USA & Sweden destroying the countries that can barely put a full NHL roster together (Like the World Juniors)
That “Europe” team will be really friggin good with Germany/Czechia/Slovakia/Austria/Switzerland stars leading the way…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Remember that the reason there was so much built up angst for this 4 Nations is because its been 10+ years since the last time the best played the best internationally…if you have something like it every year, its gets watered down quickly, just look at the Winter Classic/Outdoor games…

Completely agree with this – it’s the first best on best USA/Canada games for all the guys in their prime like McDavid, Mackinnon, Matthews, Eichel, Tkachuks’s, etc

I’m pretty sure there’s an NHL all-star game already scheduled for next year

tswoboda wrote:

I’m pretty sure there’s an NHL all-star game already scheduled for next year

Yeah, it’s at the Islanders new Arena…a gift from the league for getting it built…the February timing will be silly with the Olympics already being held between 2/6-2/22

Team USA’s Charlie McAvoy has been ruled out for Thursday’s 4 Nations final, he was admitted to an area hospital last night with an infection from a prior injury…how strange is that!

NHL trade deadline is March 7 at 3 PM EST. Do the Wild and BG make any moves?

I don’t see it. I don’t think Nelson wants the disruption and the Islanders are showing a lot of interest in a new contract plus they have their own playoff picture to worry about. If he comes here, it’ll be as a UFA this summer.

Do the Wild make any moves?

Maybe you guys can enlighten me on this, but my brother in law discussed this over the weekend.

If Snuggerud plays his senior year with the U he becomes a UFA next year. With all the talent that comes out of MN and now we have NIL rules for the NCAA, why don’t we have a big time donor make a payment to guys like him to keep him here Then it gives the Wild a chance to sign them.

It is Utterly ridiculous that we churn out so many NHL players, but have never won a cup.