MN Wild 2016-17 – Official thread.

How about 2 for a regular time win, 3 for a overtime win and nothing if you lose. Isn’t winning suppose to be the objective? Why reward be willingness to tie and not go for the win?

$$$

Was that scoring system sarcasm or a typo?

Yes.

Son of a….

Well, the weekend was a couple of tough ones. the Wild looked mediocre to horrible at times. I really liked the bounce back they had last night against the Bruins. I know they were playing against 3rd and 4th string goalies, but overall, I think that was the most complete game the Wild have played. Duuuuubs looked great IMO, Erickson Ek seems to be getting caught up to speed quickly, and Dalphe, who I’m not completely sold on yet, seems to be doing pretty good too. Gotta take a couple on the chin and get welcomed into the NHL! GO WILD!!!

mplspug wrote:

The point system is definitely more about the league than the game and it’s a shame.

I liked the idea of a 3-2-1 system. 3 for a reg win, 2 for it win and 1 for losing in OT.

The league will never go for it.

I do like the 3 on 3 action. It’s less gimmicky than a shootout.

I’d also like the 3-2-1 system or make a compromise to the current scoring system by only allowing the split point if the game goes to a shoot out. 2 pts to the winner, 1 point for a shoot out loss and no points for reg or OT loss.

It kind of bugs me when the announcers poo-poo a win based on the Bruins goaltender woes. The Wild never got that free pass, but I suppose like everything else in the NHL there are brand names that always get the free pass. 3 of the Wild’s goals were pure quality and having a first string netminder wouldn’t have mattered for squat. Those weren’t all flukers like the announcers implied.

Dalphe had better smarten up. To be honest, I have no idea what the refs were doing NOT giving him a major on that boarding call. In most other games, a major could very well give the game away, so he’d better learn fast which side of the player to hit. He got away with one there.

Erickson Ek had 3 assists last night and really should have had a goal, so lots to like about his play.

Bordreau has to keep hammering on these guys not to come out so damn sluggish. Free coffee, cold pre-game showers, whatever it takes. Wake the he!! up in the first period!

The Wild are getting scoring from a variety of players, now they just need to get it in gear in the first. Also, I hate to start in on this, but it wouldn’t hurt if Parise found the net a little bit more often.

Grouse

I’m not too worried about Parise yet. He scored twice the other night and seems to be getting chances most games. Goals for him see to come in bunches. Are biggest scorer has 3 goals so he is in the mix. The rest of the lineup is producing so that is big. We need to keep that up so when guys like Parise don’t score we aren’t completely screwed.
I like how dumba has been playing in recent games. Is it the chance he was benched or that he is picking up some things from Stevens? Don’t know, but I like his physical play.
I have a feeling that Chuck doesn’t want to burn up the first year of Eks ELC but I think we need him to. He has so far anyway earned to be on the ice.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Dalphe had better smarten up. To be honest, I have no idea what the refs were doing NOT giving him a major on that boarding call. In most other games, a major could very well give the game away, so he’d better learn fast which side of the player to hit. He got away with one there.

You should have heard the Bruins announcers. I agree with the Player Safety, it was not a bad hit. I am also a little suspicious of the Bruins player, they were a good 5+ feet from the boards. I laud the refs for not doing a knee jerk and calling it a major.

Dalpe is exactly the kind of player player safety has no problem throwing the books at.

I’m not saying it was a dirty hit by Dalpe, but refs are clearly pressured by the league to call any hit from behind as a major automatically.

It was shown right there in that game when Dalpe was instantly sent off the ice to the dressing room by the linesman right after the hit as if the ONLY possible call was a major. Then the ref made the correct call and they had to go get him from the locker room.

It was the right call to give him a minor, but the Wild won’t be the beneficiaries of that right call very often. In 90% of games that’ll be called a major and that won’t be good in most games where the Wild don’t happen to be sitting on a 5-0 lead.

Grouse

As a side note he wasn’t disciplined by the league for the hit either.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I’m not saying it was a dirty hit by Dalpe, but refs are clearly pressured by the league to call any hit from behind as a major automatically.

Right on!

Wow! Beautiful goal be Ek! This kid looks pretty darn good.
Doobs looked good, especially in the 2nd.

Boudreau was quoted saying something to the effect of I might put him (Ek) on the PP. He might want to try that sooner rather than later.

It’s starting to look like he’ll be staying. He’s still got a few games left on his “tryout” before burning the first year of his contract. I like that he plays both ends of the ice.

Dooobs is playing solid, obviously. I sure hope he has an all star caliber year. And it’s encouraging that the wild are winning without spurgeon and hauls.

The wild tends to start off hot, so once again I am cautiously optimistic.

DOOOOOOOOOBS!!!! What a game, back to back shutouts! Now what do you folks think the wild should do with Ek? He’s only got a few games left before the Wild have to decide to either pay the guy or ship him back to Europe. He’s playing stellar and so far has shown he can skate with the big boys. That being said, he would be a pretty good cap hit considering how tight they are on cap space. Keeping him would limit what they could do as far as bringing others up from Iowa. Sending him to Europe can be hard considering he’s got 5 points in 4 games. What should they do!?

As hard as it may be for Fletcher I don’t know how he sends Ek packing whether it be Iowa or Sweden.
In the presser Boudreau did indeed say he needed to try him on the PP. He is deceptively fast, plays both ends well, makes smart line changes so far so good with him and he’s only 19.
Let’s hope scandella isn’t out for an extended period of time but that didn’t look too good. Whoever that Sabre guy was intentionally clamped his legs around scandellas right leg and basically twisted him down.

My friggin “season record” on the DirectTV didn’t record last night so I didn’t see the first period, dang nabbit.

Good effort from the 2 periods I did see, though. Was really cheering for the man-down D to keep going and make sure Dooobs got the second shutout.

Here’s a who would have thunk it moment. Did I hear this right? After last night’s game the Wild had the most goals scored in the NHL?

The Ek kid is an interesting question. I saw Bruce’s comments after the game and I think he’s conflicted on this. AFAIK the kid is still 19 for heaven’s sake. But cripes, do you really send him packing back to freaking Sweden when he’s scoring and putting up points like this? I mean call me crazy but isn’t that the point?

Yes, on one hand I get not wanting to burn a year of cheap contract on a 19 year old rookie because that’s just a year sooner you’ll have to pony up big money to keep him. Which has other implications.

But it’s hard to see what sending him to Sweden accomplishes? I mean what is he going to get in the Swedish league if he’s playing at an NHL level NOW? Except, of course, the nightmare scenario of injury.

Ek will be on the power play in the game after next against Buffalo again. We’ll see what happens then.

Grouse

I agree if he can handle it (he’s proven sofar he can) then keep him with the Wild, not sure if there’s any salary cap issues with keeping him though, as we’re rediculously tight at the max? It’s unreal how young he looks on the bench, he looks like high school freshman…

Just trade Parise. Cap problem solved

I haven’t been this excited about a rookie since Zucker…Coyle…Granlund…

Look, I recognize the jinx and I am not going to feed it.

Another thing with Ek is if they use up his 10 games and then send him back to Sweden, it’s a one-way trip. They can’t call him back without burning a year on his contract.

So what if we get to mid-season and the Wild have injury issues with multiple players out like last year? The shelves in Iowa aren’t exactly well-stocked with Grade A reserves. We’d have the totally weird situation where our best NHL-ready option is playing a 3-game road stand somewhere in the Swedish arctic.

If they end up phoning up Sweden and saying ship the Ek kid back here next day air, then we’ve just played without him for almost half a season and we would STILL end up burning a full year on his contract. So we’d have essentially paid him an NHL salary for half a season of his rookie contract to play for Nowheresbourg in the Swedish Tundra League. That would be totally stupid.

I have to say with the Wild’s up/coming talent drought, we may as well run what we brung. If Ek keeps up the level he’s playing at so far, screw it. What are we saving him for?

Grouse

Canadians are undefeated? How good is Price? Remember last year they went on an incredible run to start and then he got hurt and they tanked.

I agree Grouse. If anything sending Ek back hamstrings us big time. At least if they keep him around, perhaps send him down to Iowa at some point because his play dips or something they have the option to bring him up.

I am far from a Capologist, but this is how I look at it. Ek’s ELC ends after the 2018-2019 season. At that point Koivu’s beefy deal has expired (2017-2018) and will have either moved on or signed for a friendly deal. At the same time that Ek is due his first contract we have the following players as RFA’s: Pominville and Staal. I would hazard a guess that surely Pominville wouldn’t be around. Perhaps Staal is brought back since he is a center, but it surely would be less money.
Soo, what does that mean? Well, as of right now they are sitting at $52M payroll for 2018-2019 season and have 12 players to sign (either contract up after this season, or next season). I think it is doable to keep Ek around and deal with the aftermath of burning his first year. It would be nice if we could hold off, but I don’t think we can afford (production-wise) to not keep him.

Good points, CaptMusky.

I guess just at a basic level, I’m not seeing any reason NOT to keep Ek. It really goes back to what would the Wild gain by not keeping him on the team? It’s not like we have a boatload of other players at the Iowa level that we are looking to for possible contributions. We could get a few coming up for a game here and there.

I don’t see anything to lose. The entire core is aging and if I’m being honest, I see a time 2-3 years in the future where we are in for some rough years because Koivu, Suter, Parise, and Staal will all be at or on the downslope of their careers. There is also a middle-aged group (in hockey years) like Poms, Nino, Dubnyk who will at best remain the same but probably won’t have significant upside left as far as gains. Then there are “year-to-year” players who come and go.

So let’s say there are 10-12 players including 3 of what I could call “franchise players” who will be in need of replacement over a 3-4 year span. I see hard times coming because I have serious doubts that we will be able to replace players as fast as they leave or decline.

Bottom line is unless Ek falls off a performance cliff, I say there’s nothing to lose by keeping him.

Grouse

Agreed on all accounts. The Wild also waived Pulkkonen today. Since Haula will be returning soon, I am sure that is to free up some cash even in the short-term to keep Ek around.
I think the decision to keep Ek would be a lot harder if Graovac would have been at least moderately impressive through pre-season and camp. Boudreau was really disappointed. He commented that it was his job to take and he lost it.
So, right now Ek is really the only one of the “potential” Iowa guys that deserves a shot.
I agree in a few years it is starting to get a little hairy with the lineup. If guys like Coyle, Nino, Haula, etc do not continue to progress to the next level and guys like Tuch, Graovac, Anas, or Oloffson (stay healthy) make the jump, we could be hurting!
I am encouraged that Tuch will see some ice time with the big club this year. I think he has the skills to do well in the NHL. He was actually faster than I remember him in college which is a big plus. He didn’t stand out to me on the speed side at all when I watched him in college.

Pulkkinen? Seems odd, but there is a good article on it at the hockey writers site. The blues waived Paajarvi and I think he cleared. So waiving him may not mean the end of the Pulkkinen Wild era? He may not even get sent to Iowa, depending how it plays out.

He survived waivers. The knock on him is he can’t skate, so he catch create separation to showcase his shot.

Doooooooooooobs!

That’s three straight shutouts! That really makes a guy appreciate the record of five consecutive by Boucher.

They’re rolling!

Horrible 2nd period. Could have been down 1-4. I will say that the stars didn’t get too many quality second shots. Dubs played well. Just wish we would quit taking a period off each game.

Woah mama, that goal from Zucker to Graovac with the behind the back pass was pretty! Also, the Koivu to Granny short hander was a great way to get things started and get Grandlund on the score sheet with his first goal.

Totally agree Mojo, the Wild have had issues in the past with taking a period off. Now that Bordreau got them to get it in gear in the first, he needs to get them playing a complete game.

What can you say about Doobs? 3 shutouts in a row, a franchise first.

Grouse