MN Wild 2017-18 Official Thread

In other news, Mike Fisher is coming out of retirement to re-join Nashville.

I had commented to Mrs. Grouse that I think Koivu is playing hurt. He just doesn’t seem right out there and hasn’t for a long time.

The thing that’s frustrated me about Koivu lately is that in shootouts, he won’t do the signature Koivu Move with the forehand to backhand while sweeping right and then top-shelfing it.

Why not? The only thing that kept that move from scoring every time was not getting the puck elevated enough. It was almost impossible to stop close in because the puck was going over the top of the goalie as he pushed across. But now he doesn’t do it at all. This again has me suspecting that he’s having trouble making a hard left to right turn which again would suggest an injury.

Nice shootout goal by Parise to win it, BTW.

The good news is that if the Wild get Nino back and then get even 1 more player to really find his game in the second half, we could really take off.

This is bad for a fan to say, but I’m a little conflicted as to IF I really want the Wild to do a Wild Card or bottom seed entry to the playoffs. Both the West and East are just loaded with high power teams right now. This may be the worst time in a long time to back into the playoffs and then you have to consider the number of draft positions lost as punishment for making the playoffs. And we do actually have draft picks this year, I believe. I don’t recall any past trades that gave away first or second round positions this year, are there?

Grouse

Koivu doesn’t do the move anymore because it’s so predictable, if you watch the replay of his attempt last night (and his other Shootout attempts) the goalie was cheating and had the glove elevated ready to raise it if Koivu faked to the backhand… I know he tried the move awhile ago and the goalie cheated and got a piece of it) I believe the last 2-3 attempts he’s noticed the goalies cheating and tried shooting low instead…

I’d do this shoot-out rotation from now on if I were in Bruce’s shoes…

1) Coyle
2) Spurgeon
3) Stewart
4) Parise
5) Nino
6) Granlund – I know he’s not been successful on the few attempts he has, but the kid has moves unlike anybody else on our team…

IDK grouse, this year is probably as good of year as any. Look at the standings. The Wild would be in 2nd place in the Metropolitan or Pacific divisions based on points. TB and Vegas are running away with their divisions. The Central is just dog eat dog battle with all the teams. The Wild are honestly not that far back from 1st in the Division.
I think this could be as good of year as ever to back in. Get the 8th seed, face Vegas and bounce them in the first round.
A lot has to happen between now and then. Most importantly playing better on the road. Decent game last night, but that one could have slipped away. We also cannot afford to have games like last night, go to OT, against teams in the Western Conference. Its fine to give CBJ the loser point, but that will really hurt the Wild down the stretch if its against teams in our Conference.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

1) Coyle
2) Spurgeon
3) Stewart
4) Parise
5) Nino
6) Granlund – I know he’s not been successful on the few attempts he has, but the kid has moves unlike anybody else on our team…

I wouldn’t be afraid to throw Ennis in there either. He had a pretty decent game last night. Dang, that one puck almost beating the buzzer at the end of the 2nd that was a great play, but he was visible all night. He is coming around.

I am not sure how you guys watch the games, but when I watch them I tend to single out individual players and really watch what they are doing even away from the puck. I tell you what, this Eriksson-Ek guy is growing right before our eyes and I really really like what I am seeing. It is just a matter of time before the goals start coming for him. He plays the body very well. In their last game before the ASG some big defenseman thought they were going to light him up in front of the bench, but only Ek remained standing after the hit. He reminds me so much of Staal. The only flaw in his game I see right now is faceoff %. He had a couple big wins last night, but this needs to continue to improve. It was terrible at the beginning of the season.

Ek has looked ALOT better the last 10 games or so, you still have to factor in how young he is and that he’s still learning on the job…He has no confidence right now in his offensive game and each game not scoring adds to it, but he’s close to breaking out…

Isn’t that the 2nd goal scored that was reversed and found to be like 1/2 second late? talk about our puck luck this season so far…

What’s truly sad is if you add up alot of the points the Wild have lost this season by blowing leads late in the 3rd period, we’d be in 1st place right now…This season FEELS like a complete failure so far and yet we’re still thick in the playoff hunt…hard to believe…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I’d do this shoot-out rotation from now on if I were in Bruce’s shoes…

1) Coyle
2) Spurgeon
3) Stewart
4) Parise
5) Nino
6) Granlund – I know he’s not been successful on the few attempts he has, but the kid has moves unlike anybody else on our team…

I’m not getting this. Coyle in the #1 spot? He’s currently on pace to have a 10 goal season and can’t find his stick with both hands and you’ve got him #1 in the shootout and taking up one of the first 3 slots? How about Staal? No place for him at all?

When Koivu was using his move, it didn’t matter that the goalie knew it was coming. The goalie had to go down to cover down low or Koivu could slide it by him, and once the goalie went down he couldn’t reach far enough or high enough to glove the puck unless he was very lucky to be in exactly the right place and have stopped his push. That’s what made it a terrific move when he was using it, it was very difficult for a goalie to get a strong push, go down, and then reach all the way up to the crossbar to grab a shot that was that high and at such a steep angle.

Grouse

I have a better idea…win in regulation and not worry about shootouts!

And get rid of Stewart. Suter too but that’s not happening anytime soon! They both slow the whole team down! At least guys like Coyle and Ennis are working.

Watching the game last night made me wonder if it is time to blow this team up and start new. Instead of picking players who should be in the shootout I made a list of players who should be off this team.

#1 Koivu
#2 Suter
#3 Coyle
#4 Ennis
#5 Stewart

Here we go with Suter again. You trying to get me going?

Do you really want to give up the guy who’s first in assists and fourth in points?

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Coyle has one of the best shootout % on the team…

Ok, so almost half of those points on the pp. Then take his time on ice. His +/- is one of the worst on the team. Not counting how many times during the game we get stuck in our own end because he either loses the puck and/or not hustling and/or thinking he’s a better than the player taking him on! Even Coyle has almost as many points if you don’t include pp with 14 less games.

When this team is working hard and skating fast, they’re tuff to beat. 2 guys constantly not doing that is Stewart and Suter.

I think if Suter’s minutes were cut down to 23 max per game, he’d be much better?

[rquote=1748877]2 guys constantly not doing that is Stewart and Suter.[/quote]

You’re delusional. He plays against the best of the best, every shift every night. He steals the puck, he loses the puck, against the best. His long stride makes it look like he takes it easy. In fact, he keeps up with the fastest in the league.

He also is on the top pk line. What’s your point? Their pk sucked early this year. Not solely on him.

Mike, what do you think about +/-?

Woody wrote:

Not counting how many times during the game we get stuck in our own end because he either loses the puck and/or not hustling and/or thinking he’s a better than the player taking him on!

Yep, you’re delusional. Suter is one of the 5 or 6 best puck-handling d-men in hockey. Everybody gives up the puck now and then. If it were so damn easy to just waltz around with the puck on your stick, guys like Crosby and Matthews would spend entire games with the puck.

Suter is a master of efficient skating, playing angles, and positional defense. The vast majority of hockey fans, evidently you included, have no idea what these attributes look like or why they matter so much.

biggill wrote:

Do you really want to give up the guy who’s first in assists and fourth in points?

Yes, and he’s not holding down 4th place in points by just a point or two. I’ve never understood why people seem to only value 2 things from defensemen. Either they want a big hitting goon, no matter how slow they are or how low they sink in the +/-, OR they want an “offensive defenseman” that scores and they don’t care how many times he gets burned.

Our D group is just about the last thing on this team that I’d go messing with. If we could get rid of some of the chronic under-producers **cough Coyle cough** who are taking up space and get one more guy like Ek showing up on the score sheet regularly, we’d be a tough, tough team.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Yes, and he’s not holding down 4th place in points by just a point or two. I’ve never understood why people seem to only value 2 things from defensemen. Either they want a big hitting goon, no matter how slow they are or how low they sink in the +/-, OR they want an “offensive defenseman” that scores and they don’t care how many times he gets burned.

Im confused. So you do want to give up Suter?

My statement about points and assists had less to do about a defenseman and more to do about being a leading scorer and contributor.

I think Brodin is one of our most valuable players. A defensive defenseman.

I’m a goalie, you should know better. I could care less how many assists a defenseman gets.

biggill wrote:

I’m a goalie, you should know better.

You should have never admitted that.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I’m a goalie…

Oh dear. My, my, my.

Look, the first thing I want to do is reach out with a compassionate hand and tell you that both Jesus and I love you. It took a lot of courage for you to admit it. Does your family know?

There’s hope no matter what. Just ask Deertracker, he was one of those too, but he found bowhunting and turned his life around. Most of us consider him to be 36% normal on many good days.

There’s hope.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Our D group is just about the last thing on this team that I’d go messing with. If we could get rid of some of the chronic under-producers **cough Coyle cough** who are taking up space and get one more guy like Ek showing up on the score sheet regularly, we’d be a tough, tough team.

Grouse

Why you got to be such a hater grouse???

And lay off the goalie thing, we are some of the best athletes to strap on a pair of skates!!

sticker wrote:

And lay off the goalie thing, we are some of the best athletes to strap on a pair of skates!!

Just ask a goalie right? Just in fun.
Actually in many many cases that is an accurate statement. There were a couple examples from my youth hockey days that would prove otherwise. They made “Goldberg” from Mighty Ducks look like Johnathon Quick or Pekka Rinne. LOL

sticker wrote:

Why you got to be such a hater grouse???

I hate the lack of goal production, not the lackie. I just can’t accept that a guy with Coyle’s skating ability, strength, and hockey pedigree cannot find the net more. And to be honest it ticks me off that Fletcher clearly speculated that Coyle would blossom this year, so we protected him and lost Haula. Who now has 18 goals and could easily be a 40 goal + guy on a playoff bound team.

Wes Walz was on KFAN the other day commenting on Coyle and he said that maybe we have to accept that he’s just a 10-12 goal a year guy. I hate to think this is right, but if he is, it’s time to move on. We have enough 10 goal guys already.

Grouse

RS will never win a cup with the wild or have any value to a team making a deep run at one unless he takes way less money than he thinks he’s worth. He’s over valued and highly over paid. Good player, yeah. The wild will go no where near a cup going forward with him on the team with his contract. His contract is an anchor comparatively to his value on the ice for this team, or any other, that’s why he has absolutely no trade value with that contract. The whole league is well aware of that. His value doesn’t match the dollars and cents. If it did, team’s would be banging down the wilds door to get their hands on him. There’s literally no interest in him at all for the cash.

Now you guys went and hurt my feelings.

It’s amazing to me all the general managers are on this site. It doesn’t matter how much you listen to sports talk radio or read sports print. Those guys can predict what happens only about 30% of the time. And these guys are paid to do this.

I’m not sure what you’re looking to get for RS, but guys of his status are never traded. Ovechkin, Crosby, Kane, Burns (post-free agency), guys like this don’t get traded, PERIOD.

They demand these contracts so they stay put and don’t get traded. Free agent age, they want to start aNd raise a family. They get a little more for excluding a no-trade clause.

Stop crying about how you can’t trade these guys. That was we’ll know when they were signed.

You might trade one of these guys for a third round draft pick when they turn 39. Otherwise, forget it.

End rant.

If you hate Suter, I’d love to know your feelings on Parise.

The next few weeks will tell us everything we need to know about this season, let’s wait before passing final judgement…again, the Wild has had it’s FULL roster maybe 1-2 games this entire season? All it takes is the goalie getting hot and we can do damage in the playoffs…

BUT

if they do fall completely out of the playoff picture then be a bigtime seller at the trade deadline and hope you get pingpong ball luck in the draft lottery to pick Rasmus Dahleen

mplspug wrote:

If you hate Suter, I’d love to know your feelings on Parise.

Isnt that the truth. It isn’t even worth trying to show people who dog Suter or Parise what they have truly meant to this team and still do. Heck, because of those two most of the fans arrived! They were a terrible team before they came and they were instantly relevant.
If Parise hasn’t had the injury issues no doubt his production would be higher. He is starting to skate and play better. Getting him back now is like making a big move at the trade deadline because by then he should be fully in game shape. He is already producing better in the last couple games.
If Nino comes back tonight, he better be healthy. I don’t want him out there until he is 100% or at least not at a risk of re-injuring it. That would do us no good.

Some interesting talk about CF dangling Reilly/Olofsson. I really thought Reilly was going to be on the fast track over Olofsson, but Olofsson has looked more solid especially in the D end. Reilly certainly has the offensive upside. They both deserve to play, but unfortunately there isn’t enough room. They screwed up letting Reilly burn that 70th game played, now they cannot send him down to Iowa without having to go through waivers. That was a big mistake. The kid deserves to play somewhere, not sit in the press box.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Getting him back now is like making a big move at the trade deadline because by then he should be fully in game shape.

That’s so true. Getting him back is like trading for a first or second line forward for a fourth line forward.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Some interesting talk about CF dangling Reilly/Olofsson. I really thought Reilly was going to be on the fast track over Olofsson, but Olofsson has looked more solid especially in the D end. Reilly certainly has the offensive upside. They both deserve to play, but unfortunately there isn’t enough room. They screwed up letting Reilly burn that 70th game played, now they cannot send him down to Iowa without having to go through waivers. That was a big mistake. The kid deserves to play somewhere, not sit in the press box.

What frustrates me is the fact that these two can’t play together as a pair. Aside from both being left handed, they seem like a perfect match. Olofson is the steady stay at home type and Reilly there to force the play and create some offense. What is it about the nhl that defenseman can’t or don’t like to play on their off hand? I’ve played D the majority of my life and never found it to be a issue. At every level and with every coach and player I’ve played with… it’s never been an issue. But in the NHL, and especially with these two and Quincy, playing the off hand D seems to be a deal breaker. That’s also the reason Brodin was moved away from Suter a couple years ago. I just feel like these two could/should be a really solid up and coming D pair for the wild. But instead we have Nate Prosser playing every single night, and no offense to Prosser but that shouldn’t happen. What am I missing here?

tswoboda wrote:

What frustrates me is the fact that these two can’t play together as a pair. Aside from both being left handed, they seem like a perfect match. Olofson is the steady stay at home type and Reilly there to force the play and create some offense. What is it about the nhl that defenseman can’t or don’t like to play on their off hand? I’ve played D the majority of my life and never found it to be a issue. At every level and with every coach and player I’ve played with… it’s never been an issue. But in the NHL, and especially with these two and Quincy, playing the off hand D seems to be a deal breaker. That’s also the reason Brodin was moved away from Suter a couple years ago. I just feel like these two could/should be a really solid up and coming D pair for the wild. But instead we have Nate Prosser playing every single night, and no offense to Prosser but that shouldn’t happen. What am I missing here?

I agree with you, it would be nice if they could play together, but as a younger defenseman playing on the off side is tougher. I don’t think its a situation where they don’t want to, I think its CF and Boudreau don’t want to force them too. I bet if you asked Reilly or Olofsson they would gladly play if it meant they would play every night.
Also, it is my impression and Suter and Brodin were split up because Suter “preferred to play with a right shot” D man. He has made comments about it previously and it came up again when Spurgeon was hurt earlier this year. They tried Brodin there again and then went with Dumba.
I think it does certainly help things in the D zone having a lefty and a righty out there, but when they are moving around the rink I don’t think it makes much difference at all.
How about this, don’t get stuck in your zone?! LOL

Don’t hate RS or ZP. Am not delusional with their window though, it is closing quickly.

Coyle is baffling.

If no younger player’s step up, the writing is on the wall for this line up. We’ve been through enough coaches now, traded enough prospects and players away, that the core isn’t gelling consistently enough to keep them together. And yeah I get the injury issues. They are fighting every year for scraps and first round losses are indicative of where this lineup has been/is headed. And yeah I get the idea of rebuilding vs staying static. If it’s impossible to build anything around the three core guys, where we are at, is where were are going to be for the foreseeable future. If you are happy throwing away the next decade for loyalty to the three top players and are afraid to change any major pieces, enjoy trying to squeak into the playoffs and loosing in the first round if we are lucky enough to get there, carry on. Blowing it up is no cure all, but neither is staying the course hoping something changes, when past performance is a crystal ball view of where we are headed.

basseyes wrote:

…when past performance is a crystal ball view of where we are headed.

So we are going to make the playoffs then!