MN Wild 2017-18 Official Thread

i’m guessing he mis-typed and forgot to include “un” in front of “like McDavid”

and regarding the Oilers 1st round picks, I would say only Yakupov has been a failure upto this point… Eberle, Hall, RNH, McDavid, Nurse, Draisaitl all have had good careers so far…They obviously made a mistake letting Hall go….

I would say the lack of maturity is the biggest weakness in having that many very young & talented players building a team around. They are so used to winning in Junior and then come to a team that loses 65% of their games that it takes awhile to build confidence and not try to do everything themselves…

jonesry09 wrote:

Not a Oil fan at all but would you rather be a team that pushes to make it to the finals once or twice every decade (2008 finals, last year 1 win away)

Ah yeah, about last year, they got bumped in the second round. And it was 2006, not 2008. They have literally been to the finals once in the last 25 years.

I’ll take the excitement of the playoffs because 10 out of the last 11 seasons the Oilers had 0% chance at the cup finishing out of the playoffs.

By the way guys, next season the Wild will officially be my favorite team from the West. I am moving to Tampa at the end of the summer.

mplspug wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>jonesry09 wrote:</div>
Not a Oil fan at all but would you rather be a team that pushes to make it to the finals once or twice every decade (2008 finals, last year 1 win away)

Ah yeah, about last year, they got bumped in the second round. And it was 2006, not 2008. They have literally been to the finals once in the last 25 years.

I’ll take the excitement of the playoffs because 10 out of the last 11 seasons the Oilers had 0% chance at the cup finishing out of the playoffs.

You are correct. I was just going from memory (which isn’t that good these days haha). Let’s say this. You have $1000 to place a bet. Who wins a Stanley Cup first, Minnesota Wild or the Edmonton Oilers. Where do you place your money? I know where I am putting my money.

I use to say this when watching the Wild play Chicago in the playoffs over the last few years. How many players on the Wilds top 2 lines would be on the top 2 in Edmonton? At the time, it was maybe 2 (Parise for sure… and?). Believe me, players aren’t lining up to sign with the Minnesota Wild in hopes of winning a Stanley Cup. Edmonton will be a destination in the future that FA’s flock to because of McDavid. 11 out of 12 crappy years year to have a bright future is better than an eternity of one and dones.

mplspug wrote:

By the way guys, next season the Wild will officially be my favorite team from the West. I am moving to Tampa at the end of the summer.

No more curse??? Finally minnesota will get a cup!

biggill wrote:

No more curse??? Finally minnesota will get a cup!

Tampa better win this year, I predict stormy weather ahead.

jonesry09 wrote:

You are correct. I was just going from memory (which isn’t that good these days haha). Let’s say this. You have $1000 to place a bet. Who wins a Stanley Cup first, Minnesota Wild or the Edmonton Oilers. Where do you place your money? I know where I am putting my money.

That’s the beauty of sports. It’s very subjective. I’d put my money on the Wild. The reason being Edmonton defensemen and goaltending aren’t good.

That being said, in 3-5 years I might be saying otherwise considering how young they are and how good McDavid is. I might not considering their track history, no matter how good he is.

Edmonton’s issue is goal tending and defense. All those #1 overall picks were great and all to boost their offense, but they never addressed the back end. That will be what holds that team back.
I still like their roster over 75% in the NHL, but they just shoved 2 huge contracts in front of McDavid and Draisatl, its going to be tough for all these “big FAs” to go flocking to Edmonton in the foreseeable future. They are the Hawks after the Hawks were the Hawks winning championships.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Edmonton’s issue is goal tending and defense. All those #1 overall picks were great and all to boost their offense, but they never addressed the back end. That will be what holds that team back.
I still like their roster over 75% in the NHL, but they just shoved 2 huge contracts in front of McDavid and Draisatl, its going to be tough for all these “big FAs” to go flocking to Edmonton in the foreseeable future. They are the Hawks after the Hawks were the Hawks winning championships.

HAHAHA Don’t forget who was in net when those #1’s were all playing there.

I would be willing to bet that Lucic will be off the books in the next year or two. Thats what 6-7M to work with/year.

I’m just playing devils advocate anyways. I am a Wild supporter by virtue of living in MN haha Just love a good hockey conversation.

jonesry09 wrote:

Believe me, players aren’t lining up to sign with the Minnesota Wild in hopes of winning a Stanley Cup. Edmonton will be a destination in the future that FA’s flock to because of McDavid.

Well Edmonton certainly has no where to go but up in that regard. #2 least desirable NHL city to play in this year after being #1 the two years before that.

Meanwhile the Wild have landed multiple top tier free agents in the last 5 offseasons – almost all for less money than they were offered by other teams.

Players don’t sign with teams based on chances of winning a cup.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>jonesry09 wrote:</div>
Believe me, players aren’t lining up to sign with the Minnesota Wild in hopes of winning a Stanley Cup. Edmonton will be a destination in the future that FA’s flock to because of McDavid.

Well Edmonton certainly has no where to go but up in that regard. #2 least desirable NHL city to play in this year after being #1 the two years before that.

Meanwhile the Wild have landed multiple top tier free agents in the last 5 offseasons – almost all for less money than they were offered by other teams.

Players don’t sign with teams based on chances of winning a cup.

Outside of Stall, who would you say is “top-tier” free agent that signed for less? I’m really curious on this one. I would think that without looking to confirm, Minnesota has signed maybe 3 of the top 20 free agents from each of the last 5 years (so 100 total). Those being Stall, Parise and Suter. The latter certainly had some financial motivation hahah Do you put Vanek in that one? Again, he got PAID!!

jonesry09 wrote:

Outside of Stall, who would you say is “top-tier” free agent that signed for less? I’m really curious on this one.

Parise and Suter turned down more money elsewhere to sign here.

jonesry09 wrote:

HAHAHA Don’t forget who was in net when those #1’s were all playing there.

You do realize that “back end” is more than just a goal tender right?

None of it really matters; most likely the Preds,the lightning,the Jets,the Leafs are all teams that will be exchanging conference championships and Stanley cups
for the next decade.

jonesry09 wrote:

Outside of Stall, who would you say is “top-tier” free agent that signed for less? I’m really curious on this one. I would think that without looking to confirm, Minnesota has signed maybe 3 of the top 20 free agents from each of the last 5 years (so 100 total). Those being Stall, Parise and Suter. The latter certainly had some financial motivation hahah Do you put Vanek in that one? Again, he got PAID!!

2012 – Parise/Suter
2014 – Vanek
2016 – Staal

All 4 were offered equal or better contracts by other teams, but signed with the Wild. All 4 were arguably the best available UFA at their position for that offseason.

The Wild have a tough remaining schedule. I am taking my son to the game Saturday. It will be his first ever Wild game. Its his birthday and he has gotten straight A’s all year so I felt compelled to reward him. Hopefully we can cool the hot Preds.
I think its possible the Wild drop into the Wildcard race comparing their remaining schedule to the Avs.
The Wild have a tough West Coast road trip to end the season. That will determine their ending position most likely.

jonesry09 wrote:

I’d also love to hear your “flaws” on McDavid. Interesting considering his fellow players and those around the game consider him top 3 players in the World right now.

He’s a young player who wants to play offense all the time. He routinely gets caught turned and sneaking out of the D zone looking for a breakaway chance for himself before the Oilers have clear possession of the puck. Edmonton doesn’t need anyone creating any more defensive liabilities than they already have.

As I pointed out, doesn’t matter who’s got a top 3, top 5 or top 57 player. McDavid will be playing golf and watching the playoffs on TV while the top TEAMS play for the Cup. It takes more than one guy playing well to make it even into the playoffs and then even more have to step up to win a Cup. Ovetchkin’s a better player than McDavid and with vastly more experience AND on a vastly better team overall. Still hasn’t had the chance to put a liplock on the Cup.

Deep run, shallow run, doesn’t matter to me. Make the playoffs and you proved your team can play. plus I’d rather watch a good team for 10 years than a bad team play gawdawful hockey for 9 years and then make a deep run for one.

Grouse

The good news is that the 2 teams trailing the wild play each other tonight.

The bad news is that a win by Colorado will drop the wild to a wild card spot and there’s potentially 3 points on the line for these 2 teams. Both could gain ground.

this time of year it’s the dreaded OT win (3 points split) games that suck…

I’d love to see CO stay red hot and grab that 3rd spot from us, provided the Wild can hold onto the 1st wild card spot. Playing through the Pacific bracket is a huge advantage this year.

The Wild seem erily quiet about Greenway playing at all this season. If he returns to school and plays college hockey next season would he then be eligible to sign with any team?

CaptainMusky wrote:

The Wild have a tough remaining schedule. I am taking my son to the game Saturday. It will be his first ever Wild game. Its his birthday and he has gotten straight A’s all year so I felt compelled to reward him. Hopefully we can cool the hot Preds.
I think its possible the Wild drop into the Wildcard race comparing their remaining schedule to the Avs.
The Wild have a tough West Coast road trip to end the season. That will determine their ending position most likely.

In that case, “Welcome to the game CaptainMusky’s son”. Make sure you get him his puck.

homerk wrote:

The Wild seem erily quiet about Greenway playing at all this season. If he returns to school and plays college hockey next season would he then be eligible to sign with any team?

No. From my understanding, it is the “summer” after your senior year. I am using summer loosely because I think they have until approx the end of the season to sign and then are fair game. It’s a little unique to all other players (europe, major juniors etc.).

homerk wrote:

The Wild seem erily quiet about Greenway playing at all this season. If he returns to school and plays college hockey next season would he then be eligible to sign with any team?

You got me curious so I went and looked. The date they have is until June 1st after what would be their graduating year.

Pretty good article laying everything out here:

NHL CBA legalese: Draft rights and entry-level contracts

Even with a win against the top team in the west, the wild are only 3 points ahead of losing a playoff spot. Granted they have 1 game in hand on all of those teams. St. Louis has rallied back into a playoff spot. The Yeo factor is alive and well.

I know most of you think this is stupid, but I really want to see the wild play the jets in the playoffs. I don’t care if it’s first, second or third round. This would be one hell of a series. I also think they would do much better than you all believe.

mplspug wrote:

That central division race is going to be a fun one. The title is still up for grabs for 5 teams. And Colorado still could make a push for a playoff spot, although it’s probably unlikely.

Wrong…again

mplspug wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mplspug wrote:</div>
That central division race is going to be a fun one. The title is still up for grabs for 5 teams. And Colorado still could make a push for a playoff spot, although it’s probably unlikely.

Wrong…again

Take it outside you two.

Captain Musky did you have a good time last night? The wife and in-laws and I were there as well. Early on I kept looking around and told my wife we had to have been above a sell-out-turns out it was the 2017-18 season high of 19,303.

I was worried after the 1st period, things seemed very slow and lethargic, but the Wild controlled the 2nd and 3rd pretty well.

ugg, the OT woes continue, Dumba will get most of the blame, but Stalock has to stop a snapshot from the top of the circle…big picture, 3 out of 4 points against two division leaders isn’t bad…

Jordan Greenway watch, with BU losing to Michigan, expect to see Greenway sign with the Wild today or tomorrow. Do I expect him to be a late season savior? no…but he’s a big body who can control the front of the net in the offensive zone, something we’ve NEVER had… I’m excited to see what he can do…

Have I mentioned how much I hate Brad Marchand?

Dan wrote:

Captain Musky did you have a good time last night? The wife and in-laws and I were there as well. Early on I kept looking around and told my wife we had to have been above a sell-out-turns out it was the 2017-18 season high of 19,303.

I was worried after the 1st period, things seemed very slow and lethargic, but the Wild controlled the 2nd and 3rd pretty well.

It was an awesome game. My son had a blast! He said “I can feel the vibrations in the seats when it gets loud” LOL
Nothing quite like being at the game and he certainly enjoyed every second of it. He couldn’t believe how much goes on that you miss on TV.
He has been to college games before, but NHL is a completely different story.
We had some fun people sitting around us. The one couple came up from Truman and went in the ditch on the way up because of all the snow!
My son got his puck, certificate and a smile you couldn’t wipe off his face. A great time and one he will not forget.