MN Wild 2017-18 Official Thread

biggill wrote:

If they don’t at least make this interesting, I think Fletchers job is on the line.

Agreed.

Right or wrong, something’s gotta give. It was obvious Yeo, was and is still Yeo. Fletcher is the next step, good or bad. After that it’s waiting for contracts to expire. Who honestly knows what happens with ZP, his body can’t handle a full season and that’s sad to see.

MK, well….

RS might be a different player after that injury. His high minutes are probably going to get curbed.

Coyle, well…..

Two games, no goals. Offensively, well…

Defensively, well….

I got no answers. There’s so many holes and no cash to plug them. No real draft picks. Aging star’s. Injuries. Uff dah!

Rosario just hit a grand slam to tie it. I’m hoping Staal can hit one too.

Brutal effort all around, Dubs needed to play perfect and gets pulled after 10 f’ing minutes…They showed captain Koivu on the bench when Dub’s was getting pulled and he’s quite and by himself!!!! Wtf!!!

Unreal

They are who we thought they were! -DG

You don’t have to rebuild, but I think mixing up the team chemistry is in order. Swap out Nino and Coyle with players on another team in the same role.

Because we were cap strapped he had to move Scandella who would have helped with Suter out. He moved Stewart who could have possibly pushed back against the Jets physically.

I think Fletch did a pretty good job, but when the three prospectateers go AWOL in the playoffs, you aren’t going anywhere. That’s not his fault.

Might as well keep Nino. Goal scorers are hard to find and Stahl won’t have this kind of year again next year. Somebody decided Haula was better to let go then Coyle.

They are not that far off, we need patience here were are just a player or two away.
SERIOUSLY;
1st They have to Get rid of Fletcher and B.B.

Trade Coyle, Zucker and Dumba. I’D give nino another shot.

mplspug wrote:

I think Fletch did a pretty good job, but when the three prospectateers go AWOL in the playoffs, you aren’t going anywhere. That’s not his fault.

Ahhh yea six years of first round blowouts is not a good enough sample.
Yea it’s his responsibility; if he had any respect for the owner he would step down so Leopold doesn’t have to fire him

Dutchboy, we have been watching a below average team for a long time. Yeah they might end up with a good home record during the regular season but the overall playoff record speaks for itself. At this time next year we will all be saying the same things about this team. Believe me when I say I am the biggest homer when it comes to the Wild and I thought about cheering for a quality NHL team but I can’t. I wanted to turn the TV off after the first 30 seconds but I stuck it out to the end as painful as it was.
There will be nothing more disappointing if the Wild sit back and do nothing during the off season to improve this team.

BLANKED – 2 games in a row.
What a crappy team. Glad I was ice fishing and didn’t have to watch that train wreck.

Dutchboy wrote:

Might as well keep Nino. Goal scorers are hard to find and Stahl won’t have this kind of year again next year. Somebody decided Haula was better to let go then Coyle.

He didn’t do it to protect Coyle, he was protecting Dumba and maybe Zucker.

31lifer wrote:

Dutchboy, we have been watching a below average team for a long time. Yeah they might end up with a good home record during the regular season but the overall playoff record speaks for itself. At this time next year we will all be saying the same things about this team. Believe me when I say I am the biggest homer when it comes to the Wild and I thought about cheering for a quality NHL team but I can’t. I wanted to turn the TV off after the first 30 seconds but I stuck it out to the end as painful as it was.
There will be nothing more disappointing if the Wild sit back and do nothing during the off season to improve this team.

Agreed.

homerk wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mplspug wrote:</div>
I think Fletch did a pretty good job, but when the three prospectateers go AWOL in the playoffs, you aren’t going anywhere. That’s not his fault.

Ahhh yea six years of first round blowouts is not a good enough sample.
Yea it’s his responsibility; if he had any respect for the owner he would step down so Leopold doesn’t have to fire him

I’d love to have heard your opinion of Zucker, Coyle and Nino when they first we’re coming up.

But he did make a huge mistake extending Coyle.

Zucker gets pushed around to easily,
allways has. His speed can’t overcome getting constantly pounded in the playoffs.

Coyle pulls disapearing acts for to many games,he Plays when he wants. A big guy who is afraid to mix it up.

Nino has been one of the Wilds better players in the past playoff seasons, I give him anothet shot due to his ankle injury. In the past he has always had the strenth to cut to middle of the net and hold off the Defenseman, this year he did not have that strength to cut from the wing to the net and was consitantly pushed to the outside by the D-men.

Granlund and Nino have that second level of play when the playoffs start.

I am not a Wild homer by any means. You can check any comment that I have previously made about them. A couple things to keep into consideration:
– The Jets are a VERY good team. They are built for the playoffs and I can’t guarantee it but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them playing for the big silver thing
– Wild got the worst possible matchup for their style (even before the injuries). The Jets are big and physical. The Wild to put it nicely are not. There are other teams in the playoffs that would have made it a much more open game and that would have benefitted the Wild.

That being said, I have said a few other times in this thread that the Wild right now are a one round and done team because they don’t have depth. Dubnyk was an non-factor in the last couple games because the Wild couldn’t buy a goal. On that not, Ennis should have been in the lineup from Game 1. The Cullen, Coyle and Ennis was like the Harlem Globetrotter in the last 3 reg season games. That line was buzzing… just saying.

Just my 2 cents.

Tough way to end the season, that’s for sure.

Winnipeg was clearly the better team, more proof that the NHL’s “Suck your way to success” method pays. No league rewards failure like the NHL. The key is that you must do the “Chicago Suck” where you suck royally, but at the right time to grab that key 1 or 2 players in a hot draft.

The bad news for the Jets is they are good. Not great. Nashville will victimize them again and again from the middle and with screens. Size and hitting don’t = good defense, which the Jets don’t have. The Jets physical play and dirty play is nothing new to Nashville and won’t slow them down a bit. If the officials actually make calls, the Jets whill be hammered every time the Preads on on the PP.

Nashville will polish off the Jets in 5 or 6 at the most and no, it won’t be close.

To be honest, the playoff series was hard to watch, but it said what needed to be said about this Wild team:

1. As I’ve been saying for the past 3 seasons, Coyle is absolutely and utterly useless. Again, as I said last summer before the expansion draft, they should NEVER have wasted a protected slot on Coyle, Vegas would NOT have taken him and therefore, therefore, the Wild would have kept Haula and Coyle.

This mistake combined with upping Coyle’s contract could be among the final nails in Fletcher’s GM coffin.

2. The Wild will have to pay a price to ship Coyle’s useless buttski out of here. Salt on the wound. My guess is a package deal of Nino and Coyle will be required.

3. Fletcher as GM. The problem here is I DO NOT believe Fletcher is a bad GM. I think he’s an average GM. Is it worth risking going from average to untested/untried/unknown? I sense is that the Wild ownership have had it with average. I’m not sure this is a difference maker, how happy with a GM change will all depend on who happens to be available this summer, or who the Wild ownership decide to take a chance on bringing up from the coaching or other lower level.

4. Ennis. Get him gone.

5. There’s a whole group of players like Nino, Zucker, and even some newer arrivals that I think are venerable to a package trade deal. If Fletcher stays, I expect he will be looking to make aggressive deals to prove he’s really “the guy”.

Grouse

If the Jets Preds series goes 6 then it is close. Not close is getting blown away in 5 with the lone win at home.

The toughness in the NHL is pretty much gone. Sure it takes a tough man to compete with all the stick work but the really tough hit ’em, fight ’em, park in front of the net is over. Those that can do it are making long runs to the Cup. Those that can’t are trying to figure out how to get better. You need a bad boy or two to get respect in this game. The Wild play the European game without the pure goal scorers.

Dutchboy wrote:

The Wild play the European game without the pure goal scorers.

Oh Lord, here we go again with the “pure goal scorer” thing.

If I caught up with McDavid on the golf course, would he admit to being this “pure goal scorer” that we so desperately need to propel us to the finals? What about Kane or Towes?

Next you’ll be saying we lack a “#1 Center”, a “greasy goal scorer”, a “gritty [insert position here]” and whatever else the cliches say that every team who doesn’t get to the cup lacks.

Grouse

No, you are the expert in cliches i’ll leave those and this thread to you.

The proof is on the ice, in the locker room and the fan base sees it.

Fletcher is the GM.

Rs and zp haven’t really panned out as advertised, similar to Coyle.

To much buying players high, then giving them away, in desperation to make the trinity work, has sacrificed the future on an ever shrinking window. Now the balance on that balloon payment is getting closer and nothing has worked out as hoped.

There’s no blowing it up, just more of the same.

Absolute embarrassing end to the season. I lost a lot of respect for the Wild in this series. No heart, no one to stand up for Staal, no pushback at all. It appears they went into Winnipeg with their tail between their legs and just wanted the season to be over with. Time to go enjoy their big paychecks and hit the beach. I’m convinced the Wild will never win with this core group of players.

I’m done…. signing off until next year on this one…. can’t stand thinking about this team anymore

Dutchboy wrote:

No, you are the expert in cliches i’ll leave those and this thread to you.

The bird has no end to the extolling of his hockey expertise upon us we should all be grateful.With that type of insight I find it difficult to keep pace but I will try.

If your team puts the puck in the net more times than the other team you win. If your team can not put the puck in the net you loose.

basseyes wrote:

Fletcher is the GM.

That Disscusion is already being had.

There’s no blowing it up, just more of the same.

When you look at this team what is there really to blow up?

basseyes wrote:

Rs and zp haven’t really panned out as advertised, similar to Coyle.

Where were you on July 5th 2012 to warn us all that RS and ZP wasn’t going to pan out?

Even more importantly, what is a new owner to do when the 2 most Minnesota marketable players became free agents? These two guys have made Leopold more money than their contracts already. Probably 5 fold by now.

You can recommend where to go from here, but don’t tell us it was a mistake.

As long as you have the Parise and Suter contracts you can’t blow it up and rebuild. You can only re-load and take another run. This fan base isn’t the Timberwolves fan base. They won’t settle for a crappy pro team during a 5 year re-build.

Thank you Dutch for the best knee slapper in a LONG time on IDO. Wild fans have been suckered and settled for crappy teams for the last 10 years yet they still fill the stands to watch a mediocre product at best. I got a kick out of the 3rd period Wild season ticket ad when they were down 5-0 and 3-1 in games! And they have a waiting list! Ha!

Fletcher has gutted the team of any hope for recovering with young talent in the near future. What you see is what you get for the next 3-5 years. The Parise and Suter contracts are now an albatross and anchor to the salary cap.

I’m a fan but cannot drink the red-green Koolaid anymore.

Maybe they should just move the team to save everyone the misery?

the wolves just got a win against the best team in the NBA and showed some damn passion and heart. I thought they would quit but gave the fan base like myself something we havent seen in 14 years. If they play like this Monday, it may be a clean slate?

rvvrrat wrote:

yet they still fill the stands to watch a mediocre product at best.

You might need to provide a lengthy explanation as to why loyal fans filling their team’s arena and being loud and cheering is a bad thing.

You might need to provide a lengthy explanation as to why loyal fans filling their team’s arena and being loud and cheering is a bad thing.

Never said that. Plunking down $70-100 per seat for regular season games to watch a team mediocre team is nuts. The Twins and Vikings fans figured it out and when those teams stink the fans don’t go. Wild fans on the other hand will not speak with their pocketbooks.

biggill wrote:

These two guys have made Leopold more money than their contracts already. Probably 5 fold by now.

You can recommend where to go from here, but don’t tell us it was a mistake.

Lol, that’s awesome, they made the owners a ton of money and can’t win a playoff series. That’s great insight and glad the owner is making money.

It wasn’t a mistake and the proof is on the ice in the playoffs.

Cash strapped with horrible contracts is a wonderful thing to hang your loyalty hat on and making the owners money. My word, I’m a hockey fan, I’m not more concerned about the owners making money.

Move on from players who’ve done absolutely nothing, and that’s not debatable post season. Yep, we all get it, it’s hard and every team goes through it and at least they are getting to the playoffs. I’m done with the trinity of turds and the embarrassing contracts that are the laughing stock of the league. Yeah, we are locked in and trapped with their contracts, but it doesn’t mean we can’t start giving younger prospects more minutes to see what is in the cupboards for when the awful contracts start getting closer to where there’s options to move them.