MN Wild 2018-19 Official Thread

I agree Basseyes and 31lifer also. Staal is the only one with a clue out there, too bad he’ll probably have to go. Keep Ek, Greenway, Kunin and maybe a couple others and pray you get Kaprizov.

Keep it coming guys this is entertaining

Close….
But never close enough…

Parises team leading 23 goals and Suter’s steadfast D and D leading points are definitely the problem.

hman wrote:

Close….
But never close enough…

Pretty much sums it up nicely!!! Great video!

the good news, we play a good team tomorrow, so a good chance to win. now if they could somehow beat the bad teams, we would be in the playoffs.

time to rebuild, make some trades now for the future.

dubs has been giving up plenty of soft goals lately.

Oh dear, oh dear. Lots of bitter tears and recriminations in WildLand now.

mplspug wrote:

Parises team leading 23 goals and Suter’s steadfast D and D leading points are definitely the problem.

Pug sums it up perfectly here regarding Suter and Parise. Lots of grumbling about everything that they supposedly lack, but then there’s their actual performance.

Also, if you don’t like Parise and Suter, you’re really not going to like it when they are still here years from now. Learn to embrace the suck because they ain’t goin’ anywhere.

Lose the captain and key centerman and have a key d-man and oddly also key goal scorer out long term, then add a bunch of new players to the lineup and I’m not sure why even casual fans are surprised that performance has been impacted. Add to that the fact that Doobs has some tough games and now we’re supposed to throw him over the side too?

Look, here’s a news flash for you casual fans out there. No player, not even goalies play 100% consistent throughout a season. Let’s step back from the hyperemotional feelings some of you are experiencing about the Wild right now and look at other players. Crosby has been written off as a has-been numerous times in his career. Vegas continues to be a contender in only Y2 due to a washed up, has-been goalie with 2 first names.

It’s not fun losing close games through poor play, but after attending the last 2 home games, here’s what I DO like:

– Erickson Ek. Dare I say it, but finally, he really looks to be playing his own game out there. To get Ek on track and playing toward potential would be a huge accomplishment for this club because we can’t have any more Riseboro-style first round fails.

– Rau getting some reps can only be a good thing. We need more of these middle lineup players.

– IMO if we were to fall out of playoff contention, there’s a benefit there as far as the potential to play some Iowa players and try out the young talent. Obviously we’re going to need them sooner rather than later.

– If there’s a deal to be made, make it, but I don’t think anybody’s breaking down the Wild’s doors so there is no use sitting around fantasizing about trades that aren’t going to happen.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

– IMO if we were to fall out of playoff contention, there’s a benefit there as far as the potential to play some Iowa players and try out the young talent. Obviously we’re going to need them sooner rather than later.

Yeppers!

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Look, here’s a news flash for you casual fans out there. No player, not even goalies play 100% consistent throughout a season. Let’s step back from the hyperemotional feelings some of you are experiencing about the Wild right now and look at other players. Crosby has been written off as a has-been numerous times in his career. Vegas continues to be a contender in only Y2 due to a washed up, has-been goalie with 2 first names.

X2

The casualties have been so focused on #5 and his failures that they have a hard time seeing the rest of the team as a whole.

Quotes from the NBC announcers, who I’m sure are no better than the casual fans:

“Who’s gonna step up for the MN Wild??”

“They seem to lack energy. They better figure out something, and fast”

Ok I’m on board for a rebuild. Fire Bruce. Sell what you can for draft picks and hope like hell Krill joins the team to lead into the next era.

Total team effort, we are on the way.

Now ON the NHL Network Iowa Wild vs Chicago Wolves.

The focus now should be rebuilding this team for another run starting 2020/2021 season, focus the next two years getting high draft picks and shedding bad contracts.

Rebuilds take longer than 2 years.

As Dandy Don use to say.

Turn out the lights the party’s over!

mplspug wrote:

Rebuilds take longer than 2 years.

full rebuilds yes, but I dont think they are that far off, in 2 years you are clear of The following contracts Spurgeon, Koivu, Granlund, Coyle, Foligno, Patryn (sooner if they are somehow traded) that’s almost 1/2 of your top 13 players, so you can dramatically change the makeup of your team with Trades and Free Agency. IF Kaprizov can translate his game to the NHL you have the potential of a top line forward on a 3 year rookie contract, and perhaps we get a high pick in the next 2 drafts that can start right away. There’s also the expansion draft in 2 years that could shed a contract like Rask if he is’t bought out sooner.

Suter and Parise’s contracts become buy-out candidates in 3-4 years, so if their play drops dramatically, it’s an option.

Goaltending is our biggest ? In the future, but Kaapo in the minors is a promising prospect.

So in 2 years you can change alot…

mplspug wrote:

Ok I’m on board for a rebuild. Fire Bruce. Sell what you can for draft picks and hope like hell Krill joins the team to lead into the next era.

Glad you are on board, Pug

Blues are playing well and riding a hot goalie.

Bad puck luck with the one goal.

We have injuries to key players, no other team goes through that like the wild. We’ve had a lot of key injuries at bad times going into the playoffs.

The announcers used the word fragile when speaking about the wild today, and have heard that term used with this team a lot lately. Fragile, that’s this teams identity. It’s not a physical fragility, it’s a mental one. There’s talent on the team, but no grit. This team seems like a bunch of guys who like to play golf more than hockey, no offense to golfer’s.

basseyes wrote:

The announcers used the word fragile when speaking about the wild today, and have heard that term used with this team a lot lately. Fragile, that’s this teams identity. It’s not a physical fragility, it’s a mental one. There’s talent on the team, but no grit. This team seems like a bunch of guys who like to play golf more than hockey, no offense to golfer’s.

I don’t agree with the injuries,they have played inconsistent hockey since the beginning of the season.

According to the St. Paul paper there were scouts representing 17 NHL teams at the game on Sunday. I don’t think they were impressed by anything they seen. I don’t think the Wild will get much value for what they are able to move. It’s going to be more of a salary blood letting than anything. I don’t think Staal is going to get much value in return.
He’s in more than just a slump he looks like he’s at the end of his career. Nobody is standing out on this team like they should be on a better team. Coyle and Zucker are young enough that somebody might be willing to take a chance on them but not at a high price. Same with Grandlund. Lots of good players out there that are available that could really help a team make a deep run in the playoffs or maybe even the Cup. It’s just that none of them are on the Wild.

Scouts & GM’s don’t make player suggestions/decisions based on watching a few games…they are looking for certain skillsets their team is lacking and fill in the gaps.

Nino is a perfect example, he could always shoot and work well down low but lacked a good playmaker to create and put him in those good scoring positions, now put him on a line with Sebastian Aho and he becomes an effective player again.

I would put money down that Staal, Fehr and at least 2 of (Spurgeon, Brodin, Patryn) get traded by next week. Dubs and Zucker being wild cards that could be dealt depending if the return value is too high to say no…I think they keep Coyle now because of Koivu’s injury.

mplspug wrote:

Rebuilds take longer than 2 years.

Exactly. All you “tear it down to the studs” guys remember that there’s no guaranteed U-turn and back up to playoff contention in 2 years. It could be down, then down some more, then way, way down. And remember, for every team that sucked their way to success Chicago style, there’s an Edmonton that didn’t get it quite right and is living on borrowed time with huge cap issues.

To me this is Fenton’s make or break moment. It’s hero or zero time for him and the moves made or not made in the next few weeks will define if he really has it at the GM level. No more hiding behind an experienced GM and pretending you had something or nothing to do with it depending on how it goes.

I have to say, I’m very un-impressed with Fenton so far and the statement coming out last week that he now had permission to trade any player was very bad news. If he DIDN’T have this ability before it means the top dogs don’t trust him and he’s basically a hand-puppet for Leopold who has the real say. Not exactly showing a lot of confidence in Fenton’s ability…

The difficult part at the trade deadline is going to be getting NHL ready players in exchange. Teams in contention aren’t going to want to give up much of value on their current bench. I’m sure there’s lot of offers for late round draft picks, but that won’t rebuild the team for next year. We need R1 and R2 picks and top tier minor prospects that have been in the system for a year or more.

The is where the GM proves he’s got it. Both Riseboro and Fletcher got a free ride for too long when it was clear they didn’t have the hockey sense to make trades and pick draftees that would pan out. Fenton needs to be a mover and shaker NOW or he needs to get gone. No more GM effups.

Grouse

mplspug wrote:

Rebuilds take longer than 2 years.

More likely in the 4-5 Year window if everything falls according to a plan

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Exactly. All you “tear it down to the studs” guys remember that there’s no guaranteed U-turn and back up to playoff contention in 2 years. It could be down, then down some more, then way, way down. And remember, for every team that sucked their way to success Chicago style, there’s an Edmonton that didn’t get it quite right and is living on borrowed time with huge cap issues.

I’ve said it many times over, this team is playing as well as it can. The team talent level is obviously unable to compete with the top Teams. I could care less if the team sucks it’s way to the top, if thats what it takes so be it.
And as things are currently it will be a long road ahead to get there.
Or you could stand pat and watch them suck their way into the playoffs and have another swan dive out in Five games or less.

This season was a year that Fenton was handcuffed to by the owner. Most GM’s come in and have free reign to do what they think is best for the club. For that reason I give Fenton a pass on his first year.
So far I am not impressed with his moves either, but you also have to look at the fact he was directed what to do this season by the Owner.

IMO they should have stared a Gradual rebuild this season.
Time will tell how long things take nothing is a given certainty.

I look forward to a new direction for this team rather than hoping the current team can do something more than they are capable of.

The Wild are fooling themselves if they think all they have to do is get into the playoffs and then they will be suddenly reborn into a Cup contending team. That’s kind of what I’m hearing from this team. It seems all Boudreau wants to say is “we will make the playoffs’ and says nothing more. All Staal can say is he wants to stay here and help this team make a deep run in the playoffs. They are living a lie.

Sounds like Winnipeg might be working on a deal with Ottawa for Duchene, Stone and Dzingel. It would seem to me the Wild have two choices. Blow the team up and roll the dice or stand relatively pat and roll the dice.
Making one or two minor splashes hoping you can get better for this year doesn’t seem to be the answer.

Fenton came into a mess. The wild are upside down on their mortgages. There’s two options, and more realistically, one.

Do a hardcore reset. Which would flush a lot of years of just getting to the playoffs down the crapper. Owner doesn’t want that and it would mean a lot of sacrificed seasons for a long term goal of building a better team and franchise.

Or stay the course and pay the mortgages off over the long haul. Painful and stuck in a rut of getting to the playoffs first round with no hope’s of going past the first round, second round if you got some good, cheap, right player rentals. That’s probably what’s going to happen if you look at what’s been happening.

Both options have equal suck value. But the latter will keep fans maybe in the seats more and more money for the owner. Yet fan frustration levels at those playoff losses and first round exits will start to escalate.

How much longer and how much more frustration will RS and ZP endure before start looking at the sunset of their carrier’s and start wanting to get off the sinking ship? Or are their heels locked in to just stay the course?

We need minimum of 2 good centers for this team to do anything. Now imo we don’t really have one.

Either a soft or hard rebuild will take time. It’s not going to happen over night. And do we start rolling through GM’s or trust a GM for as long as Fletcher?

The plan of bringing in Suter and Parise went off the rails when Coyle, Grandlund and Dumba were in the pipeline and being heavily hyped. They finally get in Wild sweaters and never lived up to half the hype. Coyle and Grandlund have shown very brief flashes but never enough consistency to contribute regularly enough to keep pushing the team forward. Dumba was finally on the path of breaking out and then the injury. Who knows if he will ever get back on that trajectory again.

These three combined with Parise and Suter were supposed to be the next dynasty in the NHL. And that’s not me saying that that was coming from all the talking heads on NHL tv and news print. The hype was real and now so is the struggle.

You can’t ask much more from Parise and Suter other than they are over payed but that’s not their fault.

The best case scenario for this team is to finish out the season and miss the playoffs. It’s time to throw in the towel, the difference between the top of the Western Conference and the scrubs at the bottom is a waste.
The Wild need a top tier draft pick, more than they need a no chance at all playoff series.
Hopefully there is a new direction for this team starting this year.

We’re only 11 points out of being last place in the league, honestly that’s all I’m watching for the rest of the season…Lose for Hughes!

Watched the Bolts vs Blue Jackets last night, the Bolts are just on an entirely different level than the Wild…