MN Wild 2018-19 Official Thread

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Koivu, Parise, Suter, are always going to be the lightning rod.

Shouldn’t they be held to some accountability being captains, co captains and salary suckers? If they played up to Dobbies performance levels and lost, I’d have a different view point. Their play is really good sometimes, but very substandard for their salaries 2 out of 3 periods most games. Taking periods off is hard to watch or listen too. Yeah it’s only a few games and hope they prove me wrong, but it’s the same old same old, and personally could care less if they get to the playoffs and all the cliches of all you need to do is get to the playoffs and anything can happen bs. That line has worn thin.

Parise has been playing great! He is better than a point a game right now. Granted a lot of them are assists, but you cannot pin much if any of the lack of production on him. He has picked right up where he left off last year before getting hurt. He was our best producer then and is now.

Zucker is on the cusp of a major season IMO.
There are some things that I shake my head at. Like the end of the 3rd, on the PP with just over 2 mins remaining and Koivu took it upon himself to stay on the ice the entire time? Boudreau, send someone out there, to forcibly extricate him from the ice to put Zucker or someone else out there. He should not be out there in that big spot for that long PERIOD.
He certainly has a role on this team, but at this stage of his career he needs to take a back seat to our younger guys we expect more out of.
Coyle seemed to have a little life when paired with Staal.
I don’t completely agree with the Greenway take, overall I think he has done pretty well and has made some plays, but he doesn’t use his body to separate someone from the puck. He has shown he can use it to shield a defender from getting it, but at this level he is going to have to use it defensively as well. That will come I think.
Honestly, I would like to see some of the younger guys from Iowa come up and give a chance on 4th line. Folino has played fine, but the other two have not showed much.
AZ swept us last year. Important game tonight.
Aside from the first 5 or so minutes of the game last night they actually played fairly well.

I don’t think you can blame Boudreau. He can’t coach speed. This team has no speed or creativity which is why they can’t score. They lose just about every race to the puck. Their passes are lazy. Watch Washington or Nashville’s PP last night! Quick, sharp passes. Then you watch the Wild’s PP, guys holding on to the puck skating around slowly, and then making a lazy pass across ice that gets broken up.

It’s the same team we’ve watched over and over. No guts, no heart (except Parise and maybe Zucker).

Oh don’t mind me. Please continue.

This team has far to many 3rd and 4th line players.
Fenton is handcuffed with this group,who could you trade and get anything of value in return.
Do you trade Zucker? Granlund?
Eric Stall at the trade dealine?
He would need to have a good season, he seems to make the most sense as far as trade value.
Most likely Fenton will have to trade multiple players to get one decent player.
Its pretty clear that if all goes right this season the bar for the Wild is still one and done again.

mplspug wrote:

Oh don’t mind me. Please continue.

It’s like you never left.

Hoping to see your lightning in person on Saturday. I put in for the corporate tickets. Should know tomorrow. Go bolts!

Can’t take much more of kevin doing the play by play on the radio.

I just watched Coyle take a beautiful drop pass at the hash marks and instead of heading toward the middle of the ice for a clean shot he angles off behind the d-man and caught the puck up.

How do you not go to the middle of the ice at the BOTTOM OF THE CIRCLES AND TAKE AN EFFING SHOT???????

Go Bolts!

I didn’t realize they were on NBCSN last night until a half hour before it began.

It’s hard to gauge the team considering the circumstances.

They were in a bit of disarray in that first period, but after they pulled it together I don’t blame them consido the circumstances of the line up and playing the night before. It’s hard to gauge the team on that game.

One thing is for sure is that if Duby plays like that all year, you’ll be ok. Some teams have slow starts and I imagine that’s what is going on here. The lighting also had a big break after the first game and I think that plays into it. Some lightning players still seem to be ramping up.

It way to early to be as negative as some are with this team.

Matt, my bro and family arrives a day before the wild play Tampa here in March. I hope they want to go. I’ve only been to one Tampa game, but it was a blast. Now that I live closer I want to see more games.

They simply don’t pass the eye test. There is a serious lack of leadership and energy and it’s glaring at this point. Even the annoucers last night were commenting on Greenway and his opportunity to move up the lines and he should be kicking the door down, but instead he looked appethetic.

I’m sure Koivu texted Greenway and said, “Don’t get any ideas tonight or else”.

Then he sent a rare photo of Ryan Suter frowning.

basseyes wrote:

Shouldn’t they be held to some accountability being captains, co captains and salary suckers?

What exactly do you mean by “accountable”? My sense is that you think anyone who is making more than rookie base and has a contract longer than 2 years should be putting up Connor McDavid numbers or else they are a useless slacker and should be dumped.

Parise is leading the Wild in points. Koivu was in the top 10 last year in the league in faceoff wins. There’s no point in even talking about Suter because the casual fan wouldn’t know good defense if it ran over them.

Suter is obviously not healthy right now. His transitions are clearly painful and he turns left with a staggered stride, leading me to believe he’s either not recovered from the broken ankle or he has another injury he’s trying to play through.

Yes, Koivu is slowing down. He’s at the end of his career, the problem is you can’t sign a player like Koivu in his prime without taking on non-prime years at the end of the player’s career. Everybody knows that so I’m not sure why Wild fans hate on Koivu for what everyone who knows hockey sees as just the way it goes.

Yes, the Wild look hesitant and off-center right now. Yes, we have players who are NOT making it happen out there, but I disagree that that’s all about the 3 “love to hate” guys that MN “fans” are always hating on. IMO, it’s more about the near ZERO production from the middle that I think is a problem. Parise, Staal, Granny, they’re going to figure it out.

ON the other hand, I swear if Coyle makes one more bad pass when he could have (and SHOULD) have shot, I’m going to puke. How could they NOT have traded this clown by now? Nino hasn’t found the back of the net in 19 games going back to last season. And Ek… I’m not sure what’s wrong with him.

Don’t disagree with the Wild having troubles here in the early season, just don’t agree that it’s all Suter, Parise, Koivu who are to blame. IMO everybody needs to step it up, but nobody more than the vet players in the middle.

Grouse

mplspug wrote:

They were in a bit of disarray in that first period, but after they pulled it together I don’t blame them consido the circumstances of the line up and playing the night before. It’s hard to gauge the team on that game.

5 straight years of the same team falling flat on it’s face is plenty of game tape to make that decision.
“disarray in that first period“? This team has not played a sixty minute game yet, at their current 2 goals a game pace this season will be over before the year ends. The good thing about that is we won’t have to watch them “suck” their way into the last wild card spot again.
There are way to many young talented teams in the NHL that the Wild have no chance to compete with in a seven game series. This team should have been blown up 2 years ago after the Hansel and Gretle season.

mplspug wrote:

One thing is for sure is that if Duby plays like that all year, you’ll be ok. Some teams have slow starts and I imagine that’s what is going on here. The lighting also had a big break after the first game and I think that plays into it. Some lightning players still seem to be ramping up.

.

Duby will be worn out from being overused once again.

Grouse,

Don’t disagree that a lot of the middle of the pack guy’s need to step up.

Have always liked MK. But that end of the game PP was idiotic for him to be out there that long.

ZP is a solid player and fun to watch. His body won’t hold up for his style of play, his days are numbered.

Here’s my problem with RS, if he’s hurt, which seems pretty obvious, he should not be racking up the minutes like he is, that’s pure stupidity! His attitude towards coaches and other players seems toxic to me. He’s not a small guy but plays like he’s 4″es shorter and 50lbs lighter. Great, he’s an elegant, effortless skater. He should be willing us to wins late in the game, but he just floats around. Yeah he has a great hockey IQ at times, but there’s a few times a game he has some noticeable mental gaps, that most non casual fans seem to ignore.

Even casual fans see there’s something seriously amiss with this group. Call it heart, drive, passion, a willingness to sit on the bench for the betterment of the team, the leaders are not communicating well or getting any message across that I can see. Don’t expect them or need them to talk a lot, most human communication is non verbal, so get the point across that this bull chit of taking periods off has to stop.

I don’t think Suter is playing hurt. He is medically cleared to play meaning he is not suffering an injury OR he poses no threat of further injury by playing. What I do think though is that he isn’t up to game shape yet. His skating has a bit of a hitch to it at times and that likely will always be there from now on after that injury. Remember, Drs said it could have been career ending, so its no surprise there will be some lingering effects.
I don’t think he is handicapping us at all right now.
I am disappointed in a few things that Greenway does. He has the tools, but he is sometimes not strong enough on his skates, probably not used to the NHL strength of guys and gets pushed around. That will come I think. He has also floated around the lineup a bit which isn’t easy. I think he will be fine and I do expect him to approach 20 goals if not this year, next. He has that ability.

No doubt that you have to give the young players some slack and patience hoping they will develop into a solid player.
The problem with the Wild is that the 5-6-7+ year players are not competing.
They are what they have shown to be, how long can you wait? The scouts from the other clubs see it, other GM’s see it, and Fenton is stuck with a roster that has little value to no value for other clubs.
If the wild are to ever compete for a Cup, they need to improve the top of the roster.Tweaking the 3rd and 4th lines on a club that can’t play with other 1st and second lines gets them nowhere.
The reason Fenton could not make any improvements to this team is because the other GM’s know the Wild roster have many more 3rd & 4th line players who have little value.

Several weeks ago I was observing the William Nylander holdout in Toronto left me thinking about what the Wild could conjure up to coax a trade.
Yesterday it was discussed Nationally that the Wild should attempt a trade.
The Leafs have over $12.5M in cap space right now, but haven’t signed Nylander yet. Marner and Mathews are both due contracts next summer and neither is coming cheap. After signing Tavares to a monster deal, you can bet that Mathews is going to command something VERY lucrative rivaling that of McDavid. There is no way that Toronto is going to be able to sign all these guys.
So, Nylander is looking at something North of $8M per year. Obviously the Wild don’t have space without sending some contracts the other way. The talk centered around bundling Spurgeon and Nino for Nylander. Intriguing for the Leafs because they are under contract for a few more years, definitely help out their D situation.
I think Spurgeon is our best defenseman, but to get better in one area you have to lose something in another most times.
Is Nylander worth that sort of money? Well, He is only 21 and put up 60 plus points the last two years. He is a dynamic player and certainly would fit in the top 6 and fills a need at center. This would shove Koivu back a line and keep Granlund at wing.
Fenton has been involved in pulling things like this off in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised and a move like this could certainly be a significant one for the team.

CaptainMusky wrote:

So, Nylander is looking at something North of $8M per year. Obviously the Wild don’t have space without sending some contracts the other way. The talk centered around bundling Spurgeon and Nino for Nylander. Intriguing for the Leafs because they are under contract for a few more years, definitely help out their D situation.

That would be a refreshing start, other than another big contract?
I would think with Spurgeons and Ninos contract it would be close to a wash.

Yeah, its certainly a large sum of cash for sure. Its hard to risk that large of a sum on a young player, but man, he could be a bargain in 2 years if he is blowing things up!

I’d make that move, shake things up a bit…Nylander has a higher ceiling and we’ve already seen what Spurgeon and Nino can offer…

I do love Spurgeon, but his size puts him at an increased level for injuries in the future…Nino is such a streaky scorer that his high don’t out-weigh his lows..both can be replaced…Nylander is an elite talent that you need to be lucky to draft into… Leafs sucked for so long that they actually have too much young talent they can no longer afford after rookie deals are over with…as was mentioned Marner will soon get big bucks and Mathews will sign for more than McDavid did…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Mathews will sign for more than McDavid did…

I agree and there is a good amount of talk that Mathews will sign elsewhere. Potential landing spot? AZ! They definitely have the cash, he is a hometown boy. What a way to interject instant life into a floundering franchise that is on the verge of moving.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Mathews will sign for more than McDavid did…

I agree and there is a good amount of talk that Mathews will sign elsewhere. Potential landing spot? AZ! They definitely have the cash, he is a hometown boy. What a way to interject instant life into a floundering franchise that is on the verge of moving.

He would be restricted though, so Leafs would essentially need to trade him or PHX puts a huge bid on him and then Leafs don’t match and would get a huge haul of draft picks…I don’t see Toronto letting him go though…not that market…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

He would be restricted though, so Leafs would essentially need to trade him or PHX puts a huge bid on him and then Leafs don’t match and would get a huge haul of draft picks…I don’t see Toronto letting him go though…not that market…

Agreed that he is an RFA, but how in the world would Toronto be able to afford Mathews, Tavares, Marner and Nylander? Nylander is likely just above Marner type money, but they would have $25MM per year just between Mathews and Tavares, Marner is going to get around $7MM I am sure. That is at least $32MM for 3 guys. I will lay money down that AZ will put in an offer sheet for Mathews. They have so much to gain.
Toronto screwed themselves on this Tavares deal. They should have signed Mathews this past summer to an extension THEN used that signing as a catalyst to lure Tavares. Not the other way around.

I don’t see Marner signing for anything more than $5.5 million on a 2-3 year bridge deal (similar to Granlund) I don’t see Nylander signing at all with Toronto other than a sign and trade due to his restricted status.

Toronto will need to play the Chicago game from now on with the Salary cap (sign 3-4 mega stars at monster deals and try to fill the gaps with young late round picks and aging stars looking for a shot at a cup on 1 year incentive laden deals… This seems to be the way it works now in the NHL…

The gamble GM’s now make is can we win with 3-4 mega star salaries and the rest are role players or can we win with 1-2 mega star salaries and then 5-6 mid-level star salaries and rest are role players (Wild’s current setup)

Take Vegas out of the equation as I see their run last year as more of a fluke (Oh you let me go to an expansion team, we’ll rally together and show you all made big mistakes)

It tough being an NHL GM…just think you could have the perfect plan and team setup and they can run into a hot mid-level goalie and it all gets cancelled out and you’re out of the playoffs…

The key to success in the NHL is winning the draft lottery and getting the 1-2 elite superstars you build around for the next 10-12 years and then hope you get some puck luck and ride the eventual salary cap roller coaster while they are still relevant players…if you get stuck with big contracts for players who don’t live upto them, you’ll be stuck in a rut for a long time…

True on all accounts. Remember, we are going to have another expansion draft coming up in a couple years. That will certainly shake things up a bit. I have to wonder what changes teams and the league will make to ensure they don’t get fleeced like last time. I guess from an NHL perspective it worked flawlessly. The owner paid a handsome sum and got a competitive team out of the gate. Not to the chagrin of the rest of the league though. Man, if only we could have that to do over again.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Toronto will need to play the Chicago game from now on with the Salary cap (sign 3-4 mega stars at monster deals and try to fill the gaps with young late round picks and aging stars looking for a shot at a cup on 1 year incentive laden deals… This seems to be the way it works now in the NHL…

The gamble GM’s now make is can we win with 3-4 mega star salaries and the rest are role players or can we win with 1-2 mega star salaries and then 5-6 mid-level star salaries and rest are role players (Wild’s current setup)

Agreed. It sucks either way. First round up chucks or bad stretches of terrible hockey to try and get lucky in the draft for that one or two players to hog tie a franchise to hope. Not sure if the wild have one true mega star, if we do, I’m not sure who it is.

Eric Staal raises his hand with 4th (42 G) in scoring last year. Mn sports fans!

Check out Joseph tonight. He has some jets, so be careful on the PP.

It’s 8:11 your time. What time do the wild play?

mplspug wrote:

It’s 8:11 your time. What time do the wild play?

8:15 apparently.

I’ve seen 2 Wild games and I don’t understand the negativity. Especially this Early.