MN Wild 2018-19 Official Thread

The West looks pretty wide open as far as who is going to make it to the finals. I could probably make a case for each of those teams. I think in the East you have 4 teams that are probably have a legitimate chance of getting to the finals.

I should have predicted that Colorado was going to be the final team in a few weeks back when they had 2 or 3 teams to leap over. Once again there is a line of demarcation where the + goal differential teams are in and the – ones are out. Not remarkable when you need to score more than the other team to win, but rarely has a team eked in with a – differential. It hasn’t happened in the West since going to the new playoff format (2012-13) where 3 teams in each division get in and there are 2 wild cards.

mplspug wrote:

The West looks pretty wide open as far as who is going to make it to the finals. I could probably make a case for each of those teams. I think in the East you have 4 teams that are probably have a legitimate chance of getting to the finals.

Agree. Or to put it another way, the Western teams are all in a race to see who gets to get pounded by the Eastern winner in the final.

Sorry West, but IMO the best playoff series to watch are going to be Eastern conference matchups. Tampa has it firing on all cylinders, but if the Caps put it in “playoff mode”…. Who knows.

I don’t think the Jets, the Preads, or Vegas are playing as well as they were last year. The Preads probably have the more favorable path, though. I would not be at all surprised if the Jets were eliminated in R1. The Jets especially are going to have to give it everything they have just to get past the Texass Team Rustlers if that’s the matchup they get. Calgary is not going to be easy to handle for anyone.

Good hockey left to watch, that’s for sure.

Grouse

We need Philly, Chicago and Vancouver to win their last 2 games and Wild lose their last 2 to increase our lottery odds by 3 slots, that’s all i’m focusing on now…

Hoping the Bruins get past the first round, injuries can heal, some positive moves with the draft and new acquisitions in the off season can help add some pieces to move forward.

Thanks Wild!

I hope Tampa is motivated. I hate seeing a team win the presidents trophy, but they won it handily, so it may not have tired them out, but hopefully they don’t become complacent. They’ve been giving up a lot of SOG lately, which could be expected playing teams still playing for something, but you don’t want the bad habits to form. The good thing is Gourde and Paquette have been playing scrappy playoff style hockey, which they will need.

I know they have a lot of motivation after being blanked in game 6-7 vs the Caps last year, but hope they don’t get ahead of themselves.

I have a Capitals vs Sharks Stanley Cup, both teams get there with their power play…

I’ve got Maple Leafs vs Stars for the Cup, think the Leafs will figure out a way to play a little defense and Stars with Zuccarello finally playing will pull it all together.

I’m pulling for Nick Bjugstad

San Jose -vs- Pittsburg

CaptainMusky wrote:

Last night’s game epitomizes why this team is so frustrating! Why can they go 5-0 against teams like the Jets, 3-0-1 Golden Knights, convincing road victories over TB and the Caps, then lose to teams like Florida, NJ, etc. Its just perplexing.

Is it simply those teams may be letting off the gas when they play the Wild.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Rumor has it that Parise has a significant injury that he played on last night. Russo is going to comment on what exactly it is but I haven’t seen it yet, I would assume today

Heard that Donato has been playing with a significant injury

Funny, but I don’t think the Wild have won a single face off since Koivu got hurt and Coyle got traded… something to think about in the off season.

Question for you stat guys. How many times has Zucker hit the Freakin pipe this year????

sticker wrote:

Funny, but I don’t think the Wild have won a single face off since Koivu got hurt and Coyle got traded… something to think about in the off season.

I’ve always been a Coyle bobo, his trade value has payed immediate dividends.

sticker wrote:

Question for you stay guys. How many times has Zucker hit the Freakin pipe this year????

he’s going to be fun to watch the next five years. I think next year is going to be one of the most exciting seasons we’ve seen in a while.

Thanks Mike, this thread is where I get all my Wild news.

jeff_huberty wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
Last night’s game epitomizes why this team is so frustrating! Why can they go 5-0 against teams like the Jets, 3-0-1 Golden Knights, convincing road victories over TB and the Caps, then lose to teams like Florida, NJ, etc. Its just perplexing.

Is it simply those teams may be letting off the gas when they play the Wild.

I can see this for one game, but to sweep the Jets this year and almost the Knights. To consistent for it to be them playing down to the Wild. If anything you would think they would want to reverse the trend and come at them hard.

sticker wrote:

Question for you stat guys. How many times has Zucker hit the Freakin pipe this year????

Not as many times as you might think. After last nights game it’s only 478 times.

It feels like more, I know.

Grouse

Sturm looked pretty good in his debut. He didn’t look out of place I didn’t think. I am sure he had lots of extra emotion to play well in his debut, but at first look appears to be a solid get for Fenton.
Pathetic listless effort for much of the game. If only they could have gotten one of those chances to go in early in the 1st they likely would have won that game. Didn’t matter, hope they lose against Dallas and Edmonton and a few others get a couple W’s.

I have to really wonder about Zucker’s future. I mean, he was already almost traded. If its going to happen it will happen before July since that is when his no trade clause kicks in. Personally I would not like to see him moved because you get rid of him and then its all aging vets and kids, nothing in between.
They will have something around $18M in cap space, but need to retain some guys. Moving Zucker would likely free up more space (depending on what they get in return), but IDK, he has some streakiness to him and while most would say he had a bad year, didn’t he still get 25 goals?

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>sticker wrote:</div>
Question for you stat guys. How many times has Zucker hit the Freakin pipe this year????

Not as many times as you might think. After last nights game it’s only 478 times.

It feels like more, I know.

Grouse

No I mean the whole season, not just this month

depending on his contract demands/comparisons (he’s a RFA) I could see a Zucker for William Karlsson sign & trade with Vegas in the offseason…It will also depend on how much $$ Vegas needs to cut and if Zucker’s $5.5 million fits under their cap situation.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

depending on his contract demands/comparisons (he’s a RFA) I could see a Zucker for William Karlsson sign & trade with Vegas in the offseason…It will also depend on how much $$ Vegas needs to cut and if Zucker’s $5.5 million fits under their cap situation.

I was curious at their cap situation so I took a look. They are currently over the cap for next year, but its expected to go up around $3MM this offseason to around $83MM. Zucker would probably save them some money, but not much. They have other UFA and RFAs too. They are going to have to make some moves.
Looking at their cap situation it even more makes me wonder about Schuldt going there. They have no money, they are going to have to purge somewhere, but they have so many picks in this year’s draft its ridiculous!

sticker wrote:

No I mean the whole season, not just this month

Well, Zucker heard that Gretzky used to practice ringing the post for hours on end, so he thought he’d try it.

Somebody needs to tell Zucker that Gretzky was banking them off the post and INTO the net. So there’s that part he’s missing…

Grouse

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
depending on his contract demands/comparisons (he’s a RFA) I could see a Zucker for William Karlsson sign & trade with Vegas in the offseason…It will also depend on how much $$ Vegas needs to cut and if Zucker’s $5.5 million fits under their cap situation.

I was curious at their cap situation so I took a look. They are currently over the cap for next year, but its expected to go up around $3MM this offseason to around $83MM. Zucker would probably save them some money, but not much. They have other UFA and RFAs too. They are going to have to make some moves.
Looking at their cap situation it even more makes me wonder about Schuldt going there. They have no money, they are going to have to purge somewhere, but they have so many picks in this year’s draft its ridiculous!

I still think Vegas wants Zucker for the hometown boy aspect of it, remember this is Vegas and they love their shows and stories and a homegrown scorer would be a great story…Either way Karlsson will be gone as they simply can’t afford him as you mentioned their cap situation and other needs…but he’s an RFA so it will need to happen via a trade.

BUT

This gets back to my main argument against trading Zucker, do you expect Karlsson to score 30+ goals a season, if so, then why would you pay him likely 1-2 million more per season than what you have Zucker locked up the next 5 years for? I fully expect Zucker to score 30+ a season from now on (if he doesn’t have anymore kids)

JoeMX1825 wrote:

This gets back to my main argument against trading Zucker, do you expect Karlsson to score 30+ goals a season, if so, then why would you pay him likely 1-2 million more per season than what you have Zucker locked up the next 5 years for? I fully expect Zucker to score 30+ a season from now on (if he doesn’t have anymore kids)

Exactly! If we were going to get the William Karlsson from last year, sure make the deal, but he hasn’t been anywhere near that this year, but still decent numbers at 56 pts (compared to Zuckers 42 ouch). I surely wouldn’t pay more for similar production, but the two of them had about equal drop off from last year to this.
I just look at the team’s stats this year and its awful. ONE, ONE player with a positive +/-?! Probably not after last night, but man, that is terrible.

These gaudy sstats from 2014-2015 made me think when he came back from injury he would be a upper 30, 40+ goals per season scorer.

GP G A P PPG S%
51 21 5 26 1 16.9


It’s remarkable because he was only averaging :51 a game on the PP

mplspug wrote:

These gaudy sstats from 2014-2015 made me think when he came back from injury he would be a upper 30, 40+ goals per season scorer.

GP G A P PPG S%
51 21 5 26 1 16.9


It’s remarkable because he was only averaging :51 a game on the PP

Yeah, I remember thinking back then we were going to be unreal with the young guys and with Suter and Parise. What a disappointment or letdown.
Zucker seems like a guy that gets things hung up in his head. He plays with a lot of emotion so when he gets in a funk I think it makes him spiral down farther.

I wouldn’t be so anxious to move Zucker especially within the conference. This year he hits the pipes maybe next year those all go in. He can score goals we’ve all seen it. He’s another player that like Staal wants to play here and I think that counts for something. However Staal became completely invisible after he signed his contract. That was very disappointing. He’s the veteran that should have stepped up and taken on some leadership of this team.

Hopefully he’s doesn’t continue to be dead weight the next three years because he isn’t going anywhere now.

our playoffs are tomorrow night with the draft lottery, we’re currently slotted 11th with a 3% chance of winning it, i’m just hoping we can somehow get into the top 8…. BUT miracles do happen….

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Moving up to top 8 sure would be nice, but in typical Wild fashion I am sure they will find a way to drop in position. LOL
Looking at some of the prospects there is one guy that is intriguing to me, Cole Caufield. He is a right shot, which is in need, heckuva goal scorer, which is in need, but dang he is tiny. He might make Goudreau look big. Listed at 5-7, that isn’t good. There seems to be a bit of a trend with smaller players being more productive, but IDK if its worth the risk.
There are some other centers that I would be interested in, but surprise, most are Left shots. I guess after next year Koivu is done. Then Staal is out shortly thereafter.
If will be interesting to see what happens leading up to the draft and what happens tomorrow night with the Lottery.
I hope Fenton doesn’t trade Zucker, but not knowing what could be coming back in return is the main reason.

It sure would be nice to see the wild move up in the draft.Looking at Felton’s moves so far,I think Zucker and a top 4 defenseman will be traded before next season.

jeff_huberty wrote:

It sure would be nice to see the wild move up in the draft.Looking at Felton’s moves so far,I think Zucker and a top 4 defenseman will be traded before next season.

This wouldn’t surprise me, but I would be pissed if it were Spurgeon. Even Brodin I would be hesitant. He has been solid this year and when he and Spurgeon were together at the beginning they were unreal. Didn’t get the pub because Dumba was scoring all those goals, but the wheels really started to fall off when they switched the pairings around and then Dumba got hurt.

So Suter is signed for another 6 years at $7.54 million per, Dumba is signed for the next 4 years at $6 million per, Brodin the next 2 years at $4.16 per, there’s NO WAY the Wild resign Spurgeon for the $7+ he’ll demand. You just can’t spend that much money on your Defense, especially if you want/need to get some scorers.

I think Spurgeon will be dealt this summer or next years trade deadline for either a mid-level scorer and 3rd+ round pick, a very high draft pick (top 10) or a combo of late 1st & 2nd rounders.

I don’t see Zucker getting dealt UNLESS it’s to Vegas who could offer more than other teams just to fill the hometown Vegas boy story void. He could always be dealt at a trade deadline in the future (I doubt teams on his limited no trade clause would be in a playoff hunt for it to matter)

Try to Trade – Foligno, Rask (for whatever you can get)
Sign – Donato, Fiala, Hunt, Fehr (1 year deal)
Dump – Pateryn, Bitetto, Aberg, Prosser

My only worry is that Fenton loves Fiala so much that he doesn’t or refuses to acknowledge the warts in his game and overpays on a long term deal, he’s looked pretty brutal the last 10 games, absolute turn-over machine…

Looking at teams with cap issues this summer, I wondered what it would take to get Nylander from the leafs? Our 1st round pick this season? (Toronto traded away theirs) Honestly, I think the Leafs would do just about anything to get out of that contract and for the Wild (who lack any right handed star power) the contract is an acceptable risk. For the Leafs, it’s all about clearing cap space for Mariner and resigning some of their defense. Wow, they will have 3 players making $11+ per season!

His right-hand shot would look really good for the next 5 seasons in green and at just under $7 million per…

Perhaps Kapanen could be another cheaper option, either way Leafs would want to keep them out of the East if dealt.