In 1-2 years a powerplay of Nylander and Kaprizov on the boards, Greenway & Parise in front of the net and Dumba bombing from the point sounds awfully good!
Which side of the ice is going to be Kaprisov’s “office”? ala Ovie
I think its going to be the area between the goal line and the blue line.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
In 1-2 years a powerplay of Nylander and Kaprizov on the boards, Greenway & Parise in front of the net and Dumba bombing from the point sounds awfully good!Which side of the ice is going to be Kaprisov’s “office”? ala Ovie
I think its going to be the area between the goal line and the blue line.
His Olympic gold medal winning goal is a good example, but he is also very good around the net ala Dino Ciccarelli
His Olympic gold medal winning goal is a good example, but he is also very good around the net ala Dino Ciccarelli
Dino, that is a walk down memory lane! Except for the part where he got banned from Canada for going after a fan. 
Many of the goals I’ve seen him score are quick pivots around the net in traffic and then sniping a corner. The kids just has another level of offensive thinking nobody except maybe Parise has. When you watch him, you can see he’s thinking of how to get into the best possible scoring area at all times.
He leads CSKA forwards in ice time every game by a good margin, so he’s playing Powerplay/Penalty kill too. KHL is a very physical league and Kaprizov is always the other teams main focus to be shut down and he still delivers, he’s built like a bulldog, I don’t see any issues with his game translating to the NHL.
After you look at the options available, Nylander becomes the best and most possible choice for Fenton to improve our offense instantly and you know he’s already locked in at $6.9 million the next 5 years, so you can plan capspace accordingly. Can you think of a better option?
There is no better option IF we could get him for only our now downgraded #12 pick. Which is a total crock, BTW. Of course Chicago moves up to #3.
I just can’t see how there wouldn’t be other bidders offering higher and more draft picks for this kind of established name though. It would be great if Fenton could pull it off.
He loads CSKA forwards in ice time every game by a good margin, so he’s playing Powerplay/Penalty kill too. KHL is a very physical league and Kaprizov is always the other teams main focus to be shut down and he still delivers, he’s built like a bulldog, I don’t see any issues with his game translating the the NHL.
Should we start a betting pool now on how long it will be after he starts playing in the NHL that a TMSF says he’s “too small and fragile” for the NHL?
As we all know, Parise is “too small and fragile” for the NHL. The amazing thing is that now that the NHL officials rediscovered in 2018 that cross-checking in front of the goal actually IS a penalty (surprise!), Parise has a good year. It’s almost like the two could be related.
Grouse
Sure there will be others bidding for Nylander, but few teams can do anything due to Cap issues without sending a rostered player the other direction which certainly isn’t something Toronto is looking for. The Wild are one of the best positioned teams going into next year in that regard.
Sure there will be others bidding for Nylander, but few teams can do anything due to Cap issues without sending a rostered player the other direction which certainly isn’t something Toronto is looking for. The Wild are one of the best positioned teams going into next year in that regard.
This exactly! The Wild are also one of the few West teams that probably doesn’t scare Toronto trading with in terms of Nylander coming back to bite them in the a$$ in the cup finals near future…
It doesn’t matter if it’s industry or sports. Talent wins.
I would argue that the Wild are a good of example of a team with talent but no chemistry. No chemistry stifles the talent. Talent with no chemistry = no playoffs. Teams with good chemistry look different on the ice. Passes are on teammates sticks and not behind them or in their skates. Shots are on goal and not wide or over the top of the goal. Breakouts are smooth and controlled from the defensive zone and pucks aren’t getting turned over. Good puck movement and sustained pressure in the offensive zone.
Good chemistry will also produce good puck luck. Funny how the good teams with chemistry seem to get a lot more of the good bounces and pucks find the back of the net instead of the goalies chest or the pipes.
I feel the Wild have enough talent they shouldn’t be cleaning their lockers out right now despite the injuries.
If there was one area where I think the Wild would really benefit from improving, it would be not just shooting, but shooting on net. I saw a stat a few weeks back and the Wild were 3rd worst in the league in shooting on net %. And what a surprise, we’re terrible when it comes to goal production as well. Not sure where we ended up, but it can’t have been much more than that.
Bottom line is across the board the Wild are just missing the damn goal. Shot after shot whistles 2 feet wide or 2 feet high. I’d be interested to see what the average “missed goal” shot margin is. I’ll bet it’s closer to feet than inches.
Perfect example of what happens when you learn to shoot on net was Dumba. 3 and 4 seasons ago he was missing the net by feet ever time. Clearly, in the 2017 off season he did MAJOR work on his shot quality and look what happened. Drastically improved goal production the next season on and that’s from a D-man.
The whole team needs work on hitting the net and come back with on-net percentages that put us above the middle of the pack at least. If we accomplish just that, we’ll be pack in the playoffs. It’s all well and good to be a defense first team, but as was saw in the last 2 games, sooner or later it really helps your team if you actually score a goal or two.
Donato has been given a lot of praise for being a shoot first guy, but it also helps that he puts the puck on the net when he does shoot first!
Grouse
Here is a question for you guys.
How about a trade with Vegas? Zucker and Pateryn for Tuch and Miller.
Vegas gets it’s hometown boy and some speed along with a stay-at-home third pairing defenseman and MN gets back Tuch, who would fit very well on a line with Staal or Ek and gives us right shot that doesn’t mind going to the dirty ice along with Miller, the better half of one of the best third pairings of defensemen in the league. MN would also gain about $1.5MM in cap space as well.
The Wild do have talent, but I don’t say any elite talent on the team regarding finishers. Chemistry is certainly important and gets negatively impacted due to injuries and the trades that happened shuffling everyone around.
At times this year they looked like an elite team. Didn’t they have the 3rd best record at one point? I seem to remember that, but since the injury to Dumba that left a gaping hole and then guys just were not performing.
Here is a question for you guys.
How about a trade with Vegas? Zucker and Pateryn for Tuch and Miller.
Vegas gets it’s hometown boy and some speed along with a stay-at-home third pairing defenseman and MN gets back Tuch, who would fit very well on a line with Staal or Ek and gives us right shot that doesn’t mind going to the dirty ice along with Miller, the better half of one of the best third pairings of defensemen in the league. MN would also gain about $1.5MM in cap space as well.
Any trade for Vegas is going to have to involve them dumping salary. They are currently over the cap for next year and don’t have a full roster of players under contract. They will have to dump money and not take anymore on. On paper the trade would certainly benefit the Wild, I think it greatly weakens the Golden Knights, but even at that I don’t think there is anyway the Golden Knights for even entertaining that because of their cap situation and I think it would have to be more coming from the Wild in regards to a pick or additional prospect to make it more equal.
Here is a question for you guys.
How about a trade with Vegas? Zucker and Pateryn for Tuch and Miller.
Vegas gets it’s hometown boy and some speed along with a stay-at-home third pairing defenseman and MN gets back Tuch, who would fit very well on a line with Staal or Ek and gives us right shot that doesn’t mind going to the dirty ice along with Miller, the better half of one of the best third pairings of defensemen in the league. MN would also gain about $1.5MM in cap space as well.
I don’t see why Vegas would give up the youth and size combo of Tuch especially with him locked up long term at a good rate and Patryn is not a good defenseman and that’s where the trade becomes lopsided towards the Wild, Vegas would need to be the team saving cap space as they have Karlsson to resign and Stone’s huge pay raise kicks in next year.
Pretty crazy how they have gone about spending in their first two years compared to the penny pinching Wild expansion strategy…Their Xpac rules were so favorable compared to what the Wild and Blue Jackets got, it’s laughable..
So far the only people I’ve heard say Vegas wants a hometown boy are people here. I haven’t heard Vegas say “Man if we only had a hometown boy”! You might be over estimating Zucker’s worth to what Vegas thinks he’s worth hometown boy or not.
So far the only people I’ve heard say Vegas wants a hometown boy are people here. I haven’t heard Vegas say “Man if we only had a hometown boy”! You might be over estimating Zucker’s worth to what Vegas thinks he’s worth hometown boy or not.
There were tons of reports before the xpac draft that Vegas was hoping Zucker would somehow be made available and then again at the trade deadline…I’ve mentioned several times that it could be a small factor in a trade vs any other player in the NHL with similar stats to Zucker. Vegas won’t be the shiny new toy in town once the NFL moves the Raiders to the desert in a year, so anything that draws some attention to the Golden Knights is good for the team PR wise. They need something to tie the team to the local community fanbase vs high rollers that stop in for a weekend.
So far the only people I’ve heard say Vegas wants a hometown boy are people here. I haven’t heard Vegas say “Man if we only had a hometown boy”! You might be over estimating Zucker’s worth to what Vegas thinks he’s worth hometown boy or not.
X2!
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Keith wrote:</div>
So far the only people I’ve heard say Vegas wants a hometown boy are people here. I haven’t heard Vegas say “Man if we only had a hometown boy”! You might be over estimating Zucker’s worth to what Vegas thinks he’s worth hometown boy or not.There were tons of reports before the xpac draft that Vegas was hoping Zucker would somehow be made available…I’ve mentioned several times that it could be a factor in a trade vs any other player in the NHL with similar stats to Zucker. Vegas won’t be the shiny new toy in town once the NFL moves the Raiders to the desert in a year, so anything that draws some attention to the Golden Knights is good for the team PR wise. They need something to tie the team to the local community fanbase vs high rollers that stop in for a weekend.
Picking Zucker up as a freebie in the expansion draft is quite a bit different than giving up assets for him now. Vegas knew the NFL was coming when the Knights came to be I’m sure they figure there’s enough money rolling around Vegas for everyone to get a piece of the pie.
So far the only people I’ve heard say Vegas wants a hometown boy are people here. I haven’t heard Vegas say “Man if we only had a hometown boy”! You might be over estimating Zucker’s worth to what Vegas thinks he’s worth hometown boy or not.
And if Vegas wanted him that badly Fenton had him on the block at the recent trade deadline…he was very close to being traded to Calgary for Frolik and a Draft pick.
I do still think he’ll be shopped before the new season but we may not find a taker depending on our demands in return….which I hope are higher rather than lower…he seems like a player who would fit in well with a younger/faster team like Fenton seems to be building…just wish Zucker was more consistent in all aspects…has shining moments…just too long in between those moments.
Zucker gets at least 3-4 good scoring chances per game, that’s pretty good and by far the best on our team, if he buries just a fraction more of those chances over the season he’s an easy 30 goal scorer. I don’t think they move him because they likely won’t get anybody better or cheaper in return, and if he starts scoring 30+ goals, his contract starts to look really good.
That really only leaves Spurgeon and Brodin as tradable assets that could get a decent return back (if Fenton decides to keep his core group of 21-23 year olds intact)
He gets at least 3-4 good scoring chances per game, that’s pretty good and by far the best on our team, if he buries a fraction more of those chances he’s an easy 30 goal scorer. I don’t think they move him because they likely won’t get anybody better or cheaper in return, and if he starts scoring 30+ goals, his contract starts to look really good.
That really only leaves Spurgeon and Brodin as tradable assets that could get a decent return back (if Fenton decides to keep his core group of 21-23 year olds intact)
I said earlier I wouldn’t be to anxious to dump Zucker. He’s probably worth more to us than he is to anybody else. This year he hits pipes and misses open nets maybe next year the majority of those shots go in. I think he fits well with the Donato,Greenway, Fiala Kunin that seems to be the young core of this team.
Moving Spurgeon would be a big mistake imo. I don’t see how you improve the team in any way by moving him. Brodin yes. Brodin has no offensive upside.
For a team that is struggling in no small way for offense I don’t see how you move a defenseman with 14 goals and 29 assists. And a solid defenseman to boot. Makes no sense you got to find a way to keep him on the roster.
Who’s to say if Dumba is going to pick up where he left off. He was still a bit of a defensive liability not as bad as he was but he still has glaring lapses.
Suter has lost a step and once you lose a step at his age you rarely get it back. Parise will most likely never play a full season again he’s at that stage of his career where his play style has caught up to his body.
Oh well the teams with team chemistry start tonight so looking forward to see what the Wild do going forward and some good games tonight and going forward.
The Wild do have talent, but I don’t say any elite talent…
PJ, is that you?
Great guys. The Gopher football coach is on the forum. There goes the neighborhood.
Grouse
Anybody channel surfing to keep up with Round 1?
Granted you can’t tell much from the first round of Game 1s, but…
If I were the Jets and the Preads, I’d be worried. Very worried. Both of these teams are playing like there’s some kind of bye for them into round 2 and R1 is just a warm up. Both the Stars and the Blues are playing with something to prove.
Colorado. Sorry Avs, you still suck. Whether it’s the Wild beating you or the Flames beating you, you still gonna get beat and I’m still going to love to watch you get beat. Flames wrap this up in 4.
Leafs vs Bruins. Probably the best series in the East. Anyone think this one is going to go less than 6?
Tampa. Wakey, wakey there, Tampa. Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be, eh?
Cap. Haven’t lost a thing.
Lots of great hockey to watch. Islanders/Pens, Sharks/Vegas, some great series to watch.
Grouse
Leafs vs Bruins. Probably the best series in the East. Anyone think this one is going to go less than 6?
My prediction is that this one goes to 7 again this year. I think that the Pens/Isles series goes 7 as well.
Not that I am a big Flames fan this year, but yeah, they are going to spank the Avs. Want to see the Preds beat the Stars, but their special teams is so shaky right now, I don’t know if they can do it. I would like to see Vegas pick it up a bit as I want to see them go deep again this year, but without Fleury being 100%, I don’t know if they can do it. As for the Blues, it is hard for me to see them do well (I am a Wild fan living in St. Louis, so I am subjected to a special kind of torture at my local) but they seem to be clicking. MN showed everyone how to beat the Jets. Not that I don’t like seeing the Jets get whooped up on, but if St. Louis gets by them, they are going to be hard to beat going forward.
Cooper was right. The problem is the Bolts went up 3 and they kept trying to score when they didn’t have to. No, you don’t let up and sit back, but you don’t have to force plays.
They would have won if it weren’t for Hedman. But I don’t expect him to play that bad the rest of the way.
Kucherov has to be OK with not scoring too. Stammer and Kuch both are sour for not scoring game 6 and 7 against the caps last year.
KHL leading scorer Nikita Gusev and another player from SKA were just released from their KHL contracts and allowed to signed with the NHL teams that own their rights, perhaps the rumors of Kaprizov being allowed to leave if they win are true?
Hard to argue there’s a bigger star in the KHL that Gusev…
Cooper was right. The problem is the Bolts went up 3 and they kept trying to score when they didn’t have to. No, you don’t let up and sit back, but you don’t have to force plays.
They would have won if it weren’t for Hedman. But I don’t expect him to play that bad the rest of the way.
Kucherov has to be OK with not scoring too. Stammer and Kuch both are sour for not scoring game 6 and 7 against the caps last year.
Well, tonight the Bolts needed to get comfortable with scoring. Which they didn’t do.
Kucherov is going to have a meeting with the NHL to discuss that hit on a player on his knees. That was bad but he’ll get away with no suspension.
Grouse
He’s a baby when he doesn’t score and gets frustrated. If his name was Crosby I’d hate him. I don’t mind the competitiveness and slamming of the stick he does, but he slashed 2 guys in frustration last night along with the hit.
Its amazing how much room Columbus gets but they are all over our guys with and without the puck.
And Headman. He is not playing well. He’s the last one who should be at the bench yapping to them about last year.
Kucherov is going to have a meeting with the NHL to discuss that hit on a player on his knees. That was bad but he’ll get away with no suspension.
Grouse
I won’t be surprised if he’s only fined but I really think he’s going to get a 1 game ban. The intent was way too obvious for the NHL to let him off again. (He got away with an elbow to the head in round 1 last year.) I mean it’s 5 minutes left in a blowout and he trips the guy and then intentionally mashes his head into the boards. Not to mention he was running around like an idiot looking for hits all game long. Tom Wilson gets at least 5 games for that hit.
I won’t be surprised if he’s only fined but I really think he’s going to get a 1 game ban. The intent was way too obvious for the NHL to let him off again. (He got away with an elbow to the head in round 1 last year.) I mean it’s 5 minutes left in a blowout and he trips the guy and then intentionally mashes his head into the boards. Not to mention he was running around like an idiot looking for hits all game long. Tom Wilson gets at least 5 games for that hit.
Kucherov gets 1 game suspension, so he’ll be absent for Game 3. I’m surprised, but I think the NHL was fully exposed on this one and knew that to NOT suspend him would be an admission that there is a class system in the NHL where certain brand names and teams get special treatment so they had to suspend him.
Tampa is in real trouble here. This is different from last year where Columbus took 2 games from the Caps. Tampa is in a tailspin and Kucherov’s suspension comes at the worst possible time as they head back to Columbus for 2 games. This isn’t going to be pretty if the Jackets take 1 of the next 2.
The Jets are also in real trouble, losing 2 and Hellybuck is getting beaten like a rented mule out there. Pretty tough to win playoff games when you have to score 5 or more because your goaltender is a sieve.
Grouse
They’ll probably play better without kuch.
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