MN Wild 2018-19 Official Thread

I’m to the point in my sports life where I really don’t care what they do. Sure it’s nice to follow winning teams. It’s fun to watch the bandwagon jumpers come out when the teams are hot and disappear when they suck. The only people I feel sorry for are the season ticket holders. They are being sold a “product” when something else is being delivered.
Twins, Vikings, Wild are all the same. I’ll watch, I’ll listen, I’ll even go to a game or two. But I won’t get to emotionally invested anymore.
When the Wild dump Parise and eat his contract will be the day when they go into full suck mode.

Dutchboy wrote:

When the Wild dump Parise and eat his contract will be the day when they go into full suck mode.

That’s going to be very tough to accomplish. Because of the cap recapture penalty and how the league basically penalized teams for doing contracts like the Wild did with Suter and Parise. I used the buyout calculator for Parise and they wouldnt really save any considerable money by buying him out at any point in time. The most would be if they bought him out now, but even then they are having a higher cap hit the last 2 years of his contract than if he actually played for the team.

Their really only option would be to trade and I dont think too many teams are looking to take on that term. The value is worth it, but 6 more years, ufdah.

The Wild are so incredibly screwed it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

The only option is to go young, tank if you will, and shed the bad contracts. Start over. “Hey- can I get a do over???? LOL

The thing is, AFTER this season, they aren’t THAT far off if a couple of things happen….

IF:
1) Kaprizov is signed
2) unload Dubnyk & Spurgeon at the trade deadline
3) They are able to unload Rask somehow
4) Trade away Foligno’s contract. (no way a 4th line player is paid $2.9 million, 4th line should be used for vets signed to the minimum or hungry rookies in Iowa)
5) Spend the Koivu/Rask/Foligno’s capspace for a quality center iceman who can pass.
6) If Dubnyk is dealt, sign a veteran goalie to bridge the gap before our prospects are ready
6) Draft an offensive player in hopefully the top 5 of the 2020 draft

Now I know alot of folks are high on Spurgeon, rightfully so, but look at the facts, he’ll want $8+ per season on a likely long term (6/7 year) deal with a full no trade clause. What are the odds he stays healthy for the duration of that contract at his size? AND we already have alot of money tied up with Suter and Dumba at Defense long term…He could probably return a 1st & 2rd/3rd round draft picks that could help solidify the future and his $ savings could be put towards signing a FA scorer….Dubnyk still has another year left on his contract after next year, so you play the field with him in terms of what offers you get…Fenton needs to have a conversation with Parise and Suter and ask them if they want out if he can somehow get an offer for them…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

We need a top 3 draft pick on a rookie salary that can quickly turn the franchise around, the Draft’s projected #1 pick this year is that type of player

Im guessing you don’t meant it that way but one draft pick will solve the problems facing this team. As musky said, the biggest problem with this team right now is at the top of the ladder. Matthews, Crosby, Ovechkin, MacDavid, Eichel or Kane couldn’t save this team. Probably even if these were their top 6 forwards.

biggill wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
We need a top 3 draft pick on a rookie salary that can quickly turn the franchise around, the Draft’s projected #1 pick this year is that type of player

Im guessing you don’t meant it that way but one draft pick will solve the problems facing this team. As musky said, the biggest problem with this team right now is at the top of the ladder. Matthews, Crosby, Ovechkin, MacDavid, Eichel or Kane couldn’t save this team. Probably even if these were their top 6 forwards.

I meant help in the top 6…so after next year Koivu is gone and replaced by a rookie with similar production but at a fraction of the capspace used. We never have had that luxury and our top players don’t score like their salary says they should…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I meant help in the top 6…so after next year Koivu is gone and replaced by a rookie with similar production but at a fraction of the capspace used. We never have had that luxury and our top players don’t score like their salary says they should…

We will see how this season goes with Sturm, but I like his play. Probably get slammed for saying this, but from what I saw of him last year was very Koivu-esque. So that would be a natural progression once Koivu is gone. There should be no way on this green earth that Koivu gets signed for any sizable contract after next year and certainly not to play in the top 6.
Hopefully Ek continues to improve and we see something out of Sturm. The nice thing about his is he is an older player so his body has filled out a bit already compared to a typical rookie.

I was of the camp to NEVER under any circumstance trade Spurgeon, but now I think it would be best for the Wild and for him if they did.
They will actually have a ton of cap space with very few Free Agents to sign after next year, basically just Spurgeon and Koivu so they do have some options there, they will have nearly $25MM in cap space (figuring in about $5MM for Fiala and Ek to sign yet this year from the potential $30MM without those two as of now). That would give a ton of options with basically 3 expiring players from the current roster. Dump Rask and the options could be astounding. Im getting excited! LOL

Still lots of RFA’s not signed yet, do we dare make an inner-conference trade and try to get Liane away from the Jets, maybe offer Spurgeon? Jets desperately need a top pair defenseman and don’t want to pay Liane more than Wheeler… What if the Wild offer him a long term deal (6+ years) to keep the cap hit a bit lower and build around him for the future? There’s no doubting he’s an elite right-shot goal scorer and only 21 years old…The possibility of him and Kaprizov on each side of the powerplay for the foreseeable future sounds pretty nice…

Yeah its kinda wild all the guys still unsigned. I am very intrigued to see how this Marner deal turns out. Laine had an off year for sure, but I wouldnt hate having him on the Wild at all. Can you imagine a PP with Dumba and Laine with those bombs on it? Heck throw in Hunt? That would be fun, but I really wouldnt want to send Spurgeon somewhere in the Division. It would make me miss him too much seeing him all the time.

Should we start placing bets on how many RFA’s will be sitting on the sidelines at the beginning of the season? I’m leaning towards a half dozen across the league.

How in the world does Tampa afford to sign Point now that they paid so much for Vasilevskiy? There’s an a opportunity for an offer sheet!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

How in the world does Tampa afford to sign Point now that they paid so much for Vasilevskiy? There’s an a opportunity for an offer sheet!

Yeah, and the Gusev dreams have died since he was traded to the Devils.

According to ESPN the lightning still have $5.5M left to sign Point.

I think the best we can do is stand pat at this stage of the game. We need to keep Spurgeon just for the simple fact I don’t trust Fenton to be smart enough to get value in return. Fenton seems to be giddy about this teams potential now with the additions of Zuccarello and Hartman. Gusev was low hanging fruit and the Wild didn’t even sniff the air on him. Struck out looking.

We got lucky Kessel nixed the trade to come here but it says a lot about the state of a team when veterans who are on the downside of their career don’t want to come here. Dubnyk is not a elite goalie by any stretch. Slightly better than average. Don’t think he’s going to win anyone the Stanley Cup in his career. I didn’t like his contract after his debut year here. Too much money for too long but that’s how the Wild front office rolls.

There’s just something about this team that you can’t put your finger on. They have enough talent that making the playoffs shouldn’t be a question but they very well could miss two years in a row. I think the locker room may be colder than the ice often times.

mplspug wrote:

According to ESPN the lightning still have $5.5M left to sign Point.

$5.5 isn’t in the ballpark for Point, he’ll get Aho money easy…

Well technically they will have more money to sign him with Callahan on LTIR. I’ve wasted about 20 minutes trying to figure it out, but I am guessing the reason they haven’t signed him yet is they are working together to time it right. Point refused the offer sheet from Montreal so to me all signs point (no pun intended) to him willing to work with the team as far as the timing goes.

It will likely be a situation where he will not sign until after the season has started to let LTIR dollars to accrue giving them more room. I dont really comprehend how all of that works, but I believe it only accrues during the season so if his contract $ is higher than available Cap space they would have no other options.

It will be an interesting season coming up. The Central is going to be tough again as will much of the Eastern Conference. The Devils will be an interesting team to watch.

Anyone catch the Athletic story on Parise from Russo recently? I thought it was an interesting read and you can tell where is head is at regarding this team.

I wouldnt be surprised if Fenton is actually shopping him right now. There are teams that would take him believe it or not even with the term on his contract, but nail however is the concern if he retires before the end of his contract, the recapture penalty.

That really screws the Wild because you have teams like the Maple Leafs trading for an injured player to they can accrue LTIR to be able to sign Marner, but a guy like Parise retires early and the Wild (or some other team) gets soaked for a Cap hit still? LAME.

mplspug wrote:

Well technically they will have more money to sign him with Callahan on LTIR. I’ve wasted about 20 minutes trying to figure it out, but I am guessing the reason they haven’t signed him yet is they are working together to time it right. Point refused the offer sheet from Montreal so to me all signs point (no pun intended) to him willing to work with the team as far as the timing goes.

Point got an offer sheet from Montreal??? Do you mean Aho? RFA’s have no say in the offer sheet decision at all, it’s the RFA team’s decision to match it or not, word is all remaining RFA’s (The big ones) are waiting for Marner to set the market and they’ll start negotiating from there…Callahan’s salary stays on the books this season still so that doesn’t help with Point’s contract this year…it will be interesting, I just don’t see any way they can afford him and you still have a few other players you need to re-sign…oh the problems of having too many good players…life must be rough…

Ha, the Callahan situation has been resolved. Just traded to Ottawa. Another situation like the Maple Leafs. Grrr.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Point got an offer sheet from Montreal???

Yes, Point got an offer sheet from Montreal but didnt sign it. Aho got an offer sheet from them and signed it, meaning it forced Carolina to match it. Tampa doesnt have to match an offer sheet if its not signed meaning he could sign for more or less money. The offer sheet if signed has to be matched to the letter by the RFA’s team. That is why the Aho offer sheet was so dumb because it really helped out the Hurricanes with how Montreal wrote it up.

Well that helps. Now, you guys looking for a goaltender?

Early word is coming out that Paul Fenton has been fired.

WoW! Fenton fired after 1 season!

I actually have to give Leopold credit for admitting he made a mistake and cut bait before this really got out of control! I’d prefer they go the experienced route when selecting a new GM, I do like Bill Guerin too though….

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
Point got an offer sheet from Montreal???

Yes, Point got an offer sheet from Montreal but didnt sign it. Aho got an offer sheet from them and signed it, meaning it forced Carolina to match it. Tampa doesnt have to match an offer sheet if its not signed meaning he could sign for more or less money. The offer sheet if signed has to be matched to the letter by the RFA’s team. That is why the Aho offer sheet was so dumb because it really helped out the Hurricanes with how Montreal wrote it up.

I’m guessing then the offer from Montreal wasn’t enough that Point was looking for and he wanted to keep the little leverage he has…

Who would want that GM job without being guaranteed 3 years before they can be fired? It’s going to take that just to even become a playoff contender again

LOL, the train wreck rolls on!!!

Other than the 2018 1st round draft pick and the Nino for Rask deal, he didn’t screw things up too much…thankfully he never completed any of the Zucker trades…

I think Leopold has learned his lesson on going with cheap inexperienced picks for Coach & GM, he’ll get somebody with a decent track record to be GM, Hextall?

So you are ruling out Modano?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I’m guessing then the offer from Montreal wasn’t enough that Point was looking for and he wanted to keep the little leverage he has…

That OR he doesnt want to play for Montreal because Tampa is much closer to winning.

Dutchboy wrote:

So you are ruling out Modano?

Well, I think having him with the organization would make him a candidate, but I am not sure I want a guy to be a rookie GM again especially considering how our last rookie went.

I do like that Modano is with the team however, I certainly think a person of his ilk in certain capacities would bring a lot of clout since he played the game, won the Cup, etc. Guys like Hextall, Yzerman can say that too. Doesnt make them a good GM however, but players sometimes relate better to guys like that.