MN Wild 2019-2020 Official Thread

tswoboda wrote:

Maybe do something crazy like sign one of the best 2 way puck moving defensemen in the NHL.

Spurgeon is already signed for this year…

TSN has a good article today on how RFA’s first year salary gets inflated against the cap the first year of the contract the longer they go unsigned before the Dec deadline. The Jets are potentially screwing themselves by not getting BOTH Connor and Liane signed right away as they won’t have ANY cap space left this season…This will force them to trade somebody from their active roster just to shed salary to sign these guys, and the longer it goes on, the more expensive their 1st year salaries are against the cap…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

TSN has a good article today on how RFA’s first year salary gets inflated against the cap the first year of the contract the longer they go unsigned before the Dec deadline. The Jets are potentially screwing themselves by not getting BOTH Connor and Liane signed right away as they won’t have ANY cap space left this season…This will force them to trade somebody from their active roster just to shed salary to sign these guys, and the longer it goes on, the more expensive their 1st year salaries are against the cap…

Yeah, I remember that from Nylander’s holdout last year and how it actually helped the Leafs long term. I almost wonder if it was truly Nylander’s camp that was behind the holdout?

I like the direction of this team starting out at square 1 with a whole new season in front of them. It will be fun to see how this all evolves as the season goes on. They have a good shot at developing a far better team than what they have had in past seasons.
In less than a week we will see some on ice competition.

Can’t believe there isn’t a post in here yet about Spurgeon! Good on Guerin for getting it done

We now have almost $29 million tied up in 7 defenseman starting next year…I love Spurgeon, but for a team that can’t score goals, that contract takes away $ from getting players who can… I was ok with losing him if it meant we’d put his $ towards a scorer…I’m guessing you’ll see Pateryn eventually get shipped and replaced with a veteran minimum guy moving forward for 3rd D pair to save on Defense spending. It’s refreshing to see a GM who’s willing to take action right away, I just hope the cap goes up alot in the future so we can invest more in the offense now…

I hope Guerin’s #1 priority now is having talks with Kaprizov and getting his commitment to come over at the end of the KHL season…that will go a long way in figuring out this teams direction in the near future.

Quick Update – Kaprizov had 3 goals and an assist in a 5-2 win today for CSKA….he leads the league in scoring after 6 games…

Just looking through the Capfriendly website comparing teams, with Marner’s new deal, the Maple Leafs have $55+ million tied up in forwards this season!

waldo9190 wrote:

Can’t believe there isn’t a post in here yet about Spurgeon! Good on Guerin for getting it done

AGREED 100%. I don’t care what other moves are made signing Spur was HUGE!!!

No one talking about Karills hatrick +1 assist in today’s khl game?

mplspug wrote:

No one talking about Karills hatrick +1 assist in today’s khl game?

He can tear it up over there all he wants. Doesn’t mean a thing. It’s only what he does if and when he gets here that means anything. If this kid does get in a Wild sweater the expectations and pressure on him are going to be unbelievable.

Ice Cap wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mplspug wrote:</div>
No one talking about Karills hatrick +1 assist in today’s khl game?

He can tear it up over there all he wants. Doesn’t mean a thing. It’s only what he does if and when he gets here that means anything. If this kid does get in a Wild sweater the expectations and pressure on him are going to be unbelievable.

He’s the face of the entire KHL league, playing in his home country, I think he’s passed the pressure test so far just fine… Yes the NHL is a different beast, we’ll see when he gets here. How is this hype any different than if he was tearing up Major Junior Hockey in Canada or the Swedish Elite League, or College Hockey or the AHL? It’s widely agreed upon that the KHL is the 2nd best league in the world and closest in pace and physicality to the NHL…

Doesnt appear to be a lot of money left in Cap next year and we have RFA to sign. Greenway, Kunin, etc. As it sits after signing Spurgeon its roughly $10MM left to sign those two and hopefully Kaprisov. He isnt going to go for an entry level deal because he is getting far more than that right now in the KHL. Could be a tight squeeze, will likely have to be some moves made to clear space.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Doesnt appear to be a lot of money left in Cap next year and we have RFA to sign. Greenway, Kunin, etc. As it sits after signing Spurgeon its roughly $10MM left to sign those two and hopefully Kaprisov. He isnt going to go for an entry level deal because he is getting far more than that right now in the KHL. Could be a tight squeeze, will likely have to be some moves made to clear space.

Can he sign any other type of deal besides a rookie level contract? Nakita Gusev was able to force his way out of Vegas (they also have huge cap issues and couldn’t pay him any more) and get a higher contract, but I believe he already signed his original rookie deal with them years ago and then left for the KHL? I’m still holding out hope that we can somehow snag Nylander away from Toronto this year, Leafs are so screwed against the cap that a deal for a defenseman like Brodin with 2 years on a lower cap hit could work…

Remember Koivu’s contract is up after this year and Rask will absolutely be a buy-out if he doesn’t turn into a good player this year (his buy-out cap hit would be $1.3 x 4 years) so that’s $8.8 million in cap savings we’ll get back, Kunin likely won’t be able to demand a big 2nd contract based on his injury history and low production so far in the NHL, Greenway might be able to get a Fiala type of deal if he improves his game this season over last…Pateryn and Foligno’s contracts should be looked into being dealt this season if possible, your 4th line forwards and 3rd pair defense should be making the league minimum, these are guys who should be doing all they can to STAY in the NHL, that’s their motivation to giving 100% every shift….

Did you guys hear the rumor floating around that were there 2 teams that approached Marner for an offer sheet (CBJ and MIN)? Apparently Fenton had approached with the details of an offersheet, but Marner’s camp declined so he never actually submitted it.
IDK where Fenton thought that money was going to come from?

Some interesting early-season developments for the Wild.

Spurgeon deal – Guerin managed to snatch victory from the jaws of another Fenton Fail, but it probably cost the Wild more. Still, a total win.

So a lot of comments on “Why sign a d-man when the Wild are offensively challenged to say the least?”

Ummm, because he was our #5 best goal scorer? At $7m and change the Wild get a top d-man AND a 40 point guy. Anyone who thinks the Wild overpaid, please point out specific free agents that the Wild could sign NOW that could replace 40 points of production for less money AND have a top pairing role on D.

Also, I’ve read nothing that says there’s a tight no-trade on this deal, so the Wild lock up a valuable D asset with dangerous goal-scoring candy sprinkles on top for a juicy long term deal that will look like a bargain in 2 years if salaries keep accelerating. Win if we keep him, win if we trade him.

Kaprisov – I see the “One Year and Counting” hype machine has built up a full head of steam already.

I’m excited too, but again let’s put the Krill Party Bus on blocks for a while. The KHL ain’t the NHL, and we don’t want another Gaborik where the pressure builds too high on a player that turned out to be at his best when he was NOT “the guy”. Kaprisov already looks to be the same type of player to me, he looks more dangerous when the opponent forgets his setup man potential and tries to shut him off in just the goalscoring dimension.

Also, why run around clucking like chickens all season about how things will unfold when it’s totally predictable? Kaprisov (and his agent) know he has the whole season to work on a deal, but at the end of the day it all comes out the same. Yes, he will be coming to the NHL, by CBA rules he WILL play for the Wild unless they trade his rights, and all the other CBA rules apply.

Had to laugh at the comment above about how Kaprisov is making big money in the KHL right now. Sure, by Russian standards he is, but his salary + endorsement potential in the big boy league is so much greater the two don’t even compare. Why would he stay in Russia making chicken feed and being the TV spokesman for Shitskovitch Lada when he could come here and set himself up for life?

Training camp –

All you Suter haters out there must have missed the results of Bruce’s dreaded camp opening skating test. Suter’s too slow for the NHL… Wha wha…

The only guy that failed the test? Victor Rask, who else? But then the Leadershipless co-captain Parise jumped on the ice with a bunch of other players and skated the re-do torture sessions with Rask. Like I’ve said before, every team has a “lack of leadership” when things are going badly, just ask any fan who never mentions this lack when things are going well.

Grouse

CaptainMusky wrote:

Did you guys hear the rumor floating around that were there 2 teams that approached Marner for an offer sheet (CBJ and MIN)? Apparently Fenton had approached with the details of an offersheet, but Marner’s camp declined so he never actually submitted it.
IDK where Fenton thought that money was going to come from?

last I read Russo said that was false, the Wild was NOT one of the teams that offered…but who knows…at the $$ amount Mariner got I don’t think that would have been wise at all (something like 4 x 1st round picks + other 2nd and 3rd rounders) BUT if you kept the offer sheet below $8 million per, I think you only lose a 1st and 3rd rounder? I’d do that for Liane or Point in a heartbeat…

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Some interesting early-season developments for the Wild.

Spurgeon deal – Guerin managed to snatch victory from the jaws of another Fenton Fail, but it probably cost the Wild more. Still, a total win.

So a lot of comments on “Why sign a d-man when the Wild are offensively challenged to say the least?”

Ummm, because he was our #5 best goal scorer? At $7m and change the Wild get a top d-man AND a 40 point guy. Anyone who thinks the Wild overpaid, please point out specific free agents that the Wild could sign NOW that could replace 40 points of production for less money AND have a top pairing role on D.

Also, I’ve read nothing that says there’s a tight no-trade on this deal, so the Wild lock up a valuable D asset with dangerous goal-scoring candy sprinkles on top for a juicy long term deal that will look like a bargain in 2 years if salaries keep accelerating. Win if we keep him, win if we trade him.

Kaprisov – I see the “One Year and Counting” hype machine has built up a full head of steam already.

I’m excited too, but again let’s put the Krill Party Bus on blocks for a while. The KHL ain’t the NHL, and we don’t want another Gaborik where the pressure builds too high on a player that turned out to be at his best when he was NOT “the guy”. Kaprisov already looks to be the same type of player to me, he looks more dangerous when the opponent forgets his setup man potential and tries to shut him off in just the goalscoring dimension.

Also, why run around clucking like chickens all season about how things will unfold when it’s totally predictable? Kaprisov (and his agent) know he has the whole season to work on a deal, but at the end of the day it all comes out the same. Yes, he will be coming to the NHL, by CBA rules he WILL play for the Wild unless they trade his rights, and all the other CBA rules apply.

Had to laugh at the comment above about how Kaprisov is making big money in the KHL right now. Sure, by Russian standards he is, but his salary + endorsement potential in the big boy league is so much greater the two don’t even compare. Why would he stay in Russia making chicken feed and being the TV spokesman for Shitskovitch Lada when he could come here and set himself up for life?

Training camp –

All you Suter haters out there must have missed the results of Bruce’s dreaded camp opening skating test. Suter’s too slow for the NHL… Wha wha…

The only guy that failed the test? Victor Rask, who else? But then the Leadershipless co-captain Parise jumped on the ice with a bunch of other players and skated the re-do torture sessions with Rask. Like I’ve said before, every team has a “lack of leadership” when things are going badly, just ask any fan who never mentions this lack when things are going well.

Grouse

I don’t think anybody argued with Spurgeon’s skillset, it was more to do with injury risk over the length of contract Term and the existing contracts already on the books for the next 5+ years for our defense. 7 year term put him at 37 years old when the contract is over. We know he’s a smart player who can avoid alot of contact like Suter does, but he’s not built like Suter, 7 years is a long time for somebody built as small as he is playing a position that requires physicality. His great play the past few years has now put him on the other teams radar as somebody you put a hit on at all costs, similarly to Granlund and we all know how his play drops in the playoffs likely because of this. He has a full no trade clause I believe for the first 4 years of the deal, then a 10 team exclude list the last 3.

in terms of Kaprisov, the KHL CAN and DOES throw big money at the big name players from the 4-5 large market teams the league has. Alexander Radulov turned down a $7 million per season contract with CSKA, Kovalchuk and Datsyuk each earn $5.5 & $4.5 million as older players, so CSKA could easily throw $6+ million per season at Kaprizov. In terms of endorsement deals in the US, when have you seen a Russian player on a TV commercial outside of maybe a 1 line catch phrase from Ovi? In Russia, he speaks the language so it opens up alot more endorsements outside of hockey related items. Yes, they will sign North American endorsement deals with equipment manufacturers (CCM, Bauer, etc) but Russia and Europe are just as big market wise for youth hockey as USA/Canada is and i’m sure Kaprisov’s face is already all over posters for CCM or whomever he endorses right now. The other aspect of the KHL is that its current face of the league stars are getting close to retirement (Datsyuk, Kovalchuk) so they will need a youthful face to promote for the league moving forward. If he’s smart, his agent will leverage (both ways) the idea of staying in the KHL or leaving for the NHL with the Wild/KHL teams to get the biggest offer he can. His decision on where to play next year could get dragged out all summer and into the start of training camps (KHL starts 3 weeks earlier than the NHL)

The only thing the Wild have going for them is that the NHL is the pinnacle league for a hockey player and the Wild own his rights so if he’s gonna play in the NHL, it’s for the Wild. Kaprisov already won the Gagarin cup so there’s nothing more to accomplish in the KHL. I’m sure that and maybe a long term sales pitch of quality of life in the USA and long-term health of the NHL vs the always rumored bankrupt KHL will be part of Guerin’s sales pitch.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

The only thing the Wild have going for them is that the NHL is the pinnacle league for a hockey player and the Wild own his rights so if he’s gonna play in the NHL, it’s for the Wild. Kaprisov already won the Gagarin cup so there’s nothing more to accomplish in the KHL. I’m sure that and maybe a long term sales pitch of quality of life in the USA and long-term health of the NHL vs the always rumored bankrupt KHL will be part of Guerin’s sales pitch.

Two years of scutlebut and no sign of the Russian playing here yet.

hmmmmm what would coach Belichek do?

Point being..He’s not here so why worry about it.

Anyone know Koivu’s status?

Hoping he’s not on the top lines…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
Did you guys hear the rumor floating around that were there 2 teams that approached Marner for an offer sheet (CBJ and MIN)? Apparently Fenton had approached with the details of an offersheet, but Marner’s camp declined so he never actually submitted it.
IDK where Fenton thought that money was going to come from?

last I read Russo said that was false, the Wild was NOT one of the teams that offered…but who knows…at the $$ amount Mariner got I don’t think that would have been wise at all (something like 4 x 1st round picks + other 2nd and 3rd rounders) BUT if you kept the offer sheet below $8 million per, I think you only lose a 1st and 3rd rounder? I’d do that for Liane or Point in a heartbeat…

He squashed the rumor that they presented an offersheet, but it was later clarified that an offersheet was never presented to him, but the terms of a potential deal were. My interpretation was Russo responding that it was false that the Wild presented an offersheet, which appears to be the case, but that doesnt mean the sides didnt talk and just say, no, we arent interested.

jeff_huberty wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
The only thing the Wild have going for them is that the NHL is the pinnacle league for a hockey player and the Wild own his rights so if he’s gonna play in the NHL, it’s for the Wild. Kaprisov already won the Gagarin cup so there’s nothing more to accomplish in the KHL. I’m sure that and maybe a long term sales pitch of quality of life in the USA and long-term health of the NHL vs the always rumored bankrupt KHL will be part of Guerin’s sales pitch.

Two years of scutlebut and no sign of the Russian playing here yet.

hmmmmm what would coach Belichek do?

Point being..He’s not here so why worry about it.

The Russian winter, silently yet inevitably approaches, while the waning moon gazes strongest on a watchful eye… or so the saying goes.

Although, in this situation I think this proverb is much more applicable.

The western breeze strikes harshest while thine hands of the clock tower creep slower in the dark.

i know it’s just preseason, but the Wild needs a week’s worth of practice time spent on how to properly play & defend the 3-3 overtime format. How many times year after year do the Wild players look completely dumbfounded on how to properly play the 3-3 format? The Dallas player stood by himself at the blueline for about 5 seconds and none of the Wild players realized it was their guy, simple pass & breakaway goal and OT is over…it just amazes me…and you don’t see these types of mental mistakes when you watch other teams play OT, just the Wild…

Normally i’d chalk up mistakes to it being pre-season, but how many years has this been the same story? When it comes to 1-2 points at the end of the year on who does & doesn’t make the playoffs, ending stupid mental mistakes in OT is an easy fix…

I like what I saw from Hartman last night. only an assist short of the Gordie Howe hat trick.

philtickelson wrote:

The Russian winter, silently yet inevitably approaches, while the waning moon gazes strongest on a watchful eye… or so the saying goes.

Although, in this situation I think this proverb is much more applicable.

The western breeze strikes harshest while thine hands of the clock tower creep slower in the dark.

That’s heavy, Phil.

Grouse

Last week Dustin Byfuglien requested a personal leave of absence from the Jets. It came out today that he is contemplating retirement. I love his game and he is a fierce competitor, but he is a big man and I am sure his body has taken an absolutely beating over the years.
Some rookies will appear in net tonight for the Wild. Kahkonen with the first 2 periods and then Robson. Word is that Robson played VERY well in the Traverse Prospects tourney. Will be fun to watch those guys get some time.

BigBuff retiring could be a blessing in disguise as TSN reports that his salary would get erased from the Jets cap allowing them to afford Connor and Laine…Obviously losing Buff would hurt their already completely changed defense (they would only return 1 of their top 6 from last season) but long term this might help the Jets…

I didn’t think salary could ever get erased from the cap unless of an obvious unplanned event?(debilitating illness or death)

Does this open the book for other teams (cough.. cough.. Wild) that have players on contract well into their upper playing age to officially retire a little early and thus wipe their cap hit off the books?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Does this open the book for other teams (cough.. cough.. Wild) that have players on contract well into their upper playing age to officially retire a little early and thus wipe their cap hit off the books?

The only ones where I know for sure it would NOT come into play is Parise and Suter. Good “Cap Recapture”. It was the penalty thrown down by the league to punish teams (basically just the Wild) for the 12 year contracts and spreading value so small at the end. Granted the Cap hit is the same throughout, the actually money doled out in the waning years is tiny.
I saw a calculator once that showed a $1MM Cap Savings per year if either of them retired after the 2022-2023 season. Its really BS how the league made those retroactive!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

BigBuff retiring could be a blessing in disguise as TSN reports that his salary would get erased from the Jets cap allowing them to afford Connor and Laine…Obviously losing Buff would hurt their already completely changed defense (they would only return 1 of their top 6 from last season) but long term this might help the Jets…

It just goes to show how difficult it is in today’s league. According to conventional wisdom, the Jets “had” all the parts. They had the proverbial superstar in the lineup. They had the hulking d-men. They had the hard hitting. They had the whole package. And then they got mowed down in the playoffs.

And now they look like a hot steaming mess, hitting the eject button on players they know they can’t sign so they can try to keep the superstar happy so (maybe) he’ll produce in the playoffs. I mean, who do they think they are, the Blackhawks or something?

Another reason why I’m glad the Wild signed Spurgeon and that Dumba is back and I’m not looking only to the arrival of St. Kaprisov of Moscow to be the sole savior of this team. As the Blues demonstrated last year, you need a LOT more than one star player and now you need that extra X factor like O’Riley to come out and push the team over the top. It’s not enough just to have a Kane or a McDavid as might have worked 10 years ago.

Grouse

Ripjiggen wrote:

This will come up in the next CBA there are other teams that are paying retired players and it is going against their cap.
Different scenario and he was bought out but Rick Dipietro gets paid by the islanders until 2028.

I sure hope so. I just did the calculations for the cap recapture penalty, so if he were to retire after the 2022 season, the recapture penalty would be $513k per year added to the buyout calculation. After 2023 or 2024 is where it REALLY gets to be a mess. After 2023 it would be $3.54M per year additional, 2024 $6.81M additional because the last 2 years have a $1M annual salary.

Ahhh yes…. The Jets are a mess and they still kicked the Wild in the rear end