MN Wild 2019-2020 Official Thread

JoeMX1825 wrote:

BUT, if you can get a good sized center for $2 million and will only cost you a 7th round draft pick NEXT year IF he plays 70 games or scores 35+ points (which would probably be a career high for any of our previous 3rd/4th line centers) it’s an absolute steal…if he doesn’t meet those games/points, it costs us nothing but his salary…go find another deal like that in the NHL…

Victor Rask is a good size center and I bet the Wild would trade him for a conditional bag of pucks while eating half the salary. Just playing devil’s advocate here but Bjugstad was Pittsburgh’s Rask – if they couldn’t move him he was getting bought out.

I like the trade but the only reason this deal makes sense for the wild is because they are desperate for center depth. Not so sure I would call it a steal or say Guerin really bent them over.

Exactly ^^^^

Pit didn’t want to pay him for two years if they bought him out. This way they pay partial salary for one year not two.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Not sure it’s taking someone to the cleaners by getting a guy that is basically on a tryout and who will most likely not be in the league much longer if he doesn’t get healthy.

Look, based on the Wild’s past trade debacles for centermen where we pi55ed away R1 draft picks on the likes of Martin Hanzels, it may not qualify as taking the Pens to the cleaners, but pardon me if I indulge in a little irrational exuberance here. The days of hearing that the Wild just made a trade and the next thought would be, “Uh-oh, what did the Wild GM eff up now?”, may finally be over.

It’s less about the trade itself and more about FINALLY seeing a Wild GM who makes a move that makes freaking good hockey sense. Wild need centers. GM makes a deal for a center with upside, but no huge commitment, no NTC, no strings, and for very little coinage and without giving out non-conditional picks. Score! Here’s me hoping and praying this is a trend because the last dunce that sat in that GM office couldn’t find his roster with both hands. Yes, the bar is low, but at last…

Also, this puts us one center closer to being able to cut loose some of the disasters that Fecktard Fenton saddled this team with.

Bjugstad’s history shows that when he has a full, healthy season, he can put up some numbers. Here’s hoping the layoff and off-season are good for him and he becomes a real asset and one that we end up re-upping on.

Grouse

Hey I get you are excited. Just don’t see it as one sided like you do or at least did. Also don’t see it as a move that makes them better or worse which at this point they need to go one way or the other.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Not sure it’s taking someone to the cleaners by getting a guy that is basically on a tryout and who will most likely not be in the league much longer if he doesn’t get healthy.

Bjugstad’s history shows that when he has a full, healthy season, he can put up some numbers. Here’s hoping the layoff and off-season are good for him and he becomes a real asset and one that we end up re-upping on.

Grouse

Bjugstad’s history shows that his NHL production is eerily similar to Victor Rask. We’re just bias here in MN because of his dominant high school career at Blaine and good not great years with the Gophers.

Brodin 7 years 42 million.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Brodin 7 years 42 million.

It will be interesting to see what they can get for Dumba now, this is a good deal as I still think Brodin has room to grow in his game, especially on the offensive side. I think this also points to BillyG keeping Calen Addison for the extended future (vs trading him this summer in a package for a center) Addison/Brodin is a super solid #2 pair in the league…

I haven’t seen anything mentioning giving him a NTC in this deal, so he could still theoretically get traded. I think this contract is pretty acceptable around the league…in a year or two guys with less talent than Brodin will be getting similar contracts…

I think Brodin is what he is. A solid defensemen but don’t think he is going to be an offensive threat at all. I mean he has been in the league 8 years already. He is what he is at this point. The wild pay defensemen to much money already. One of there other issues outside of having no centers. I guess we will see if they try to move Dumba now. 27 million tied up in 4 d-men starting in 2021

They absolutely will trade either Dumba or Brodin, I would guess for the type of center like a Max Domi (established player who has some slight risk of not maxing out his potential – no team is going to trade away a surething) I’m not expecting Brodin to be an offensive juggernaut, but I think he has more offensive ability than he’s been allowed to use (He’s always been the defensive focused of his D pair) maybe he takes some PP time away from Suter as he gets older…

Things are starting to heat up, it will be interesting to see how long BillyG hangs on before making a big move (before the draft/during/after/trade deadline?)

Well Brodin is about the surest thing the wild have outside of maybe Spurgeon. He has been about as consistent of a player for the wild for 7 years, so at least one team will trade away a sure thing if they move him.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Brodin 7 years 42 million.

I haven’t seen anything mentioning giving him a NTC in this deal, so he could still theoretically get traded. I think this contract is pretty acceptable around the league…in a year or two guys with less talent than Brodin will be getting similar contracts…

Been looking all over and haven’t seen anything about NTC either. That alone makes this a good signing. Brodin at 6 mil until he turns 34 is a solid trade asset for sure.

tswoboda wrote:

Bjugstad’s history shows that his NHL production is eerily similar to Victor Rask.

There is a major difference. Our current GM didn’t give up a player like Nino Niederreiter to get Bjugstad.

Hockey trades don’t kill teams. Bad GMs making bad trades kills teams.

Grouse

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Brodin 7 years 42 million.

I haven’t seen anything mentioning giving him a NTC in this deal, so he could still theoretically get traded. I think this contract is pretty acceptable around the league…in a year or two guys with less talent than Brodin will be getting similar contracts…

Been looking all over and haven’t seen anything about NTC either. That alone makes this a good signing. Brodin at 6 mil until he turns 34 is a solid trade asset for sure.

capfriendly doesn’t show a NTC

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Hockey trades don’t kill teams. Bad GMs making bad trades kills teams.

Grouse

Paul Fenton is gone – so is his kid. Let it go man.

Let’s maybe set the bar a little higher than “Better than Fenton” 🤷‍♂️

I think BillyG has shown he has the chops to hang with the bigtime GMs in the league (He hasn’t made rushed decisions, he’s been open and honest with his players and he’s willing to make a big change when he knows its best for the team)

I think the next few months will prove if this has been accurate or not with the draft, free agency and big trades that are expected to happen. Either way it should be interesting and exciting, then we’ll just wait through the uncertainty of when 2021 season will start and we can see these changes on the ice!

Interesting nugget. If the contract starts this next season. I know it doesn’t the wild would have 4 defensemen in the top 22 for individual salary. Most teams don’t have two.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Interesting nugget. If the contract starts this next season. I know it doesn’t the wild would have 4 defensemen in the top 22 for individual salary. Most teams don’t have two.

And I wouldn’t say any of them are grossly overpaid. Just goes to show the only top talent they’ve been able to aquire is on defense.

Just saw Brodin gets a full NMC the first 4 years of the contract… That’s a disappointment.

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Interesting nugget. If the contract starts this next season. I know it doesn’t the wild would have 4 defensemen in the top 22 for individual salary. Most teams don’t have two.

And I wouldn’t say any of them are grossly overpaid. Just goes to show the only top talent they’ve been able to aquire is on defense.

Just saw Brodin gets a full NMC the first 4 years of the contract… That’s a disappointment.

No I agree. Just shows you how other teams are built and how the wild are built. Would make sense if the direction you were going was to have shutdown defense and great goal tending but makes it difficult to play an up tempo offensive game with that much money tied into D. Feel like the wild are not sure what direction they want to go.

There’s really no chance we would trade him the next 4 seasons anyways as he would be in his prime. I like the deal, lots of the great things he’s known for don’t directly show up on the score sheet but his impact is highly valued.

As soon as the Bolts win the cup BillyG’s first call should be to their GM to see what the price is for Cerilli. I’d offer one our 1st round picks next year and one of our top wing prospects or somebody like Ek, Greenway or Kunin if that’s enough.

either way Cerelli is getting traded to somebody after the cup finals and he might be the Wild’s best shot at getting a quality center without overpaying future free agent options.

The Wild just traded Staal for Marcus Johanson….this one is kind of a head scratcher, but Staal looked so slow and old most of last season maybe BillyG thought his tank was empty??? Johanson is more of a pass first player so maybe he’ll become a dedicated setup guy???

I dont know if he’s the same player he was when he was with the Caps but I liked him them. Good solid 2nd/3rd liner that can move the puck and has decent speed. I don’t think Billy G “thought” Staal’s tank was empty. We all KNEW his tank was empty. He couldn’t get to anything last season.

I think its an improvement even if only for the skating gains.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I dont know if he’s the same player he was when he was with the Caps but I liked him them. Good solid 2nd/3rd liner that can move the puck and has decent speed. I don’t think Billy G “thought” Staal’s tank was empty. We all KNEW his tank was empty. He couldn’t get to anything last season.

I think its an improvement even if only for the skating gains.

I agree and everything I remember of him was when he was with the Caps as well, he was their #2 Powerplay unit setup man (Backstrom was the #1 unit guy) and he was the setup guy on his line, good solid player. It’s a 1 year deal so I guess we’ll see, he also could have been picked up as part of another trade yet to come…we’ll see…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I agree and everything I remember of him was when he was with the Caps as well, he was their #2 Powerplay unit setup man (Backstrom was the #1 unit guy) and he was the setup guy on his line, good solid player. It’s a 1 year deal so I guess we’ll see, he also could have been picked up as part of another trade yet to come…we’ll see…

Might be hoping he’ll be the setup man for the Russian kid?

You confuse me sometimes Joe.

Ripjiggen wrote:

You confuse me sometimes Joe.

How so?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
You confuse me sometimes Joe.

How so?

The wild gave up cap space to trade a top 6 center for a bottom 6 wing. Friendly reminder that they already had too many wings and not enough centers. If no other pieces move, then this is a terrible trade.

mahtofire14 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
I agree and everything I remember of him was when he was with the Caps as well, he was their #2 Powerplay unit setup man (Backstrom was the #1 unit guy) and he was the setup guy on his line, good solid player. It’s a 1 year deal so I guess we’ll see, he also could have been picked up as part of another trade yet to come…we’ll see…

Might be hoping he’ll be the setup man for the Russian kid?

Not ideal but he’s the best setup guy we currently have on the roster…Probably on par with Kaprizov’s linemates the past few years in the KHL (I guess Zuc too but he needs a huge bounceback season next year)

Dumba will be part of a package that will get this team its closest version of a 1C, but it will a younger player like a Max Domi who shows promise, but is still a bit of a gamble that they’ve peaked in their development. I really hope they exhaust all options trying to get Cerelli after the cup finals (or sooner if the Islanders can win the next 2) He’s the best young center option who’s actually attainable due to the Bolts dreadful cap situation.

Trade a d-man…sign a d-man long term…oh well we wouldn’t have traded him for four years anyway….need a center don’t give up picks like our old gm…trade a first rounder for a center…fleecing a team for a fourth line center who was getting bought out….trading away our top center for a bottom six player get a guy now…build for the future…overpay for a center now…old gm were a mess Bill G can hang with the best GMs…

I can’t keep up with your takes straight…

Let’s be honest we have no idea if Billy G is a good GM..It’s going to take some time to see if he can put a complicated puzzle together and see it through sometimes teams are in spots that putting that puzzle together is impossible or get so far the GM doesn’t get to see it through.

I like Billy G met him several times seems like a good guy. Loved him as a player. I think it is a little early to say if he is or is not a good GM. Or even better than the previous GM’s

I think my takes have always been steady. Everyone knows either Dumba or Brodin would need to get traded this offseason or next seasons deadline, you can’t have that much of your cap tied to 4 defenseman and you need to be better prepared for the next Xpac draft (I’ve made cases for trading or keeping both). I said Brodin’s new contract NTC isn’t bad because we wouldnt likely trade him in the first 4 years of the deal anyways as he would be in his prime vs Parise or Suter who have a NTC when they are 41 years old…
I’ve always said it’s going to take overpaying (Either through FA or top draft picks and prospects) to get a top line center, no team is going trade a known asset like that. Now you can get lucky and get somebody in a trade who hasn’t yet tapped into their full potential like a Ryan O’Reilly, but its rare.
The last option is to draft one and our franchise has never done that in 20+ drafts (Arguments can be made for Koivu, but he only had maybe 2-3 years of performing like a true #1)

Covid has caused a unique situation with a flat cap expected for the next few seasons, this will make teams who planned longterm for the cap to keep going up (Tampa Bay/Vegas/Toronto) to be forced to trade away a player like Cerelli or Sergachev that they never intended to because they don’t have enough capspace to put a full team on the ice.

I think BillyG took advantage of a desperate Penguins team and handedly won a trade for a #3/#2 center if he can stay healthy for a 7th round pick and if thats the case that they give up the pick it means Bjugstad had a good season for the Wild.

I’ve said numerous times the END of this summer will give us a good idea of the type of GM BillyG is, hard to argue with his moves sofar…