Wild 2015-16

Camp is starting up!

– Sounds like the younger players will finally see more ice time, especially on the PP!
– I see our defense only getting better, including offensively with the addition of Reilly and Dumba in his second season
– If Zucker plays 75 games and gets PP time, he’s a lock for 30+ goals
– A little concerned about the PK and checking line after losing Brodz…can Haula or Carter replace him? I am not too confident.

– Will Nino flirt with 30+? Will he get a little of that agitator back?
– Will Fontaine and Haula show it was a sophomore slump last year?
– Does Vanek prove last year was off a little because of his injury?

The theme for 2015-16 has to be “more is more”. Last season, if I was to give a name to THE problem that plagued the Wild, it would be this: Underachieving.

Koivu, Nino, Poms, Granlund, Haula, Suter, Coyle the list is WAY too long when it comes to players that back-slid over the previous season. It’s not just this guy or that guy, it was a lot of guys who really need to get their trends moving in the right direction. Some teams can survive one player doing this, but the Wild had 8-9 players all doing it at the same time.

Keys to the 15-16 Season:

– Don’t dig a hole! This deal with going on a massive mid-season slump and then playing like your @ss is on fire to slide under the wire and into the playoffs in the last week HAS to end. Actually, it WILL end, because it won’t be possible to pull that again this season. There 4 or 5 much-improved teams that are going to make the kind of slump recovery stunt almost impossible to replicate again this season.

– Everyone needs to improve. There is no player on the entire Wild roster who does NOT need to play better this year. Yes, including Dubnyk and Parise! The goal is no longer just making the playoffs. That’s BS. Time to put on the big boy breezers and be honest: The goal is beating the Blackhawks. Even with a reshaped Blackhawks team, the bottom line is what it is. All roads to a serious playoff run go straight through Chicago.

– The defense and goaltending has to be stingy as all getout, all the time, all season, all games. Allright? The Wild are going to have a sweet spot with winning games with scores like 2-1 and 3-1, NOT 4-3. If we make our offense have to win games by scoring >3 goals, it’s going to be a long, long season. Teams like the Caps and the Blackhawks can overwhelm opponents with massive offensive firepower. The Wild aren’t that guy.

Grouse

I think the Blackhawks will take a step back toward the pack this year, but like Grouse said, many other teams in our Division, let alone conference are much better. The only other team that I don’t think improved (besides the Wild) this offseason by bolstering their lineup is Colorado.
That’s on paper though.
In reality Anaheim is going to be the class of the Pacific again, with the Central being decided by the Stars, Hawks and us. I have to think that the Blues are going to implode. How many times do they have to win the Division and get bounced in the first round before it really gets into their head? I think this just might be that year.
I don’t see the Wild winning the Division, but they could finish as high as second.
PP has to improve or at least be more consistent.
I would like to see the Wild trade Backstrom or at least entertain it to free up that roster spot, possibly with a big physical center to ease the loss of Brodziak (never thought I would say that).
Otherwise I kind of like some of the D pairings they had today. Folin and Scandella, Reilly and Prosser. Nice mix of stable guy with aggressive offensive minded guy. It could be scary, but putting Dumba and Reilly out there together with a speedy forward line would be fun (possibly painful) to watch. Try this in preseason.

hopefully everybody got their Mumps shot early this year…I like the team, but the West is STACKED!

CaptainMusky wrote:

I would like to see the Wild trade Backstrom or at least entertain it

Entertain it? They have been begging for it. Maybe he has a good run in the preseason and some team suffers goaltender injuries and comes a calling. We can only hope at this point.

I ordered up an official Dubnyk jersey last night. It will be here in time for the home opener. Now I just need to find reasonably priced seats. That part isn’t going well.
DT

I’m getting Wild at Tampa tickets. Trying to get some where TV can spot us. Not sure if I buy now or hope a season ticket holder put tickets up for resale later. I am thinking I shouldn’t take a chance and wait.

Ok so is this the official wild thread for the year or what?

Went to the game yesterday against the Jets to see the Wild deliver an 8-1 beatdown.

Yeah its just the pre season. But it wes very encouraging. Wild were playing their game. 3 pp goals and lots of shooting. Stingy defense that was obviously trying.

Wild were clearly sending a message. Nice game.

Grouse

I didn’t learn much. It was like our varsity team vs their JV team.

There were only a couple things I could glean from it.

First, Dumba looks ready for his breakout year. I love his game and his enthusiasm.

Second, Reilly looks like he has the potential to be a good NHL player. I like how he moves with the puck.

I was not impressed with Haula or Schroeder, but Schroeder appeared to have an injury.

I like Graovac. I have always liked Bulmer, but he didn’t stand out much either to me.

Woo hoo, we get past the Blackhawks in the first round!

…at least in a pixelated world

Well, well, well. Just when we thought things were all settled, the Wild claimed winger Chris Porter just after Philly put him up. There’s an interesting development, that’d put some beef up there on the wing. He’s got to be over 200 pounds, isn’t he? Interesting little late addition.

Look, about this “Blackhawks Complex”. This is going to get overblown. If it hasn’t already. Obviously, Chicago had a great team as shown by the equally obvious fact that they are Stanley Cup Champions.

But nothing lasts forever and neither did the Blackhawks team that won the cup. Salary cap cuts had them shipping players out, Sharp and Oduya are now both with the Texass Team Rustlers–errrr–I mean “Dallas Stars”. Everyone else is year older. Kane, of course, has a few other problems to deal with.

Also, IMO, the WAY the Wild had to play with their @sses on fire the last 2 seasons just to make the playoffs after epic mid-season nose-dives is basically guaranteed to set your team up for failure if you have to play a Round 2 team like, ohhhhh, let’s say the Blackhawks.

To paraphrase one of the greatest sports minds of the 20th century, Denny Green, the Blackhawks will be who we think they’ll be. So if we keep up with this Invincible Blackhawks stuff, that’s what will happen.

The Wild need to break the mold when it comes to running a season. Get in the driver’s seat and stay there. Forget about who beat us last year and focus on getting sealed deal on a slot with home ice advantage. Then let the Round 1 opponent come to us and try to take 2 games away in St. Paul.

Grouse

I agree Grouse. We need to get home ice advantage. Although late last year they actually played BETTER on the road than at the X.
Porter signing is nice he is listed at 201 so that is a bit beefier than some of the water bugs out there.
I don’t know how much of an impact he will have. He is 31 and hasn’t really landed anywhere and stuck to this point.
Kind of interesting that Hakstol is in Philly just commented how he loved having Porter on the team and then cuts him????

I don’t have a Blackhawks complex. I don’t even have a we need to get past the second round complex.

That being said, I think facing the Blackhawks in round 2 had an affect on them. I think they really felt they had the hawks number last year but it got to them once they were down 2-0.

Time for Raffi Torres to retire…

Per Russo

The Wild roster as of now:

Forwards
Jason Zucker – Mikko Koivu – Nino Niederreiter
Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Jason Pominville
Thomas Vanek – Tyler Graovac – Charlie Coyle
Chris Porter – Erik Haula – Ryan Carter

Defensemen

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin – Matt Dumba
Marco Scandella – Christian Folin

Goalies
Devan Dubnyk
Darcy Kuemper
Niklas Backstrom

Jordan Schroeder (I’ll keep him on the roster unless he’s officially sent down tomorrow)
Injured reserve: Justin Fontaine
Nate Prosser

I like the Koivu, Zucker, Nino line and expect some big things from them. As a result, the captain should be able to pad his stats with some assists. I really, really want to see 75+ games from Zucker this year with some PP time.

Since they did it the last 2 years in a row, I predict the first dozen or so games to be uptempo and the Wild outshooting the opposition by a good margin. This year though, I expect them to come out with a good record.

I fully expect Spurgeon to get traded this season, There’s ZERO way we can afford his next contract and we have guys who could replace him this year (Reilly) or next (Olfson) Put his salary towards trying to add a potential sniper (like a Nail Yakupov) key word is “potential sniper” no team will give up an established scorer…

I expect Dumba to grow leaps and bounds this season and establish himself as a top offensive defenseman ala PK Subban, he has all the tools… Eichel or McDavid will win the ROY trophy.

It all falls on Dubs shoulders…this team will score goals, hopefully Dubs can maintain his play and wasn’t a flash in the pan last 1/2 year..

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I fully expect Spurgeon to get traded this season, There’s ZERO way we can afford his next contract and we have guys who could replace him this year (Reilly) or next (Olfson) Put his salary towards trying to add a potential sniper (like a Nail Yakupov) key word is “potential sniper” no team will give up an established scorer…

I expect Dumba to grow leaps and bounds this season and establish himself as a top offensive defenseman ala PK Subban, he has all the tools… Eichel or McDavid will win the ROY trophy.

It all falls on Dubs shoulders…this team will score goals, hopefully Dubs can maintain his play and wasn’t a flash in the pan last 1/2 year..

I agree on all accounts.

On the Dubnyk comment. I think if we had a small sample size you could show a lot of worry, but the guy started 38 straight games and was rock solid in net the whole time. He never lost two games in a row in regulation during that stretch. That is impressive and I don’t care what type of team you have in front of you.
I think we can expect solid play from him IF we do not have to rely on him in the pipes that much. He needs to be sporadically relieved so he doesn’t wear down. I think that is what happened in the playoffs.

It will be a fun year, but I don’t have the highest expectations right now since they were not able to do much in the offseason. Hopefully Graovac can contribute and we get a solid year from Zucker and Nino too. We need other guys to step up that had sub-par years last year — Granlund, Coyle, Haula.

I’m really excited about this season. I like the fact that the Wild haven’t had huge shifts in key players and the fact that there are young players really starting to come into their own.

There’s been a lot of punditry focused on the core getting older, but unlike some teams in the NHL, the Wild have a balance that is lacking on other teams.

I’m very encouraged by the play of Graovac, Coyle, and Dumba in the pre-season. Honestly, I think Dumba has the potential to be a superstar if he keeps up his pace. Nobody’s going to admit that they fear his shot, but watch the flinching and duck/cover when Dumba shoots on the power play. They FEAR his shot and rightly so if you look at the pain he was inflicting just in the last half of last season. He’s going to be a force.

If the Wild start with their head in the right place and get the contributions they should get, they’ll be a legit contender.

Now let’s get things rolling with a good pummeling of the Avs. Gawd, I like nothing better than to pound the sh!t out of the Avs. Last year was just terrific, handing the Avs 2 humiliating whippings in the first 2 games! The only thing that would have been better would have been if Landeskog would have gotten pounded a few dozen more times.

Grouse

I’m excited to see Dumba start to unleash the physical side of his game (think of Scott Stevens open ice hits) He was feared for it in junior, but pulled the reigns back since to focus on getting comfortable in speed of the NHL game.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Now let’s get things rolling with a good pummeling of the Avs. Gawd, I like nothing better than to pound the sh!t out of the Avs. Last year was just terrific, handing the Avs 2 humiliating whippings in the first 2 games! The only thing that would have been better would have been if Landeskog would have gotten pounded a few dozen more times.

There are few teams I hate in the NHL and the Avs are one of them. That clown coach Roy needs to face another beating.
The thuggery he brings on the ice is ridiculous.
Im going to miss most of the first game since my son plays football during the HS game at halftime, but I will happily have it playing on my phone.

I predict a Ducks vs Lightning final with the Lightning winning the cup.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

The only thing that would have been better would have been if Landeskog would have gotten pounded a few dozen more times.

Grouse

Landeskog is a great player and built like a brick $hit house, I have respect for him….I’m hoping somebody puts a suspension worthy cheap shot on McCloud, now that guy is a buffoon!

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>TheFamousGrouse wrote:</div>
The only thing that would have been better would have been if Landeskog would have gotten pounded a few dozen more times.

Grouse

Landeskog is a great player and built like a brick $hit house, I have respect for him….I’m hoping somebody puts a suspension worthy cheap shot on McCloud, now that guy is a buffoon!

OK, so between the two, I’d like to see them both get pounded. I don’t really care which of them gets pounded more, as long they’re both getting it early and often.

But overall, I just love beating the Avs and grinding it in with big margin wins is just that much better.

Grouse

mplspug wrote:

I predict a Ducks vs Lightning final with the Lightning winning the cup.

These are my before season picks as well. Both are young and talented. The Ducks have a ton of cap space so they can make pretty much any move they want come the trade deadline to bolster their lineup. The main question with them will be in goal IMO. I guess the same could be said about the Lightning too.

Perry and Getzlaf have alot of miles on their bodies…I don’t think both of them finish the season healthy…

It’s hard to take into account injuries when making a prediction.

Actually I take it back. I had a brain fart. I thought Lucic went to the Ducks.

I’d really like to go with the Wild, but I would just feel like it is a homer pick. That’s good, jinx wise.

The Blues season is going to be fun to watch. They could implode, they could win it all. Dallas seems like the glamourous pick and they are definitely in the mix this year to win the Central. The central is still going to be a division where you need to be on your game all 82 games or risk missing the playoffs.

Ugh, now I am torn. I type and erase….type and erase…

Screw it, I’ll go with the Blackhawks.

Washington and Montreal I think have a shot in the East too. The Lightning basically are the same team and their young studs are only going to get better.

I’m ready…

The wild are not ready. Ugly

mplspug wrote:

I’m ready…

Oh well.

The 3 on 3 overtime is the best and long over due move made by the NHL.

Sweet comeback win! Down 1-4 entering 3rd and won it 5-4 thanks to Parise’s hat trick.