Wild 2015-16

somebody good is gonna have to go, it’s just a numbers game…Reilly and Olfson are going to need to get Pro minutes next year (you can’t keep them in the minors forever)

Sometimes you need to roll the dice a bit, because were trading from our strength I would make the move….I think for Druin to be successful he needs to play with top 6 players who have similar skillsets, so who does that mean gets bumped down to the third line? Sounds alot like the issue he’s currently having in Tampa that started his trade demands….

The NBC broadcast crew were talking about Druin last night before the Philly / Pitts game.

I was not impressed. He sounds like a huge attitude problem that thinks because he was a first round pick, he’s entitled to run the team he’s playing for. It’s not a good sign to me that on one hand he’s supposed to be such a hot commodity, but on the other hand he just got sent down. Seems like he has lots of issues adjusting to the pro game and any trade for this guy would be gambling on the fact that he’s going to improve.

Of course the problem is that Wild fans will be well versed in what happens when this doesn’t happen. Riesborough as GM had an uncanny knack for drafting players that had limited ability to progress beyond their college/junior hockey play levels.

Pug nailed it. Potentially high reward, but very high risk. I don’t think the Wild need this kind of distraction and the price of Dumba is too high. Dumba is not a rookie and he’s a known quantity that has already proved he has the NHL game.

Grouse

What scares me is this is just the kind of deal Fletch does. Just like Nino and what’s his name from the Canadians….or even Setaguchi. Get a former #1 draft pick and not do it through the draft.

So which of our D gets traded then? We can’t keep them all, Dumba will get a hefty pay raise next year, who does he replace?

Suter – signed forever at $7+ million
Spurgeon – Signed for 4 years at $5 million
Brodin – Signed forever at $4+ million
Scandella – Signed for 4 more years at $4 million

You’re not going to pay Dumba or any of these guys that salary to be a #5 defenseman…Olfson/Reilly and a cheap vet make much more sense for those roles….

When are we ever going to get somebody with Druin’s talent in a future draft pick unless we tank and finish at the bottom of the league (with the core of this team that isn’t expected for along time) Even if we get lucky and a #20 or so draft pick turns out to be a steal, he’ll likely take 2-3 years to develop, by that time Suter/Parise will be on the downward trends of their career…

I’d say take a shot and get Druin to make a push for the cup now….Yes there is risk involved, he could be a Johnny Mazel and flake out, but i’m tired of “Minnesota be patient” sports teams… we’ve been waiting for how long now?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

When are we ever going to get somebody with Druin’s talent in a future draft pick unless we tank and finish at the bottom of the league (with the core of this team that isn’t expected for along time) Even if we get lucky and a #20 or so draft pick turns out to be a steal, he’ll likely take 2-3 years to develop, by that time Suter/Parise will be on the downward trends of their career…

Can’t question your logic on our over-abundance of D-men. We’ll claw back some dollars with the end of Backstrom’s contract this year, but essentially you’re right, we have too much money tied up on the wrong side of the blue line for scoring goals.

Problem I’m seeing is that I’m questioning Drouin’s talent at the pro level. Like I said, we’d be trading a defensemen, Dumba, who currently has produced more offense than Drouin has as a winger.

That’s not making sense to me. Looking to upgrade offense by adding someone who’s producing less offense than the player you’re trading off? Dumba is at 11 pts / 5g. Drouin is at 8 points / 2g. Yes, he’s played less games due to being sent down, but that fact to me is less explanation than danger signal. If he’d been producing at Dumba’s level, he probably wouldn’t have been sent down.

I think Dumba should be worth a player with a more established track record for actual production. If that isn’t possible, then please, please, please Fletch! Do NOT sign Drouin to a big money, 4 year deal! Please! Let’s not have another Heatly.

Drouin needs to man up and prove he’s got an NHL game. Sounds to me like he needs a good long chat with Koivu, Suter, and Parasie all at the same time. He needs some no BS vets who can tell him with some authority that he needs to grow up and get serious if he wants to see any kind of career in the NHL.

Yep, reward could be there. So could a lot of pain and misery if we end up watching Dumba turn into an all star on somebody else’s team while were stuck with another could-have-been.

Grouse

I see your concern about the next “Heatley”, but this deal to me is much different. One, Drouin is young. 23, with basically his whole career ahead of him. Heatley was already on the downslide. Drouin I think could be signed for less money than what Dumba is going to seek. Maybe, maybe not.
I cringe at the thought of Dumba exploding for some other team and I think back to how huge he was the last half of last year, but if he is going to be dealt I would much rather it be a team in the East than someone we have to face with frequency.
If Drouin was a center I would have had this deal done by now somehow, someway, but since he is a wing I just am pumping the brakes a bit.
He is in the AHL because he demanded a trade moreso than due to performance.
I don’t want to bring a cancer into the locker room, but at the same time this risk might just be too good to pass up. That’s saying that Stevie Y will even go for it. Other teams are certainly in the mix and we may not have as much to offer.

Maybe it’s just an allergic reaction that I (and many Wild fans) developed during the Risebrough years. It’s just anytime that somebody mentions a “highly-touted first round draft pick” who’s somehow magically available for the Wild, I have this tourret syndrome reaction where I scream, “Yeah? Like AJ Thelin and Colton Gillies? How’d they work out for us?”

Man, we got screwed so badly by Reisborough’s first round picks who SHOULD be forming the foundation of the Wild right now rather than being playing in some tier 3 league in Albania. And don’t even get me started on the Nick Leddy trade.

I don’t know, I just look at this first round pick who’s struggling and I see a problem and a distraction that I’m just not sure the Wild need. Also, given the fact that the outcome is VERY much a gamble…

I’m not saying don’t trade anybody. I’m just just wondering if there might be better options.

Grouse

Well, we won’t wait very long to find out.

NBC and 2 hockey news sites both have posts this PM that the Drouin deal has been done and will be announced tonight or tomorrow morning.

Grouse

Looks like the blues are the favorite to get him… not sure what they would be gaining though, they are stacked at forward….

He’s going to the Cleveland cavaliers.

mplspug wrote:

He’s going to the Cleveland cavaliers.

That’s a good one… My money was on Anaheim, but we will see.

I think it will be the Blues. Makes the most sense. There kind of stuck in that 3rd spot in the division and will probably be 4 once we catch them.

Welcome to Slump 2016 tour. I am so sick of our PP. They keep doing the same umbrella and the opponent continues to scout it and successfully defend it. Change it up. I am so tired of seeing us up a man and them having 2 players defend 3 players passing back and forth like a game of keepaway.

At least pass it to Vanek below the goal line once in a while.

mplspug wrote:

below the goal line once in a while.

I’ve been saying that for years. They never get it low. They need to get the defenders to turn around so we can get a clear one-time shot.

I don’t mind shots from the point but get it low and get those defenders out of position once in a while.

Trade Dumba and Granlund for gods sake. I like Dumba but we need a little offensive threat.

One could say “wide left” about the wild lately too?????

I don’t know the answer, but trading too much for an unknown forward seems desperate to me. He hasn’t done anything when he has been up and sounds to have an attitude problem. Yeah that is what we need. How long before the fire Yeo chants start. I would have thought it would have started already.

Pominville needs to come off that first line. Granlund and Parise work their butts off only to have him loose a battle or flub a pass.

Why would anyone trade a proven “kid” for a unproven “kid”? Trade a veteran and low round pick if anything. Prospects are just that………prospects.

There were a lot of teams in the mix, so the rumors say. So I hope it isn’t the Wild. I suspect someone paid an inflated rate.

What a great spot for Yzerman to be in. A bunch of team vying for a guy who couldn’t find a spot in your roster.

Maybe it is time to jump ship. If I follow the lightning I save $130 a year…

First the Vikings, now this.

I blame it all on the PP. If you can’t score on the man advantage, you’ll have a hard time winning.

And Yeo has a history with urine poor PPs.

Yeo must go

3-Zip.

Remember a couple of years ago when we heard and talked about all the “kids” that were coming? They get lost?

No forward prospects in Iowa. Graovac is all we have down there. The kids are all up. In a perfect world they would have developed into good nhl players. Just not the case yet. The downfall of the wild is they never completely suck and never get a top 4 pick, and they never get that diamond in the rough lucky pick either. They seem to be in serious trouble. Has to be a locker room issue. Some players had been playing the hearts out while others coast along not willing to go into dirty areas. Troubled times seem to be back.

mojogunter wrote:

No forward prospects in Iowa. Graovac is all we have down there. The kids are all up. In a perfect world they would have developed into good nhl players. Just not the case yet. The downfall of the wild is they never completely suck and never get a top 4 pick, and they never get that diamond in the rough lucky pick either. They seem to be in serious trouble. Has to be a locker room issue. Some players had been playing their hearts out while others coast along not willing to go into dirty areas. Troubled times seem to be back.

Coyle
Grandlund
Zucker
Fontain
Nino

Where is the production? These aren’t rookies.

The most disappointing in that group is Zucker. He scored a lot last year despite missing a good chunk of games. He started out on this year, but has really tailed off. He is the one guy who looked like he’d develop into a 30 goal+ scorer.

I think Zucker’s case last year vs this year is that the opposition has watched the tape of him and now know how to defend him or at the very least know what he is capable of and defend accordingly.

Ok, I’ll start it Pug “YEO MUST GO!”

I am not now and never have been a fan of him or his style. I wouldn’t shed a single tear if they sent him packing. Just sayin

Cripes. I was sent out of town on a rail last year for saying Yeo must go when the Wild were in a 17 game tailspin and heading for the sea in flames. Now you guys want his head on a platter after a 3 game losing streak…

Well welcome to the bandwagon, I say! Yeo must go.

Yeo has consistently failed to engineer the kinds of systems that winning teams NEED to win at the top of the league. If you’re a cellar dweller or a mid pack performer, you don’t notice a urine-poor PP or a bad OT system. To get and stay at the top of the division and in the playoff top slots, you live and die by these systems. Just look at the division leaders.

Yeo has also failed to develop, well, basically anyone. Grandlund, Coyle, Nino, Zucker, Poms, Haula, Fontaine, etc. The vast majority of our 2+ year vets are no better now than when they signed. Where’s the progress? People keep pointing “over there” to the bright spot like Vanek and Koivu who are having decent years, but then “over there” we’ve got Poms, Nino, zucker, Coyle, well basically the whole rest of the offense that has regressed or stayed the same.

Sorry to repeat myself, but Yeo just doesn’t have the experience to be coaching at this level. The Wild have won in spite of him, not because of anything he’s done system or player development wise.

Look around the league. Absolutely NO other top tier team would have put up with Yeo for this long. This ideas that, well, hey we got to the playoffs so how bad can Yeo be is complete BS. St. Louis got to the playoffs last year, didn’t they?

Dump Yeo now!

Grouse