CreaseAndAssist

The best part...like 2 minutes after I tease you guys about Fletcher, he gets the axe. Have a nice day!

I kind of wondered why there wasn't at least a penalty on the play. Logan Stanley sort of just fell right on top of him. Kaprizov being out will certainly test the team's depth and we'll learn a lot in the next few games. Not that its a silver lining, but having a little time off can give them a chance to try to figure some things out, line-wise etc.

Happy Birthday ClusterChuck. Does any Wild fan really feel bad for the Flyers for still having Chuck Fletcher? Nope.

Here is Episode #5: The Swedish connection. This time Theresa @MNSOTA hosts the show, talk about all of the Wild's moves at the trade deadline. Enjoy!

I am just glad Kaprizov realized he wasn't going to get much help so he just took the initiative himself. Seeing him attempt to feed pucks to guys like Dumba was just painful. Boldy has sat at 16 goals a really long time. Still, they should not have let a game reach overtime against a last place team like Columbus.

The team can only bank one more time with the cap space it has according to league rules. Still, it seems like the Wild have managed the cap well enough to give them the room to afford a rental if they want to. The real question is what else will it cost, because the cap space question doesn't seem to be a problem for this team if it wants to take a swing at a rental player.

Episode #4 - Trading Places Here is our latest episode. Talking about the upcoming trade deadline, the rumors and the team's role as a financial facilitator with trades. Check it out!

Columbus is coming off a 6-5 victory over Edmonton last night. I'd expect to see Gustavsson in net, but who knows. Pretty much the same lineup we had against Toronto.

Seriously? Yikes. I will try to remember this to bring up in the podcast tomorrow. Next week, we would like to do more of a listener-question focused show. So if you have questions about the team or anything hockey related just send them here or on Twitter and tag it #CreasePodcast

I saw an Athletic article on the weaponizing of cap space because they talked about how that's pretty much been Arizona's role for years. Especially with dead contracts since they now just acquired Shea Weber's dead money. Insurance effectively pays for much of it so it just allows that franchise to spend less and less. But from what I saw...a 4th or 5th round pick was kind of the going rate for helping teams out with cap space. So NHL bookie teams don't really rake in much at least if history has anything to say about it.

Minnesota Wild (32-21-5) 69pts 3rd in the Central 2.84 Goals For Per Game (26th in the NHL) 2.74 Goals Against Per Game (9th in the NHL) 23.5% Power Play (8th in the NHL) 81.9% Penalty Kill (7th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 34G 34A = 68pts 2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 20G 36A = 56pts 3. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 21G 25A = 46pts 4. #12 Matt Boldy ~ 16G 23A = 39pts 5. #2 Calen Addison ~ 3G 24A = 27pts Top 3 PIM's: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 68 PIM's 2. #5 Jake Middleton ~ 61 PIM's 3. #15 Mason Shaw ~ 60 PIM's Top Goaltenders: 1. #32 Filip Gustavsson (15-8-2) 2.11GAA .928% 1SO 2. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (17-13-3) 2.89GAA .904% 2SO Vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (35-15-8) 78pts 2nd in the Atlantic 3.45 Goals For Per Game (7th in the NHL) 2.67 Goals Against Per Game (6th in the NHL) 25.7% Power Play (5th in the NHL) 81.1% Penalty Kill (11th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #16 Mitchell Marner ~ 20G 51A = 71pts 2. #88 William Nylander ~ 32G 36A = 68pts 3. #91 John Tavares ~ 26G 34A = 60pts 4. #34 Auston Matthews ~ 26G 31A = 57pts 5. #58 Michael Bunting ~ 19G 21A = 40pts Top 3 PIM's: 1. #58 Michael Bunting ~ 68 PIM's 2. #55 Mark Giordano ~ 47 PIM's 3. #91 John Tavares ~ 28 PIM's Top Goaltenders: 1. #35 Ilya Samsonov (20-7-2) 2.40GAA .915% 3SO 2. #60 Joseph Woll (1-1-0) 2.57GAA .929% Lines: Toronto Maple Leafs Bunting~Matthews~W. Nylander Tavares~O'Reilly~Marner Engvall~Kampf~Jarnkrok Aston-Reese~Acciari~Kerfoot Mo. Reilly~Holl Giordano~Liljegren Brodie~Timmins Samsonov Woll Minnesota Wild Kaprizov~Hartman~Zuccarello M. Foligno~Eriksson Ek~Boldy Greenway~F. Gaudreau~Duhaime Shaw~Dewar~Reaves Middleton~Spurgeon Goligoski~Dumba Mermis~Addison Gustavsson Fleury

Yea, the Wild lucked out on some missed chances by Columbus. The net knocked off the moorings was a bit...Murray-esque except it wasn't Fleury that made it happen. Good thing they jumped out to a lead and were able to hold on. But I'm sure Columbus is ok with losing as they hope to keep their front-row seat to the Bedard sweepstakes.

Columbus has felt like the red-headed stepchild of the NHL since 2000. I guess Brodin is out tonight, so Mermis and Addison draw back into the lineup.

Minnesota Wild (31-21-5) 67pts 4th in the Central 2.86 Goals For Per Game (25th in the NHL) 2.79 Goals Against Per Game (11th in the NHL) 23.6% Power Play (8th in the NHL) 81.8% Penalty Kill (7th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 33G 34A = 67pts 2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 20G 36A = 56pts 3. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 21G 25A = 46pts 4. #12 Matt Boldy ~ 16G 23A = 39pts 5. #46 Jared Spurgeon ~ 9G 16A = 25pts Top 3 PIM's: 1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 68 PIM's 2. #5 Jake Middleton ~ 61 PIM's 3. #15 Mason Shaw ~ 60 PIM's Top Goaltenders: 1. #32 Filip Gustavsson (15-8-2) 2.11GAA .928% 1SO 2. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (16-3-3) 2.98GAA .901% 1SO Vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (18-34-5) 41pts 8th in the Metropolitan 2.54 Goals For Per Game (30th in the NHL) 3.70 Goals Against Per Game (30th in the NHL) 16.3% Power Play (30th in the NHL) 77.3% Penalty Kill (20th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #29 Patrik Laine ~ 16G 19A = 35pts 2. #38 Boone Jenner ~ 17G 15A = 32pts 3. #96 Jack Roslovic ~ 4G 26A = 30pts 4. #91 Kent Johnson ~ 12G 15A = 27pts 5. #7 Sean Kuraly ~ 10G 6A = 16pts Top 3 PIM's: 1. #24 Mathieu Olivier ~ 77 PIM's 2. #7 Sean Kuraly ~ 54 PIM's 3. #44 Erik Gudbranson ~ 49 PIM's Top Goaltenders: 1. #90 Elvis Merzlikins (6-15-1) 4.21GAA .873% 2. #70 Joonas Korpisalo (10-10-3) 3.14GAA .913% Lines: Columbus Blue Jackets Marchenko~Jenner~Laine K. Johnson~Sillinger~Pederson Foudy~Roslovic~Bemstrom Robinson~Kuraly~Olivier Berni~Gudbranson Blankenburg~Peeke Bayreuther~Boqvist Merzlikins Korpisalo Minnesota Wild Kaprizov~Hartman~Zuccarello Beckman~Eriksson Ek~Boldy Greenway~F. Gaudreau~Duhaime Shaw~Dewar~Reaves Middleton~Spurgeon Brodin~Dumba Merrill~Goligoski Gustavsson Fleury The Wild called up Dakota Mermis, many are expecting some trade to go down. Lots of Brock Boeser talk since his agent has talked about finding a way to make the money work somehow. So who knows what may happen before today's game.

Thanks for the tip! I know some of you are on Twitter, but if anyone wants to ask a question for the show, just tag it #CreasePodcast. We look forward to hearing from you. We also plan on bringing fans into the show itself and letting them share their voice / ideas / views of the team too.

This game kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. The Wild were just under 40 seconds of giving Nashville a point in the standings. The nonchalant 4-minutes power play in the 3rd really annoyed me. Greenway was out there for a while on that power play, why? He is a total waste of a roster spot. LaPanta is foolish for saying Goligoski is interchangeable with Addison. -18 sure..but on the power play it works a lot better with #2 out there than #33. Beckman was less noticeable this game than he was against Dallas.

Beckman has been Iowa's best scorer in the last week or so. I thought he looked reasonably effective on Friday. If I could, I'd keep reminding him to take any chance he can to shoot the puck. But he's been steadily learning to be used in all situations in Iowa and I think he's made a lot of progress that way. Is it enough to keep an NHL roster spot...only time will tell, but he's definitely not the one-dimensional scorer he was when he first turned pro.

I think Addison is going to be scratched for this afternoon's game. Same lineup as Friday's game. Gustavsson in net. Odds that we score an even strength goal today?!?!

(shrugs) We'll see how much of a weapon they make it or if we just give it away for a bunch of late round selections in drafts from a few years from now.

Yes, they certainly were. A few things factored into the decision. The site we had been writing at was becoming increasingly geared towards sports betting. While we posted links to those articles, our work was virtually impossible to find through the site because it was buried under an avalanche of "how to bet in this state" articles for virtually every sporting event. I felt like @MNSOTAand myself were spending lots of time and energy creating original content that was being buried by a pile of Spam form articles. So we looked to leave and I had another place I was going to write for, Inside Hockey but the person that ran it was going to make a bunch of demands about topics, etc and we still were not being paid. Not that its all about money, but if we were providing them with free content then in our opinion you don't get to tell us what to write about. I don't need an unpaid job nor did we want another 'boss' in our life. I started to get paid to write weekly game previews for boys and girls HS hockey with Youth Hockey Hub last year and I did that again this year. I only cover the regular season and that kind of gave me a little bit of my hockey writing fix not to mention kept me on the pulse of HS hockey which I enjoy a lot. Theresa and I still watch every game, we also watch nearly every Iowa Wild game. My following of the organization hasn't changed much. I still watch the prospects when I can, although I have to admit I've been more closely attached to HS hockey than college hockey the last two years. I've enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of podcasts since 2015. So I thought, why not start my own? So far its been fun and we hope people enjoy listening in. But I love hearing from people and sharing those views / questions on the podcast. In a way its like what I always wanted with the Wild Fans Speak articles. I want to integrate Wild fans into the conversation. Kalisha is writing for Zone Coverage so we still have a foot in the Wild blogging sphere and I think I can certainly add to the conversation even if I'm not actively blogging about Minnesota Wild hockey anymore. I hope that is reflected in what you hear in the podcast. We will see if @MNSOTAwants to be a vocal part of the podcast at some point. I may be biased, but she always has something to say about Wild hockey too. But for now she's producing the show and I'm 100% thankful for that. I certainly wouldn't be be able to do this without her. We have received good help / advice from people who had podcasts or currently have them. So far the feedback has been pretty positive but we always want to be better.

But why not ask for something from St. Louis too? Effectively the Wild helped both Toronto AND St. Louis. The deal doesn't happen without the Wild help, we should've leveraged them both even if it was a mid-round pick a few years down the road. That would seem like the LEAST they could've done.

I don't have a problem with them selling. I think its the smarter move right now given their constrictions salary-cap wise moving forward the next two seasons. But still...it wasn't a real impressive asset to utilize that cap space they have. Well its technically more than $2.9 million because that's not pro-rated with what's left in the season. They still have about $8 million of cap space to bury dead contracts and add prospects / picks in exchange for helping out.

Thanks for listening! We will try to release a new episode each week. It's been fun so far!

From the Athletic by Michael Trueso February 18th, 2023 - St. Paul, Minnesota Ever see the hapless college broadcaster that couldn't keep up with the highlights so he just starts saying "Boom, goes the dynamite" over and over again? Minnesota Wild fans might feel that way after seeing one of the most bizarre and lopsided trades in NHL history. In less than 24 hours after Minnesota played the role of financial intermediary to the Toronto Maple Leafs that allowed them to afford a trade that got them Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues who received a 1st round and 2nd round pick in 2023 and 2024 respectively as well as a 3rd round pick from Ottawa in 2023. The Wild got a conditional 4th round pick in 2025 for doing the Maple Leafs and Blues a solid. "It was kind of like dominoes, after that first 3-way deal went down, my phone wouldn't stop ringing," said Wild General Manager Bill Guerin. "People were making all kinds of offers, it was kind of crazy," and that's a good way to describe the deal that concluded a few hours later. Vegas traded a 3rd round pick in 2024 to the Washington Capitals for Alexander Ovechkin, while the Minnesota Wild traded Kirill Kaprizov to the Capitals for a conditional 6th round pick in 2036. The Wild are also on the hook for 90% of Ovechkin's salary through the duration of his current contract which runs through the 2025-26 season. If Kaprizov does not replicate Ovechkin's normal totals of 50 goals per season the next four years, the Wild's 6th round pick in 2036 turns into a 7th round pick in 2036 instead. Washington General Manager Brian MacLellan seemed ecstatic, "You never know when an opportunity will come by, and after last night's move I thought what the hell, let's give Billy a call and see what happens." While Alexander Ovechkin is clearly a legendary player, the 37-year old winger still had four years remaining on his $9.5 million a season contract and that was something the Capitals were always a little uncomfortable with. MacLellan added, "Make no mistake, we absolutely love Ovie, without a doubt he is the greatest Capitals player to ever wear our uniform, but we are also super happy that we've brought in another superstar to give the fans many of the same thrills the Great 8 gave them for years in Kaprizov." According to sources, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said "This is the happiest he has been since he first heard 'you've got mail' as the CEO of America Online, seriously, the only thing better is winning a Stanley Cup." But he isn't the only one that seems to be excited about this deal. Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon, "Wow, we just added arguably the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL at a 90% discount and we only gave up a 3rd round pick. It just seems unreal, but we're really happy it is." When asked what did Minnesota got out of this that would prompt them to agree to pay 90% of the Great 8's salary, McCrimmon simply said, "You'd have to ask Billy about that." And that's exactly what reporters did. When asked why the team picked up 90% of Ovechkin's salary for nothing in return from Vegas, Guerin seemed to get a bit defensive, "Listen, I told you all this earlier when we made other deals. My goal is not to win the trade. We simply want to make a hockey deal, we got another pick for Judd (Brackett) to work with and we know he'll probably hit a home run with it no matter if it is a 6th or 7th rounder." How did Kaprizov take the news? Guerin told reporters that as soon as he brought Kaprizov into his office and said 'you've been traded' that a huge smile and sigh of relief came over the superstar winger. He just seemed happy and relieved recalled an anonymous source who witnessed the meeting. They shook hands, wished each other the best of luck and Kaprizov left to gather up his gear and go. A day after the Wild's improbable 2-1 shootout win against Dallas, a game where the team again failed to register an even strength goal the team heard about the second trade during a practice at Tria Rink. The players then held a closed door meeting where some shouting was heard according to anonymous sources near the team. When asked to comment, longtime linemate and friend of Mats Zuccarello repeatedly said "no comment" as he walked out to his car clearly in a state of shock over the deal. But perhaps the more important question is how are Wild fans taking the news? Not so well. In a sad display outside Xcel Energy Center, despondent and sorrowful Wild fans had created a small candle-lit shrine with Kaprizov's picture. Every now and then a fan would put down a small candle or flowers near the shrine with a hand written note thanking Kaprizov for all of the excitement he brought to the team while he was here the last 3 seasons. Leslie Knutson, 37 of St. Paul seemed to be in a state of shock as she stared blankly at the shrine, "I just can't believe it, he's the best player we've ever had and now he's going to be in Washington. I guess I'll buy a Capitals sweater now." 6-year old Makayla Carlson was more direct, "I hate the Wild!" as she turned and hugged the leg of her mother who had tears in her eyes shaking her head and saying, "See what you've done Bill, this isn't right." Amazingly, not all Wild fans are approaching this trade with shock or sadness, although there might be a little bit of denial involved. "We've got to be patient, Billy is a smart guy. So is Brackett, we'll just draft the next Kaprizov. This will be ok. We got Bolds, Gus, Dewey, Shawsy and we'll soon have Rossi and all of those prospects, we're set, Boom!" said Alex M. a tireless supporter of Minnesota sports. Guerin seemed to echo that blind loyalty, "This deal will work out fine. I'm Billy $%cking Guerin, I am the GM. Sometimes you have to make tough moves for the betterment of the team. We feel confident this will work out for all sides. If I say its going to work, its going to, period. The fans will respect that, I trust they will see it and if they don't, I won't worry about it." When asked what will the team do to address its 5-on-5 scoring issue now that it traded away its best scorer, Guerin smiled and said, "We've got a lot of proud players in that (locker) room, Greener, Hartsy, Marcus...I think they'll step up as they've always stepped up. I'm not worried." Boom, goes the dynamite indeed.

If that is 'weaponizing' your cap space, then like our 5-on-5 scoring we must be using a squirt gun. We help the Blues score a 1st round pick and other picks, and we had to 'sweeten' the deal by giving Toronto a crappy prospect for a 4th round pick 3 years from now. Honestly, we're the kid that is giving lunch tickets away hoping to make some friends in the process. The Wild got absolutely NOTHING out of that deal.