CreaseAndAssist

It's been pretty ugly this year that's for sure. They really missed Andy Welinski, until they picked up Will Butcher. Now Welinski and Butcher are there. But the kids make a lot of mistakes with the puck.

Yurov yes. Khusnutdinov is projecting as more of a middle six to bottom six kind of player. My guess is they feel they can save some money here. Albeit not a lot. Another place where it would've been nice if they would've been able to clear out some older players here...but they liked it here and thus were cemented in with a No Movement Clause.

John Hynes told reporters that Joel Eriksson Ek is fine in case anyone missed it.

Speaking of tanking...anyone see how Iowa's week went? 1-3; all against divisional opponents. Yesterday they squandered a 3-0 lead against Chicago to lose 4-3 in OT.

Zuccarello with a 4-point night. As long as the Wild's best players play like this...it makes a lot of things a lot easier. I thought Declan Chisholm had another good game. It's a good win on the 2nd half of a back-to-back this team has to have if it wants to climb back into the playoff picture. Didn't like the hit Eriksson Ek took late in the game by Will Borgen. Hopefully he's just a little sore; because he's irreplaceable IMO.

Episode #35: Iowa, We Have a Problem In this episode, @MNSOTA and I discuss the Iowa Wild's struggles and whether or not that should matter to the Minnesota Wild. We also discuss Mason Shaw and who he may replace in the lineup whenever he gets his chance and whether or not the team will be a buyer at the trade deadline. Check it out!

I didn't think the Wild played too bad to be honest. I thought Boldy was about as engaged as we've seen all season. The top line continues to really make things happen for the Wild. I thought Chisholm had a better game although he has a penchant for taking penalties when he gets caught defensively. Brodin seems to be gaining more confidence and chipping in more offensively. A better than expected showing IMO.

Nah, it probably has to do with $$$. He can make a lot more playing in Russia than he can playing on a two-way deal in Iowa. Still, one would think the organization would also like to see him develop chemistry with his teammates, learn the Wild systems...IMO Firstov is a long shot to come on over and play in Minnesota. It didn't work out well when Brennan Menell did that. I don't Firstov is playing that well that he can just call his shot. Danila Yurov on the other hand...probably could.

Normally I'd disagree on the Wallstedt thing; but Iowa isn't going anywhere this year. I don't really think he has much more to gain by staying there. I'm not in a hurry to see him here, but if you deal Fleury that's the likely scenario as Tomdog points out. Perhaps the more pressing question this week is whether the team will bring Khusnutdinov over now that his KHL season is done and give him a chance to show what he can do in Minnesota. Or will it be lame Guerin rationalizing, he has to show he's earned the opportunity...to be scratched while we watch #89 and #90 do jack freakin' squat out there.

I'm rather ambivalent about whether they trade Fleury. If he wants to go; let him go. It would probably help the Wild slide out of contention which would be nice instead of its delusional attempt to scratch and claw their way back in.

Khusnutdinov is now available to be signed. He's already spent a few seasons in the KHL. Yurov re-signing is what it is. But I still think it's a long shot for Firstov to return since he chose to return even after signing a contract with the Wild.

It was like a train going off the rails into a tornado that simply tosses it into a volcano. It was that bad. No one is happy to be there.

Iowa earned a nice two-game sweep of Tucson this weekend. Tucson had beaten Iowa twice down in Arizona a few weeks before. Will Butcher has helped a lot; especially on the power play where his ability to move the puck and put shots on goal has helped Iowa generate more offense. Sammy Walker seems to be finding his stride again too, although he's a notoriously streaky player. Still, the Wild are in 6th place in the Central Division. And making matters worse...they have played 3 more games than most of the rest of the division too.

I certainly didn't support retiring his #. He was one of the most overrated players in franchise history. But it was their attempt to create some history when it felt it didn't have any to draw on. But I agree...it was embarrassing and it got even worse when people found out he had cheated on his wife and was trying to stiff his ex on the child support $$$.

For an organization that has been around as long as Minnesota has, it's embarrassing it has taken this long for someone to achieve this record. It just shows you how low the bar is already. I saw another record he's close to; most multi-point games which is currently held by Zach Parise after he was here for 9 seasons compared to Kaprizov's 4. Honestly, people are going to think we were crazy for retiring Koivu's #.

Episode #34: Into the Looking Glass (Part2) In this episode, @MNSOTA, Kalisha and myself look at the Minnesota Wild prospect pool and which prospect Wild fans are most excited about. We also answer a ton of listener questions too and Theresa gives her two cents on what she feels Minnesota's PWHL team ought to be called. Give it a listen!

I was thinking the exact same thing as soon as I saw the news.

Kemell has looked impressive by what I've seen. He looks like he could be a pretty good scorer in the future for that club. L'Hereaux is a decent pest player the Predators have always been good at utilizing going back to the Jordin Tootoo days.

Maybe it's time people start booing this team when it wins...

Firstov started out real hot but he's cooled down quite a bit from that pace. He gets the odd goal every now and then but I still think it's mostly unlikely he comes back. I think the organization would've liked to have seen him be a go-to offensive element in Iowa; but he didn't want to ride the bus. Like it or not, I think Guerin and the other management feel that's part of earning your stripes so to speak. Mason Shaw is looking a bit faster; in his last game he showed some wheels on a breakaway. I am not sure I'd call him up to play with the big club just yet but I feel he'd fit in helluva lot better as a 4th liner than Adam Beckman will. Just my 2 cents.

Adam Beckman being called up. Meh at this point. He hasn't been as good this year as he was last year for Iowa. I can't imagine him having a big impact in Minnesota. In other (sigh) worthy Wild news, I guess Russo reported the team says it's going to come back and push hard for the playoffs when they return to action on Wednesday against Chicago. This team can't even fail right...

Khusnutdinov's KHL season is going to end on Feb. 25th. Russo has speculated the team will probably sign him, burn a year of his entry level contract to see what he can do. And for anyone not watching at home. Metallurg Magnitogorsk gave Yurov kind of a cheap offer $330k for next season so the #mnwild might as well jump in and offer him the standard rookie deal and see if he comes over sooner. Either way it's intriguing that we may see them a bit sooner than what was generally expected (at the earliest, next year). Won't make a difference this season...but might as well have the kids here now than wait until they are 23-24.

We never said any of those things. It is why we invite a tear down as do a growing number of Wild fans. It was fairly evident on Michael Russo / Joe Smith's latest mailbag too. Most folks see it as a flawed team that should probably be gutted and in the more immediate sense not worth making any moves to 'save' its playoff hopes.

It will be an awfully expensive 4th line.

Wild pick up defenseman Declan Chisholm off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. He's a 6'1" defenseman who put up ok points with the Manitoba Moose but he hasn't been given much of a shot at the NHL yet. (sigh) Sounds like a lot of other defenseman we have.