CreaseAndAssist

David Poile is one of THE best GM's in the NHL.

The team even said it wanted to be faster and younger. I guess they just settled for younger. Boldy may not be a slow player...but not being fast just makes me concerned how effective he'll be. He might be able to rip apart the USHL in part because that team was so freakin' loaded. I think we'll find out who were the drivers and those who were lucky to be there for the ride real soon as these players go and play on different clubs.

Wild re-sign Brad Hunt, Free Agency Thoughts... I kind of used the re-signing of Brad Hunt to take a look at free agency and consider the moves the team may / may not make. Enjoy and discuss.

True, its a somewhat common complaint. However, when they say a player isn't fast or lacks explosion I get a little worried. Because as much as a player can work on it, one would have to imagine a lot of these players HAVE been working on it and they're still an ok or sub-par skater. Almost any prospect that is serious about being drafted takes those steps, is working like crazy to address deficiencies. And even after all that people are still questioning your skating...it is a big red flag for me. Its not to say Boldy will be horrible. I think he'll be ok; at least by what I've seen and heard. But did anyone else get the vibe that Fenton was simply happy to draft guys that were taller than he is? He seemed to put a big premium on their height which I thought was a bit odd.

There is still plenty of time to sign Fenton's mistake machine...

Meh, Boldy isn't a horrific selection but our team needs centers for the future. We'll see how he turns out. I don't really HATE the pick like I did last year with Filip Johansson. But if you want to try to sell us on it, don't waste your time. Bryce Brodzinski was pretty much invisible this year at the State Tournament. He had good high school numbers but he racked up a lot of points against inferior teams. I'll be surprised if he's as dominant at the college level as his older brothers.

Yes good point and I agree with you there, but too many of those long term projects have skating issues for my taste.

Sensible deal in terms of value at just $700k per season. Now we have 7 defenseman under one-way contracts. I guess we're already telling Belpedio, Soucy, Mennell etc they don't have a chance to make the team unless we decide to trade Spurgeon or Brodin or take anything to deal away Pateryn.

(shrugs) Yet if we really want to have replacements for Koivu / Staal...we have to draft them. People can talk about Best Player Available all they want...but you'll never address your needs affordably if you don't draft those players to replace them. Otherwise we end up paying through the nose in free agency or have to mortgage off a ton of other assets to swing a trade for a player like that.

What does everyone think of Day 2 of the draft for the Wild? Beckman is probably the one player that intrigues me, maybe Firstov if he can figure out some consistency. The goalies might be something, but years down the road. But for the most part all long-term projects.

Day 2 of the Draft has a Russian Flavor for the Minnesota Wild I profile all 7 players we drafted today, with analysis, expert comments and video and my take as well. Enjoy!

Well it isn't horrible. Its not like last year...but I think we passed on some better players that fit the long-term needs of the organization. Krebs is going to be a great player iMO.

He's not fast.

I updated the article to include my analysis of Adam Beckman too.

Day 2 of the Draft (updated live) I have summaries for both Firstov and Jones already. Analysis, expert quotes, video and my thoughts too. Enjoy.

Day 2 of the draft for the Minnesota Wild (updated live) I am updating this article as the picks happen. I have full analysis on our first two picks we've had thus far. Enjoy!

I wrote about Bobby Brink in my forwards preview. Read About Brink, the last prospect I profiled here

I actually cheered when Arizona took Soderstrom...I didn't like the thought of another smallish, right shot Swedish defenseman with limited offensive ability.

Flyers take Brink.

If Carolina can't convince Marleau to play for them.

I don't think it did and I have reason to believe little has changed. In all honesty, I think the veterans are less a collective voice of control as they are on their own islands. That's what I read into the report that Fenton went to each of #9, #20 and #11 to get them to buy in and ask that they pull the rope together and in the same direction. I think Parise still wants to win, which is why after the season he looked devastated and is worried he's hitched to a team that is going nowhere and understands the end of the career is within sight. I don't think Boudreau wants to let the vets run the show, but I don't think he has total control either. He was forced to playing Bitetto even though no coach every should've been compelled to play him. If he doesn't have the power to decide who is playing on his 3rd pairing, do you really think he can tell Suter what his ice / power play time will be? I don't think Parise is making those demands, but he came close with the Adam Oates thing and that did help destabilize Yeo's authority and ultimately led towards the team giving up on him and his firing. So far the team hasn't given up on Boudreau, yet...we'll see if it happens especially if success is hard to come by this upcoming season.

BREAKING TRADE- The #Canes have acquired two picks in the 2020 #NHLDraft, including a conditional first round selection, and Patrick Marleau from #MapleLeafs Interesting move. The conditional 1st round pick seems a bit dangerous for a player of Marleau's age. I guess its assumed the Hurricanes will buy out Marleau and then he may return to San Jose...uh thanks for the favor Carolina?!?!

Wow, what a move as reported by Elliott Friedman. Supposedly they're opening up space so they can make a bit move to free up space to bring in Matt Duchene. But the Predators have the depth to lose a guy like P.K. Subban and their defense is still one of the best in the league.

Driving back home today, I heard on XM that they too were surprised Lavoie slid beyond the 1st round. But one of the things they discussed was his inconsistency and some questions about his maturity level. Some felt his answers during combine interviews lacked depth and thought. Although they did give him credit for raising his level as injuries started to effect the Mooseheads, and he has a terrific shot and when he's motivated he can dominate. He'll probably be gone early in the 2nd, even before #42 when we make our selection.

I talked about Brink in my forwards article. The knock on him is his skating style, even though most concede he still moves well enough. Beyond that, he's very intelligent and is the type of player that can change the angle and sort of freeze defenses and open up passing or shooting lanes. Lacombe gets high marks for his skating, but the question is hockey sense...does he process fast enough or correctly to make the read defensively or make the right play with the puck? Both will probably be taken in the 2nd round today.