CreaseAndAssist

And Yurov basically wants a bunch of bonuses, most of which Russo feels he has no chance of achieving but the team has to be able to pay for those bonuses which makes him perhaps too costly next season with its cap constraints.

Legendary voice of the Minnesota North Stars and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Al Shaver died of a sudden illness at the age of 96. I've seen a lot of people share their memories of his play-by-play over the years. Hearing him say, "He Shoots, he scores!!!" is probably my earliest memory of hockey. What are your memories of Al Shaver and his broadcasts?

Danila Yurov won the Gagarin Cup with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Although according to Russo, it sounds like the Wild are not planning on having him come over until AFTER next season.

The Athletic's article was reasonable, but it's nothing any of us haven't been saying here for well over a year now. And as Bill Guerin has locked into his bro's, giving them term and NMC's he's shutting out the young talent. He said during his press conference he wants them to push for a spot, but they've already guaranteed a spot to the 30+ year old guys. I've been saying it for a long time now (probably over two years) that this year is the point of no-return for Kaprizov. The No Trade clause kicks in and now they have to gamble they can convince him to re-sign or he walks for nothing; and is he all that excited to play with Mats Zuccarello now as he was earlier? Not so sure. He seemed to be pretty productive playing with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. Zuccarello looks like a lost puppy without Kaprizov, but good thing we locked him down to another 2 years with an NMC eh? I agree with you. I didn't think the team looked nearly hungry enough, Guerin sounded like he wasn't sure what needs to be done which isn't a good sign who certainly locked into his 'vision' just prior to the start of this season. They had plenty of opportunities to seize the playoffs this season, even with injuries etc but they choked away games late and then couldn't beat anyone decent to save their lives. And to be honest...doesn't that mean they got what they deserved? They didn't deserve to be on some post-season run. I can't see them beating any of the other teams in the playoffs right now. This team is committed to its path now. Those bad deals are done and they'll be here for a while. Will the team be able to show Kaprizov its going to be contender and get him some more help? At what point will ownership want off this Missouri Boat Ride that Bill Guerin's put this team on?

Firstov was rather noticeable the last 3-4 games. Looking comfortable, showing off his on-ice vision. I wish he'd take the opportunity to shoot more than he did. But he looks very skilled and fast enough to be a possibility next season if he had a good training camp. Beckman had 3 goals (1 each) in the last 3 games of the season. Even though by the time he got back the team was out of the playoffs and was probably disappointed by being given much of an opportunity he still came back, played hard and made an impact at the end.

Yet we are keeping one or possibly both of them for next season. The 2024-25 Minnesota Wild: Locking into Mediocrity!

I don't think there is a why beyond simply looking at the results of it. It's not all bad, but there are still quite a few busts if you look at the last 25 years of the players made with that selection (13th Overall) in the draft. 2023 - Zach Benson (BUF) 2022 - Frank Nazar (CHI) 2021 - Matt Coronato (CGY) 2020 - Seth Jarvis (CAR) 2019 - Spencer Knight (FLA) 2018 - Ty Dellandrea (DAL) 2017 - Nick Suzuki (VGK) 2016 - Jake Bean (CAR) 2015 - Jakub Zboril (BOS) 2014 - Jakub Vrana (WSH) 2013 - Josh Morrissey (WPG) 2012 - Radek Faksa (DAL) 2011 - Sven Baertschi (CGY) 2010 - Brandon Gormley (ARZ) 2009 - Zack Kassian (BUF) 2008 - Colten Teubert (LOS) 2007 - Lars Eller (STL) 2006 - Jiri Tlusty (TOR) 2005 - Marek Zagrapan (BUF) 2004 - Drew Stafford (BUF) 2003 - Dustin Brown (LOS) 2002 - Alexander Semin (WSH) 2001 - Ales Hemsky (EDM) 2000 - Ron Hainsey (MON) 1999 - Jani Rita (EDM) 1998 - Michael Heinrich (EDM)

Crease And Assist Episode #41: Death of a Wild season Kalisha, @MNSOTA and myself discuss what we thought Bill Guerin would say at the post-season presser as well as what he ended up saying. We also have Way Too Early Slogans for the 2024-25 season and listener questions too including lots of talk about the Arizona / Salt Lake City situation. Give it a listen! Thanks to @IllaZilla and @Tomdog for chiming in with Slogans (which we read on the air)!

I thought the exact thing as I heard that comment from the press conference. It basically screamed...no one is pushing out #90 and #89. Or maybe they'll get one shift to prove it and if they don't...they won't.

I have felt they've been doing what they've wanted for a long time. They play the way the players decide is best. If Kaprizov and Zuccarello is on the line they have to pass it 15 times before they even think about shooting the puck. If its Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov are together they might crash the net... But the style varies by the line that is on the ice and its been this way through multiple GM's, coaches and obviously many different rosters. In Guerin's post-season presser, he mentioned the need for the players to have more swagger, more FU to their game. Although he agreed with the comments from players that the team is mentally fragile and that they didn't handle adversity well (injuries, etc). I still think this team doesn't really know what it wants to be or is what its best at being. It has one superstar...some very good to good players and some warm bodies. But its random, inconsistent and the result didn't really surprise me.

Simple takeaways from this presser... "A lot of inconsistencies" Defended Marcus Johansson a lot Said the team is mentally fragile Hynes and Guerin felt there is a lot of things to work on Trades, Free Agents, Draft...going for it for next season and not just waiting until Cap hell is over... Said rookies / young players are going to have step up and take spots occupied by vets and encouraged them to do it, or at least push for it to push the vets to be better. Brock Faber played with two broken ribs the last month

Oh, they certainly were the cancers people told us they were. I know that for a fact. As far as Darby goes, his role has mostly been as the guy running the practice coach. That's why he's kind of stayed on throughout different regimes.

If you would like to join our podcast #NHL bracket challenge click on this link, https://bracketchallenge.nhl.com/en/leagues and search CreasePodcast and then use the password CreaseAndAssist to join. It's free and its fun!

It is interesting that the Wild's continued mediocrity can keep a person sane. Honestly, one would think the Wild would be detrimental to mental health. It has been fun chiming in at the end and feel free to meet up at the draft party at Reid's on June 28th.

The 13th Overall pick has a pretty ugly history if you've ever looked at it.

I will have to look for that, although it hardly surprises me to see them kiss Guerin's ass.

Wallstedt played last night in Iowa. So I am going to guess its Fleury's start.

Minnesota Wild (39-33-9) 87pts 6th in the Central 3.02 Goals For Per Game (21st in the NHL) 3.16 Goals Against Per Game (20th in the NHL) 22.3% Power Play (12th in the NHL) 74.6% Penalty Kill (30th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 45G 50A = 95pts 2. #12 Matt Boldy ~ 29G 38A = 67pts 3. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 30G 34A = 64pts 4. #7 Brock Faber ~ 7G 39A = 46pts 5. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 21G 23A = 44pts Top 3 PIM's: 1. #5 Jake Middleton ~ 77 PIM's 2. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 72 PIM's 3. #24 Zach Bogosian ~ 63 PIM's Top Goaltenders: 1. #32 Filip Gustavsson (20-18-4) 3.06GAA .899% 3SO 2. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (17-14-5) 2.98GAA .895% 2SO Vs. Seattle Kraken (33-35-15) 78pts 6th in the Pacific 2.59 Goals For Per Game (29th in the NHL) 2.83 Goals Against Per Game (8th in the NHL) 20.5% Power Play (18th in the NHL) 79.4% Penalty Kill (17th in the NHL) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #19 Jared McCann ~ 29G 32A = 61pts 2. #22 Oliver Bjorkstrand ~ 20G 37A = 57pts 3. #7 Jordan Eberle ~ 17G 27A = 44pts 4. #10 Matty Beniers ~ 14G 22A = 36pts 5. #37 Yanni Gourde ~ 9G 22A = 31pts Top 3 PIM's: 1. #3 Will Borgen ~ 65 PIM's 2. #37 Yanni Gourde ~ 62 PIM's 3. #6 Adam Larsson ~ 55 PIM's Top Goaltenders: 1. #35 Joey Daccord (18-18-11) 2.45GAA .916% 3SO 2. #31 Philipp Grubauer (14-16-2) 2.85GAA .899% 2SO Lines: Seattle Kraken Burakovsky~Beniers~Eberle McCann~Yamamoto~Schwartz Kartye~Gourde~Bjorkstrand Tatar~Bellemare~B. Tanev R. Evans~A. Larsson Oleksiak~Borgen Dumoulin~J. Schultz Daccord Grubauer Minnesota Wild Kaprizov~Eriksson Ek~Boldy M. Johansson~Rossi~Hartman Ohgren~Khusnutdinov~F. Gaudreau Shaw~Lucchini~Chisholm Middleton~Faber Brodin~Bogosian Merrill~Goligoski Fleury Gustavsson

Russo has mentioned it a fair amount on his podcasts. I had heard there was some picture circulating from last summer where Gustavsson was looking a bit out of shape. Guerin's comments remind me of the "one good month" comment he made about Fiala before he ended up shipping him out.

Maybe you should work in Wild PR, this probably is what he will say...spot on.

Exactly...they gave them a raise AND the security of the NMC or NTC. It was crazy and I said as much when it happened. I agree wholeheartedly you make the player compromise one or the other...not give them both. Cheaper deal...job security, expensive deal...no security. If a player asked for both...I'd ship them out right away. But Guerin just didn't want to lose his bro's on the team.

Where do you see that? Although it probably is better value than I think many of us expected. Still, it's a shame they couldn't shop #17, #38, and #36.

(shrugs) You add some more young players to the lineup and your top players showcase a bit more skill. IMO this is the path the team needs to follow...but Guerin has to have his 30+ bro's in the locker room...and because he's already paid them the kids will likely sit while the trot out the old bones next season. Last night felt like a game where the Wild kind of teased us...see this is what we could be, but we won't you know?

(shrugs) Honestly, when the Wild were officially eliminated from playoff contention it was a sigh of exasperation. It was 100% relief. This team had been in denial way too long and because of its 'pride' it's going to again draft in that middle muck area where you get players with some question marks and what if's instead of bonafide talent that is going to be a franchise cornerstone for years to come. IllaZilla is 100% correct. Craig needs to back the hell off. Be bad, maximize the talent acquisition through the draft...be less reliant on free agents and you can be good for a long time if you do it right. The NMC's are insanity incarnate. It's an anchor to this franchise. I really wonder if it was Guerin's overuse of NMC's is what finally drove Chris O'Hearn (his cap guy) to finally jump ship since it made it untenable for him to do his job without addressing the massive NMC elephant in the room.

Not sure why I quoted myself. Anyways... Iowa are officially eliminated from AHL playoff contention with a loss to Manitoba this last weekend. Mikey Milne continues to be the hot hand as does Luke Toporowski who has been a pretty decent pick up for Iowa. With how little Minnesota used Adam Beckman it seems like a bit of a waste keep him in the NHL press box instead of letting him provide offense for Iowa so they may have had a chance to make the post-season. But what do I know?