CreaseAndAssist

I agree with @IllaZilla I don't think he's in a good position to play hardball with the Wild, the team has a ton of defensive prospects and his game isn't complete.  Faber may not have as many points but he is a far better defender than Addison.  No arbitration...so accept a $800k deal or sit.  

3 hours ago, Jimtown guy said:

Thanks for the mention. As always I enjoyed the podcast

Thanks again for listening!  We really appreciate it.  It was interesting to see the relative consensus on the Gustavsson deal; most people see it as a sensible contract.  

(sigh)  Meh, Dumba going to Arizona isn't a big deal.  They better hope they can give him a very defensively responsible partner for all the watching he likes to do in and around the crease.  

Nice guy, but I am not sentimental about his departure.  It was time and the cap crunch probably helped spare the team from making a contract mistake although they will have a chance to make it again next year when he's a UFA again.  

Episode #20: Hail to the Chief

In this episode, @MNSOTA and I are joined by Justin Caesar as we discuss the promotion of Wild GM Bill Guerin to President of Hockey Operations.  We also discuss Gustavsson's new deal and discuss what to do about the large class of Wild UFA's next season.  @Jimtown guy, you got a mention on the show.  Check it out!  

5 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

Best part is there is no NTC or NMC...

Where there is a very limited NTC in the last year of the deal, just a 5 team no-trade list.  

Pretty close to what most of us were saying.  3 years is a bit longer than I was expecting, but it also gives Jesper Wallstedt time to season both in the minors and as an NHL backup before he's given that chance to assume the #1 role.  

Also buys the team some time to draft and develop Wallstedt's backup too if they choose to go that route.

If the team hadn't bought them out and Parise retires they would've gotten hammered even harder than the buyout cost.  But because of that, they didn't have to be worried about being ambushed that way.  It really was a Catch-22 for the Wild as soon as that rule was put in place.  And that should answer the question to any dolt you come across that thinks the team would've been better off not buying them out.  The 'early' retirement punishment would've happened whether chose to retire as a member of the Wild or wherever they continued their NHL careers.  

Gustavsson's arbitration hearing is up this week.  It will be interesting to see how fast the Addison deal gets worked out after Gus signs whatever it ends up being.  I'm still guessing at a 1-year or 2-year deal at about $3.5M.  

Interesting.  On the flip side, did you see that Wheeler felt the Wild should've drafted Anton Lundell at #9 instead in his 2020 re-draft article.  Alexis Lafrieniere was re-drafted 5th Overall instead of 1st Overall.  

We'll probably sign him before that unless he really is giving us a feeling he's not going to re-sign.  

If it happens, as long as its part of a trade rather than just seeing him go via free agency I'd be fine with it depending on the return.  

Will Kirill want to stick around?  Or will he seek a championship elsewhere?  

You want to see him leave the Wild?  

1 hour ago, IllaZilla said:

I do agree that Evason is stubborn. There were times that his line combinations just weren’t working but he refused to mix things up. I also don’t think he is very good making adjustments on the fly. 

What I think will be interesting to see if Guerin continues to make excuses for Evason this season. 

(shrugs)  I think they will keep saying they're not making excuses to only make excuses because they know the sheeple will buy it.  The team doesn't want to buy out the coach, especially as it still is in a cap crunch.  

I don't think his promotion makes one ounce of difference; Guerin was able to do as he pleased even before he was named President of Hockey Ops.  Now he's his own boss...accountable to probably the owner and that's about it.  

22 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Bill Guerin added to his GM title a new title of President of Hockey Operations:

 

https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/wild-announces-executive-promotions-072523/c-345429564

 

Woopty doo.  This is a total non-story.  His role doesn't really change and it doesn't do anything to improve the team on the ice.  He just gets a fancier title and a bigger paycheck.  Good for Bill, but for the team...meh.  

The only real takeaway from it is it proves Craig Leipold is buying ANYTHING that Bill Guerin is selling him.  If you're happy with that great...if not...well that's the world the Wild are living in now.  

15 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

I have not seen the Wheeler article, but most sites on the interwebz have the Wild at a C+/B- for their picks. 
 

Seems about right for the Wild. 

Yea, it seems like a meh return in a supposed deep draft.  

On 7/20/2023 at 8:04 AM, IllaZilla said:

 

It would be nice to see some of the Wild draft picks start sticking. But I'm not sure where he would play. Only spot I can see potentially is if Rossi poops the bed.

 

And I'd rather see Beckman getting meaningful ice time in Iowa rather than sitting in the press box in St Paul. He'll probably get a shot this year, because it is inevitable that someone will get hurt...

Adam Beckman was able to play more in a Top 6 role last year compared to the Bottom 6 role he played the season before in Iowa.  Not only did he produce more offensively, but you could see his confidence grow as the year went on.  That was about the opposite of his first pro season where he shot the puck a ton and didn't find the back of the net very often. 

I don't care what # Beckman wears with the big club as long as he can contribute in a meaningful way.  Goals, hits...show us you are not just a warm body on a line and I'm probably happy.    

Anyone see Wheeler's article grading the 2023 draft classes?  Basically the Wild reached too early in the draft and other than the Riley Heidt pick which is a high risk possibly high reward he seemed to think most of our guys are long shots to make it and that the grade would've been near the bottom instead of 'overtime losers' as he had them rated.  

15 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

I think we’ll finally see what type of coach Evason really is this season AND what type of scouting department the Wild has. There won’t be any big Zuccarello type signings to fill in the holes. It’s going to be “run what you brung”. 
 

Evason has shown either he is unwilling or unable to make in game adjustments on the fly. He also has a tendency to “stick with what works” for too long when it isn’t working. 
 

I don’t know. It certainly is going to be an interesting season. Maybe we’ll finally see that rebuild and the Wild end up in the top five of the lottery draft. Not that I have any confidence in the Wild’s scouting department…

I agree, there has been enough 'soak' time on some of these young players to see whether they will actually make an impact or that it was just a but of hopes and / or hype.  

Other than the fact Bill Guerin seems to like Dean Evason, I don't see a particularly skilled tactician.  I see a guy who mostly just runs the same stuff and hopes it works.  With all of these back to backs this season, you can bet that might really make Evason hesitate to have the team practice under the guise that rest is more valuable.  

I too hope its a Come to Jesus moment for the organization and they finally just are bad and we can get a few players that can actually move the needle for this organization from a one-&-done dud into something that can actually contend.  

19 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

What you posted in point #1 got me thinking about how BG said in an earlier podcast that the cap crunch wasn’t an excuse for the team getting bounced in the playoffs again, but when Evason gets criticized for not getting past the first round, he defends him by saying he is dealing with a team that is hamstrung by the cap crunch. So which is it?

I agree.  Yea that was a pretty obvious contradiction.  I still think its odd he mentions its season four for Dean Evason etc, so what?  How many more seasons does he need to learn from before he finally learns enough to be able to coach a team beyond the 1st round?  

I agree with the idea of giving opportunities for Iowa players on the bottom lines.  I'd rather see the kids get experience.  

1 hour ago, Jimtown guy said:

Really enjoyed the conversation with Dan. Just ordered his book. Great job 

Thanks a lot, I'm glad you enjoyed the interview.  It was certainly a fun conversation to have!  He's a great guy!    

$1.1 million for Duhaime.  Meh.  Although his physical dimension is what sets him apart.  Neither Sammy Walker or Adam Beckman are going to match those physical tools Duhaime has; however...even though the team has just spare change left...its not like even saving a few hundred thousand dollars would matter that much.  

My only hope is Duhaime is supremely motivated as he's playing on a 1-year deal.  

Episode #19: Dan Whenesota

In this episode, @MNSOTA and I are joined by Minnesota sports author Dan Whenesota.  We discuss Dan's journey into writing / making documentaries about Minnesota sports as well as the Minnesota Fighting Saints, the Minnesota North Stars and which current (male) pro sports team in Minnesota is closest to a championship.  Check it out!  

2 minutes ago, Confrontational said:

Well, he'll be wearing #20 - so hopefully just another reason for Suter to fade into the sunset of our memories...

Hopefully he can work the gliding and lazy shifts out of it.  

On 7/8/2023 at 7:58 PM, IllaZilla said:

Minnesota has always been a soft team. They almost always have been dead last in hits. They prefer positional players to physical players. Problem is when you get to the playoffs a team full of Nancy boys isn’t going to get far. And to have EEK go down right before the playoffs and have the team basically implode just shows how far away from a Stanley Cup this team is. Great, Guerin brings in Pat Maroon. Won’t matter a lick if Boldy and Foligno and Hartman etc. continue to disappear in the playoffs. Pat Maroon’s the kind of player you add when you are ready to make a Cup run. The Wild are no where near that. 

True, but that should make him a bit of a trade asset at the deadline.  Especially if he plays well with the Wild prior to that, but if he looks disinterested it probably won't yield much.  But overall, you are right.  We have been a soft team.  But we haven't drafted a lot of grit either; either at forward or on the blue line.  

Guerin's interview stated that Hartman needs to play his game and not try to be something he's not (i.e. try to be a skill guy like Kaprizov or Zuccarello).  So I think the organization recognizes it needs to be grittier to be successful in the playoffs.  Still for a 7th round pick, it seems like a decent get with relatively little risk.