Jump to content

CreaseAndAssist

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,924

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    31

 Content Type 

Posts posted by CreaseAndAssist

    Wild Fans Speak 2018-19 Edition

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    8 hours ago, rottenrefs said:

    The poll surveyed fan confidence in their respective teams front office. From that I believe fans could have taken their opinions in a few different directions.

     

    I think it's rather telling Wild fans honed in on their disappointment with how the front office deals with players as opposed to the results the players are making. What seems to be most noticeable are poor contract clauses along with repeated buyouts. It's formed a cloud that's more frustrating than whether or not they consistently make the playoffs.

     

    While Wild fans know making the playoffs isn't necessarily an easy feat, they do know measuring our players against other teams once they get there has been consistently futile. Overall nothing has really been done to eliminate that fact.

     

    The topper is continually letting players dictate what the team does. Organizationally this team is fragile.

     

    Zero disagreements in this analysis...nailed it.  

    Wild Fans Speak 2018-19 Edition

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    11 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

    No real surprises there for me, except for most everyone agreeing that the 26th ranking of the Wild's front office was about right. That means there are only five teams that are worse than the Wild.

     

    Tough crowd...

     

    Although I think most agreed that it was less of a reflection of Paul Fenton (and what he's done so far) and mostly about Chuck Fletcher.  No matter what, Fletcher and the decisions this team had committed itself to before his termination will continue to be an anchor for this squad.  IMO, that was another reason why re-signing Koivu and giving him a NMC drove me nuts.  It was an opportunity to at least unleash one of the immovable contracts.  Instead we re-attached the anchor and threw it back in the water.  

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    I agree, the Traverse City tournament would be fun to go to.  Although I'd love to see NHL Network bring some cameras there and televise it.  IMO, they could've easily done the same with Da Beauty League too.  But the Traverse City thing has a pretty good tradition.  

     

    Khovanov...meh.  Still not sold on his skating ability, Hepatitis battle be damned.  It is a shame Simon Johansson isn't there, I think he has good potential.  Shaw IMO has to prove himself all over again.  Sokolov should be our most dangerous scoring threat.  Lodnia...hmm, he really tailed off in the latter half of the season last year with Erie.  

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Davey J said:

     

    I like Ek a lot!  I don't know if he will become a legit #1 center, but I think a good 2nd liner is very probable.  I agree with you about Kunin...although I do think he is a "can't miss" NHLer...but I think the Wild will be lucky if he develops into anything more than a 3rd line wing.  I have never seen one elite skillset from him.  He can do all things OK, but nothing great.

     

    Kunin isn't exceptionally fast even though he's of average height.  IMO, that's pretty bad.  I'd be more bullish on his future if he was a better skater and I felt he had more versatility.  I am not sure if he has the wheels to be a player like Haula was in a Bottom 9 role while waiting for more of an opportunity.  IMO, his skillset is more akin to a Top 6 player and he'll be waiting a long time before a spot opens up there.  But more fundamentally than that, Kunin didn't really dominate in Iowa.  I think he should lead the way there before he gets a chance to play for the Minnesota Wild.  Just my 2 cents...

    • Like 1

    2018-19 HF.net Fantasy Hockey Sign Up

    in Forum

    Posted

    On 8/22/2018 at 6:48 AM, pilldoc said:

    I would officially like to welcome back @JR Ewing who has decided join us again this year! :)

     

    Glad to have you back my friend. :toast:

     

    Daily league, but its still weekly head to head matchups right?  Otherwise, it'd be mega complicated to have a different fantasy team to go against each day I would think.  I'm in if its still week to week head to head...otherwise, nah.  

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    Boeser is a bit different.  I don't care that he's from Burnsville.  While he has a pretty interesting (and tragic) personal story on his road to being an NHL'er, I don't really care about that too much.  The kid can score...that's why I felt he'd really be a help to the team.  That's all that matters to me.  

     

    Eriksson Ek gives me more hope than Kunin for all of the hype they keep saturating us with.  I felt Eriksson Ek actually looked pretty reasonable in his first full NHL season.  Far more physical than I expected and you could see that he has real skill and good instincts.  I liked what I saw.  But Kunin...seemed like a lot of hype to me.  Kind of like Casey Wellman 2.0.  

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    12 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

     

    That’s hilarious considering they drafted Erickson-Ek over Boeser.

     

    18 hours ago, bbgarnett said:

    Agreed these Town Halls are just a feel-good session for fans who blindly follow the team. I forget if it was a question asked or how it was brought up but they were talking to Fenton I think and a player was brought up and Lapanta or someone said that he's one of us. He said that we've always got to have one of those guys or some dumb thing and I just shook my head because that's how a lot of fans are. I mean they always want us to take the hometown guy regardless it seems and if we don't they get upset even if he's no good they don't care they just see he's from Minnesota or something so that's all that matters.

     

    That may have been when they made a big deal about Hendricks and J.T. Brown being Minnesotans.  Or the guy that just had to mention Nate Prosser.  I think they went out of their way to remind everyone about Kurvers too as if anyone didn't know.  I agree, I :rolleyes: everytime I hear such crap out of this organization.  Pure cheese...

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    11 hours ago, EmptyShelf said:

    Many years ago I heard LN say that the draft is sometimes 0, or 1-3 'sure things.'  He mentioned that 'tanking' is a reality if you truly want a Kane, Ovechkin, Toews, or Crosby.  Even then, you have to target the right draft.  Otherwise, he argued, you are always 'playing to make the playoffs' and looking for all things to just magically line up to win it all.  I am not a huge fan of his, but to Zilla's point, the drafts just aren't deep enough to plan on a 'difference maker' later than the top handful - and that's in a great draft.  So, do you tank, or do you strive to make the playoffs?  We know who has done the former, and we know the home team does the latter.

     

    (shrugs)  I think in any draft there is good talent to be found beyond the top 15 if your scouting group is really doing their job and perhaps maybe willing to take a risk.  

     

    Sure, some draft classes are better than others.  No doubt about it.  I think the Wild's drafting strategy clearly demonstrates how they overvalue certain traits and they often look for the safe pick.  They have also undervalued skating and speed and I think that has hurt this team.  IMO, its a speed league now.  We used to prioritize speed, but look at how many of our prospects have skating / speed concerns and collectively that's pretty disturbing.  

     

    Guy LaPointe has been a key part of the Wild's draft virtually from Day 1.  So he's been there for that giant line of bust years with gems like A.J. Thelen, Tyler Cuma, Colton Gillies, and James Sheppard but he's been teflon with this organization through TWO GM's.  And there are other scouts who have been there for most of those same drafts as well (Paul Charles). 

     

    The 'new' eyes this team really needed is in its drafting and development model.  What scares me a bit is Tom Kurvers.  Kurvers has watched the Wild a lot as a scout.  I realize its just the Minnesota Wild Town Hall show, but he seemed to think we have lots of great players in our system.  Beyond Kaprizov, who really seems to have a good chance of being a GREAT player?  Greenway?  No.  Kunin, not with a bum knee.  Filip Johansson?  :lol:  So maybe Kurvers has seen this group TOO much and has unfortunately developed that same inflated sentimentality that has plagued this organization throughout its history.    

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    1 hour ago, rottenrefs said:

    Very true but who's protecting all the others? Ten days in from when Fenton was hired I was hoping to see some name changes among scouts and a few others but it seems while the cover changed all the content is still the same... So to speak.

     

    Contracts.  Fletcher re-signed a bunch of these people to deals.  Those that didn't get that contract were let go.  

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    7 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

     

    Be nice to see whose recommendation it was to draft Johansson this past draft. Yes, Fenton called his name, but still, there had to be a lot of convincing voices in the room to pull the trigger in the first round on a general consensus third rounder...

     

    I think that was Flahr.  This was their last draft.  The picks seemed to fit like what they've drafted before which to me sounds like the old staff more or less made the selection.  

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    On 8/20/2018 at 5:28 AM, IllaZilla said:

     

    You could. Kind of a “Good, Better, Best” ranking. But again, we would have to designate how many games we consider “Good, Better, and Best”. What I found interesting is Chicago had the highest amount of draft picks from 2000-2018, yet their overall success rate was one of the lower ones (15%). Or Anaheim’s success rate of 27%. First thing Fenton needs to do is hire Anaheim’s scouting staff!😀

     

    I hope we see a house cleaning of the scouting staff.  I think Fenton will do so; kind of based on his decision to send John Anderson out in favor of his own guy in Dean Evason.  He wants his own guys...but Fletcher locked those guys up for another year.  Flahr's basically a lame duck as Kurvers has his job.  

    Wild fans say hello

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    14 hours ago, bbgarnett said:

    @CreaseAndAssist yes we do, also glad to see that Patrick Stewart is coming back to reprise his role as Jean Luc Picard in a new series.

     

    True, and hopefully they are smart enough to not just throw away canon by trying to re-invent Klingons as they did with Discovery.  ANYWAYS...back to topic, glad to see things thriving here.  In fact, it almost seems more active now than what it was before?!?!  Anyone else agree?  

    • Like 1

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    3 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

     

    Did he give too much power to certain players or was he told to listen to certain players?

    Because there is a big difference. If he let the inmates run the asylum, then that’s on him. But if he was told to let the inmates run the asylum, then no matter what his vision for the team was, it was never going to come to fruition if his managing of the team was always interfered with. 

     

    I think that is a superb question.  I think it is indeed plausible based on what we've seen be deployed on the ice that perhaps there has to be a certain level of player consent to line combinations.  If true, I am not sure why ANY coach would want to be in that situation.  

    2018-19 Iowa Wild and other Wild Prospects Discussion

    in Minnesota Wild

    Posted

    It was Minnesota Hockey magazine or Let's Play Hockey that had the 44% figure, not Wild.com although I'm sure they were glad to reprint such propaganda.  If they Wild really have drafted great, then our team would have lots of great assets that other teams would want.  I think this summer proved; at least partially...that what the Wild have don't REALLY entice other teams all that much.  Yes, I think the offers were pretty bad intentionally but in years past...how many times have we apparently tried to trade Coyle / Brodin etc?  More than a few and every time...the deal never happens.  It kind of reminds me of this scene from Uncle Buck, sure he has items to trade but does anyone REALLY want them?  

     

     

    But as you look at that list of prospects.  Player after player is often stated as not being a great skater.  Or lacking speed, quickness.  Have they not paid attention to the league?  Why are you hording players with skating issues?  Zack Phillips had reasonable hands, but his skating was AWFUL, like Brunette 2.0 bad...the kind of red flag that if you have any functioning brain cells you don't draft no matter how great their hands are.  You know the skating will make it next to impossible for them to make it.  But as IllaZilla stated a while back, the team felt it knew something no one else did...and made the poor selection anyways.  Bust.  

     

    Luke Kunin, one significant knee injury already...he's damaged goods.  His trade value can't be that great.  Gets credit for his hustle and having a decent shot but just an ok skater for a player who is of average size.  Joel Eriksson Ek, I am hoping he has a breakout season and shows more scoring ability but if he amounts to a 3rd line center?!?!  Greenway looks decent, but is he really proven he should be in the NHL right now?  I don't think so.  But the free pass looks like its already being given to him.  

     

    Kaprizov has already been told (albeit by Fletcher, not Fenton as far as we know) that he's going to get a free pass.  He won't be starting out in Iowa, IF he ever comes to North America or the Minnesota Wild in the first place.  Yet if you take Kaprizov off this list, the prospect pool looks pretty underwhelming with lots of questionable projects IMO.  

     

    Khovanov, skilled...people mentioned his bout with Hepatitis A, but as the report stated.  That didn't help, but his skating was questionable BEFORE he got Hepatitis A.  The Giroux kid, kind of the same issue.  A smallish player who works hard, but has skating issues.  Why draft a small guy with skating issues?  I don't have a problem with them drafting a smaller player but he better be fast as hell otherwise I don't see how it works out in a league where you can't stick on the 4th line unless you're at least an average to above average skater.  The team has clearly overvalued playmaking and ignored skating.  

     

    Pittsburgh, Nashville, Vegas...to a lesser degree Washington.  All clubs that were fast, especially in transition and had good skaters from top to bottom in their lineup.  

×
×
  • Create New...