CreaseAndAssist

Yurov re-signs with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 1-year, $434,000 deal.  So 'Yurov Watch' comes to a quick and unceremonious end!  

He certainly didn't mind sharing his feelings about the team if he didn't think something was right or perhaps getting a bit sarcastic about a non-call.  While that's usually shamed in today's broadcasters, I'd be happier with that than today's brown-nosing, excuse-making homers so many teams have working their broadcasts.  

21 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

I guess I look at it this way. Let Yurov sign in the KHL next season. There isn't any room for him on the current roster thanks to giving guys like Freddy Gaudreau and Marcus Johansson multi-year extensions.

 

This team still has to prove it can get past the first round. I highly doubt the addition of one Russian center is going to be the catalyst that propels this team to the second round (or further) of the Playoffs.

 

The core of the team is basically the same as the last two seasons. So which team is going to show up?

 

Glass half-full says Spurgeon comes back and plays to his normal level of production, Faber doesn't have a sophomore slump, Kaprizov doesn't get off to his normal slow start, the team stays healthy, Boldy becomes more consistent, the goaltending improves, and Khusnutdinov, Ohgren and Wallstedt have meaningful production.

 

Glass half-empty says Spurgeon isn't the same after his surgeries, Faber has a sophomore slump, Kaprizov gets off to a slow start, the team continues down the injury path, Boldy is still inconsistent, the goaltending isn't improved, and the rookies are ineffective.

 

Plus there is all this nonsense being tossed around about trading Rossi. To what end? They finally develop a center who is probably going to come in top five in the Calder voting and they want to trade him the first chance they get.

That's pretty fair.  Although I thought Spurgeon's game was in decline even before he got hurt this season.  He looks slower and more timid which for a pint-sized defenseman who is getting older is not a good sign.  

But they definitely need him to be top notch if this team is going to do anything; and by anything I mean just making the playoffs.  

I don't have a big issue with Danila Yurov spending one more season in the #KHL either, but I think he could make a bigger impact.  IMO, it was kind of like Eric Staal when he arrived, he was a force multiplier.  He helped the team have two dangerous lines.  I think Yurov could do that.  

However, next year...it's going to be the same underwhelming team needing just about everything to go right in order to make the post-season and still probably do nothing once it gets there.  My only fear is that Guerin will add another big grit guy because of the mental fragility discussed in their post-season press conference.  

3 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

No room for him with all the extensions...

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.  

5 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

I don't have a problem with keeping Flower for one more year and mentoring Wallstedt. I'd rather have him mentoring Wallstedt than the Chubby Hubby.

 

And truly, the only thing that matters is that the team stays healthy. The Wild have so little depth that one injury will throw them into a tailspin.

 

Fleury made some comment about how hungry the team was and how they want to get back to the Playoffs next season. They didn't look too hungry to me. As a matter of fact, they looked all fat and happy this season, especially during that final game against Seattle. A lot of comments in the pressers this season about "too many passengers", but then let's give everyone NMC's. We keep hearing about how great a farm system the Wild has, but instead of giving the young players chances, let's lock up all the graybeards for the next three seasons. 

 

There was a pretty good article in The Athletic about how it's going to be put up or shut up time for the Wild to retain Kaprizov's services next season. He seemed generally unhappy after this season. And next season is going to be more of the same if the Wild can't stay healthy and certain players under perform again. Because next season, Kaprizov's NMC kicks in and if the Wild can't right the ship, Kaprizov can walk after the 2025-26 season. But they will still have Foligno, Hartman, and Gadreau to carry the team...

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?  

On 4/21/2024 at 9:02 PM, Alexandron said:

At least the Iowa Wild team finished their season on a winning note. They had a win over Grand Rapids Griffins (score 4:1; Wallstedt was a star #1 for that game by stopping  31 shots out of 32) and they also won over Chicago Wolves the last game of the season (score 3:2; Jack Peart was a star #1 of the game with his 1st AHL goal; Beckman was a star#2 of the game with his 19th goal of the season and Firstov had primary assist to that goal). What do I like about Beckman? Good size player and his consistency in production. For 3 seasons in a row he had 33-36-34 points with the Iowa Wild team. Same I would like to say for Firstov. He is a good size player and has a good culture of consistent production in his career when played and for the Waterloo Black Hawks; and for the University of Connecticut; and for the Torpedo; and for the Iowa Wild team. In the last 10 games with the Iowa team he had 4 points (2 goals(one of them was shorthanded); 2 assists;+/- +1).

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.  

On 4/21/2024 at 7:49 PM, Alexandron said:

Filip Gustavsson

2022-2023 season;

39 played games;

GAA 2.1; SV% 0.931; 22-9-7;

2023-2024 season;

45 played games;

GAA 3.06; SV% 0.899; 19-18-4;

Huge difference in 2 seasons.

 

Marc-Andre Fleury

2022-2023 season

46 played games;

GAA 2.85; SV% 0.908; 24-16-4;

2023-2024 season;

40 played games;

GAA 2.98; SV% 0.895; 17-15-5.

Not huge , but still a drop in 2 seasons.

 

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

22 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Why? Because this is the "lucky" number? 

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)!  

49 minutes ago, Tomdog said:

Hard for a young player to push a vet out of the way when the coach insists on playing the vet.

Merril and Gaudreau were out played all year by younger guys and still got their ice time.

Time for the coaches to stop playing favorites and play the producers.

 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.  

19 hours ago, Tomdog said:

Imo I don’t think they get scolded at all.

I think the staff suggests stuff and they go out and do what they want. 

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

1 hour ago, Confrontational said:

Not sure how Darby still has a job after all these years - so many things need to change...  Makes you also wonder if Parise/Suter were really the cancer they told us about...  Frustrating to watch...

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.  

9 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

Thank god that wet fart of a season is over. And we don't even have the excitement of a high draft pick to look forward to. 

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

22 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

There was a "What Went Wrong for The Wild?" article in the Athletic and all the homers in the comment section were signing the praises of Guerin and how clever he was for getting the draft picks he did for Dewar and Duhaime and how the Foligno, Zucarello, et al. extensions were a steal because by the time the cap recapture penalties come off the books, those guys will be playing on the third and fourth lines and paying $2M for a fourth liner isn't a bad deal...

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

56 minutes ago, ClusterChuck said:

By the end of the reg season, They almost always ends up that way. Makes sense.

Since Fleury resigned already, It's not the 'farewell' game... I'd start Wallstedt tonight instead.

For most players doing their last game, They'll either have a Loss or Hoist the Cup.
But I forgot about if not making PO's you can end with a reg season Win.

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

20 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

So...has anyone heard about Gustafsson getting called out for poor practice/training habits? Apparently John Hynes spoke with Gustafsson about his poor training habits this season and will be speaking to Gus about it again this off season...

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.  

10 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

No, Guerin will say that the injuries are not an excuse but that because of the injuries, players were put in situations where they had to play more than they should have. And that the dead money isn’t an excuse, but it limited who the team could bring in. And that the extensions weren’t a bad thing because those players are known quantities and the draft picks we might have gotten for them are unknown quantities and might never play in the NHL. 

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

11 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

But if you look at CapFriendly.com, the money is comparable to other players with similar stats and age. But those players didn’t get NTC/NMC’s too. 
So none of the Wild players took a team friendly deal PLUS they got the NTC/NMC. 

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.  

9 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

This is neither here nor there, but BG exchanged Duhaime for a slightly higher draft pick (low 3 vs mid 4) and Dewar for a lower draft pick (3 for a 2) and everyone is wetting their pants like he’s a genius…

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.