CreaseAndAssist

On 8/29/2023 at 9:49 AM, Alexandron said:

Agree. Big adjustment. And Marco Rossi hit that wall too last season when played 19 games and then he was benched for a couples of weeks because he didn't want to go back to Iowa.

(shrugs)  AHL often has 3 games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) for a lot of its teams to save travel costs.  Rossi, being a major junior player was probably more used to that than say a Brock Faber would be.  However, I wouldn't just chalk it up to travel as being the main culprit for Marco Rossi hitting a wall.  Fatigue; physical, mental and emotional is probably a more likely source...but either way, he wasn't delivering for Iowa when it needed him the most the last two seasons.  

On 8/29/2023 at 12:17 PM, IllaZilla said:

 

I too hope for more out of the prospects, but it's not just the coaching. 

 

It's the material the coaching staff has to work with.

 

You can bring in the greatest horse trainer in the world, but there is no way they are going to ever get a Clydesdale to win the Kentucky Derby...

Wait a sec, I thought if you just got the horse to train a bit they'd be ready to win the Triple Crown after racing at Canterbury for a few weeks?!?!  Are you saying that's not true? (gasp)  

In all of my years of watching the Iowa Wild, they rarely ever appeared to be the more talented, faster team.  Tim Army helped make them a hard-working, blue collar kind of team...but they normally looked out skilled by our opponent's best players / lines.  Goaltenders often had to be stellar just for them to have a chance as offense was usually a struggle and that was even with Marco Rossi in the lineup.  

While Brett McLean will be a fresh voice, he will have a lot of young players on the back end and some new faces up front in their 1st pro seasons.  That normally means lots of growing pains rather than on-ice domination.  

On 8/25/2023 at 6:58 PM, Icechipper said:

Faber is proof that if you can stand out among big Division 1 NCAA opponents you can make leap to NHL. 

I am not sure I buy that logic, because if that were true then a lot more guys from Quinnipiac should've received NHL opportunities.  They didn't.  Every league has its ringer who can dominate at that level but you promote them to a higher level their game, style, etc just doesn't deliver.  Faber's, at least from our small sample size of the playoffs looks promising and he has always demonstrated a lot of poise.  However, he will feel the grind of travel and playing 60+ games in a season for the first time in his career.  Sammy Walker certainly hit that wall after a fast start with Iowa last year.  It's a big adjustment from being two-game weekend warrior to 3-4 games every 5-6 days.  

On 8/25/2023 at 1:06 PM, Alexandron said:

And again, more thoughts from Tony Abbott about Marco Rossi. Definitely Tony has a talent to present a different analytic view regarding our players.

https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/marco-rossi-has-to-overcome-everyone-elses-fears-r29542/

 

I know Tony, we've talked several times but even he knows its put up or shut up time with Marco Rossi.  He loves analytics so much he primarily sticks with the metrics.  If he is a good as the analytics crowd wants you to believe then why wasn't he leading Iowa beyond their play in series last year or beyond the 1st round the season before that?  

I don't see how Rossi was held back from doing just that in Iowa.  He had all of the prime ice time and opportunity to lead the way.  Why would I or anyone expect him to just flip a switch and dominate at the NHL level when he didn't do it at the AHL level?  

17 hours ago, Alexandron said:

. What is common between words "Minnesota Twins" and "Minnesota Wild"? The word "Minnesota". I really want to see the word "Minnesota" to be written "MINNESOTA" that every hockey media will talk about Wild as a real cup contender, but not a ballast for the 1st round playoffs as usual we are. We lost these playoffs season an absolutely nice chance to beat Dallas team, but we didn't. We were not able to control Suter, who cruelly blocked previously injured Kaprizov entire round#1. Where was Reaves during that entire round#1? Practically invisible.  And Foligno has got multiple penalties for nothing during that time.   Not acceptable judge from unprofessional referees during same entire round#1. Hope Maroon will show how to protect crucial players for this game. His role for this club should be enormous. I do not think we had anything of that level before.

The organization continues to do the same thing and hopes for a different result, so I wouldn't get your hopes up.  

17 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I think that  "Just get in and it's a whole new season" thinking is horse-hockey. The Wild have never gone into the playoffs on all cylinders firing. They've stumbled in, tripped in, belly-flopped in, just to get their clocks cleaned. 

 

Until this team recognizes that #20+ first round draft picks aren't going to get the team past the first round, they are going to continue to do what they do: have a nice season, crash out of the playoffs, and then tell the fans "Wait 'til next season!"   

I agree.  Rarely has he team had momentum going into the post-season only to get bounced right away.  'Wait til' next season' might as well be this organization's permanent slogan.  

Cory Pronman of the Athletic rated the Wild's prospect pool 10th and that was in a grouping that included Matt Boldy and Brock Faber as prospects.  The Wild homers tripped over themselves saying Pronman is a Wild hater for saying the team has lots of forwards with skating issues and a big crop of 6'0" puck moving defenseman that have limited offensive potential.  Screams Stanley Cup contender to me...:rolleyes: 

20 hours ago, Alexandron said:

I am surprised that in 3 weeks the other 2 new interesting articles came regarding a nice potential of our 2 promising prospects:

Marat Khusnutdinov: https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/marat-khusnutdinov-can-hit-the-ground-running-next-year-r29539/

and Danila Iurov: https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/danila-yurov-is-the-whole-package-and-arriving-soon-r29530/

 

It seems both have a chance to come to us next season, sooner than it was predicted.

(yawn)  Until it shows itself on the ice, I'm growing tired of these articles.  Honestly, we are sounding more and more like the Minnesota Twins each day.    

27 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

Well, that's where he needs to make a hard decision. If he keeps delaying a rebuild because the team is winning, but continues to flame out in the first round, it's only going to perpetuate the cycle of mediocrity.

 

That's all this team has done. Get into the playoffs, and then flame out in the first round. Doesn't matter who the GM was, who the head coach was, or who was on the roster. One and done. So they need to do something different, because what they've been doing doesn't work.

 

 

@IllaZilla You and I have have been saying this for years.  Wild have been in denial about a rebuild and the salary cap crunch should've made this an easy pivot instead they resist and we only delay the inevitable and just cement more years of mediocrity.  

I think he keeps delaying a rebuild because the owner lives in this ridiculous fantasy world that this team needs to pretend its trying to contend each year.  

On 8/13/2023 at 5:58 PM, ClusterChuck said:

I don't think the level of vocal intensity will be as high as when the whole Fiala vs Dumba scenario was taking place. BG wasn't that fond of Fiala while he bent over backwards in support for Dumba.
But BG likes to voice his opinion and Rossi will be the closest issue for him to chime in on, So pretty good prediction there. 

Rossi does provide some built in excuses (Myocarditis, the lost season, etc) but he's had time to develop and this team needs him to be ready to make an impact.  He's a Top 10 pick on a team that rarely gets to select from that part of the draft and as a center this team desperately needs him to live up to that potential / hype, because if not it will be a major setback.  

I think I said this earlier in this thread, but this is a big year not just for Guerin IMO where you start to see if Rossi and maybe others have what it takes to make the next step but its also big for Judd Brackett.  Brackett who was heralded needs to start showing tangible signs that he can mine talent for this team that will actually be a difference maker.  So far, none of his selections have made an impact yet.  It doesn't matter that publications and 'experts' chime in saying you have a top prospect pool, until it makes a difference on the ice for the Wild it's just that...words and nothing more.  

I was pretty ambivalent.  Either way, I think this summer proved that Matt Dumba didn't exactly draw a ton of interest.  $3.9M is far more than I would've paid him, and in a strange way our salary crunch helped us avoid making that kind of salary mistake.  He already had a house in Arizona so I guess this 'move' is fairly easy for him and he still has a house in Minnesota too in case anyone cares about stuff like that.  

Arizona has been in this cycle of rebuilding, etc for a decade.  They might be better next year but good enough to make the playoffs?!?!  Not so sure; although I am not sure we're good enough either.  Certainly not good enough to do much of anything if we do make the playoffs.  

Can Dumba rediscover his game?  Not likely.  I heard he kept things loose in the locker room and was well-liked, but 'ok' defense and an offensive game that more or less disappeared certainly wasn't worth $6M a season anymore.  If anything, his fight should be a cautionary tale for young players who decide to oblige a lame request to fight by a player who is going to talk trash no matter if you kick his ass or not. 

Chris Stewart was never the same after he broke his hand on Kyle Brodziak's helmet and was resigned to being an energy player instead of the promising power forward he was prior to that ill-advised fight.  

In thinking about Dumba's whole career with the Wild, he was a classic teaser.  Where at times he showed us some of the offense and physical play we were sold on when he was drafted, but it was never quite enough.  The big shot was more like Happy Gilmore where he'd blast it but it seemed to miss the net or was easily blocked.  His defensive lapses and gaffes with the puck in his own zone often seemed to counter those moments where he'd make a great offensive play; you seemed to get 5 atrocious mistakes to one great play.  Then when he seemed to kind of put it all together, just as suddenly it was gone.  I think he was a very good citizen, but at the end of the day that's not really what matters most in professional sports.  I'm sure he'll come back and do interviews and tell us funny Jonas Brodin and Marcus Foligno stories someday.  

It will be interesting to see if Guerin starts defending Rossi the way he did Dumba.  Where he feels people are counting him out and whether he'll ask people to stop being so vocal in their criticism of him.  Just a bit of a prediction...

16 hours ago, ClusterChuck said:

That's a bit what K-Fan was saying. In 2 years with more money we could resign him. WHY ?? He'd be 2 years older and still the same old, He is what he is. 

I'm looking forward to the next 2 seasons of our development and scouting to find the upcoming youthful talent. If you can't get a good plan going with what's out there during that time for when we have the money to spend then we need new people in those depts. This is our chance to really go for needs of the team for the long run.
The last thing we need in 2 years is to go throw $$ at Over the hill-Past prime big names. We don't have to have history repeat itself.

I agree.  It would be a mistake to add Dumba again after this season even if he was making half of what he was making last year (so $3 million instead of $6 million) simply because you want the young ones (cheaper) to battle for those spots.  

As far as Addison goes, I don't think he's that special.  Dan Boyle may have been about his height, but he had a lot more ability than Addison does on both sides of the puck.  I think Addison can distribute the puck but I don't think he's a real dangerous threat to score and I don't think he defends particularly well.  In my opinion, you can find players with that kind of M.O. all over the league and in any draft.  Small mobile puck movers...with some offensive ability.  Look at our prospect pool of defense prospects.  

Its full of around 6'0" puck mover guys who have some skill but are perhaps not going to be big scorers.  I don't see why Addison is this indispensible prospect; maybe 2-3 years ago...but not so much now.  

On 8/4/2023 at 10:36 AM, Alexandron said:

Here are a couple of articles published by hockeywilderness regarding our prospects Marat Khusnutdinov and Danila Yurov:

https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/the-marat-khusnutdinov-countdown-starts-now-r29391/

https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/changing-positions-would-change-the-game-for-danila-yurov-r29511/

 

 

 

The fact people are getting pumped up for Yurov moving to center or being a viable center candidate continues to show how little faith they have in Rossi.  

Don't get me wrong, Yurov and Khusnutdinov and Ohgren are the forward prospects that seem to have the most potential.  I can't wait to see them make the trip across the pond next year.  (knock on wood)

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?