CreaseAndAssist

3 hours ago, yave1964 said:

I am a HOCKEY fan. I am entitled to my opinion based on fact that Maatta is entirely overrated, he does nothing particularly poorly but nothing particularly well. Rather a snarky comment out of you and entirely uncalled for sir.Do Penguin fans really ask Wild fans for how they see their team? 

Hmm, I dunno, I see Chicago play a lot more than an Eastern Conference fan does.  And because of NBCSN I get to see Pittsburgh way more than I ever wanted to.  So I'm pretty familiar with Olli Maatta too.  I don't care what Penguin fans want.  I never said Maatta is going to change Chicago's fortunes all by himself.  But they are looking for experience without resorting to adding 'old' players.  As @Ruxpin said on a different thread but on the same topic.  Its a classic change of scenery trade.  

Kahun seemed to have real potential.  Now its up to Maata to make Chicago look smart, or look foolish.  

9 hours ago, ruxpin said:

I get what @yave1964is saying. But I also agree with crease that Maatta fills a defensive depth need. Maybe a change of scenery helps him, too.

 

And Pittsburgh does desperately need forward depth and the pick is good. 

 

Kind of like it both ways, myself. I've read some Chicago boards, and they generally hate it. Mostly because they liked the kid. 

 

The Pittsburgh boards are just talking about how cute Sidney is. 

I wouldn't expect a Pittsburgh fan to know much of anything beyond that.  Maatta has to deliver then, because you know if Kahun takes off with the Penguins that Chicago will be letting their team know they made a mistake.  

6 hours ago, yave1964 said:

I am not a Maatta fan, not much there IMHO. He broke in a house afire seven years ago and just fizzled out, he is a third pair stay at home guy which every team needs but there are cheaper better options. And Kahun as a 23 year old rookie had a solid year working his way up by years end to the second line and drawing praise from Toews for his speed and creativity. Frankly I think Chicago got hosed on this one.

Wonderful.  Do Chicago fans really ask Red Wings fans for how they see their team?  They need to improve their defense more than they need scoring.  

Well Chicago's defense isn't great and lacks experience.  Maata can help in both capacities.  I think its a low risk move for Chicago.  

Impossible season?  They didn't make the playoffs despite the fact they looked like they were on their way.  In that way they demonstrated they were very much the Coyotes like every other year.  Maybe a little promising but not nearly enough.   

2 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

I think Buffalo just did what they needed to do at this stage of their competitive cycle:
Sign a young enough guy with a legit skillset to help push this franchise forward as other players develop into full fledged NHL contenders.
That seems to be the plan anyways.

Again, I think wherever Skinner would have gone, he was going to get paid and get paid big....so if you are Buffalo, why not sign him...keep him there with Jack Eichel whom he seemed to work with real well.

Ok, so perhaps Skinner benefitted from Eichel as a linemate, but still, Skinner himself is a bonafide offensive threat. Put up decent numbers with woeful offensive Carolina teams in the past, his possession metrics seem to be pretty good throughout his career, and while he has yet to gain the notoriety of some of the players on your comparable list, I think he can be just as good....maybe he will be noticed more playing in Buffalo as opposed to Carolina, playing on an up n coming team like the Sabres.

Buffalo still needs lots of other things of course, but if they make good signings elsewhere and, more importantly, the guys they have develop correctly, I think this deal will still look good.

Not very many players at all usually live up to whatever the big contract they end up getting is....I know you know this.
But many times teams are willing to take the chance on a guy with a reasonable shot at becoming a regular contributor and a guy you can continue to build around for the majority of the contract given....as I think this is the case with Skinner.

The team has the cap space and will also have some other contracts coming off the books as soon as next year

(yawn)  There is no guarantee Skinner will live up to this deal, in fact...stats would indicate he won't over the course of the deal.  They still have players to pay.   You can't afford to give every player almost $10 million just to stick around.  Will ownership finally back off and let this team grow organically instead of thinking its going to happen by changing the guy behind the bench.  

I'd love to have Kahun with the Wild.  Decent trade for both teams.  

I thought it was kind of crappy Boughner got let go, but I guess they felt Quenneville was their guy.  Its too bad they could not have kept him, because I think he was doing a lot of things right.  

If the Panthers can snag Panarin and Bobrovsky as expected this team will be pretty damn good.  Their defense is where they need improvement because with Panarin, Barkov, Hoffman, Dadonov, they have a potent attack.    

Trading Kahun and a 5th for Maata is probably a step in the right direction.  The Blackhawks' issues are all about their blueline.  They could also use some secondary scoring too.  Kane and Toews and to a lesser extent DeBrincat are most of Chicago's offense.  They'll have to take steps to address that.  Colliton didn't seem to have too much trouble getting that club to play hard which is a good sign for them.  

Jets are a tough team to understand.  This SHOULD'VE been their year.  They had the right mix of vets and young talent but it didn't happen.  They didn't take the next step.  Laine seemed to be kind of lost and people are wondering if he's a glorified one-trick pony.  But they at least have time to figure it out.  The Jets need to start revamping some of its roster as the last few former Thrashers parts are getting older.  I thought they underperformed big time this year.  I can't imagine Paul Maurice would survive a slow start this next season.  

Rantanen and MacKinnon are both pretty impressive.  If they had some secondary scoring they could be really scary.  Their bottom lines have good speed and energy, but they don't chip in enough offensively.  Defensively, its still a work in progress but they're getting better.  Cale Makar looks like a steal and will terrorize teams for years.  I think Sakic lucked into the 4th Overall pick in the Duchene deal, but the truth is Colorado is going to get another blue chip youngster.  Things are looking pretty bright in Colorado.  

Meh, they became a better team defensively and Bishop and Khudobin were a decent combo between the pipes.  The Stars have a lot of talent in their prime and they should be better than they are.  

They're closer to challenging for a top spot in the Central than Chicago and Minnesota are, but that isn't saying much.  

On 6/14/2019 at 1:11 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Moving this thread back on topic...………..

Jeff Skinner.
Tell you what... good deal and good signing for Buffalo.

I think everyone knew that whomever signed Skinner was going to have to pay some big bucks, so no one should be surprised at the $9M cap hit.
That said, the guy IS a legit scorer, seemed to work very, very well with Jack Eichel, and probably one of the more important details that many times fans overlook....he actually likes playing where he is with the Sabres.

Make no mistake...the Sabres still need a lot more in terms of scoring depth, better defensive play and more consistent goaltending, but at the very least, with Eichel and Skinner, and whomever they put in as a third member of their line, they at least have a very dangerous go-to line and while I am not a fan of teams just having "one line", if this past season has proven, it is teams CAN make headway with just one line (if they really are good enough) and the rest of the team makes some semblance of competitive play each and every night...… looking at teams like Dallas, Colorado, and Boston.

 

But look, Jeff Skinner, still just 27 signed for 8 years...it is quite possible, as long as he maintains good health (his biggest nemesis actually), that he will be a productive player throughout the life of his contract.
He HAS shown over the last two seasons that his concussion issues are now a thing of the past and if he doesn't get his lights dimmed anymore in that fashion, then the Sabres truly have a top flight winger whom Jack Eichel can call "partner" for the next several years.

I like the signing for the Sabres, I think it is a step in the right direction, bottom line...now....about the rest of the team's needs.....

This is a good deal?  For who?  Its a horrific deal, not just for the Buffalo Sabres, but the rest of the league because any comparable player is going to want that much $$$ and maybe a NTC/NMC to boot.  Buffalo will regret this deal, and they took a giant crap on the rest of the league in the process in raising the asking price of just about any free agent out there.  Stupid on every level.  

On 6/8/2019 at 9:04 AM, IllaZilla said:

Those NMC/NTC's are a bitch...

Yea, its a no take-backsie's kind of a deal.  And most of the time these are the kind of deals you wish you could take back.  

10 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

Fenton will pick some kid no one has ever heard of and the act like he just drafted the second coming of Wayne Gretzky...

I thought about saying, so these 18 players have no chance to be drafted by the Minnesota Wild.  I am sure our guy with 2 years of experience will pick someone we could've had in the 6th round with our 1st pick.  

20 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I look forward to these articles.

 

Right now, I'd probably lean towards Spencer Knight first, then Seider or Harley and then maybe Krebs.

 

I get that goaltenders are big question marks in the first round (Rick DiPietro), but they could end up with a Carey Price, too. That wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

Based on your descriptions, the forwards that probably are going to be available I'm the least in love with, except for Krebs. They seem to have the most question marks. That's why I'd prefer to see them draft either Knight or one of those defensemen (Seider or Harley). But that's just me.

Here is my list of the players I assessed so far (all 18) if you're looking at what my draft board would be if I was the Wild's GM.  

1. C, Peyton Krebs

2. LD, Thomas Harley

3. RD, Moritz Seider

4. G, Spencer Knight

5. RW, Raphael Lavoie

6. LD, Ville Heinola

7. RW, Cole Caufield

8. LD, Matt Robertson

9. G, Mads Sogaard

10. C, Alex Newhook

11. RW, Arthur Kaliyev

12. RD, Lassi Thomson

13. RW, Bobby Brink

14. LD, Ryan Johnson

15. G, Pyotr Kochetkov

16. G Hunter Jones

17. G, Dustin Wolf

18. G, Isaiah Saville

I have one more article ready to go.  Its about players that will be available beyond the 1st round.  Knight looks like he might be worth taking at 12, but I still am hesitant to take a goalie in the 1st round.  

5 hours ago, 4Check said:

Goaltending is such a current critical development void in the Wild organization.   I fear that with Fenton's "old school" philosophy, he could overlook the, IMO,  critical component in drafting a netminder....the psychological profile.    

I am still not a fan of drafting a goalie in the 1st round.  

4 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

I get that these guys want to stay positive about the team. But at some point as hockey people, they have to realize that this team is going nowhere fast.

 

And as a fan, I'd appreciate some honesty from the front office. I'd have a lot more respect for the team if someone came out and said "Look, this isn't working. We need to rebuild. We're going to have to dismantle the team in order to get better draft picks and prospects. It's going to be painful for the next couple of seasons. But when we are done, we should have some great young prospects coming through the ranks and in a couple of seasons they should be ready to led the team into the Playoffs and and our ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup."

 

Or something like that. Don't tell me "We're really close to winning the Cup, we just need a few tweaks." I've watched the games. You're not. Besides, if you're so close, why did you finish in last place in the division? Why did you conduct a sort-of fire sale if you're so close? Usually if you're "so close" you acquire a player or two to push you over the hump. Like Fletcher did with Jason Pominville. You don't trade away all your supposed core players because "they weren't getting it done..." and then come out and say "It's not a rebuild..."

Exactly.  As the more harsh way of saying it, "don't piss on my leg and tell me its raining outside."   I think this fanbase is more than capable of tolerating reality.  I think most recognize its old, slow and has a pretty shallow prospect pool.  I think they realize we're not even close to being a contender for the Cup let alone the playoffs.  So what, we need to rebuild.  Of course we freakin' do!  

Why pretend that isn't necessary when everyone knows it is.  Unless the owner simply can't tolerate it, its not like its his money anyways...its his wife's.  

52 minutes ago, EJ0226 said:

If what I am hearing and the warming house is a lot more emptier then it's ever been then my guess is we are going to see the cheerleaders go cringe worthy cheerleading. As Kirk Lazarus said, "Everybody knows you never go full retard". Get ready for the already kool aid drinkers to do this.

As I said on Twitter...the Minnesota Wild are going to have their 'reckoning' this summer.  Listening to Russo's podcast (the one I attended) I totally missed that Brock Nelson apparently wanted to come back...but instead took the Islanders' extension instead.  Not that we have to have every single Minnesota player but its more proof that the outside view of this club is pretty ugly.  Despite what the Kool Aid drinkers want people to believe.  

Reading Fenton talk glowingly about his son, and his whopping 2 years of NHL scouting experience and now he and another guy are leading our draft this year.  Yikes.  Its clear this organization isn't about winning, its about making a few individuals comfortable and they simply hope there are enough suckers out there that believe their crap.  

This team should save its money, because its going to be losing a lot of it this year with the attendance problem they're going to start to have.  

(shrugs)  Wild fans were surprised it wasn't a trade involving Buffalo since that was Chuck's favorite trade partner when he was with the Wild.  

Niskanen is a reasonable player.  I'd like him better than Gudas, even though Gudas is more of a hitter.  Perhaps he feels the Flyers need a bit more veteran influence on its blueline.  

2019 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview: Goaltenders

Only 1 goaltender is probably a sure-fire 1st round pick, maybe 2.  But here is the rundown of my thoughts on goaltenders that are available in this draft.  Check it out.  Russo has hinted more than once the team may be taking a long look at Spencer Knight.  

With the 26th Overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the Calgary Flames are proud to select from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, goaltneder Mads Sogaard!  

Sogaard gives the Flames a viable starting goaltender prospect, who combines excellent athleticism with great size.  We feel very fortunate and confident that Sogaard will be our anchor in the crease and hopefully a pivotal piece as we work for a 2nd Stanley Cup!   

6 hours ago, EJ0226 said:

I met Micheletti, he's a nice man but really has become a big cheerleader for the Wild. Funny thing he was on Paul Allen, I believe, this morning and they were talking about Wild and when Pat said the Wild are very close, you could hear the hesitation in his voice like even he didn't believe what he said, lol.

That's true, I was listening to it as I was driving back to Wisconsin today.  It was nauseating.  What a Kool Aid drinker.  So sad.  

Beyond the Pod: Tom Kurvers & Scott Sandelin

Listen to Kurvers and Micheletti...we are so close yada yada yada.