IllaZilla

Isn't really a prospect anymore, but it was nice to see Eriksson-Ek get two goals and six shots the other night against Milwaukee...I mean the guys averages about 1.5 shots per game with the Wild and all of a sudden he gets 6 with the Baby Wild... I'm still not holding out this guys going to be more than a 3C-4C at best, but at least if he shoots more he night actually break that 10 goals per season barrier he can't seem to overcome...

The game last night is precisely why Kahkonen needs to stay in Iowa. Gives up seven goals on 38 shots. No way is he ready for the NHL. No one in Iowa is going to save the Wild. Look at Kunin. Five games, zero points, and a -2. He’s not even shooting the puck. Averaging two shots per game. He needs to go back to Iowa. Leave the Baby Wild alone and let them mature. There are other players on the current Wild roster that need to step up. They don’t need to be bringing up any of these guys right now.

No the team doesn't need Sokolov up. Leave him where he is. Let him mature. Let him play a full season in Iowa. Look at Kunin. Zero points in five games. Not sure why he is still with the big club now that Koivu is back. Sokolov would be stuck in the same predicament Kunin is. Neither of them are replacing any of the Wild's top six forwards right now. If the team is out of the Playoffs and they unload Staal and maybe Coyle, there may be room for them to come up. But for now, leave the players in Iowa alone, let them mature, let them prove they belong with the big club. Dewar and Khovanov will probably be with the Baby Wild next season. They are under contract to their junior team right now. The Wild can't just pluck them out of juniors and stick them in Iowa.

I wasn't discounting Cal O'Reilly at all, hard to lose your leading points getter and not feel an impact. It was just that O'Reilly was already out and then the Wild called up Kunin...the Baby Wild kind of lost two points getters all at once. To me if a goalie can put up decent save percentages in the Q, they're probably all right, because NO ONE plays defense in the Q... It would be nice if at least one of those two turns into something more than the next Darcy Kuemper...everyone used to say that goaltending was the Wild's strong suit, but they've never drafted a goaltender that turned into their starting goaltender: Fernandez - Expansion pick from MTL MacLennan - Expansion pick from STL Roloson - FA Khudobin - Wild draft pick/Back up Harding - Wild draft pick/Back up Theodore - FA Bryzgalov - FA Backstrom - FA Kuemper - Wild Draft pick/Back up Dubnyk - Trade w/ARI Stalock - FA Arguably Kuemper came close, but he never seemed able to get over that hump of grabbing the starting spot. Always seemed to have a lights out game followed by several Dan Cloutier impersonations...

I noticed in that San Antonio game there were a lot of penalties (9). And like you said, some of them are mental: Kakhonen playing the puck in the restricted area, a Too Many Men on the Ice (I absolutely abhor this penalty. It's a high school penalty. Get your head in the game!) And the Wild keeping Kunin up at the big club probably hasn't helped either...

Sounds like they are pretty short handed in Iowa right now. It does sound like Hammond is almost back, so maybe that takes some pressure off Kahkonen.

Kind of funny how all of a sudden Kahkonen isn't a brick wall anymore...maybe teams started seeing tendencies he has? Or like you said, now that he's the #1 there is more pressure on him? Whatever it is, I'd rather him figure it out in Iowa by working through it rather than being the door opener on the Wild bench...

They seem pretty high on that Hart kid. He's just not ready yet. Hextall did a really good job of stockpiling prospects for them. Too bad Holmgren got ants in his pants to see the building sold out rather than give Hextall a couple more years of developing their prospects...

One thing to consider as well is Dubnyk's $4.3M cap hit. That's a pretty hefty cap hit even if the Flyers can absorb it, and it will be there until 2022. Plus Varmalov will be a UFA next summer, providing Colorado doesn't sign him, so they may be able to go after him and not give anything up. And based on their conversations, I don't think their fans are real excited about having GMCF as the new GM. Sounds like Hextall stockpiled a lot of nice young talent in Lehigh Valley for them and the fans aren't in any hurry to trade them away for aging veterans just to get into the Playoffs this season. I'd still rather leave Kahkonen in Iowa and let him play there as a #1. He'll learn much more there than being a door opener in the NHL.

Dubnyk is going through a bad patch, but he’ll come around. IMO he’s got a concussion from the Tom Wilson hit. And besides, Dubnyk has a limited NTC. There are only 19 teams he can be traded to. Dubnyk is not the problem in the Playoffs. It’s the whole team. The Wild disappear in the Playoffs. They don’t like to play physical and that’s what you have to do in the Playoffs.

Almost sounds like the Wild had a bunch of prima donna's in Iowa...wonder if that was brought on by Fletcher's penchant to start certain players at the NHL level based on where they were drafted rather than have them work their way through the system...

Thanks. You'd think the Wild would have a better handle on their farm club rather than what you described. It appears they almost treated it like an afterthought rather than a developmental tool for their prospects...

I'd like to see your thoughts on why Iowa's been less than successful as a farm club for the Wild. You are a lot more in tune with the Iowa Wild than I am. Is it the coaching? Is it lack of talent? Does the parent club have a flawed development philosophy? Combination of two or more of these? Something else?

This is nice to see Iowa being left alone to develop into something more than a doormat. Would really be nice to see them turn into the next Grand Rapids Griffins or Milwaukee Admirals...hopefully Fenton brings that Nashville development philosophy to the Wild now.

Careful what you wish for. Fletcher has a habit of rushing prospects before they are ready...

Leipold wanted Parise and Suter because during the 2011 Entry Draft in St Paul, he asked Bettman if the Wild were in the running for a Winter Classic. Bettman told Leipold that if he wanted a Winter Classic, he needed star power on the roster, as the Wild had none. So Leipold signs Parise and Suter in 2012 and lo and behold in 2016 the Wild get a Stadium Series game. There there was was bringing in Thomas Vanek because he was Jason Pominville's best friend. At the time Mike Yeo was the coach and didn't want Vanek on the roster. Felt he didn't fit the Wild's defensive style. He had to be convinced that Vanek would be good for the team. The Wild signed Vanek and he was pretty good the first year and a disaster the second. He was bought out in the third year of a three year deal.

^ This is why Kakhonen needs to stay in Iowa. Granted, he can't do anything about causing the power plays, but if he's as great as everyone seems to think he is, shouldn't he have done better in this game? It's not like the power plays were one after the other, and Chicago's power play clocks in at just over 21%. There was one power play in the second and then two in the third (one right away and then another 12 minutes later). He's getting more experience playing every game in Iowa than he would being the door opener on the Wild bench.

Dubnyk has not been on IR this year. He was sick for one game with whatever crud his kids gave him and scratched. They recalled Kahkonen and reassigned him that same day, so he didn't count against the 23-man roster. Plus there are cap considerations as well. To keep Kahkonen up for more than one day, they are going to have to place someone on IR (which means they have a documented injury and are now out a minimum of seven days). I'm not sure why there is this big rush to get Kahkonen up here. If he's helping Iowa to win, leave him there. Let him help develop a winning culture there. Iowa's sucked for years because the Wild constantly tried to develop prospects at the NHL level rather than letting them mature in the AHL and recalling them when they are ready, leaving Iowa with little to no talent. The last thing the team needs is to recall a potentially good young goaltender and then have his confidence shot to hell because the team is playing like crap in front of him...

That means Dubnyk or Stalock has to go on IR. If a position player goes on IR, they will replace him with another position player. They won’t carry three goalies.

Spoken like a true Minnesotan!

Let’s not got too excited over the Finlander just yet. He got his shutouts against AHL caliber talent. Let’s see if he can unseat The Hamburgler first before we anoint him the second coming of Jacques Plante...

Looks like the Finlander got Player of the Week... Wild's Kahkonen named CCM/AHL Player of the Week With the team playing well, hopefully Fenton leaves everyone in Iowa except for the occasional Matt Read call-up...

9 games, 3 goals, 4 assists, -3, 11PIM (4th highest on team) Not good enough to unseat any of the four centers currently on the roster. Or anyone else on the upper lines where he would need to play. Better to leave him in Iowa getting top line minutes rather than sitting in the press box or playing on the third line... I’m still not convinced he’s anything special, but we’ll see...

Personally, I hope they leave every prospect in Iowa all season. No more of this "Give them a taste of the NHL" crap. Let them play together and mature together.

According to CapFriendly.com Seeler not on an entry level deal, but he is waivers exempt. So yes, the Wild could send hm to Iowa and not lose him to a waiver claim.