Fargocase

I would have let Bridin go. He's very over rated by Will fans IMO. Poor offensive production and shies away from physical contact. He's a beautiful skater but no grit. I did like Scadella's grit but IMO he's a great 3rd Pair guy but an expensive, below average 2nd Pait guy. IMO his Cap Hit necessitated his departure. Personally, I liked Haula but IMO Yeo grossly mis-used him. Demoting Haula for lumbering oaf Hanzal was a huge mistake and destroyed the chemistry of the team. I believe Haula had no chance to stay with the Wild but that his leaving hurt the team.

I think it was a bird in hand scenario. Tuch was still just a prospect. Contrary to Wild organization propaganda, the Wild was desperately thin on D. There were only four decent Dmen, the Wild couldn't afford to lose any of the four. So they sacrificed the prospect, which in retrospect was a BIG mistake. If the Wild had ranked their Dmen, IMO Dumba would have ranked ahead of Brodin. I agree with KA, I would have just bit the bullet and sacrificed Brodin. You have to remember, the Wild had a pretty good roster at the time and aspirations of contending. Tuch was a future player, Brodin and Dumba were key pieces. They hadn't given up on Coyle, Zucker or Nino yet. Again, Fletcher did not have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. IMO it's obvious sacrificing Tuch was a huge mistake, but they had Greenway looking like he'd fill the big, strong Forward role.

Haula wasn't traded for anything. The price to protect other Wild players was Tuch. Haula was going to be gone regardless. Tuch was the value, Haula was essentially a throw in.

If you say so, I believe you. I just don't remember it. But lots of people were desperate to protect Brodin.

It was a moot point who was protected. The deal had been made.

And of course an NHL GM is working in real time, without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Be easy to make decisions with a clear view of the future.

I don't think the decision was Haula's, it was pretty clear the Wild didn't want to re-sign him. I believe Haula was RFA with arbitration rights and he was going to get decent money, more than the Wild was willing to pay. What it really turned into was Tuch instead of Brodin, Zucker, Nino, or Coyle. In 20/20 hindsight, seeing that Tuch has met his top end potential it was a huge mistake.

Yeah, no doubt Leipold, Suter, Parise, Mikko's fault! They made the minor league team lose! And of course Doobie's fault the flash in the pan goalie was just a flash. Doobie played too many games! If the kid had been promoted to the NHL prematurely like the clueless DoobieHater69 demanded he would have been the next Ken Dryden!

Emotional, irrational, unprovable subjective drivel. YOU make claims about leadership. Not what I hear actual Wild players and Coaches say. I have never heard anyone with team question Parise or Suter's leadership, in fact, the exact opposite.

yeah, without a doubt YOU! who lead the team in goals and points and hustle? Only a total Hater Troll would deny that #11 Zach Pairise was the heart and soul and Leader of the Wild this season. And goals? And hustle? And sacrificing himself for the team. #20 Ryam Suter. The current whipping boy for Hayer Trolls- don't look behind the curtain at all the points and TOI against the other team's top lines. And the funny coincidence that Dumba had career stats and Spurgie was way better paired with him... Damn the facts, stick with emotional Hater Troll emotions.

You've followed this team for a long time. I read this and think you're feeding/patronizing the trolls. I guess I must be naive, but I didn't think you bought into that silly hater group think.

I am sure neither 11 nor 20 care enough to give a rat's azz for a letter on their Jersey. Contrary to all the conspiracy theory haters, you'd be hard pressed to find two guys who are less egomaniac prisma donnas than Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. I've talked to Parise a couple of times. He's the antithesis of an arrogant jock. I've talked to friends of Ryan Suter and his Dad, they are almost caricatures of quiet, shy mild mannered Midwesterners. With "fans" like the current day posters on internet boards, the old school trolls aee obsolete

Parise was obviously the Wild's best Forward this year. Suter and Spurgie were obviously the best Dmen this year.

I agree, let them play in games that matter in a team context. Do you really think it's a case of the team being lackadaisical or just that the team isn't very talented or cohesive? I didn't watch this last blowout but I don't think there was a lack of effort in the previous Vegas win or close loss in a grinding playoff-like game vs Nashville. Funny how after every loss it's the same cliches. The team didn't play hard, they didn't hustle, they didn't play the system, etc ad nauseam. Here's a crazy idea - sometimes the loss is due to getting beaten by a more talented, more cohesive, equally hard working team?

Roman Voloshenko was the Russian guy I was thinking of. And I thought Suter was far and away the best American player. Drew Stafford and Dan Fritsche were the best US forwards. I was very disappointed in Patrick Sullivan after all the hype about him. Kessel flashed some big time skill but got hurt. I was more impressed by Malkin than Ovechkin, but the Canada team was so great and better than any other team there was no doubt would would be Champions.