Wild Sign defenseman Jordie Benn to a 1-year, $900,000 contract and other Wild news

[CreaseAndAssist]

Wild Sign Defenseman Jordie Benn to a 1-year, $900,000 deal and other news

 

This one was a bit of a surprise.  My guess is they want Addison to stay and develop in the AHL getting top pairing minutes.  And they'll let Merrill and Benn battle it out to be the 6th & 7th defenseman.  I have a bunch of extra stuff too you might be interested in checking out.  

[Icechipper]

Exactly my thought. Addison gets top-four minutes in Iowa and is ready when injuries strike.

[IllaZilla]

I don't have a problem with this signing. It's for the 6-7 defense spot. Every team needs role players. And I'd rather see a guy like Benn taking the honorary Nate Prosser Healthy Scratch spot in the line up than a prospect. They aren't going to develop sitting in the press box and playing 10 minutes every fifth game. Let the prospects show they are ready and then give them a spot in the line up. Seemed to work for the Detroit Red Wings for years...

[lynxrattle]

Benn is an ok d-man for that money. This forces Addison to scratch and claw himself into the line-up.

[Alexandron]

Why did we signed him? Do we have a reason?Why did we signed so many defensemen this season?Goligoski,Kulikov,Merrill and now this one? Why we did not keep Cole? One of the best defenseman for this team. Soucy was not bad at all too. And we did not trade Dumba for a better smart defenseman. Menell had top minutes in AHL and KHL. And where is he now? I do not want same future for Addison. Better to play less minutes in NHL and move up there if you show your best play instead of playing top minutes in AHL and move nowhere. I do not see any logic in this crazy chess match. Better to use Nashville strategy for players preparation inside the organization than the current Wild one.

[IllaZilla]

9 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Why did we signed him? Do we have a reason?Why did we signed so many defensemen this season?Goligoski,Kulikov,Merrill and now this one? Why we did not keep Cole? One of the best defenseman for this team. Soucy was not bad at all too. And we did not trade Dumba for a better smart defenseman. Menell had top minutes in AHL and KHL. And where is he now? I do not want same future for Addison. Better to play less minutes in NHL and move up there if you show your best play instead of playing top minutes in AHL and move nowhere. I do not see any logic in this crazy chess match. Better to use Nashville strategy for players preparation inside the organization than the current Wild one.

 

I wouldn't get too worked up over Benn. He's going to be the 6-7 guy on defense.

 

And the reason the Wild signed so many defensemen because we lost a lot on defense. Suter-Buyout, Cole-Free Agency, Soucy-Seattle Expansion Draft. That's three out of six starters. So I can see why they signed Goligoski, Kulikov and Merrill. Trading Dumba is tough because he has a $6M cap hit and a M-NTC kicked in July 1. Plus his play since he signed his big deal hasn't justified the cap hit, just my opinion.

 

Cole got away because the Wild were focused on trying to get Nick Foligno here as a 1C. When the Foligno negotiations went nowhere, Cole had already signed with the Hurricanes. Plus, I don't think the Wild could handle the $3M contract he got with Carolina.

 

Mennell was traded to Toronto for a seventh round draft pick. He's 24 and hasn't cracked the lineup yet. And Toronto signed him to a $750K two-way deal. That's league minimum. So that tells me that neither the Wild nor the Leafs think too much of him or his KHL stats. That doesn't bode well for his future in the NHL.

 

As far as Addison, keep in mind Goligoski, Merrill and Benn are all signed to one year deals. So there will be plenty of space for the 21 year old Addison on the roster next year. And there are always injury call ups. Plus, Addison is going to be a top line player in the AHL getting a lot of experience in different situations. I'd rather see him getting top line minutes in Iowa and playing on the power play and penalty kill rather than sitting in the press box in St Paul. Because he's not going to unseat Spurgeon, Brodin, Dumba, or Goligoski in his first year. That leaves third pairing minutes and opportunities for him. He's not going to develop that way.

 

And the biggest thing to consider is that, like Jackbag used to say, the Wild are going to get HHHHHAAAAAMMMMMEEEEERRRRREEEEEDDDDD with the cap over the next three seasons to the tune of $12-$14M in dead money. The Wild don't need to be burning contract years with young guys like they did with Dumba and some of the others. The sooner you bring young guys up, the sooner their big contracts kick in. And with that much dead money, the Wild could lose some good young players because they simply won't have the cap space to sign them if they bring them up too soon.

Edited August 29, 2021 by IllaZilla

[CreaseAndAssist]

5 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I wouldn't get too worked up over Benn. He's going to be the 6-7 guy on defense.

 

And the reason the Wild signed so many defensemen because we lost a lot on defense. Suter-Buyout, Cole-Free Agency, Soucy-Seattle Expansion Draft. That's three out of six starters. So I can see why they signed Goligoski, Kulikov and Merrill. Trading Dumba is tough because he has a $6M cap hit and a M-NTC kicked in July 1. Plus his play since he signed his big deal hasn't justified the cap hit, just my opinion.

 

Mennell was traded to Toronto for a seventh round draft pick. He's 24 and hasn't cracked the lineup yet. And Toronto signed him to a $750K two-way deal. That's league minimum. So that tells me that neither the Wild nor the Leafs think too much of him or his KHL stats. That doesn't bode well for his future in the NHL.

 

As far as Addison, keep in mind Goligoski, Merrill and Benn are all signed to one year deals. So there will be plenty of space for the 21 year old Addison on the roster next year. And there are always injury call ups. Plus, Addison is going to be a top line player in the AHL getting a lot of experience in different situations. I'd rather see him getting top line minutes in Iowa and playing on the power play and penalty kill rather than sitting in the press box in St Paul. Because he's not going to unseat Spurgeon, Brodin, Dumba, or Goligoski in his first year. That leaves third pairing minutes and opportunities for him. He's not going to develop that way.

 

And the biggest thing to consider is that, like Jackbag used to say, the Wild are going to get HHHHHAAAAAMMMMMEEEEERRRRREEEEEDDDDD with the cap over the next three seasons to the tune of $12-$14M in dead money. The Wild don't need to be burning contract years with young guys like they did with Dumba and some of the others. The sooner you bring young guys up, the sooner their big contracts kick in. And with that much dead money, the Wild could lose some good young players because they simply won't have the cap space to sign them if they bring them up too soon.

 

Bonus points for the Jackbag reference, you should talk about him in the Message board chronicles thread for the folks that don't know or remember him.  Haven't thought of him in a long time. 

 

I agree with you.  Adding Jordie Benn allows Addison to get top pairing minutes in Iowa and playing in the situations you want him ready for when he makes the jump.  A 1-year deal doesn't hinder the team long term and with his ability to play either on the left or right side he gives you some utility in your lineup beyond just a little more sandpaper.  

 

I would also agree that Dumba hasn't lived up to his $6 million a season contract.  I think Menell angered the team by going to play in the KHL with the AHL season uncertain and so they were bound and determined to make him sign a two-way deal.  He refused so they dealt him.  

 

I think one could read into the team signing Carson Lambos right away, but #46 and #25 both have NMC's so its tough to see how they could be moved.  But @IllaZillais right, they will be compelled to use more young players in the lineup because of the cap crunch.