2022-23 Iowa Wild and Prospects Thread **

[Tomdog]

17 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

This.

 

The Wild tend to draft in the second half of the first round. Which means they get a potentially good player, but not a great player. The Wild are filled with good players. They arguably are a good team. But good teams don’t win the Cup. Great teams do. 

If that’s true, and more than likely is, it will be on BG to package those “good “ players to get some “great “ players. 
That’s a tall order as teams don’t just give up on great players. 
With the 2 worst years of the cap penalty coming, maybe it’s time to pull a Chicago and trade everyone without a nmc for draft picks and truly start over. 

[Alexandron]

13 hours ago, Tomdog said:

If Army and company lost their jobs because Rossi didn’t develop, Evason might want to start warming up his resume. 
They had a far more failures than 1 undersized young forward not making the big club. 
Evason’s failure to produce any real improvements in the PP and PK should have him fired. 

Agree, it is a time to fire him. 5 years already he is working for this team. Great coach can transform good players into the great one.

[CreaseAndAssist]

7 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Agree, it is a time to fire him. 5 years already he is working for this team. Great coach can transform good players into the great one.

 

Really?!  So with the right coach Matt Boldy becomes Connor McDavid?  C'mon, get real.  You rarely get those generational players unless you're bad enough to draft them.  

[Alexandron]

6 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Really?!  So with the right coach Matt Boldy becomes Connor McDavid?  C'mon, get real.  You rarely get those generational players unless you're bad enough to draft them.  

Great player and a star player are different concepts. McDavid is a star. Boldy is not.

Cooper(Lightning coach) since 2013 till now was able to bring the team with different players to 4 Stanley Cup finals in 2015;2020;2021 and 2022. Won 2 in 2020 and 2021. Boudreau(Capitals coach) was not able to pass the team full of stars through round#1 and/or #2 for years. Then Trotz with the team won a Stanley Cup in 2018. Right after getting the cup, the owner didn't want to extend contract with Trotz. Since that time team was not able to pass round#1 and this year missed playoffs despite of replacing few coaches. Great team, star players but missing the right coach. 

[IllaZilla]

22 hours ago, Tomdog said:

If that’s true, and more than likely is, it will be on BG to package those “good “ players to get some “great “ players. 
That’s a tall order as teams don’t just give up on great players. 
With the 2 worst years of the cap penalty coming, maybe it’s time to pull a Chicago and trade everyone without a nmc for draft picks and truly start over. 

It's possible that Guerin could pull off a trade like that (bunch of good players for a great one), but that also brings cap ramifications. Great players get paid. Does a great player and a bunch of rookies/journeymen (to fill in for the bunch of good players traded) make sense cap-wise vs. just a bunch of good players? And is the production going to be better or worse, since teams can now focus solely on the great player, and who knows what you'll get from the rookies/journeymen?

 

I don't see that happening (the Chicago Blow-Up). They've had numerous chances to do this and have steadfastly refused to utter the "R-word". They'll "tweak" and "adjust" but won't "R-Word". They are too worried that if they commit to the "R-Word" fans will leave in droves.

 

Who knows. Maybe they learned their lesson on giving the keys to the kingdom to a player(s) with the Wonder Twins contracts (but maybe not, because they gave Zucarello that ridiculous contract). But one thing is for certain. What they've been doing since Leipold took over is not working. They are stuck in a cycle of mediocrity of their own doing. 

 

 

[Tomdog]

I think the best we can hope for is for BG to find a willing partner to trade 1 or 2 RFA defensemen for a RFA center.

It seems to me trying to find RFA guys with an upside is the only hope of staying under the cap.

Unfortuneatly RFA centers are not usually available.

[CreaseAndAssist]

On 5/1/2023 at 7:41 AM, IllaZilla said:

It's possible that Guerin could pull off a trade like that (bunch of good players for a great one), but that also brings cap ramifications. Great players get paid. Does a great player and a bunch of rookies/journeymen (to fill in for the bunch of good players traded) make sense cap-wise vs. just a bunch of good players? And is the production going to be better or worse, since teams can now focus solely on the great player, and who knows what you'll get from the rookies/journeymen?

 

I don't see that happening (the Chicago Blow-Up). They've had numerous chances to do this and have steadfastly refused to utter the "R-word". They'll "tweak" and "adjust" but won't "R-Word". They are too worried that if they commit to the "R-Word" fans will leave in droves.

 

Who knows. Maybe they learned their lesson on giving the keys to the kingdom to a player(s) with the Wonder Twins contracts (but maybe not, because they gave Zucarello that ridiculous contract). But one thing is for certain. What they've been doing since Leipold took over is not working. They are stuck in a cycle of mediocrity of their own doing. 

 

 

 

No question.  The 'not a rebuild' has just doomed it to endless mediocrity.  I don't think fans will leave in droves if they have a rebuild, but sadly...there is that segment of sheeple that lap up every word they say.  So if Guerin says it was a success they believe it; hook, line and sinker.  

[Tomdog]

The fans not leaving is my theory on why the dedicated hockey markets don’t win the cup. 
Non hockey markets need to build power house teams or play in an empty arena. 
Minnesota, Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, Edmonton all will fill their arena’s enough to be viable with a mediocre team. 
Tampa, Florida, Dallas, Carolina, etc. not so much. 
 

I think BG is trying to build a team that will be a powerhouse not a one and done cup winner. 

[Jimtown guy]

26 minutes ago, Tomdog said:

The fans not leaving is my theory on why the dedicated hockey markets don’t win the cup. 
Non hockey markets need to build power house teams or play in an empty arena. 
Minnesota, Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, Edmonton all will fill their arena’s enough to be viable with a mediocre team. 
Tampa, Florida, Dallas, Carolina, etc. not so much. 
 

I think BG is trying to build a team that will be a powerhouse not a one and done cup winner. 

I never thought about it that way. I think you are on to something with that 

[IllaZilla]

Sounds like there is a distinct possibility Addison and Rossi are trade bait…

[Tomdog]

Addison can go. 
Rossi? Maybe not yet. 

[CreaseAndAssist]

On 5/5/2023 at 7:50 AM, Tomdog said:

The fans not leaving is my theory on why the dedicated hockey markets don’t win the cup. 
Non hockey markets need to build power house teams or play in an empty arena. 
Minnesota, Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, Edmonton all will fill their arena’s enough to be viable with a mediocre team. 
Tampa, Florida, Dallas, Carolina, etc. not so much. 
 

I think BG is trying to build a team that will be a powerhouse not a one and done cup winner. 

 

(shrugs)  I think its a GM desperately trying to convince his superstar to stick around by floating hopes and dreams...pretty soon this organization is going to have to show that player it actually has some real talent coming to this club instead of just 'projections' of it.  

[Alexandron]

Good news:

MNW Young Guns

@mnwprospects

·

20h

"I feel great. I am healthy, which is the most important thing," says Pavel Novák in an interview for http://hokej.cz. Novák has defeated cancer and is now preparing for the new season. He would like to secure a spot in the AHL. #mnwild

[CreaseAndAssist]

On 5/5/2023 at 7:50 AM, Tomdog said:

The fans not leaving is my theory on why the dedicated hockey markets don’t win the cup. 
Non hockey markets need to build power house teams or play in an empty arena. 
Minnesota, Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, Edmonton all will fill their arena’s enough to be viable with a mediocre team. 
Tampa, Florida, Dallas, Carolina, etc. not so much. 
 

I think BG is trying to build a team that will be a powerhouse not a one and done cup winner. 

 

I was listening to a Beyond the Pod short with Brandon Mileski & Pat Michelletti and if you listened to Pat he didn't think the fanbase would tolerate being bad; that they wouldn't show up if the team wasn't competitive.  I agree with you, I don't think the fans would abandon the team because they would understand what they're trying to do.  But they've always opted for this 'middle way' and it accomplishes nothing of significance.  At some point they need to face facts and realize they have to be bad if they truly want to be a contender in the future, otherwise all they can do is keep pretending they're close when they're really not anywhere near that.  

[Tomdog]

And so much of the Wild’s current woes can be traced back to Chuck Fletcher. 
How many of those draft picks sent away for rentals would they have been able to turn into an asset?

Instead they have nothing. 
I also don’t believe they need to be completely terrible as long as the youth movement either grows or gets identified as a player or a bust. 

[Alexandron]

MNW Young Guns

@mnwprospects

2022-23 season officially ended. Here is the first All-Star #mnwild Prospects team:

Caedan Bankier WHL: 85 pts (37+48), 57 GP playoffs: 18 pts (7+11), 13 GP WJC: 1 assist, 7 GP;

 

Marat Khusnutdinov KHL: 41 pts (11+30), 63 GP playoffs: 7 pts (1+6), 16 GP;

 

Liam Ohgren Sweden2: 20 pts (11+9), 36 GP playoffs: 13 pts (8+5), 17 GP WJC: 2 goals, 7 GP;

 

Brock Faber NCAA: 27 pts (4+23), 38 GP NHL: 8 GP;

 

David Spacek QMJHL: 57 pts (13+44), 58 GP playoffs: 8 pts (3+5), 14 GP WJC: 8 pts (3+5), 7 GP;

 

Jesper Wallstedt AHL: 38 GP, 2.68, 90.8 sv% WC: 3 GP, 0.67, 94.7 sv%.

 

[CreaseAndAssist]

The fact even a homer group like the Minnesota Wild prospects doesn't have Marco Rossi on its top 5 tells how far he's fallen in this organization.  He made the 2nd team in case anyone cares, but that's saying a lot for a player who the organization had such high hopes on.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

13 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

The fact even a homer group like the Minnesota Wild prospects doesn't have Marco Rossi on its top 5 tells how far he's fallen in this organization.  He made the 2nd team in case anyone cares, but that's saying a lot for a player who the organization had such high hopes on.  

 

That being said, you can almost kind of tell the organization is pivoting to place its hopes more on Khusnutdinov instead of Rossi at this point.  David Spacek being on this top team is a bit interesting when you consider the other players he's competing with (Lambos, Hunt, O'Rourke, Peart, etc).  

[Alexandron]

Iowa Wild

@IAWild

3h

NEWS: The #IAWild has signed defenseman Landon Kosior to a one-year, two-way AHL contract.

 

[CreaseAndAssist]

Another 5'11" defenseman.  Right shot, put up a lot of points for Prince Albert but they must feel they'll need the points to add another small-ish defenseman to the team's roster.  I had heard they wanted to retain Dakota Mermis but we'll see what happens.  Joe Hicketts has been a rock for Iowa the last two seasons; tough to see them move on from him just for his veteran leadership but if they're going all in on the kids...they're going to want to make sure they carry most of the play.  

 

Iowa should have the following defenseman in Des Moines next year.  

 

Daemon Hunt

Ryan O'Rourke

Simon Johansson

Kyle Masters

David Spacek

Carson Lambos

Landon Kosior

[CreaseAndAssist]

Wild re-signed Hunter Jones to a one-year, two-way deal ($787,000).  My guess is he'll be Jesper Wallstedt's backup in Iowa.  No matter what I'm sure Hunter will be glad he's no longer having to be under siege with the Heartlanders like he has the last two seasons.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

Minnesota Wild select Rosemount, MN-native; center, Charlie Stramel (Wisconsin, Big 10) with the 21st Overall pick in the 2023 draft.  

 

@MNSOTA and I will have a complete draft review that we will record on Sunday.  I have LOTS to say about this selection.  

 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by CreaseAndAssist

[IllaZilla]

6 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

Minnesota Wild select Rosemount, MN-native; center, Charlie Stramel (Wisconsin, Big 10) with the 21st Overall pick in the 2023 draft.  

 

@MNSOTA and I will have a complete draft review that we will record on Sunday.  I have LOTS to say about this selection.  

 

 

And I thought Arizona didn’t know what they were doing…

[Tomdog]

Hard to say. As they say, you can’t teach 6’3” 220 lbs. 

We all complained they were too small down the middle. 

[TallyTigerShark]

54 minutes ago, Tomdog said:

Hard to say. As they say, you can’t teach 6’3” 220 lbs. 

We all complained they were too small down the middle. 

This is true. I wasn’t “excited” with this pick when you look at others who were available. I was honestly very underwhelmed. But all that matters down the line is how does he develop. Pronman and some others like him. As you said, you can’t teach that size. I just hope he isn’t another Greeway.

 

Having said all of that, I love the pick of Heidt at the end of round 2. How did he fall that far when most projected him top 15 to top 20 overall? There had to be a reason but you can’t deny that is great value there for the Wild. That pick does excite me.