*** Wild Prospects 2023-'24: IOWA, NCAA, EUROPEAN LEAGUES, MINOR LEAGUES ***

[IllaZilla]

I guess I look at it this way. Let Yurov sign in the KHL next season. There isn't any room for him on the current roster thanks to giving guys like Freddy Gadreau and Marcus Johansson multi-year extensions.

 

This team still has to prove it can get past the first round. I highly doubt the addition of one Russian center is going to be the catalyst that propels this team to the second round (or further) of the Playoffs.

 

The core of the team is basically the same as the last two seasons. So which team is going to show up?

 

Glass half-full says Spurgeon comes back and plays to his normal level of production, Faber doesn't have a sophomore slump, Kaprizov doesn't get off to his normal slow start, the team stays healthy, Boldy becomes more consistent, the goaltending improves, and Khusnutdinov, Ohgren and Wallstedt have meaningful production.

 

Glass half-empty says Spurgeon isn't the same after his surgeries, Faber has a sophomore slump, Kaprizov gets off to a slow start, the team continues down the injury path, Boldy is still inconsistent, the goaltending isn't improved, and the rookies are ineffective.

 

Plus there is all this nonsense being tossed around about trading Rossi. To what end? They finally develop a center who is probably going to come in top five in the Calder voting and they want to trade him the first chance they get.

[CreaseAndAssist]

21 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

I guess I look at it this way. Let Yurov sign in the KHL next season. There isn't any room for him on the current roster thanks to giving guys like Freddy Gaudreau and Marcus Johansson multi-year extensions.

 

This team still has to prove it can get past the first round. I highly doubt the addition of one Russian center is going to be the catalyst that propels this team to the second round (or further) of the Playoffs.

 

The core of the team is basically the same as the last two seasons. So which team is going to show up?

 

Glass half-full says Spurgeon comes back and plays to his normal level of production, Faber doesn't have a sophomore slump, Kaprizov doesn't get off to his normal slow start, the team stays healthy, Boldy becomes more consistent, the goaltending improves, and Khusnutdinov, Ohgren and Wallstedt have meaningful production.

 

Glass half-empty says Spurgeon isn't the same after his surgeries, Faber has a sophomore slump, Kaprizov gets off to a slow start, the team continues down the injury path, Boldy is still inconsistent, the goaltending isn't improved, and the rookies are ineffective.

 

Plus there is all this nonsense being tossed around about trading Rossi. To what end? They finally develop a center who is probably going to come in top five in the Calder voting and they want to trade him the first chance they get.

 

That's pretty fair.  Although I thought Spurgeon's game was in decline even before he got hurt this season.  He looks slower and more timid which for a pint-sized defenseman who is getting older is not a good sign.  

 

But they definitely need him to be top notch if this team is going to do anything; and by anything I mean just making the playoffs.  

 

I don't have a big issue with Danila Yurov spending one more season in the #KHL either, but I think he could make a bigger impact.  IMO, it was kind of like Eric Staal when he arrived, he was a force multiplier.  He helped the team have two dangerous lines.  I think Yurov could do that.  

 

However, next year...it's going to be the same underwhelming team needing just about everything to go right in order to make the post-season and still probably do nothing once it gets there.  My only fear is that Guerin will add another big grit guy because of the mental fragility discussed in their post-season press conference.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

Yurov re-signs with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 1-year, $434,000 deal.  So 'Yurov Watch' comes to a quick and unceremonious end!  

[IllaZilla]

Looks like the Wild get #13 overall. Hopefully they learned their lesson last year and take the best player available and not reach for the 64th best player because size…

[Alexandron]

On 4/26/2024 at 7:12 AM, CreaseAndAssist said:

Yurov re-signs with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, 1-year, $434,000 deal.  So 'Yurov Watch' comes to a quick and unceremonious end!  

Now we have 2 players who have got a Gagarin Cup (Kaprizov and Yurov) in their career. Metallurg is a pretty good team, which has already 3 Gagarin Cups in their history. And, I think, it is good for Yurov to get more experience from that team's performance.  Interesting fact, that Gagarin Cup is heavier than Stanley Cup (40 lbs vs 34.5 lbs respectively). 

[CreaseAndAssist]

Samuel Hlavaj is playing pretty damn well for Team Slovakia.  3 wins, 1.93 goals against average and a .933 save percentage.  That includes a win over Team USA.  

 

David Spacek is doing fairly well on Team Czechia.  And Marcus Johansson is 4th in the World Championships in scoring 4-5-9 and 1st on Team Sweden in points.  Joel Eriksson Ek has also been pretty damn good for Team Sweden too; but Johansson's sudden surge makes you wonder where was that assertiveness this year.  

 

Hunter Haight (Saginaw, OHL) plays for the Memorial Cup tournament host and defense prospect Kalem Parker (Moose Jaw, WHL) won the Ed Chynoweth Cup to advance to the Memorial Cup.  So two prospects in the big CHL tournament.  

 

Marco Rossi doesn't have a lot of points (1-2-3), but Team Austria has had a surprisingly solid showing for the World Championships as well.  Including rallying back from a 6-1 deficit in the 3rd period to force a 7-6 OT loss to Canada but then following it up with a 3-2 win over Team Finland (1st time they ever beat Finland).

[IllaZilla]

Latest Athletic mock draft now has the Wild drafting Cole Eiserman, LW, USNTDP, or maybe Konsta Helenius, C, Tappara. 

[Alexandron]

Matt Boldy has the most points(14) at the World Championship, but was not able to score today against team from Czechia. USA team lost that game in quarterfinals 0:1. Sweden team was able to beat in a tough quarterfinal game team from Finland(2:1 OT) and will meet Czechia team in semifinals. 

[CreaseAndAssist]

9 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Matt Boldy has the most points(14) at the World Championship, but was not able to score today against team from Czechia. USA team lost that game in quarterfinals 0:1. Sweden team was able to beat in a tough quarterfinal game team from Finland(2:1 OT) and will meet Czechia team in semifinals. 

 

Wild prospect David Spacek had an assist in the 1-0 victory for Czechia.  I think he has 5 assists in the tournament.  As for Boldy...he was recognized as Team USA's best player but he didn't lead the team to a medal...very much on brand for the Wild.  

[IllaZilla]

On 5/24/2024 at 7:32 AM, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Wild prospect David Spacek had an assist in the 1-0 victory for Czechia.  I think he has 5 assists in the tournament.  As for Boldy...he was recognized as Team USA's best player but he didn't lead the team to a medal...very much on brand for the Wild.  

You forgot to mention that once again Hynes couldn’t lead a team to a medal or trophy…

[CreaseAndAssist]

True, and again on brand for the Wild that Hynes couldn't deliver.  

 

Hunter Haight's Saginaw Spirit crushed Moose Jaw 7-1 in the Memorial Cup Semi-finals.  They will play London for the championship.  

 

Haight had no points in the 7-1 rout of the Warriors, but he went 8-for-13 on his draws.  He has 2 goals in 4 Memorial Cup games.  

 

 

[Alexandron]

On 5/24/2024 at 7:32 AM, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Wild prospect David Spacek had an assist in the 1-0 victory for Czechia.  I think he has 5 assists in the tournament.  As for Boldy...he was recognized as Team USA's best player but he didn't lead the team to a medal...very much on brand for the Wild.  

You are right. Just looked for Spacek's stats. He had 5 assists; +/- +1 in 10 played games during the tournament. And he got the gold medal for Czechia team.

Sweden team (5 Wild players played for it) got the bronze medal by beating the Canada team in a final game. They lost only 1 game during that championship (to Czechia team). I think it is not bad at all achievement for our players. Gold and bronze medals for 6 Wild players at this 2024 tournament.

[CreaseAndAssist]

(shrugs)  I'd rather see the Wild win something than worry about what they do in international play.  Afterall, you are only available for the World Championships if your team isn't in the playoffs whether its Minnesota or Iowa.  

 

Perhaps David Spacek is demonstrating he's worthy of more ice time and opportunity in Iowa.  I think there is more upside (even if its as a 3rd pairing defender) than some of the other guys that are currently there.  

[IllaZilla]

The third iteration of the Athletic’s 2024 NHL Entry draft now has the Wild selecting Zayne Parekh D Saginaw at #13…

 

So unless the Wild go off the board like they did with Stramel, they’ll probably get another good player to go with the rest of the good players they have to ice a good team. Good teams don’t win the Cup. Great team do…

[Tomdog]

Best player available?  Maybe?

Had they lost a few of those meaningless games by trying out prospects they might have been picking in single digits.

[CreaseAndAssist]

16 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

The third iteration of the Athletic’s 2024 NHL Entry draft now has the Wild selecting Zayne Parekh D Saginaw at #13…

 

So unless the Wild go off the board like they did with Stramel, they’ll probably get another good player to go with the rest of the good players they have to ice a good team. Good teams don’t win the Cup. Great team do…

 

Big pass on Zayne Parekh.  I saw him play for Saginaw in the Memorial Cup and I didn't see anything that made me feel he was something special; especially troubling for an offensive defenseman who has struggles in his own end of the ice.  Sam Dickinson was far more impressive to me from that tournament.  

 

I agree with you on just getting 'good' players and rarely ever 'great' players in regards to contending for championships.  

 

On our show we're recording this afternoon we'll talk about some other players in the mix at #13, and spoiler alert...no one is going to be talking about Parekh.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

14 hours ago, Tomdog said:

Best player available?  Maybe?

Had they lost a few of those meaningless games by trying out prospects they might have been picking in single digits.

 

Agreed, just a few picks earlier you get players with a lot less 'question marks' to their game.  But instead they let pride or lame owner demands get in the way of it.  

[IllaZilla]

14 hours ago, Tomdog said:

Best player available?  Maybe?

Had they lost a few of those meaningless games by trying out prospects they might have been picking in single digits.

Well, fight to the end and all that…

 

But yeah, they could’ve given Beckman and some of the others more than one or two games. And so they lose a few more games with the newbies. Big deal. They were already out of the Playoffs. And NO ONE showed up at that last game against Seattle. So I don’t want to hear about how much pride these guys have…

[IllaZilla]

4 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Big pass on Zayne Parekh.  I saw him play for Saginaw in the Memorial Cup and I didn't see anything that made me feel he was something special; especially troubling for an offensive defenseman who has struggles in his own end of the ice.  Sam Dickinson was far more impressive to me from that tournament.  

 

I agree with you on just getting 'good' players and rarely ever 'great' players in regards to contending for championships.  

 

On our show we're recording this afternoon we'll talk about some other players in the mix at #13, and spoiler alert...no one is going to be talking about Parekh.  

They already tried that “Offense from the Defense” under Risebrough and it failed spectacularly. With that 4’2” Swiss defenseman who never played in his own end? Nummelin?

 

They already have defensemen that can’t play defense in Merrill. They don’t need more of that type. 

[CreaseAndAssist]

21 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

They already tried that “Offense from the Defense” under Risebrough and it failed spectacularly. With that 4’2” Swiss defenseman who never played in his own end? Nummelin?

 

They already have defensemen that can’t play defense in Merrill. They don’t need more of that type. 

 

You mean the Swiss league Bobby Orr?  Remember that one from the old boards?  Damn that was an epic rant...Petteri $%cking Nummelin.  Ooh he is really good in the shootout?!?!  So $%cking what!  

 

We discuss the draft in our latest episode, its rather long but we debate 'best player available' versus drafting for a need.  

 

We each made a small draft mini-board of 3 players we like that we feel fit organizational holes.  We didn't know the combine results until AFTER we had recorded the show.  

 

Full NHL Scouting Combine results courtesy of Scott Wheeler from the Athletic:

 

Aerobic (duration):

1. Cole Beaudoin: 13:45

2. Gabriel Eliasson: 13:14

3. Ollie Josephson: 13:05

T4. Herman Traff/Alfons Freij: 13:04

T6. Linus Eriksson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard, Eriks Mateiko, Dean Letourneau, Stian Solberg: 13:00

 

Aerobic (VO2max ml/kg/min):

T1. Ollie Josephson, Tij Iginla: 65

3. Simon Zether: 64

T4. Macklin Celebrini, Max Plante: 63

6. Cole Beaudoin: 62

T7. Jacob Battaglia, Aatos Koivu: 61

T9. Linus Eriksson, Julius Miettinen, Ondrej Becher, Ben Danford: 60

 

Agility (left)

1. Stian Solberg: 4.12

2. Kamil Bednarik: 4.25

3. John Mustard: 4.26

4. Terik Parascak: 4.28

5. Michael Hage: 4.29

T6. Charlie Elick, Sam O’Reilly: 4.33

T8. Konsta Helenius, Lucas Pettersson, Jack Pridham: 4.34

 

Agility (right)

1. Stian Solberg: 4.08

T2. Jett Luchanko/EJ Emery: 4.23

4. AJ Spellacy: 4.24

T5. Terik Parascak, Sam O’Reilly: 4.25

7. Alexis Bernier: 4.28

T8. Jack Pridham, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: 4.29 10. Ethan Procyszyn: 4.30

 

Anaerobic mean

1. Jett Luchanko: 12.9

2. Alexis Bernier: 12.8

T3. Linus Eriksson, Sebastian Soni: 12.7

5. Aatos Koivu: 12.6

6. Leon Muggli: 12.4

7. Charlie Elick: 12.3

T8. Dean Letourneau, AJ Spellacy: 12.1 T10. Lukas Fischer, Ben Danford, Alfons Freij, Julius Miettinen: 12

 

Anaerobic peak

1. AJ Spellacy: 18.3

2. Maxim Masse: 18.1

T3. Ben Danford, Linus Eriksson: 18

5. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: 17.9

6. Alexis Bernier: 17.8

7. Dean Letourneau: 17.6

8. Aatos Koivu: 17.5

9. Sebastian Soini: 17.3

T10. Charlie Elick, Lukas Fischer: 17.2

 

Anaerobic fatigue index

1. Ollie Josephson: 35.1

2. Ondrej Becher: 39.7

3. Ryder Ritchie: 40.5

4. Emil Hemming: 40.9

5. Christian Humphreys: 41.6

6. Tomas Lavoie: 41.7

7. Jett Luchanko: 42.3

8. Zayne Parekh: 42.4

9. Stian Solberg: 42.7

10. Raoul Boilard: 43.4

 

Wingspan inches

1. Dean Letourneau: 83.25

2. Gabriel Eliasson: 81

T3. EJ Emery/Jesse Pulkkinen: 80.75

5. Eriks Mateiko: 80.25

T6. Tomas Lavoie, Adam Kleber: 80

8. Adam Echo: 79.5

9. Will Skahan: 79

10. Sam Dickinson: 78.75

 

Body fat %:

T1. EJ Emery, Sam Dickinson: 3.64

3. Ethan Procyszyn: 6.84

T4. Simon Zether, Mikhail Yegorov: 7.11

6. AJ Spellacy: 7.18

7. Jett Luchanko: 7.2

8. Maxim Masse: 7.33

9. Lucas Pettersson: 7.37

10. Lukas Fischer: 7.45

 

Vertical jump inches

1. EJ Emery: 27.23

2. Jett Luchanko: 24.63

3. Veeti Vaisanen: 24.22

4. Will Skahan: 23.88

5. Stian Solberg: 23.84

6. Mikhail Yegorov: 23.27

7. Jack Pridham: 22.83

8. Carson Wetsch: 22.76

T9. AJ Spellacy, Artyom Levshunov: 22.64

 

Horizontal jump inches

1. EJ Emery: 123.0

2. AJ Spellacy: 119.3

3. Mikhail Yegorov: 115.8

T4. Dean Letourneau, Alexis Bernier, Jack Pridham: 114.5

7. Linus Eriksson: 113.8

T8. Javon Moore, Aatos Koivu, Dominik Badinka: 113

 

Squat jump inches

1. Jack Pridham: 19.52

2. Aatos Koivu: 19.09

3. Linus Eriksson: 18.96

4. EJ Emery: 18.82

5. Tij Iginla: 18.38

6. Ben Danford: 18.35

7. Carson Witsch: 18.29

8. Jett Luchanko: 18

9. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: 17.57

10. Dominik Badinka: 17.39

 

No arm jump inches

1. EJ Emery: 23.57

2. Veeti Vaisanen: 21.91

3. Jack Pridham: 21.21

4. Jett Luchanko: 21.11

5. Linus Eriksson: 20.75

6. Aatos Koivu: 20.42

7. Will Skahan: 20.24

8. Tij Iginla: 19.89

9. AJ Spellacy: 19.82

10. Colin Ralph: 19.79

 

Bench press (50% body weight — power watts/kg):

1. Cole Beaudoin: 8.71

2. Lukas Fischer: 8.26

3. John Mustard: 7.78

4. Cayden Lindstrom: 7.69

5. Sebastian Soini: 7.54

6. Raoul Boilard: 7.42

7. Sam O’Reilly: 6.95

T8. Carson Witsch, Sam Dickinson: 6.92

10. Nathan Villeneuve: 6.88

 

Left hand grip (pounds):

1. Jett Luchanko: 172

2. Cayden Lindstrom: 168

3. Eriks Mateiko: 166

4. Sacha Boisvert: 163

5. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: 160

6. Kamil Bednarik: 159

T7. Cole Beaudoin, Ethan Procyszyn, Adam Kleber: 156

10. Gabriel Eliasson: 155

 

Right hand grip (pounds):

1. Jett Luchanko: 175

2. Cayden Lindstrom: 166

3. Colton Roberts: 165

T4. Gabriel Eliasson, Jack Pridham: 162

T6. Tanner Henricks, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: 159

T9. Kamil Bednarik, Cole Beaudoin, Ethan Procyszyn, John Mustard: 158

 

Pull-ups:

1. Zeev Buium: 16

2. Lukas Fischer: 15

T3. Colton Roberts, Cole Beaudoin, Jack Pridham, Ollie Josephson, Tij Iginla: 13

T7. Kamil Bednarek, Ethan Procyszyn, Kevin He, Tanner Howe, Mikhail Yegorov, Riley Patterson, AJ Spellacy, Max Plante, EJ Emery: 12

Edited June 9 by CreaseAndAssist

[CreaseAndAssist]

21 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

Well, fight to the end and all that…

 

But yeah, they could’ve given Beckman and some of the others more than one or two games. And so they lose a few more games with the newbies. Big deal. They were already out of the Playoffs. And NO ONE showed up at that last game against Seattle. So I don’t want to hear about how much pride these guys have…

 

I agree 100%.  

[Alexandron]

Some Wild players recognized that the team didn't have enough pride for that regular season. They were not prepared mentally to play in a winning mode not with Evason , as well as not with Hynes (except maybe for few games when Hynes started his job). Agree, the last home game against Seattle was horrible, not motivated to win game for the  Wild team.

[CreaseAndAssist]

18 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Some Wild players recognized that the team didn't have enough pride for that regular season. They were not prepared mentally to play in a winning mode not with Evason , as well as not with Hynes (except maybe for few games when Hynes started his job). Agree, the last home game against Seattle was horrible, not motivated to win game for the  Wild team.

 

I don't think it had anything to do with Evason or Hynes.  Beyond the honeymoon period of the first 7-8 games after the coaching change they reverted to what they looked like under Evason.  Their effort waxed and waned depending on their mood.  Truth is, this is a very comfortable team because so many guys know with the NMC's that were given to them that they hold all of the cards in regards to what the team does with them.  

 

Want to trade me, well they have to get the player to say its ok.  Want to send me down?  Not so fast, the NMC won't allow it.  

 

I think the organization is rather comfortable.  Now the Wild are going to add another older player on a 1-2 year deal to their top 6 and just hope that's good enough to sneak into the playoffs for another probable one & done at best.  Woopty doo...

[IllaZilla]

This was from Hockey Reference:

 

They did improve under Hynes. But I wouldn't call going 34-29 a huge improvement. At least it wasn't enough of an improvement to get into the Playoffs...

[CreaseAndAssist]

On 6/11/2024 at 1:59 PM, IllaZilla said:

This was from Hockey Reference:

 

They did improve under Hynes. But I wouldn't call going 34-29 a huge improvement. At least it wasn't enough of an improvement to get into the Playoffs...

 

But they were still lousy against playoff teams; abysmal really...and if you can't beat them you don't belong there anyways.