Alexandron Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 On 5/13/2024 at 12:04 PM, Jimtown guy said: I had Rangers over Stars so Dallas it is None of them moved to finals. And who is going to win 2024 Stanley Cup? That is a most intriguing question so far. Western or Eastern Conference winner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 On 5/13/2024 at 8:06 AM, Alexandron said: Interesting, in that Sweden vs USA team (score was 5:2 respectively), our Wild players produced too. EEK had 2 goals and 1 assist; Johansson had 1 goal and 1 assist for Sweden team. Brodin played there as defenseman and Gustavsson was in their net. Total 4 our players are playing now for Sweden team at the World Championship in Czechia. Boldy had 1 assist for USA team in that game. Here is a list of best players at the 2024 World Hockey Championship: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2024/wm/skaters/scoringleaders Boldy was the 1st at that list. Interesting that USA team was 5th at team's standings there. Sadly they lost with a minimal score(0:1) to Czechia team(the tournament winner) in quarterfinals. Interesting also that US team head coach was John Hynes (our Wild coach). Here is more to read about Boldy: https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/team-usa-could-help-with-matt-boldys-consistency-problem-r30062/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Where Matt Boldy was is one thing, but where did Team USA place in the tournament? No medal. Sound familiar? Its just like getting excited about Kaprizov netting 50 goals. Great...but if you don't get to the playoffs does it really matter? To him, sure it does...provides more leverage in a contract negotiation but as far as greater meaning to the team / fanbase? We don't hold a parade for a 50 goal scorer; but we do hold one for a Stanley Cup championship. I realize having one USUALLY gives you a better chance at achieving the other, however...until it does....its all just window dressing, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllaZilla Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 I'm not getting excited about any of these prospects until they hit the NHL. The odds of as many of these guys coming through as are being talked about are astronomical. Look at the Wild's draft history. They get around one player per draft that makes it to the NHL. Maybe two. Going back ten years, the results are pretty mediocre: Year Total Picks Round Pick Player Result 2014 8 1 18 Alex Tuch Traded 4 109 Kaapo Kahkonen Traded 2015 7 1 20 Joel Eriksson-Ek On Roster 2 50 Jordan Greenway Traded 5 135 Kirill Kaprizov On Roster 2016 4 1 15 Luke Kunin Traded 4 106 Brandon Duhaime Traded 2017 6 4 97 Mason Shaw On Roster 2018 8 3 63 Jack McBain Didn't sign 3 92 Connor Dewar Traded 2019 8 1 12 Matt Boldy On Roster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 20 hours ago, IllaZilla said: I'm not getting excited about any of these prospects until they hit the NHL. The odds of as many of these guys coming through as are being talked about are astronomical. Look at the Wild's draft history. They get around one player per draft that makes it to the NHL. Maybe two. Going back ten years, the results are pretty mediocre: Year Total Picks Round Pick Player Result 2014 8 1 18 Alex Tuch Traded 4 109 Kaapo Kahkonen Traded 2015 7 1 20 Joel Eriksson-Ek On Roster 2 50 Jordan Greenway Traded 5 135 Kirill Kaprizov On Roster 2016 4 1 15 Luke Kunin Traded 4 106 Brandon Duhaime Traded 2017 6 4 97 Mason Shaw On Roster 2018 8 3 63 Jack McBain Didn't sign 3 92 Connor Dewar Traded 2019 8 1 12 Matt Boldy On Roster It seems like they are finding more NHL-level talent, but whether we keep them around is another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 On 6/5/2024 at 6:14 AM, CreaseAndAssist said: It seems like they are finding more NHL-level talent, but whether we keep them around is another story. Or at least to give them a chance to play few games in NHL. Without that impossible to find out if they are a promising NHLers. Tell you a truth, that part is very disappointing for me in our club. That happened even with undrafted star players like Panarin and Zuccarello. Without their tryout in NHL they would not be playing there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 On 6/4/2024 at 8:59 AM, CreaseAndAssist said: Where Matt Boldy was is one thing, but where did Team USA place in the tournament? No medal. Sound familiar? Its just like getting excited about Kaprizov netting 50 goals. Great...but if you don't get to the playoffs does it really matter? To him, sure it does...provides more leverage in a contract negotiation but as far as greater meaning to the team / fanbase? We don't hold a parade for a 50 goal scorer; but we do hold one for a Stanley Cup championship. I realize having one USUALLY gives you a better chance at achieving the other, however...until it does....its all just window dressing, really. I am always trying to be more optimistic. How many years passed for McDavid and his team to get first to the playoffs and then to reach the finals this year? Gradually they built a nice very enthusiastic team,but mainly based /dependable on one an outstanding talent of McDavid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 3 minutes ago, Alexandron said: How many years passed for McDavid and his team to get first to the playoffs and then to reach the finals this year? They made the playoffs and won a round in his second year. Missed twice. Lost in the first twice. Conference Final. Second Round. Final. Nine years. McDavid and Kaprizov are the same age. 3 minutes ago, Alexandron said: mainly based /dependable on one an outstanding talent of McDavid. That Leon Draisaitl's pretty good. They also have at least one other #1 overall (RNH) and two top 10 picks on the blueline. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 So...and the Wild isn't near to having a McDavid on the roster at this time and its debateable whether we have even someone at Draisaitl's level. Either way, other than the example of being an expansion team where the rules are stacked in your favor...most teams that have made their way to the finals have been teams that have been really bad and drafted most of its top talent near the top of the draft. Pittsburgh, Washington, Colorado, Tampa Bay, and even Florida or Edmonton had to go through lots of misery before they were able to acquire the elite talent through the draft. Yet our braintrust and ownership want nothing to do with a rebuild...so we will continue to be mediocre. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomdog Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Exactly, all the top teams have at least 1 #1 overall pick. A team needs to go through a really bad spell or make trades to get top players. In fact I think a team should have a crappy season once every 6 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 On 6/6/2024 at 12:58 PM, radoran said: They made the playoffs and won a round in his second year. Missed twice. Lost in the first twice. Conference Final. Second Round. Final. Nine years. McDavid and Kaprizov are the same age. That Leon Draisaitl's pretty good. They also have at least one other #1 overall (RNH) and two top 10 picks on the blueline. It took nine years (missed playoffs 3 times). And without him by having only #1 overall RNH they were not able to make playoffs till 2017. Agree, round 1, #3 overall Draisaitl is pretty good. Still, in my opinion, without McDavid, Oilers wouldn't be so successful. That level of talent comes probably once in a Century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 1 minute ago, Alexandron said: Still, in my opinion, without McDavid, Oilers wouldn't be so successful. That level of talent comes probably once in a Century. "Without one of the best players to ever play the game, the Oilers would not be as good" isn't a controversial statement. It's like "without my right foot I couldn't run as fast." Top talent alone doesn't win. Neither do teams without top talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 22 hours ago, radoran said: "Without one of the best players to ever play the game, the Oilers would not be as good" isn't a controversial statement. It's like "without my right foot I couldn't run as fast." Top talent alone doesn't win. Neither do teams without top talent. The only team recently that I can think of that maybe didn't have that but still won was St. Louis. But beyond that...its the teams I listed above. And even then they still made the most of some really bad years. Colorado is perhaps the best example of how they were not necessarily bad a long time, but they were bad at the RIGHT time to get the top level players that make them a contender year after year. It was pretty clear last season a lot of teams actually were doing all they can to try to win the Bedard sweepstakes because they were hoping he'd be that guy. Only time will tell if that was the right move, but the Wild as an organization just refuse to go there. And compounding that stubborn refusal to be bad is cementing in old bones talent that hasn't led this team anywhere in the post-season. It's maddening... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 (edited) 4 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said: The only team recently that I can think of that maybe didn't have that but still won was St. Louis. The Blues had bottomed out and gotten Erik Johnson with 1st overall that they flipped and still had top 5 picks Pietrangelo and Schenn on the roster. The Bruins could be another example but they had holdovers from pre Cap days and current CBA. Nothing is IMpossible, just UNlikely. That has made casinos very rich and made fools of quite a few general managers. 4 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said: And compounding that stubborn refusal to be bad is cementing in old bones talent that hasn't led this team anywhere in the post-season. It's maddening... So, you're familiar with the Flyers' forum, then? For all the much ballyhooed Miracle on Ice being the validation that "anyone can beat anyone," Herb Brooks was very clear to his team and to history that that was ONE GAME. Can you Miracle win a game? Sure. A series? Maybe. Two? It's happened. A Cup? That's asking for 16 miracles. And there's almost always a Patrick Kane there to beat a Michael Leighton and take that miracle away. Believe me, I've seen it. Edited June 8 by radoran 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 16 hours ago, radoran said: The Blues had bottomed out and gotten Erik Johnson with 1st overall that they flipped and still had top 5 picks Pietrangelo and Schenn on the roster. The Bruins could be another example but they had holdovers from pre Cap days and current CBA. Nothing is IMpossible, just UNlikely. That has made casinos very rich and made fools of quite a few general managers. So, you're familiar with the Flyers' forum, then? For all the much ballyhooed Miracle on Ice being the validation that "anyone can beat anyone," Herb Brooks was very clear to his team and to history that that was ONE GAME. Can you Miracle win a game? Sure. A series? Maybe. Two? It's happened. A Cup? That's asking for 16 miracles. And there's almost always a Patrick Kane there to beat a Michael Leighton and take that miracle away. Believe me, I've seen it. And cue Michael Leighton returning to obscurity. Such an unlikely player to lead his team to a Stanley Cup final, but he did it. No one on the Wild can say that...yet. And to be honest I don't see it happening anytime soon either. I remember listening to Cape Breton Screaming Eagles games back in the day when the Wild had James Sheppard as its top prospect (what a sad thing to say) and I remember hearing them talk over and over about Kris Letang and Brad Marchand (who were opponents playing against Sheppard who was playing on the Screaming Eagles' 2nd line) who simply seemed to be everywhere. I remember lobbying the Wild should draft both of them...but alas it never happened and the rest is history. Championship teams mine great talent from beyond the 1st round or beyond the Top 10 at the very least. The Wild just haven't been able to do that beyond Kirill Kaprizov. The Wild end up with Louie Belpedio instead of Brayden Point. We had Tyler Johnson as a tryout for two years at our prospect camp but we wait and he Tampa Bay signs him. We've had some players we drafted late that have helped teams win; Darcy Kuemper for example was a 6th round pick of ours. But he was never able to accomplish what he did with the Wild what he did elsewhere. Sometimes the fit, the opportunity just isn't right and the Wild haven't had that kind of serendipitous timing. Just like finally finding a late-round star calibre talent and then having no money to build around him because of a retro-active punishment applied by the league. We throw away Anton Khudobin for nothing to Boston, and he nearly wins a Stanley Cup with Dallas. To hell with the Flyers. We knew what you were getting when you brought in Chuck Fletcher. That's partly why we have the Parise / Suter debacle on on our books. You have at least won a championship. We have nothing and it doesn't look like we'll ever have one of our own anytime soon. Its not ballyhooe'd, its still one of the greatest upsets in sports history. And it helped lead to an actual championship not some made up trophy two countries decide to play for. Also as far as I'm concerned, Erik Johnson lost his Minnesota-status a long time ago. Especially for his rant about the Wild during his time in Colorado...to hell with him. But he does share one thing with James Sheppard, they both hurt themselves in stupid accidents early in their careers. So there is that... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 9 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said: You have at least won a championship. I was seven when they last won. It counts, but there are generations that haven't seen it. 9 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said: Its not ballyhooe'd, its still one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Probably the greatest. People see it and think "it can happen!" - and the problem is that it CAN. But that was 44 years ago as well... And it hasn't really happened since. Organizations trying to replicate something that hasn't happened for 40-50 years may need to consider a different method... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 We've lobbied for doing something different for years. But Craig Leipold doesn't want different. He considers just reaching the playoffs and making a few million in playoff revenue is success enough. He is an idiot. And until we stop placing making the playoffs as our main goal no matter what...damn the long-term consequences...we'll continue to be crap. As Yoda said...that, is why you fail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllaZilla Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 (edited) Or the whole “Good isn’t good enough” mural at TRIA rink apparently IS good enough… Edited June 9 by IllaZilla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 Agree regarding St.Louis Cup win. Even Vegas team was a miracle to win a Cup last year who led mainly by Mark Stone (6th round draft) and Marchessault (undrafted). But for me the most miracle was Canadiens team which was the last team to get to the playoffs in 2021 and was able to reach finals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 6 minutes ago, Alexandron said: Even Vegas team was a miracle to win a Cup last year who led mainly by Mark Stone (6th round draft) and Marchessault (undrafted) #2 overall pick Jack Eichel led the team in points during the regular season and playoffs. The "Miracle" win also came after a Finals appearance and two Conference Finals in the six years the team existed. I'm not sure that a team that makes the Conference Final in four of six years is a "miracle." 9 minutes ago, Alexandron said: But for me the most miracle was Canadiens team which was the last team to get to the playoffs in 2021 and was able to reach finals. Flyers did it in 2010, too. Both teams lost. Canadiens haven't been back to the playoffs since. Flyers followed up their appearance with one playoff round win in the next 13 years. Might not be the best example of a ringing endorsement of a team building strategy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 PWHL Minnesota had the 3rd Overall pick AFTER having won the Walter Cup and selected a player who didn't even play last year. That's Minnesota for you... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbgarnett Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/an-old-wild-killer-has-become-a-minnesota-target-r30090/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllaZilla Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 20 hours ago, bbgarnett said: https://hockeywilderness.com/news-rumors/minnesota-wild/an-old-wild-killer-has-become-a-minnesota-target-r30090/ Just no. First off, the guy is the antithesis of what Guerin says he wants. Zero grit to his game. Doesn't know what the defensive end of the ice looks like. And he's a total china doll. Like the Wild don't already have a big enough collection of those. Plus his cap hit would take up any remaining cap space even if the Wild moved Gustavsson. That would give the Wild a hair over $10M in cap space. Laine would take up $8.7M of that, leaving $1.3M to replace a defensemen and two forwards. Sounds like the Wild want to give Riley Heidt every opportunity to make the team. Say he makes it. There is $950,000 added to the cap. So that leaves the Wild with $356,000 to replace one defenseman and one forward. You do the math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 (edited) No room, no money. All these are signed: Kaprisov Erickson-Ek Boldy Johannson Rossi Zucarello Foligno Gaudreau Hartman Ohgren Khusnetsov Littieri Brodin Spurgeon Middleton Faber Merrill Bogosian Fluery Gustafson C Shaw and D Chisholm likely RFA re-signees So Heidt fights for one roster spot... Edited June 18 by Icechipper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted June 19 Share Posted June 19 On 6/18/2024 at 11:23 AM, Icechipper said: No room, no money. All these are signed: Kaprisov Erickson-Ek Boldy Johannson Rossi Zucarello Foligno Gaudreau Hartman Ohgren Khusnetsov Littieri Brodin Spurgeon Middleton Faber Merrill Bogosian Fluery Gustafson C Shaw and D Chisholm likely RFA re-signees So Heidt fights for one roster spot... Not Khusnetsov (Kuznetsov wish to have him too), but Khusnutdinov. Gustavsson probably should be traded. Didn't show consistency even at 2024 World Championship in Czechia. He lost 5 goals in Sweden net when playing against a not superb Czechia team in semifinals (final score was 3:7 in that game). Actually Czechia team(winner of this tournament) as well as a not superb Switzerland team (silver medal) showed that any team capable to make miracles. Hope Johansson and Gaudreau will find other teams to play (do they have this chance in their contracts?), but not in the Wild team. We need a real Wild wild players and not a fake Cinderellas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts