TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 From the Wild website:http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=735759 5 yrs, $16M...a FANTASTIC deal on a good power type forward who is still just 22 and improving all the time on the ice. I am glad Minnesota got this done.Coyle has quickly become my favorite Minnesota Wild player (started following him when I noticed him in the World Juniors a few seasons ago), and I am hoping he becomes the type of player and leader that the organization would like to keep long term well after this initial 5 yr deal.I feel Coyle does a bit of everything...skates, checks, scores, sets up....even gets into the rough stuff a bit.Could he improve?Absolutely! But then, the guy is only 22 (23 by season's end) and will have about 3 maybe 4 more years of growth before we get to see his full potential, I believe. Wild have a very fine nucleus of players...only thing really I can see going wrong with this crop of young players is injury...but then, that is the case with ANY group, now isn't it? Coyle can play top six minutes (though I won't anoint him a full fledged top six forward just yet), can play bottom six minutes VERY effectively, and if paired with the right guys, can see a significant jump in his production. Another thing to consider:Seems the Wild are doing some 'thinking outside the box' in that they don't run a traditional 4-line setup where lines 1 and 2 are scoring, line 3 is strictly checking, and the 4th line is a filler, goon, time out, or "energy" line.The way Minnesota runs its lines most nights, it seems like they have two legit top scoring lines, a THIRD scoring line with Charlie Coyle on that (to a lesser degree than the first two of course), and a fourth line consisting of Ryan Carter, Matt Cooke, and sometimes a guy like Justin Fontaine or Jason Zucker, that seem to behave more like good 3rd line (checking AND scoring ability)...and not just your basic lumbering forwards on there.This can give Minnesota a big advantage over most teams who still run traditional line set ups...and I LIKE the forward thinking here! And the versatility a guy like Coyle can afford the Minnesota lineup is in itself, a very valuable commodity.Worst case scenario, Coyle is already all he will be, which means Minnesota has themselves a do-it-all 3rd liner who can fill in for missing 2nd liners at times....and his annual salary for the next five years will be justifiable for a player like that at just over $3M.....best case scenario, we can have ourselves a Patrice Bergeron type (underrated yet essential to his team's success in the shadows of the team's more inked stars)....yea, I know, that is high praise, but the way this guy works, I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes just as important to the team's success as Bergeron has been to Boston. Can't wait to see how much better Coyle can get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 @TropicalFruitGirl26 I've watched Coyle from afar, love his skill set, love his potential. Although the pts have not been there, this contract speaks to the positive attitude of Charlie, speaks to his work ethic, speaks to him doing things "the right way". The pts will come, some will argue that to much money for not enough pts, but in the end....Charlie will succeed...he will be a force in this league....he will be a guy you want to go to war with. That means a lot in jammerland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 @TropicalFruitGirl26 I've watched Coyle from afar, love his skill set, love his potential. Although the pts have not been there, this contract speaks to the positive attitude of Charlie, speaks to his work ethic, speaks to him doing things "the right way". The pts will come, some will argue that to much money for not enough pts, but in the end....Charlie will succeed...he will be a force in this league....he will be a guy you want to go to war with. That means a lot in jammerland. You are right...the points are NOT there and if someone were to look at strictly goals and assists, they may be missing the big picture with this guy. Would I like to see him score more or assist on more? Sure....but I did some digging into his minors, juniors, and college career....he does NOT have production numbers that jump out at you at any level. Does that mean he won't ever be more than a 12-15 goal scorer in the NHL? It's possible, but again, I'd like to think that with the higher quality of talent and teammates he has with the Wild now, he SHOULD be at least a consistent 20 goal, 40-45 point buy a year for Minnesota at some point.Not very sexy numbers at all if you look at some other forwards around the league, but again, he does many other things well, including playing a good 200 ft game, his checking game is pretty good, he can be seen driving to the net (which opens space for snipers), and just has a general 'edge' on the ice, while being laid back off of it. If the Wild turn out to be a team full of top level scoring talent, it may not be a bad thing for Coyle to end up being a bottom six guy who can play a bit like those upper level guys, while continuing to anchor down a solid 3rd line.It's why my comparison to Patrice Bergeron comes about.....really, until Boston got really good and started winning, who the hell knew who Bergeron was, and just judging by his production numbers alone, one would not have expected him to be anything too special. Granted, as Boston fans will no doubt point out, Bergeron's early years were still more productive than Coyle's are now, AND he did at one point early on, have a 30 goal season...but he has been mostly a consistent 20 goal guy, while doing other things positive for his team. Even if Coyle only comes up as "Bergeron-lite", it wouldn't be a bad thing either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 @TropicalFruitGirl26 I can see the Bergeron comparison as being decent....he kind of reminds me of a slicker faster version of Zeusssssss though....time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Coyle reminds me of Zubrus. Bigger body, versatile, reliable defensively. Kind of a Swiss Army knife that you can play on various lines in various roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 @MadDevil I don't think Coyle is a bigger body than Zubrus...more physical maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Love Coyle, from what I've seen. He's huge and can skate. And he went to College so he's smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 @MadDevilI don't think Coyle is a bigger body than Zubrus...more physical maybe.By bigger body I meant in comparison to most forwards. I just didn't word that very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Coyle reminds me of Zubrus. Bigger body, versatile, reliable defensively. Kind of a Swiss Army knife that you can play on various lines in various roles. I made the Patrice Bergereon comparison to Coyle...that being of course, BEST case scenario......looking back a bit at Zubrus' career and the kind of production he has had while doing many of the things I said Coyle does, that Zubrus comparison may be more realistic. I am still hoping Coyle can be more of a scorer, but if he only does some scoring, while providing many physical elements like Zubrus has done for his teams...AND do it for a prolonged period of time, that wouldn't be bad either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Clueless Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Nice signing. Man, I like Minnesota's team. They have a good young team and a very good cap situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 How has Ryan Carter been? I miss having that guy on the Devils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 How has Ryan Carter been? I miss having that guy on the Devils. Ryan Carter has actually been pretty good for Minnesota so far.Granted, he gets purely 4th line minutes (as I suspect he did in NJ), AND he doesn't always get a regular shift on that 4th line (Coach Yeo tends to rotate guys in and out of that 4th all game), but when he is in there, he does what is expected....checks, creates space, and for some reason, he draws an awful lot of attention from the opposing defense in the sense that EVERYONE wants to seem to hit him...and hit him hard! While his actual offense leaves a bit to be desired, his skating ability is better than I initially thought.He is often paired with Matt Cooke on the 4th line, but the other linemate is sometimes a guy like Justin Fontaine and Jason Zucker, both much faster guys, and Carter keeps up with those guys just fine.He also kills penalties for Minnesota along with Cooke, Fontaine, and Charlie Coyle as well. I see by his production history that he will probably be good for about 5-10 goals on the year and maybe about 20 points (figuring that because Minny has him playing with actual scorers like Zucker on the 4th line), and that would be fine, as Minnesota has enough guys elsewhere that should be able to put up points, and his contributions from the lower lines is bonus. Didn't understand the signing at first, but after watching him play, I see he fits right into what the Wild are trying to do rolling out multiple scoring lines and designating the 4th as a line that does more than just lumber around and hits people, but rather one that can skate, at least create chances, and generally be faster than the other team's 4th line....Carter seems to do all that just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 Nice deal i love this kid's game. He'd make a great Flyer i'll trade you the Schenn's for him!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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