What Wild player do you find to be the most significant player on the team?

[rottenrefs]

This came to me a few days ago and while I've mulled it over; with the old board closing and with this one being such a great find I just held off.

 

Really though, What Wild player do you find to be the most significant player on the team? Can we rank them?

I'm not talking the greatest talent-wise, or statistic-wise, popularity, highest paid, etc.

 

In your eyes who do you think on this team creates or causes the most significance?

 

• Last season Prosser was let go and when they re-signed him there was a surge of 'up' that went on. Him being back on the team was significant. When he scored - same thing. Everyone was all in.
• When Stewart started out so hot (went cold) then began scoring in shoot-outs there was a surge of significance he received by all his teammates. Except for for Koivu who we all saw turn his back to him when the rest of the team was going bonkers high-fiving him.
• Staal stood out as the team leader in goals but he also started to get some much appreciated (by the fans) ice time on the PP. There was a significant up-tick to the PP.
• Almost anytime Spurgeon scores the whole team reacts. It would be interesting to look back and find out how many games we win where Spurgeon scores and how often players on the 3rd and 4th lines have also contributed goals (in those same games.)
• It also seemed like there was a significant change in player's attitudes when Seeler got in a fight with Luke Witkowski, where they clobbered the living sh!t out of each other and later took on Ben Chiarot.

 

The sad thing is from game to game who's there that causes 'significance' to the team? It dawned on me there's really not one player who fills that role.

[Jagged Ice]

Good question. Probably Staal.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Devan Dubnyk.

 

When he is on, the entire Wild team plays with more confidence.

When he is shaky, the skaters try to overcompensate, throwing their attack rhythm and defensive structure right out the window.

 

If the Minnesota forwards and defensemen know their goalie will make all the necessary saves, they can focus more on either going all in on offense, or defend, then go for a quick transition attack.

 

Say what you want about Dubnyk....that he isn't that good, that he is a system goalie, that he had been playing over his head, etc, etc....but the bottom line is, if Dubynk is sharp, he can flat out steal games and makes his skaters much more dangerous in front of him because they know he can hold his own in any odd man rushes against.

[Buffalo Rick]

Oh come on.  Its Parise all day long.

[rottenrefs]

@Hockey Junkie hold that thought.

Once about a dozen local Wild fans provide their input you may want to change your mind. lol

[Alexandron]

11 hours ago, Jagged Ice said:

Good question. Probably Staal.

For me too - Staal was the most consistent player 2 seasons in a row. Interesting that in both playoffs( last season and this season) he was badly hit, and was practically neutralized after that.

 

I liked also our trio during the regular season - Zucker-Staal-Granlund line.

[Alexandron]

11 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Devan Dubnyk.

 

When he is on, the entire Wild team plays with more confidence.

When he is shaky, the skaters try to overcompensate, throwing their attack rhythm and defensive structure right out the window.

 

If the Minnesota forwards and defensemen know their goalie will make all the necessary saves, they can focus more on either going all in on offense, or defend, then go for a quick transition attack.

 

Say what you want about Dubnyk....that he isn't that good, that he is a system goalie, that he had been playing over his head, etc, etc....but the bottom line is, if Dubynk is sharp, he can flat out steal games and makes his skaters much more dangerous in front of him because they know he can hold his own in any odd man rushes against.

 

I do not think so. It is just a dream. When he is shaky, the whole team became shaky too and extremely frustrated.  Unfortunately, he has a huge lack of consistency 3 seasons in a row. With him so far team needs to produce at least 4 goals per game, which is not an easy task because we do not have elite talented producers in each line. He was a superb goalie only a half of the regular season 2014-2015.

 

The Wild team is waiting 18 seasons in a row for a solid goalie, capable consistently steal games and not capable to lose soft goals practically in each game. 

 

May be Kahkonen is going to be our future star? Who knows? Or may be we should starting to be better in scouting and training for those type of goalies?

[IllaZilla]

5 hours ago, Alexandron said:

 

I do not think so. It is just a dream. When he is shaky, the whole team became shaky too and extremely frustrated.  Unfortunately, he has a huge lack of consistency 3 seasons in a row. With him so far team needs to produce at least 4 goals per game, which is not an easy task because we do not have elite talented producers in each line. He was a superb goalie only a half of the regular season 2014-2015.

 

The Wild team is waiting 18 seasons in a row for a solid goalie, capable consistently steal games and not capable to lose soft goals practically in each game. 

 

May be Kahkonen is going to be our future star? Who knows? Or may be we should starting to be better in scouting and training for those type of goalies?

 

I think this is kind of her point. That's how significant Dubnyk is. When the team has a goaltender that is solid, they trust him and focus on the offensive end, not having to worry about cheating back to "help out".

 

And the Wild has had solid goaltending for most of their existence. It's been their trademark. Manny Fernandez, Dwayne Roloson, Ilya Bryzgalov, Niklas Backstrom, Devan Dubnyk. Their biggest problem is they can never score. Only recently under Boudreau have they been in the top 10 in the league for scoring. Generally they hang middle of the pack or lower.

[Tafaasi]

The most significant player for me is Spurgeon.

 

I'm not thinking about the big picture, just the overall positive individual performance. 

[CreaseAndAssist]

3 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I think this is kind of her point. That's how significant Dubnyk is. When the team has a goaltender that is solid, they trust him and focus on the offensive end, not having to worry about cheating back to "help out".

 

And the Wild has had solid goaltending for most of their existence. It's been their trademark. Manny Fernandez, Dwayne Roloson, Ilya Bryzgalov, Niklas Backstrom, Devan Dubnyk. Their biggest problem is they can never score. Only recently under Boudreau have they been in the top 10 in the league for scoring. Generally they hang middle of the pack or lower.

 

Dubnyk is the most significant because of the amount of starts and if he's just ok the Wild are definitely not ok.   If he's good, we're good.  I hate goalies, but for a score by committee organization that this is...it lives or dies by how well he performs.  The offense ebbs and flows, but it has no chance if he's below average.  

[rottenrefs]

2 hours ago, Tafaasi said:

The most significant player for me is Spurgeon.

 

I'm not thinking about the big picture, just the overall positive individual performance. 

Same here.

 

Others noting Dubnyk though... Giving up softies in 75% of his games is about as ordinary as ordinary can be. That leaves him being sharp for about 25% of his games and to me that's not very significant. However I do agree a goalie should always be the most significant player out there.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

5 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I think this is kind of her point. That's how significant Dubnyk is. When the team has a goaltender that is solid, they trust him and focus on the offensive end, not having to worry about cheating back to "help out".

 

And the Wild has had solid goaltending for most of their existence. It's been their trademark. Manny Fernandez, Dwayne Roloson, Ilya Bryzgalov, Niklas Backstrom, Devan Dubnyk. Their biggest problem is they can never score. Only recently under Boudreau have they been in the top 10 in the league for scoring. Generally they hang middle of the pack or lower.

 

You EXACTLY got the point....

 

Look, I already pointed out, for those who weren't paying attention, that Dubnyk may be other things besides the truly elite goalie the Wild need, but he IS significant for the reasons I stated, because, as common knowledge dictates, the goalie positions SHOULD be the most significant part of the team.

 

The OP originally stated the player doesn't have to be the most talented on the team.

And certainly, there are other goaltenders more reliable than Dubnyk at this point.

 

But that doesn't change the fact that when Dubnyk is focused, on his game, and making stops, he is VERY significant to his team.

IMO, just no way around that.

 

If it turns out the Wild feel Duby ISN'T the guy in net anymore, then they need to get a replacement ASAP.

Obviously, goalies are important to every team, but some, like the Wild it seems, are able to actually feed off of good goaltending and use that fire to fuel other areas of their game.

[IllaZilla]

I keep hearing Dubnyk gives up "too many soft goals". What defines a "soft goal"? Is it a 5-hole shot? Is it a shot from the point? There are no official statistics to define "a soft goal", just our bias as to what we feel should have been saved.

 

However, SV% and GAA are quantified by the NHL. And last season, Dubnyk did have a rather unremarkable season with those stats:

.918 Sv% (15th overall), 2.52 GAA (14th overall). He was 14th overall in even-strength SV% (0.926) , 24th in Shorthanded SV% (.919) and was 28th in PP SV% (0.867) 

[CreaseAndAssist]

6 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

I keep hearing Dubnyk gives up "too many soft goals". What defines a "soft goal"? Is it a 5-hole shot? Is it a shot from the point? There are no official statistics to define "a soft goal", just our bias as to what we feel should have been saved.

 

However, SV% and GAA are quantified by the NHL. And last season, Dubnyk did have a rather unremarkable season with those stats:

.918 Sv% (15th overall), 2.52 GAA (14th overall). He was 14th overall in even-strength SV% (0.926) , 24th in Shorthanded SV% (.919) and was 28th in PP SV% (0.867) 

 

Unscreened, with time to set up and make a save.  He had quite a few where he gave up a goal with no discernible reason to fail to make the save.  

[IllaZilla]

4 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

Unscreened, with time to set up and make a save.  He had quite a few where he gave up a goal with no discernible reason to fail to make the save.  

Ok, I will accept that definition of a soft goal. Now what do you mean by "quite a few"? 10? 20? 30?

 

Rotty is claiming that in 75% of Dubnyk's games he is giving up at least one goal where, according to this definition, he is unscreened and has time to make the save.

 

Dubnyk started 60 games last season. So 75% of that is 45 games. So that means he gave up 45 soft goals out of his total of 145 goals, meaning almost  one out of every three of his goals are "soft".  Does that seem reasonable that a goalie would remain in the NHL if 1/3 of his goals were given up when he was unscreened and had time to make the save? (Take this a step further: if 1/3 of Dubnyk's goals are given up when he is unscreened and has time to set up, WHAT THE HELL IS THE WILD DEFENSE DOING TO ALLOW THE OPPOSING TEAM TO SET UP AND HAVE AN UNSCREENED SHOT!?! PICKING AT THEIR NAVEL LINT?)

 

I'm not trying to be an ass or start a fight. All I am trying to point out is that Dubnyk isn't as bad as everyone makes him out to be, or that their perception isn't based in reality.  Might be an interesting experiment next season on here to keep track in the game day threads how many of these "soft goals" Dubnyk gives up.

 

Is he Jacques Plante or Billy Smith or Patrick Roy? Hell no. But he is a good goaltender. Not great, but good. My opinion.

[CreaseAndAssist]

I don't think its 75%.  But I'd say its over 10% but somewhere below 30%.  Even if you give up a soft goal (or more) in 10% of your games you probably lost those games.  

[IllaZilla]

42 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

I don't think its 75%.  But I'd say its over 10% but somewhere below 30%.  Even if you give up a soft goal (or more) in 10% of your games you probably lost those games.  

 

Let’s split the difference. 20%. That means Dubnyk gives up 29 soft goals last season.     

 

Assume he only gives up one soft goal per game. That would mean in 29 out of 82 games (35%) he gives up a soft goal. But that also means the Wild defense was busy doing something else (crocheting, baking a pie, etc. ) other than playing defense to allow an opposing player to set up to get a clear shot at Dubnyk, which he fails to save. 

 

I think the bigger concern would be why is the defense allowing opposing players to have time to set up and get a clear shot at Dubnyk...but that’s just me. 

 

I still think it would be interesting to actually keep track of these “soft goals” and compare them to the rest of the league...

 

 

[Lonkkis]

3 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

Let’s split the difference. 20%. That means Dubnyk gives up 29 soft goals last season.     

 

Assume he only gives up one soft goal per game. That would mean in 29 out of 82 games (35%) he gives up a soft goal. But that also means the Wild defense was busy doing something else (crocheting, baking a pie, etc. ) other than playing defense to allow an opposing player to set up to get a clear shot at Dubnyk, which he fails to save. 

 

I think the bigger concern would be why is the defense allowing opposing players to have time to set up and get a clear shot at Dubnyk...but that’s just me. 

 

I still think it would be interesting to actually keep track of these “soft goals” and compare them to the rest of the league...

 

 

 

Can't count with 82 games though, 1st goalies tend to play 50-60 per season. So it's closer to one soft goal every other game.

 

Biggest issues Doobs has is his low reaction speeds on shots coming to either glove or blocker side. They even compared Doobs against Hellebyuck when the MIN - WPG series started; most of the goals Doobs let in came on high glove and high blocker sides, much more than Hellebyuck, whom had pretty even spread when it came to goals against.

 

Other of Doobs problem is his lateral movement. He's one of the slower goalies when it comes to moving from side to side, he's relying too much on his size. Every opponent knows these two things, which is why they always try to make him move a lot and try to aim the puck high.

[IllaZilla]

5 hours ago, Lonkkis said:

 

Can't count with 82 games though, 1st goalies tend to play 50-60 per season. So it's closer to one soft goal every other game.

 

Biggest issues Doobs has is his low reaction speeds on shots coming to either glove or blocker side. They even compared Doobs against Hellebyuck when the MIN - WPG series started; most of the goals Doobs let in came on high glove and high blocker sides, much more than Hellebyuck, whom had pretty even spread when it came to goals against.

 

Other of Doobs problem is his lateral movement. He's one of the slower goalies when it comes to moving from side to side, he's relying too much on his size. Every opponent knows these two things, which is why they always try to make him move a lot and try to aim the puck high.

 

Fair enough. So if Dubnyk gave up a soft goal in 20% of 60 games, that means he gave up a soft goal in 12 games. But again, is this based on fans perceptions or hard data? 

 

I found this graphic interesting comparing Hellebyuck to Dubnyk

 

They are fairly evenly matched. What stands out to me is the area in front of the net. 17% of Hellebyuck's goals came from right in front of the net, while 29% of Dubnyk's goals came from in front of the net. 29%!!! Which says to me the Wild defense is allowing other teams to set up in front of the net...but I suppose Dubnyk needs to start playing like Ron Hextall or Billy Smith to deal with that situation since  none of the Wild defensemen want to get their hands dirty...

[yave1964]

Wings fan weighing in, IMHO it has to be hands down Suter. We have the most vanilla boring defense in the league, a bunch of pylons, a couple of times a month Green remembers to rush the puck and Kronwall's knee allows him to be the player he once was a few shifts a game but other than that.......

  A guy like Suter who can and does play big minutes in each and every situation, often double shifting he can cover up for a lot of mistakes by others. A brilliantly underrated player. Lidstrom had just retired and I was heartbroken when he signed in Minny, I was hoping with all my heart that he was going to wear the winged wheel. IMHO he is one of the most underrated players in the game.

[IllaZilla]

50 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

Wings fan weighing in, IMHO it has to be hands down Suter. We have the most vanilla boring defense in the league, a bunch of pylons, a couple of times a month Green remembers to rush the puck and Kronwall's knee allows him to be the player he once was a few shifts a game but other than that.......

  A guy like Suter who can and does play big minutes in each and every situation, often double shifting he can cover up for a lot of mistakes by others. A brilliantly underrated player. Lidstrom had just retired and I was heartbroken when he signed in Minny, I was hoping with all my heart that he was going to wear the winged wheel. IMHO he is one of the most underrated players in the game.

 

This is refreshing to see other fans opinions of Wild players...

[hf101]

32 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

This is refreshing to see other fans opinions of Wild players...

 

 

Someone really needs to put this quote in their sig.     

[ruxpin]

On 5/25/2018 at 7:23 PM, Hockey Junkie said:

Oh come on.  Its Parise all day long.

 

Must be a really short day.

[IllaZilla]

1 hour ago, hf101 said:

 

Someone really needs to put this quote in their sig.     

 

I just think too often Wild fans undervalue the players that are on the team. They are human and all make mistakes from time to time. But as fans we expect them to be perfect because we spent our hard earned money on season tickets and dammit, that offends our Midwest sensibilities if we don't get the most bang for our buck...

 

As a whole the team is a good team. But it is not a great team. And I certainly don't feel they are a few "tweaks" away from the Stanley Cup...

 

 

[ruxpin]

On 5/26/2018 at 9:19 AM, IllaZilla said:

 

I think this is kind of her point. That's how significant Dubnyk is. When the team has a goaltender that is solid, they trust him and focus on the offensive end, not having to worry about cheating back to "help out".

 

And the Wild has had solid goaltending for most of their existence. It's been their trademark. Manny Fernandez, Dwayne Roloson, Ilya Bryzgalov, Niklas Backstrom, Devan Dubnyk. Their biggest problem is they can never score. Only recently under Boudreau have they been in the top 10 in the league for scoring. Generally they hang middle of the pack or lower.

 

I think this is definitely her point and why my own knee-jerk answer would have been Dubnyk.

 

I'm not a fan of Dubnyk, personally.  I share the view that some others have expressed on him here.   But I think I answer the question "most significant" with Dubnyk because on most nights you know how the team is going to do once you figure out which Dubnyk has shown up.    

 

Please forgive the bluntness from a non-fan looking in, but I think Dubnyk would be sufficient if the team was better-constructed...which was actually the case a couple years ago when he was lights out.   I think that's also what makes answering this question so difficult.  The Wild don't seem to have anyone that really stands out that makes you say "he's a superstar!"  It's possible to win without one (see Golden Knights, Vegas), but then you need a difference-maker goalie.  Dubnyk is not that.

 

I think outside of Dubnyk, I answer this with Staal.  He's been the most consistent among the top-end players and most present.  I really like the way the guy plays the game.