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


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21 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

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...

 

 

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I think the first statement is largely true of any team's fans.  There's a significant group that undervalues (Parise, Staal, etc. suck --on the Flyers' board, Giroux is the worst and Voracek the dumbest player) and then there's a significant group that overvalues (every prospect is a future Mario Lemieux or Bobby Orr and every 3rd line player should net Connor McDavid in a trade).

 

The bolded part:  I think just "tweaks" possibly move them a bit closer, but they'd have to be targeted and significant tweaks mixed with a bit of luck.    Improving the second line significantly and adding another offensively skilled defenseman would go a long way (says EVERY NHL team!).  It would have the effect of moving some good players down to roles they would be more suited for and may actually be above average in.  

 

Lastly, one tweak, IMHO, has to be the coach.   I don't spend enough time on Wild boards to know if this opinion is prevalent among Wild fans, but I don't care for Boudreau and never have since he left Hershey.  If the plan is to do well in the playoffs, he'd be one of my very last picks for head coach.  He's been a failure there his entire career, and I don't think he's capable.  I've read all the excuses in Washington and Anaheim, and there's some merit to many of them.   Ultimately, though, the common thread in many years of failure in the playoffs is him.  If Minnesota were a market that needed regular season success to get people in the seats and to drive ticket and merchandise sales, then he's your guy.  I don't perceive Minnesota as that.   But if you're a franchise that has reached the stage where you're looking to win the Cup--or at least realistically compete for it--you need the head coach position to be one of the tweaks.

 

 

 

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19 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

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...  

 

 

1

 

This all happens on the other Team forums as well and probably the most complaining are those that aren't spending money on the tickets, lol.  But hey that's why a lot of us are here.  And even when you have a great team there is no guarantee to win the Cup.

 

One of the things a lot of members here have done with their sigs is to quote another member.  Someday I hope to add a plugin on the sidebar of random quotes including those made by members one day.  I liked your quote because it illustrates the fact that many of us here ( not just the moderators ) are basic hockeyfans independent of the logo we like to wear.  ( which is basically the sites motto if we actually had one   :thinking:)

 

 

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

I think the first statement is largely true of any team's fans.  There's a significant group that undervalues (Parise, Staal, etc. suck --on the Flyers' board, Giroux is the worst and Voracek the dumbest player) and then there's a significant group that overvalues (every prospect is a future Mario Lemieux or Bobby Orr and every 3rd line player should net Connor McDavid in a trade).

 

The bolded part:  I think just "tweaks" possibly move them a bit closer, but they'd have to be targeted and significant tweaks mixed with a bit of luck.    Improving the second line significantly and adding another offensively skilled defenseman would go a long way (says EVERY NHL team!).  It would have the effect of moving some good players down to roles they would be more suited for and may actually be above average in.  

 

Lastly, one tweak, IMHO, has to be the coach.   I don't spend enough time on Wild boards to know if this opinion is prevalent among Wild fans, but I don't care for Boudreau and never have since he left Hershey.  If the plan is to do well in the playoffs, he'd be one of my very last picks for head coach.  He's been a failure there his entire career, and I don't think he's capable.  I've read all the excuses in Washington and Anaheim, and there's some merit to many of them.   Ultimately, though, the common thread in many years of failure in the playoffs is him.  If Minnesota were a market that needed regular season success to get people in the seats and to drive ticket and merchandise sales, then he's your guy.  I don't perceive Minnesota as that.   But if you're a franchise that has reached the stage where you're looking to win the Cup--or at least realistically compete for it--you need the head coach position to be one of the tweaks.

 

Maybe having a healthy Charlie Coyle and healthy Nino Niederreitter all season might be a "tweak" that would push them a bit closer to advancing in the Playoffs. Hard to say. They are both very streaky and can disappear for games at a time. Plus the Wild keep banking on Parise making a difference, but he's hurt all the time. Can't score when you aren't on the ice. Could keeping Greenway up help? Maybe. But I'd rather see him in Iowa getting top line minutes and dominating rather than getting 3rd or 4th line minutes with the Wild.

 

The biggest problem on the second line is the center position. Mikko Koivu has never been fast, and now he's slower than molasses in January. So he constantly spoils any transition game the second line may generate because he just can't keep up. But I don't see any current Wild center pushing him out of that slot, and the Wild have little money to spend to bring in a solid #2.

 

Mike Yeo was fired because the team constantly backed into the Playoffs and then flamed out in the first round. So it was kind of curious that they bring in a coach who has been a failure in the Playoffs his entire career. People were a little shocked that Fletcher was able to snap him up as quick as he did. Overall people were pleased. There were people who brought up Boudreau's poor Playoff record. But the sentiment on the boards was "It'll be different with the Wild. We don't have to worry about Boudreau's terrible records in Game 7's because this team is good enough to take care of business in less than seven games."

 

Boudreau couldn't get it done with Washington, he couldn't get it done with Anaheim, and he's currently not getting it done with the Wild. Like my old chemistry teacher used to say when conducting experiments: "First time's luck, second times coincidence, third times skill..."

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21 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.  

^ That's how I see it.

 

16 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

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.

Often, in the GDT people make comments about giving up soft goals. Now I understand that while a game is in progress a lot of emotions may be swaying one way or another, but when I see a goal scored on Dubnyk and think to myself 'He should have had that' and 5-10 other people make comments about it seeing it the same way I did it gives cause to at the very least recognize I'm not just seeing things with or without bias.

 

Some games he gives up two and in a few he's given up three 'soft goals.' Especially notable is when we hear Dumb or Dumber call it out as a soft goal because we all know how often they purposely overlook bad play. Likewise when Tom Reid says, 'he should have had that.'

 

When a team wins 2-1 and one of those goals was a freebie... Soon it gets overlooked. How often has Boudreau stated Dubnyk gave up a soft goal?

 

So then we win 4-3 or 5-3... Same thing applies. Likewise when we lose 3-1 or 3-2 and it gets called out that Dubnyk should have seen that.

 

One thing I can debate is when people call out a soft goal and IMO Dubnyk had no chance to make a save because it went off a Wild player, or out of junk luck it just went in... I don't always count those as soft goals.

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Jason Zucker gets my vote for this topic. He has the speed and the scoring touch to be a potential difference maker in every game, and I don't think we've seen the best of his game yet. Zucker may never reach the Crosby or Ovechkin level, but he probably has the tools to reach the second tier of elite NHL scorers.

 

Those who go with Staal or Spugeon will get no argument here. Unlike Zucker, we have seen the best of what 12 and 46 have to offer, but what they're offering now is pretty darn acceptable: both are a significant part of the Wild's success. I'm inclined to add Granny to this list because he's one of the few players who try to do something creative with the puck, rather than dumping it into the corner to start another speed-wasting cycle-jerk behind the net.

 

As for Suter, Parise and Koivu, we've already seen the best that they have to offer, and frankly, it's not good enough to get us to the next level. Long suffering Minnesota fans only have so much patience for above-average regular seasons followed by quick post-season exits, and mine is running a bit low. And I'm probably not alone in that regard. Given the cap structure for the next several years, I don't envy the new GM's job right now.

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On 5/26/2018 at 10:07 PM, 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...

 

 

 

If its Dumba, he just sort of spins in place like a whirling dervish and doesn't really take anyone.  Suter normally just kind of leans on a player hoping he'll just give up at some point.  Still, Dubnyk IMO...had too many starts last year.  I thought there were a number of occasions where Stalock should've gotten the start just to give him a bit more of a rest.  

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18 minutes ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

If its Dumba, he just sort of spins in place like a whirling dervish and doesn't really take anyone.  Suter normally just kind of leans on a player hoping he'll just give up at some point.  Still, Dubnyk IMO...had too many starts last year.  I thought there were a number of occasions where Stalock should've gotten the start just to give him a bit more of a rest.  

 

I did find it interesting that the area right in front of the net was responsible for 29% of the goals that Dubnyk gave up last season. To me that says the defense is allowing opposing players to get into a position in that area in order to cause a deflection or screen the goaltender. The defense absolutely needs to be more aggressive in clearing opposing players out from that area, but if the Wild are content to have a bunch of poke-checkers on defense, that won't happen. And if that is the type of defenseman they value, they are going to need a goaltender that is far more athletic than Dubnyk, because he's going to get a lot more traffic in front of the net.

 

I think everyone agrees that Dubnyk gets too many starts. My feeling he gets about 10 too many. But why is that? is it because the team has no faith in the flavor-of-the-week back-up? Is it because the team gets themselves into a position every year where all of a sudden they need every single point to make the playoffs?

 

It does always seem like Dubnyk starts to wear down instead of raising his game as the Playoffs approach. I still think Dubnyk is a good goaltender, but I don't think he's the kind that can carry a team to the Cup Finals. He needs support from his defense, and they all seem reluctant to get in there and get their hand dirty...

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27 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

did find it interesting that the area right in front of the net was responsible for 29% of the goals that Dubnyk gave up last season. To me that says the defense is allowing opposing players to get into a position in that area in order to cause a deflection or screen the goaltender

I don't watch enough Wild games to know whether this is supported anecdotally, but can it also mean Dubnyk is giving up a ton of rebounds? 

 

I agree with everything you said about the defense and Dubnyk playing too much, but the high percentage from the crease area says to me that rebound control might be an issue (and if the defense is having trouble clearing...). 

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1 hour ago, ruxpin said:

I don't watch enough Wild games to know whether this is supported anecdotally, but can it also mean Dubnyk is giving up a ton of rebounds? 

 

I agree with everything you said about the defense and Dubnyk playing too much, but the high percentage from the crease area says to me that rebound control might be an issue (and if the defense is having trouble clearing...). 

 

Good point. I can't find any statistics that track rebounds that goaltenders give up. There is anecdotal evidence that his rebound control is good (player interviews, news articles, etc.) but nothing that states he gives up an average of 5.4 rebounds per game...

 

However, I've watched enough Wild games to know that the Wild's defense is very poor at moving players from in front of the net. They are more concerned with trying to lift a players stick off the ice rather than move him out from in front of the net...or as Crease and Assist pointed out, they just kind of lean on the opposing player... 

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2 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I did find it interesting that the area right in front of the net was responsible for 29% of the goals that Dubnyk gave up last season. To me that says the defense is allowing opposing players to get into a position in that area in order to cause a deflection or screen the goaltender. The defense absolutely needs to be more aggressive in clearing opposing players out from that area, but if the Wild are content to have a bunch of poke-checkers on defense, that won't happen. And if that is the type of defenseman they value, they are going to need a goaltender that is far more athletic than Dubnyk, because he's going to get a lot more traffic in front of the net.

 

I think everyone agrees that Dubnyk gets too many starts. My feeling he gets about 10 too many. But why is that? is it because the team has no faith in the flavor-of-the-week back-up? Is it because the team gets themselves into a position every year where all of a sudden they need every single point to make the playoffs?

 

It does always seem like Dubnyk starts to wear down instead of raising his game as the Playoffs approach. I still think Dubnyk is a good goaltender, but I don't think he's the kind that can carry a team to the Cup Finals. He needs support from his defense, and they all seem reluctant to get in there and get their hand dirty...

 

First, cheers for the pics. It was those that I was referring to; needless to say I remembered a couple things wrong. But looking at where they've scored on Doobs; 5-hole, low corners and high corners, though high corners could be regarded as normal for butterfly goalies.

 

But the amount of goals low suggests that opponemts aim there more; both for scoring and fishing for rebounds. Doobs is pretty average when it comes to directing shots to the corner with his pads. Often the puck lands in front of him and knowing how he's slow to glide from side to side, it leaves him exposed.

 

And here where the D is unable to help him out, most of our D is either a finesse player or too small. From the top of my head, only Dumba, Suter, Prosser, Seeler and Soucy have the physicality to knock people away from the front but Dumba often skates aimlessly, Suter does what he does, the two latter are still fresh so mistakes will happen. Which leaves us with Prosser, who's a decent stay-at-home defender, who also sometimes is able to move people away from the front.

 

So in short: Opponents are able to score from close because of Doobs rebounds, fishing for them with low shots and the Wilds D inability to clear people from the front.

 

Looking at Hellebyucks numbers supports that. He in many ways similar to Dubnyk: slowish on lateral movement, relies on size alot, rebound control I can't comment on, haven't followed him that closely to make a fair judgment. But we do know that Jets D is muuuuch bigger so they're able to keep the front clear, very much like the Blues last playoffs.

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1 minute ago, Lonkkis said:

 

First, cheers for the pics. It was those that I was referring to; needless to say I remembered a couple things wrong. But looking at where they've scored on Doobs; 5-hole, low corners and high corners, though high corners could be regarded as normal for butterfly goalies.

 

But the amount of goals low suggests that opponemts aim there more; both for scoring and fishing for rebounds. Doobs is pretty average when it comes to directing shots to the corner with his pads. Often the puck lands in front of him and knowing how he's slow to glide from side to side, it leaves him exposed.

 

And here where the D is unable to help him out, most of our D is either a finesse player or too small. From the top of my head, only Dumba, Suter, Prosser, Seeler and Soucy have the physicality to knock people away from the front but Dumba often skates aimlessly, Suter does what he does, the two latter are still fresh so mistakes will happen. Which leaves us with Prosser, who's a decent stay-at-home defender, who also sometimes is able to move people away from the front.

 

So in short: Opponents are able to score from close because of Doobs rebounds, fishing for them with low shots and the Wilds D inability to clear people from the front.

 

Looking at Hellebyucks numbers supports that. He in many ways similar to Dubnyk: slowish on lateral movement, relies on size alot, rebound control I can't comment on, haven't followed him that closely to make a fair judgment. But we do know that Jets D is muuuuch bigger so they're able to keep the front clear, very much like the Blues last playoffs.

That's pretty spot-on.

However we also have players like Coyle and Koivu who always seem to find themselves behind offensive opponents or on the outside edges of them (instead of in front of them) right out in front of the net. They aren't the only ones but they stand out more than others. Poking a stick out toward the puck after a player already gets a shot off isn't effective.

 

A significant goal tender wouldn't be giving up those types of rebounds.

 

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Which brings to mind to keep the thread on topic.

 

While I agree a goalie should be the most significant player on the ice, Dubnyk doesn't fit the bill. His role is significant but he isn't.

 

To those saying Dubnyk is significant: Who would you rather have as a goalie - Devan Dubnyk or Marc-Andre Fleury?

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Just now, rottenrefs said:

To those saying Dubnyk is significant: Who would you rather have as a goalie - Devan Dubnyk or Marc-Andre Fleury?

 

or Elliot and Neuvirth?    (trade ya)    :anidea:

 

 

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2 minutes ago, hf101 said:

 

or Elliot and Neuvirth?    (trade ya)    :anidea:

 

Well, I pointed out Dubnyk or Fleury because Pittsburgh left him unprotected while Minnesota did protect Dubnyk.

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18 minutes ago, rottenrefs said:

Well, I pointed out Dubnyk or Fleury because Pittsburgh left him unprotected while Minnesota did protect Dubnyk.

 

hmm.  I'm not sure what is Pittsburgh asking Fleury to lift his NTC has anything to do with Dubnyk being significant?  Pittsburgh asked MAF to lift his NTC to leave him unprotected so they wouldn't take Murray.  All 3 of these goalies I'd rather have over the mess in net the Flyers currently have until Carter Hart saves the team.

 

Dubnyk is significant to the Wild.  Dubnyk was 6th best for wins of all goaltenders in the league last year (35), which is 6 more than MAF (29), and 11 more than Elliot (21).  

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4 minutes ago, hf101 said:

 

hmm.  I'm not sure what is Pittsburgh asking Fleury to lift his NTC has anything to do with Dubnyk being significant?  Pittsburgh asked MAF to lift his NTC to leave him unprotected so they wouldn't take Murray.  All 3 of these goalies I'd rather have over the mess in net the Flyers currently have until Carter Hart saves the team.

 

Dubnyk is significant to the Wild.  Dubnyk was 6th best for wins of all goaltenders in the league last year (35), which is 6 more than MAF (29), and 11 more than Elliot (21).  

 

Playing as many games as Doobs does, win column tends to get a bit higher. Not sure if you can fault Fleury for his wins, considering he missed like 25+ games this season.

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3 minutes ago, Lonkkis said:

 

Playing as many games as Doobs does, win column tends to get a bit higher. Not sure if you can fault Fleury for his wins, considering he missed like 25+ games this season.

 

Yes, Fleury had a great season and is having an awesome post season but MAF was no more available for the Wild as he was for the Flyers. The Wild could have traded Dubnyk and signed Elliot as a FA, ... just saying.  Management obviously chose not to do that because they knew they had a darn good goaltender.

 

Maybe this stat will help.  Dubnyk had 5 shutouts last year, only Hellebuyck, Rinne, and Vasilevskiy had more.

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One thing I do know, is when the Wild had Backstom dating back to the Lemaire days I pointed out that when the team decided to be more offensive-oriented; his numbers would decline. I noted without having all 5 players in front of him (to help on d) would expose how bad a goaltender he was. Well, not bad but less than regular. All kinds of people told me I was nuts. (I'm used to it) and rather enjoy being called nuts or crazy when I've pointed out crap like that and in short order it comes true.

His numbers more than declined they crumbled.

 

When Minnesota decides to play 40 minutes a game as opposed to 10 or 20, Dubnyk does well. Period. When they play a full 60 minutes they're lights out. But how many games do the Wild only show up for 25 minutes a game and somehow miraculously pull out a win? This isn't on Dubnyk as much as it is on the rest of the team.

 

We can debate this all summer and through all of next year but the fact remains I do believe Dubnyk isn't anything more than an ordinary goal tender. If Fenton does finally shore-up the defense and open the safe to buy another much needed defender (that the team has needed for 4 years now) Dubnyk's numbers will skyrocket in a good way. Having a dozen 2-way players in front of him for the last two years sure hasn't helped.

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2 hours ago, rottenrefs said:

 

While I agree a goalie should be the most significant player on the ice, Dubnyk doesn't fit the bill. His role is significant but he isn't.

 

To those saying Dubnyk is significant: Who would you rather have as a goalie - Devan Dubnyk or Marc-Andre Fleury?

Agree. Goalie's role is the most significant in hockey, but, unfortunately, not for Dubnyk. We tried him with 3 coaches permanently 4 seasons in a row in playoffs with the same extremely poor results. No one tried a different goalie for a chance during 4 playoff years. And he was practically not able to steal any games for us during those playoff seasons. May be he is not developed for playoffs? Unfortunately, we were not able to produce enough (more than 4 goals per game) to keep winning during that time , like we mostly do during the regular season to hold the score.  His 5 shutouts, especially 3 in a row last regular season were after he was criticized badly for the lack of consistency. As a second backup goalie, probably, he will fit well this position or may be better to be traded for Marc-Andre Fleury for example.🙂.

No doubt, I wish to see Marc-Andre Fleury to reach Stanley Cup Finals for our team, and no Elliot and no Neuvyrth. I better would like to see him as an example and sharing experience to a new goalies than to see Dubnyk. Life is too short. We need some changes - it does not matter tweaks or significant one, but we need some progress moving. After small tweaks big changes are possible, or happened too. Stagnation is a swamp.

We badly need a new elite consistent talented blood inserted into our goaltending as soon as possible as well as he will be well taking care by a new talented coaching staff, which is too old right now for the team also to teach how to be consistent during the game. Scouting, scouting and again scouting.

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3 hours ago, rottenrefs said:

If Fenton does finally shore-up the defense and open the safe to buy another much needed defender (that the team has needed for 4 years now) Dubnyk's numbers will skyrocket in a good way.

If the wild were to look for another defender does anyone have any recommedations that they should look at trading for or signing?

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2 hours ago, Starofthenorth said:

If the wild were to look for another defender does anyone have any recommedations that they should look at trading for or signing?

 

Right off the top of my head.....

 

Starting with the "pricey" guys...

1--John Carlson -- 28 yrs old, Capitals UFA, $4M cap hit last season, cracked 60 points.....will likely require a significant raise from his previoius 4M. Caveat? Aside from the likely big contract, he WAS a minus player at -4.

 

2--Mike Green-- 32 yrs old, Red Wing UFA, $6M cap hit last season, only a 33 pt player though and at a -14...but then again, the Wings weren't too good overall offensively nor defensively. He could do well in a better structured team....of course, question remains, is Minnesota that structured team, and the money it likely would take to sign him would be an awful lot to gamble on that. Nice, smart two way blueliner though.

 

 

These next ones should be more reasonable on the contract fronts...they have their plusses and minuses, but may be worth a look, depending on what the Wild want to build:

 

1--Jack Johnson-- 31 yrs old, Columbus UFA, $4.3M cap hit. Won't get a ton of offense from him, is sorta middling with regards to skating ability and overall speed, but has good size (6'1,225) and is an excellent hitter and shot blocker.  He also seems to hang on to the puck pretty well....not a whole lot of unnecessary 'coughing it up'.

I feel he may have been overpaid the last couple seasons, could probably be gotten at a nice discount...maybe something along the lines of a 2-3yr, 3M-3.25M per deal

 

2--Luca Sbisa-- 28 yrs old, Vegas UFA, $3.6M cap hit.  He actually is a very similar player to Jack Johnson...just a bit smaller at 6'1, 210, perhaps a bit faster though, a bit younger...he too is a good hitter and shot blocker, but probably turns the puck over a bit more than Johnson would, and, the biggie, tends to need time on IR a bit more than Johnson.
He was a plus player last season where Johnson was a minus player...but then, playing with that good offense in Vegas as opposed to Columbus, AND, having MAF backstopping the team probably helped that some.

 

3-- Luke Schenn-- 28 yrs old, Arizona UFA, $1.25M cap hit. Another guy you won't get offense from, however, he is a MONSTER hitter (tends to be near the top of the league every year) and a good shot blocker as well, good size at 6'2, 230, decent skater, and, I know Flyer fans gave him all kinds of guff on this site, but he actually is a pretty good defender and seems to have worked hard to be better at decision making.

 

Sure, career wise he has tended to be a minus player, however, note that he had LOTS of growing to do when he came into the league and always seemed to play on teams that lacked good defense and/or good goaltending (Tor, Phi, Ariz), but was a PLUS player on the Kings, who, surprise, surprise, play better D and have better goaltending than those other teams when he was on them.

 

I personally like Schenn's game now, at age 28, where he seems to have hit his 'stride' as an NHL'er...the price seems right. He could probably be signed for about a 2.5M- 3M range as well, maybe on a 3-4 yr deal.

Pretty impressive he wasn't like a -30 type player on horrid, horrid Arizona teams...

 

 

So there ya go. Just a small sampling.

Most of the numbers I got were from capfriendly and hockey-reference, and from watching these guys play a bit (I tend to watch teams throughout the league)….. some other names that might be worth a look:

 

Calvin De Haan, Nick Holden, Ian Cole....these guys offer varying degrees of age, $$ commitment by the team and play styles, may or may not fit Minnesota well....though I think a guy like Ian Cole could be very adaptable and he can be dependable as well.

De Haan and Holden, much nicer skaters, but somewhat suspect, IMO, on the defensive and, and perhaps a bit "soft" in their playstyles as well.

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2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Right off the top of my head.....

 

Starting with the "pricey" guys...

1--John Carlson -- 28 yrs old, Capitals UFA, $4M cap hit last season, cracked 60 points.....will likely require a significant raise from his previoius 4M. Caveat? Aside from the likely big contract, he WAS a minus player at -4.

 

2--Mike Green-- 32 yrs old, Red Wing UFA, $6M cap hit last season, only a 33 pt player though and at a -14...but then again, the Wings weren't too good overall offensively nor defensively. He could do well in a better structured team....of course, question remains, is Minnesota that structured team, and the money it likely would take to sign him would be an awful lot to gamble on that. Nice, smart two way blueliner though.

 

 

These next ones should be more reasonable on the contract fronts...they have their plusses and minuses, but may be worth a look, depending on what the Wild want to build:

 

1--Jack Johnson-- 31 yrs old, Columbus UFA, $4.3M cap hit. Won't get a ton of offense from him, is sorta middling with regards to skating ability and overall speed, but has good size (6'1,225) and is an excellent hitter and shot blocker.  He also seems to hang on to the puck pretty well....not a whole lot of unnecessary 'coughing it up'.

I feel he may have been overpaid the last couple seasons, could probably be gotten at a nice discount...maybe something along the lines of a 2-3yr, 3M-3.25M per deal

 

2--Luca Sbisa-- 28 yrs old, Vegas UFA, $3.6M cap hit.  He actually is a very similar player to Jack Johnson...just a bit smaller at 6'1, 210, perhaps a bit faster though, a bit younger...he too is a good hitter and shot blocker, but probably turns the puck over a bit more than Johnson would, and, the biggie, tends to need time on IR a bit more than Johnson.
He was a plus player last season where Johnson was a minus player...but then, playing with that good offense in Vegas as opposed to Columbus, AND, having MAF backstopping the team probably helped that some.

 

3-- Luke Schenn-- 28 yrs old, Arizona UFA, $1.25M cap hit. Another guy you won't get offense from, however, he is a MONSTER hitter (tends to be near the top of the league every year) and a good shot blocker as well, good size at 6'2, 230, decent skater, and, I know Flyer fans gave him all kinds of guff on this site, but he actually is a pretty good defender and seems to have worked hard to be better at decision making.

 

Sure, career wise he has tended to be a minus player, however, note that he had LOTS of growing to do when he came into the league and always seemed to play on teams that lacked good defense and/or good goaltending (Tor, Phi, Ariz), but was a PLUS player on the Kings, who, surprise, surprise, play better D and have better goaltending than those other teams when he was on them.

 

I personally like Schenn's game now, at age 28, where he seems to have hit his 'stride' as an NHL'er...the price seems right. He could probably be signed for about a 2.5M- 3M range as well, maybe on a 3-4 yr deal.

Pretty impressive he wasn't like a -30 type player on horrid, horrid Arizona teams...

 

 

So there ya go. Just a small sampling.

Most of the numbers I got were from capfriendly and hockey-reference, and from watching these guys play a bit (I tend to watch teams throughout the league)….. some other names that might be worth a look:

 

Calvin De Haan, Nick Holden, Ian Cole....these guys offer varying degrees of age, $$ commitment by the team and play styles, may or may not fit Minnesota well....though I think a guy like Ian Cole could be very adaptable and he can be dependable as well.

De Haan and Holden, much nicer skaters, but somewhat suspect, IMO, on the defensive and, and perhaps a bit "soft" in their playstyles as well.

Thank you, these would all absolutely be upgrades. Does anyone else get the feeling that the new GM, after talking at length about how amazing the MN hockey market is, may try to sign more MN natives in a sad attempt to boost ticket sales?

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@Starofthenorth hard to say.

 

But of the players TropicalFruitGirl26 posted I'd rather find someone under 27 year of age. More like 23 or 24 and develop them. This team is getting old anyway and adding more older players wouldn't be high on my list of objectives.

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52 minutes ago, rottenrefs said:

@Starofthenorth hard to say.

 

But of the players TropicalFruitGirl26 posted I'd rather find someone under 27 year of age. More like 23 or 24 and develop them. This team is getting old anyway and adding more older players wouldn't be high on my list of objectives.

 

I whole heartedly agree with finding younger guys....but unfortunately, you are not gonna find prime guys under 27 on the free agent market this year.

 

To get those types, the Wild are gonna have to trade other assets.

Not too sure they have what it takes (without completely gutting the team) to acquire such younger grade A defensemen.

 

At least with the guys I posted, though they are not long term solutions, wouldn't be too bad on the stop gap front...and given what Minnesota has already, if their goal is to still win while big money guys like Parise and Suter are still considered in their prime, some of those guys might help do it for them.

 

Long shots, I know.

But I don't think Wild fans have a stomach for a long rebuild. I know I don't.

Though I know Minnesota is in a tough situation.  Squarely in the middle seems like.

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I find it interesting that for $70mm a year - this is the team that has been put together - and their fans can't identify who the C should go to - or what their identity is...  That speaks volumes... $70mm folks...

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Spurgeon and Zucker get my votes. They just play the game the way it's supposed to be played and don't conform to this style or the message that the veterans of this team seem to be wanting them to play/be like. 

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