Davey J Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 On 8/25/2018 at 10:14 AM, CreaseAndAssist said: Boeser is a bit different. I don't care that he's from Burnsville. While he has a pretty interesting (and tragic) personal story on his road to being an NHL'er, I don't really care about that too much. The kid can score...that's why I felt he'd really be a help to the team. That's all that matters to me. Eriksson Ek gives me more hope than Kunin for all of the hype they keep saturating us with. I felt Eriksson Ek actually looked pretty reasonable in his first full NHL season. Far more physical than I expected and you could see that he has real skill and good instincts. I liked what I saw. But Kunin...seemed like a lot of hype to me. Kind of like Casey Wellman 2.0. I like Ek a lot! I don't know if he will become a legit #1 center, but I think a good 2nd liner is very probable. I agree with you about Kunin...although I do think he is a "can't miss" NHLer...but I think the Wild will be lucky if he develops into anything more than a 3rd line wing. I have never seen one elite skillset from him. He can do all things OK, but nothing great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 1 hour ago, Davey J said: I like Ek a lot! I don't know if he will become a legit #1 center, but I think a good 2nd liner is very probable. I agree with you about Kunin...although I do think he is a "can't miss" NHLer...but I think the Wild will be lucky if he develops into anything more than a 3rd line wing. I have never seen one elite skillset from him. He can do all things OK, but nothing great. Kunin isn't exceptionally fast even though he's of average height. IMO, that's pretty bad. I'd be more bullish on his future if he was a better skater and I felt he had more versatility. I am not sure if he has the wheels to be a player like Haula was in a Bottom 9 role while waiting for more of an opportunity. IMO, his skillset is more akin to a Top 6 player and he'll be waiting a long time before a spot opens up there. But more fundamentally than that, Kunin didn't really dominate in Iowa. I think he should lead the way there before he gets a chance to play for the Minnesota Wild. Just my 2 cents... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey J Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, CreaseAndAssist said: Kunin isn't exceptionally fast even though he's of average height. IMO, that's pretty bad. I'd be more bullish on his future if he was a better skater and I felt he had more versatility. I am not sure if he has the wheels to be a player like Haula was in a Bottom 9 role while waiting for more of an opportunity. IMO, his skillset is more akin to a Top 6 player and he'll be waiting a long time before a spot opens up there. But more fundamentally than that, Kunin didn't really dominate in Iowa. I think he should lead the way there before he gets a chance to play for the Minnesota Wild. Just my 2 cents... I haven't seen anything from him that makes me believe he has a top 6 skill set. He's an OK skater with OK hands and OK (at best) hockey sense and a good shot. I see his future as a 3rd liner who can kill penalties, agitate a bit, hustle, play with enough grit, contribute as an auxiliary scorer, and someone who can also fill in on the top 6 when needed. I do think he will be a crowd favorite type because of how he plays. I agree with you that he should become a more effective player at the AHL level before given any significant NHL time. Edited August 27, 2018 by Davey J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllaZilla Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I am a bit concerned about Eriksson-Ek in the fact that he has never scored more than single digit goals at any level, and has never scored more than 20 points in a season... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rottenrefs Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 1 hour ago, IllaZilla said: I am a bit concerned about Eriksson-Ek in the fact that he has never scored more than single digit goals at any level, and has never scored more than 20 points in a season... True, but he's been more visible, works hard, gets himself into better positions and gets chances. Quite frankly - he doesn't play like a chickenshit. Which is more than most anyone can say about just about any other rookie to two-year guy in recent history with the Wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razblo Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 On 8/26/2018 at 7:54 AM, IllaZilla said: You're probably going to hear the argument now about if tanking and getting top three draft picks is the answer, why hasn't Edmonton won a Cup recently? They've had five Top Three picks in the last ten drafts (Hall #1, Nugent-Hopkins #1, Yakupov #1, Draisaitl #3, McDavid #1). I'm not disagreeing with you. I do think having a game breaker is key to a Cup winning team, something the Wild lack. But there are other pieces that need to be in place too. Look at Chicago. Not only did they have the scoring with Kane and Toewes, they had the defending with Keith and Seabrook. Same with Pittsburgh. Malkin and Crosby for scoring and Fleury for goaltending. I don't think there is one formula for Cup success, otherwise every team would be following it. Draft Player type-A, add Free agent types B, C and D, hire coach E, and Presto! You'll get the Cup! The Wild are not a bad team, but I think what needs to be answered is why do they disappear in the Playoffs every year? Where are their leaders? Where is that player that will single-handedly pick up the team and carry it across the finish line? I think until those questions are answered, the Wild are going to be a team that has a great regular season but melts in the pressure cooker of the Playoffs... The Edmonton argument is a valid one. I think something can be said for the organization, and more specifically their previous GM, MacTavish, and their current GM, Chiarelli. Every draft pick you mentioned was a forward (only top-10 pick they've spent on defense is Nurse?). Hall was traded and in his first year out of Edmonton he won MVP, Yakupov was a total bust, Nugent-Hopkins has shown promise at times but is injury prone, but Draisaitl and McDavid have shown promise. I don't like the Oilers looking at Chiarelli's trading (Hall and Eberle) and signing (Lucic) history they would be wise to dump him sooner rather than later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 New York Rangers announce 2018 their Traverse City Tournament roster. They are in same Division as we are and going to play against us on September 8 next week. Here are a couple links to it: https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-announce-2018-traverse-city-tournament-roster/c-299868722 https://www.blueshirtbanter.com/2018/8/27/17787968/rangers-announce-2018-traverse-city-tournament-roster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 (edited) Last weekend it was a U20 Four Nations Tournament in Sweden. Our prospect Simon Johansson who was drafted this year by the Wild was named the best defenseman at that tournament. Here is a link to read about him and watch a video how he put one of his goals for Sweden team during this tournament. It seems he has a pretty nice shot. https://dobberprospects.com/prospect-ramblings-u20-four-nations-tournament-in-sweden/ Edited August 28, 2018 by Alexandron 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 (edited) Zucker and Granlund are the only recent examples of Wild forward draft picks having what can be considered "breakout" years. We can root for Joel "Threenames" Erickson-Ek, Jordan "Buckets" Greenway and Luke "Cantmiss" Kunin all we like, but there's no evidence they'll be any more memorable than James "Bigfoot" Sheppard, Colton "Realdeal" Gillies, Casey "Surf" Wellman, Tyler "Battery" Graovac, Patrick "Sonnyboy" O'Sullivan or Benoit "Realsmooth" Pouliot. Alex "Nicetouch" Tuch looks truly like the proverbial "one that got away." As for Sokolov, Lodnia, Shaw, McBain et al, they're nothing but fuzzy-faced teenagers. (See Minnesota Twins; Byron Buxton), nothing but hype. If Fenton is looking for home-grown goal-scoring, he might call the Senators and ask about Marion "Glassgroin" Gaborik. Edited August 30, 2018 by Icechipper add name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) On 8/30/2018 at 10:03 AM, Icechipper said: Zucker and Granlund are the only recent examples of Wild forward draft picks having what can be considered "breakout" years. We can root for Joel "Threenames" Erickson-Ek, Jordan "Buckets" Greenway and Luke "Cantmiss" Kunin all we like, but there's no evidence they'll be any more memorable than James "Bigfoot" Sheppard, Colton "Realdeal" Gillies, Casey "Surf" Wellman, Tyler "Battery" Graovac, Patrick "Sonnyboy" O'Sullivan or Benoit "Realsmooth" Pouliot. Alex "Nicetouch" Tuch looks truly like the proverbial "one that got away." As for Sokolov, Lodnia, Shaw, McBain et al, they're nothing but fuzzy-faced teenagers. (See Minnesota Twins; Byron Buxton), nothing but hype. If Fenton is looking for home-grown goal-scoring, he might call the Senators and ask about Marion "Glassgroin" Gaborik. Those funny but sour nicknames sound too depressively pessimistic. For me so far among all our drafts, Zucker stays second in a row after Gaborik, especially in gradually making a steady progress in production. In general, our team during the last 2 seasons is still among the top teams in our Western Division. Look how Chicago team fell last season despite having so good superior stars, as well as a good St.Louis team did not make playoffs either. Probably, the last 2 regular seasons were best in a Wild history in overall points and production during the regular seasons. The Wild team still need to find out the way how to fight successfully with a more difficult animal - Stanley Cup playoffs and to be more creative in youngsters scouting and their insertions into the big club in a consistent but flexible matter tryout. Edited August 31, 2018 by Alexandron 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) Just found on a YouTube a pretty fresh interview with a coach of a defending champion team Blackhawks at the Traverse City Tournament of the last year :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DeTM0_u0pM We are still waiting for the announcement of the Wild roster there. Most teams did it already. Also from my understanding, our defenseman Simon Johansson it seems is not going to play for the Wild team during that tournament, because the players who are planning to play for European teams this year are not supposed to participate at the upcoming Traverse City Tournament. Probably, as well as Filip Johansson too. Edited August 31, 2018 by Alexandron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fargocase Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 On 8/30/2018 at 10:03 AM, Icechipper said: Zucker and Granlund are the only recent examples of Wild forward draft picks having what can be considered "breakout" years. We can root for Joel "Threenames" Erickson-Ek, Jordan "Buckets" Greenway and Luke "Cantmiss" Kunin all we like, but there's no evidence If Fenton is looking for home-grown goal-scoring, he might call the Senators and ask about Marion "Glassgroin" Gaborik. IMO there is plenty of evidence EEK and even Greenway will be more impactful players than your laundry list of wannabes. For example - Casey Willman was never a blue chip prospect, he was a long shot. Nothing to be lost by auditioning him. I was sour on O'Sullivan before he even played in the NHL. He played at The Ralph in the WJC when Canada had the All World Team and it was obvious even then there was a good chance he'd fail in the NHL What I'm saying is past history is totally irrelevant when you're talking about current prospects. So they drafted ****** in the past numerous times. That has no effect on current players. There is no link between EEk's, Greenway's or Kunin's actual future performance with your laundry list of old names. Instead of snide complaining (not directly specifically at you ice), I'd rather read insights or opinions. 1. Most people who actually watched the games would agree Greenway had a very solid Playoff performance. My belief is he is going to be an impact player in the NHL. Not a 100 point guy or an All Star, but a solid player who contributes positively to any team. 2. Kunin I'm with the herd. Totally "Meh." Maybe good, maybe total bust. IDK. 3. EEk - I have absolutely no doubt he'll have a relatively long NHL career. How good he gets is unknown. But he's got enough size and skill and smarts to be a solid NHL payer for a long time. We'll know a lot more next year at this time whether he can score in the NHL or not. I think he can. I'm hoping he turns into a Next Gen Mikko. But he might just bounce along like Coyle; just teasing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fargocase Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 (edited) On 8/28/2018 at 5:02 PM, Alexandron said: Last weekend it was a U20 Four Nations Tournament in Sweden. Our prospect Simon Johansson who was drafted this year by the Wild was named the best defenseman at that tournament. Here is a link to read about him and watch a video how he put one of his goals for Sweden team during this tournament. It seems he has a pretty nice shot. https://dobberprospects.com/prospect-ramblings-u20-four-nations-tournament-in-sweden/ Thanks for posting this information! Excellent news! Hopefully he turns out like a Brent Burns. Burns was a surprise pick to most of us casual fans, and there were lots of fan complaining but he turned out pretty good! Thing was, after the Burn's pick, I read numerous comments about Burns , that he was a stud, a big time climber in the draft. I never heard that from anywhere other than lame Wild organization hypsters about Johansssson. My first impression of the Wild drafting Johanssson was WTF?!?! Then it turned into the classic Wild fan attitude of, "They pucked it up again... Sigh..." I'd love to be proven wrong on Johanssss, though! Edited September 1, 2018 by Fargocase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Check Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 3 hours ago, Fargocase said: Thanks for posting this information! Excellent news! Hopefully he turns out like a Brent Burns. Burns was a surprise pick to most of us casual fans, and there were lots of fan complaining but he turned out pretty good! Thing was, after the Burn's pick, I read numerous comments about Burns , that he was a stud, a big time climber in the draft. I never heard that from anywhere other than lame Wild organization hypsters about Johansssson. My first impression of the Wild drafting Johanssson was WTF?!?! Then it turned into the classic Wild fan attitude of, "They pucked it up again... Sigh..." I'd love to be proven wrong on Johanssss, though! The Johansson (Simon) that was named MVP was the Wild's 5th round pick, not the Johansson (Filip) picked in the first round. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fargocase Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 46 minutes ago, 4Check said: The Johansson (Simon) that was named MVP was the Wild's 5th round pick, not the Johansson (Filip) picked in the first round. Well thank you VERY PUCKING MUCH for raining on my parade!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Check Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 7 hours ago, Fargocase said: Well thank you VERY PUCKING MUCH for raining on my parade!!! I think using a parade metaphor on a Wild message board is mean spirited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fargocase Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 I'd organize a Parade around my yard if the Wild make the second round! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 Wild organization announced our roster for the Traverse City Tournament 2018 as well as schedule. Here are the links : https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/assets/binary/299905268/binary-file/file.pdf https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/minnesota-wild-prospect-tournament-roster-schedule-083018/c-299904856 I was right on guessing that both Johanssons will miss that tournament. It will be interesting to see a new coach Tim Army there, his team structure and his team final results. It is nice that Belpedio, Greenway, Shaw, Lodnia, Khovanov and Sokolov are included into the team, because it seems that those players will take a part of our future team’s core. Also present an interest 3 more players in our roster according to their statistics - Connor Dewar, Anderson MacDonald, and Damien Giroux. These tournaments are really helping to build earlier the nice chemistry among our promising prospects. Last year result was not bad at all. We will see if they will make more progress for this year too, and hope, without injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fargocase Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 I've always thought it would be fun to go to the Traverse tournament. Bucket list Item. But that would be 3rd on the list after U20 and U18. I really like the U18 because most of the kids are either draft eligible or kids who are projected very high for the following year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 I agree, the Traverse City tournament would be fun to go to. Although I'd love to see NHL Network bring some cameras there and televise it. IMO, they could've easily done the same with Da Beauty League too. But the Traverse City thing has a pretty good tradition. Khovanov...meh. Still not sold on his skating ability, Hepatitis battle be damned. It is a shame Simon Johansson isn't there, I think he has good potential. Shaw IMO has to prove himself all over again. Sokolov should be our most dangerous scoring threat. Lodnia...hmm, he really tailed off in the latter half of the season last year with Erie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 Wild Announce Traverse City tournament roster & schedule I give my thoughts on the tournament and the players as well as what to expect. If we get 4th or better I'll be surprised. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 Here is a nice recent article regarding a managing and coaching vision to Iowa Wild team for 2018-2019 season giving to Iowa Wild fans last week. The main goal of it is to make a playoffs this season: https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/wild-executives-give-vision-for-2018-19-nhl-and-ahl-seasons-at-iowa-wild-town-hall-meeting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild.source Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 On 6/13/2018 at 5:26 AM, IllaZilla said: I’ve noticed this disturbing trend with Wild prospects...5’9”, 5’10”, 5’9”, 5’8”, 5’11”... They are all pretty small people. I don't know why they do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandron Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 (edited) Did anyone watched just ended a Wild game against Detroit Red Wings at Traverse City Tournament? The Wild won it with a score 4:2. It was a pretty nice and a speedy game. Our defense and a goalie looked pretty good too. Kahkonen stopped 28 shots; Sokolov had a power play goal; Lodnia had a goal; Fitzgerald had a goal and assist; Greenway had 2 assists and a few chances to put a puck; Damien Jiroux put an empty netter from a second attempt to nail a winner goal; as well as Khovanov, Belpedio and Shaw had nice chances to put goals too. Tomorrow is a game against of New York Rangers at 5:30 p.m. Central time. It is simple to watch - go to the main Wild page and look for a live watch Traverse City Tournament when our team is playing. Rangers lost today with a score of 5:7 against Dallas, and probably will play tomorrow exclusively motivated against us. Edited September 8, 2018 by Alexandron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 11 hours ago, Alexandron said: Did anyone watched just ended a Wild game against Detroit Red Wings at Traverse City Tournament? The Wild won it with a score 4:2. It was a pretty nice and a speedy game. Our defense and a goalie looked pretty good too. Kahkonen stopped 28 shots; Sokolov had a power play goal; Lodnia had a goal; Fitzgerald had a goal and assist; Greenway had 2 assists and a few chances to put a puck; Damien Jiroux put an empty netter from a second attempt to nail a winner goal; as well as Khovanov, Belpedio and Shaw had nice chances to put goals too. Tomorrow is a game against of New York Rangers at 5:30 p.m. Central time. It is simple to watch - go to the main Wild page and look for a live watch Traverse City Tournament when our team is playing. Rangers lost today with a score of 5:7 against Dallas, and probably will play tomorrow exclusively motivated against us. @MNSOTA tried to watch it (I was coaching football) but it didn't work for whatever reason. Sounds like Greenway was a man among boys out there with two helpers and lots of good work with the puck down low. Kahkonen had 28 saves and it sounded like he played well. Greenway, Lodnia and Fitzgerald were our best line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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