Your Wild lines?

[Fargocase]

Anyone want to play this old game?   Crummy first game - In the 3rd BB put MiG with Mikko and Parise.  I thought it was a noticeable improvement.   True, the Avs went into a shell...   So what lines would you start with vs Vegas tonight?  My lines:

 

Zucker-Big E -Coyle.   IMO Coyle is a much better passer than Nino.  Let him do the dirty work for 2 of the team's 3 best goal scorers.

 

Parise-Mikko-MiG.  Parise was clearly the Wild's best player last game IMO.  Get him out there with MiG, who's obviously the Wild's best set up man.  Mikko and MiG do have chemistry.

 

Foligno-EEk-Nino.   Nino is a big puzzy, the whole league knows it.  Play him with Foligno so there's someone who has his back.   I'm NOT ready to give up on EEk at Center.

 

Greenway-Fehr-Ted Brown's kid.  Screw the Wild's PR campaign about what a great veteran Hendricks is.   He's old and slow, retire him.  Even though he didn't play much, and did have a couple nice plays, Greenway obviously has a ton to learn.  Making him your 3rd Line Center means you have a weak 3rd Line.   Let him learn to swim before you throw him into the deep end.  Cliché time - put Greenway in a position to succeed, don't throw him to the wolves!  Don't rush him!!!

 

I'd leave the D pairs alone.   It didn't happen as fast as most of us impatient fans wanted, but IMO Dumba is finally getting it and becoming a force.   Leave him with Suter for max minutes.   Brodin still really needs to quit being so damn passive IMO.  He needs someone like Scott Stevens to kick him in the azz and tell him to get involved!  Seeler and Pateryn are an OK 3rd pair.  15 mins TOI in the middle minutes of periods is plenty of ice time for them.  More and they're going to start getting exposed IMO.

 

[Icechipper]

I kind of find agreement with those lines, Fargo. Something or someone has to light a fire under Nino. And if I'm coaching Greenway he learns to keep two hands on the stick instead of casting one-handed for sunfish. Might have worked in college with the long arms and longer stick but all it does now is keep the puck cycling along the boards for somebody else to chase. That's your puck, kid, GO GET IT? He's tall but needs to bring his strength closer to the ice. On the backend I'm afraid I'd get Prosser in there on the third pair and have Seeler fetching popcorn for Hendricks. Rugged yeah, but you can't hit 'em if you can't catch 'em. Then there's Kunin. "Cleared for contact," they say. Contact with what?

[Alexandron]

Zucker-Staal-Sokolov (give to Sokolov a valuable NHL professional experience - I would throw him to the wolves ASAP );

 

Parise-Koivu-Granlund (keep that trio together until they retire)- agree with Fargo regarding that line;

 

Nino-Coyle -Fitzgerald(or Foligno);

 

Rau-Anas-Kloos(bring that productive whole line from Iowa for a tryout during the regular season to a big club, not only during the preseason).

 

Ek and Greenway to Iowa for practice how effectively to score/how to put multiple goals into the net. Insert Lodnia and Khovanov into Iowa Wild team for a more professional experience and a possible involvement into the big club during 2018-2019 season.

 

Defense and goaltending keep intact for now.

[Fargocase]

You sure are enamored of the fat Russian kid!   Let's see what he does in 40 AHL games before we put him on the first line.

[Alexandron]

Bruce Boudreau changes first 3 Wild lines for Thursday game against Chicago:

 

Zucker-Staal-Ek;

 

Parise-Koivu-Granlund;

 

Nino-Greenway-Coyle;

 

4th line is intact.

 

If that would not work then he will start looking for scoring players out of Iowa Wild team, which having a significant success in scoring already this season. Kunin was signed to Iowa Wild team. Also a good sign - Sokolov lost some pounds already and having 205 lb so far (had 220 lb before). 

 

 

 

[Fargocase]

EEk has played Center and LW.   Move him to the RW?  Lemaire would have done it in a heart beat.   Not only did he change lines quickly, he had guys playing all forward positions and didn't hesitate to play Dmen on the 4th Line as wingers, either.

 

Nino has been playing RW but I think over his career he's played on both sides.

 

I think give Ted Brown's kid a chance, too.  Doubtful that would make any significant difference but I'm not on board with leaving the lines the same since the results have been so pizz poor.

[Icechipper]

So those new lines:

1 $9 million

2 $16 million

3 $8 million

4 $4 million

 

I'm just spitballin' on those #s

[Fargocase]

I like the Chi Wild lines a lot better than the first two games.  Of course, playing an inferior team and having last change helps a lot. 

 

Zooker-E. Staal-Greenway

 

Parise-Mikko-MiG

 

Nino-EEk-Coyle

 

Foligno-Fehr-whoever...

 

I'd actually like to see Matt Read on 4th Line RW.   Ted Brown's kid hardly played.   He did bounce into a few guys and got credit for some Hits but really contributed nothing IMO.   He's a flyweight guy out there.   Fehr is super slow but at least he has some mass when he hits someone.

[puck_hawg]

I would like to see Greenway-EEK-Coyle, and left together for a several games. Coyle is a vet now so we need to see if he can lead a young third line. If not, Fenton has a center/winger to trade. Same for nino, get him some top minutes with zooks and staal including pp minutes and if he flops we know for sure he peaked, and another trade option. I'm not expecting much from this team come April, so I would like to see this season as a tryout for the future. 

[Fargocase]

So you'd just swap positions with Greenway and EEk?    I'd rather see either EEk or Greenway with Big E. and Zooker.  Chance for a kid to look good relatively easily.  Position to succeed...

[puck_hawg]

1 minute ago, Fargocase said:

So you'd just swap positions with Greenway and EEk?    I'd rather see either EEk or Greenway with Big E. and Zooker.  Chance for a kid to look good relatively easily.  Position to succeed...

True, but I'm kind of done with Nino, and by giving him a true shot at success we'll know who we got, and he just might gather enough points to create interest from other teams. 

[Fargocase]

Nino just needs to be put in the right situation.  I don't think we're seeing that right now.  Years ago the line was Nino-Mikko-Coyle.  The line had pretty good success, I don't remember why it was broken up.  Nino called it "The Big Man Line" in an interview.  I'm hoping BB tries that line again sometime.

[hf101]

25 minutes ago, Fargocase said:

Nino just needs to be put in the right situation.  I don't think we're seeing that right now. 

 

Just maybe Garth Snow knew something when he made the decision to trade Nino to the Wild?  He really hasn't shined in either organization to expectations.

[puck_hawg]

19 minutes ago, Fargocase said:

Nino just needs to be put in the right situation.  I don't think we're seeing that right now.  Years ago the line was Nino-Mikko-Coyle.  The line had pretty good success, I don't remember why it was broken up.  Nino called it "The Big Man Line" in an interview.  I'm hoping BB tries that line again sometime.

That line would be a great 3rd line, but a Parise-EEK-MIG 2nd line would be weak. No shooter for MIG to pass to and no shooter for Parise to tip or dig out rebounds. 

 

According to wild.com it looks like greenway will be on the wing with Stall and zooks for the Carolina game. Will be fun to see what the kids got.

 

[puck_hawg]

5 minutes ago, hf101 said:

 

Just maybe Garth Snow knew something when he made the decision to trade Nino to the Wild?  He really hasn't shined in either organization to expectations.

To be fair, the trade for nino was a good trade for MN, especially since it was a Fletcher trade. Nino had been trending up since he arrived but it seems to me he plateaued. He might not have reached his potential as a draft pick but considering what the wild gave for him it was a win for MN.

[hf101]

2 minutes ago, puck_hawg said:

To be fair, the trade for nino was a good trade for MN, especially since it was a Fletcher trade. Nino had been trending up since he arrived but it seems to me he plateaued. He might not have reached his potential as a draft pick but considering what the wild gave for him it was a win for MN.

 

It was a good trade for MN, but considering that he was a #5 pick of the draft and hasn't scored 60 pts in a single NHL season is a bit underwhelming thus far.  One can blame linemates etc, etc, but I don't think that is the whole story with his lack of real success.

[EmptyShelf]

2 hours ago, hf101 said:

 

Just maybe Garth Snow knew something when he made the decision to trade Nino to the Wild?  He really hasn't shined in either organization to expectations.

Nino gets jerked around more than any player when he is not clicking (line 1 to 3, line 2 to 4).  If the Wild ever treated Koivu, Parise and Suter the same way when they weren't 'on,' I would literally fall out of my chair.  Nino also needs to shoot more - he has a very good shot from outside the net.

[EmptyShelf]

Teams do not win when they hav have 3 34+ year old players on the ice when the game is on the line or in overtime - particularly when the mission is to score, and they have lost that capability (or never had it).  Over and over, they keep trying the same tired strategy in OT, etc.  How long did it take to start incorporating Zucker and Dumba - at least they can skate with speed in open ice vs. lumbering and laboring.

[rottenrefs]

8 hours ago, EmptyShelf said:

Nino gets jerked around more than any player when he is not clicking (line 1 to 3, line 2 to 4).  If the Wild ever treated Koivu, Parise and Suter the same way when they weren't 'on,' I would literally fall out of my chair.  Nino also needs to shoot more - he has a very good shot from outside the net.

Yea, he's also been two coaches now (Boudreau and Yeo's) 'go to' whipping boy to send to the penalty box to kill bench penalties.

To me that labels him an offensive only type player so why aren't they using him like that?

 

This team is so screwed up with their frequency of rotating lines it's ridiculous. That's why I started calling it scrambled eggs going on 8 years now.

 

It wouldn't be a problem if they worked, but all too often they find respectable line combinations, then blow them up in favor of trying to elevate one that hasn't worked. Who the hell cares if one line, usually Koivu's line, isn't producing? If it's a shut down line then seriously, who the hell cares?

 

They need to address team needs not players wants or needs when it comes to establishing lines.

 

Have a shooter, a puck distributor and a hands guy on each line.

[Fargocase]

10 hours ago, hf101 said:

 

It was a good trade for MN, but considering that he was a #5 pick of the draft and hasn't scored 60 pts in a single NHL season is a bit underwhelming thus far.  One can blame linemates etc, etc, but I don't think that is the whole story with his lack of real success.

 

It's easy to find Top 5 Picks who've done worse than Nino.   Pretty clear Nino is a big upgrade over Clutts.  Nino is big, aggressive, has good hands around the net.  Lots of tools.  I don't think we've seen his best, yet.  He's just a slow learner!

[McMahon 6]

3 hours ago, Fargocase said:

Nino is big, aggressive, has good hands around the net.  Lots of tools.  I don't think we've seen his best, yet.  He's just a slow learner!

 

The tools are there, but considering how many years he's been in the league now, he must be one heckuva slow learner:) One thing I don't want to see is Nino and Coyle constantly getting bounced around from line to line to "get them going". All that line juggling is a sure ticket to more bad passes that fail to connect.

 

Love what I saw against CHI. If Zucker, Staal and Greenway are left intact long enough to get that "chemistry" going where they know where to expect each other to be in any given situation, the passes will get crisper and quicker, and they could really give other teams fits.

 

Same for Parise, Koivu, Granlund and Nino, EEk, Coyle. I'd vote to leave lines intact for a good length of time, let 'em get used to each other without all the juggling, then enjoy watching other teams try to figure out how to handle the suddenly improved offensive barrage. GO WILD!!

[puck_hawg]

11 hours ago, EmptyShelf said:

Nino gets jerked around more than any player when he is not clicking (line 1 to 3, line 2 to 4).  If the Wild ever treated Koivu, Parise and Suter the same way when they weren't 'on,' I would literally fall out of my chair.  Nino also needs to shoot more - he has a very good shot from outside the net.

Hahaha! There is no excuses for Koivu, Parise, and Suter, yet I've read several for Nino. Come on, he just doesn't have that it factor to become a star. If he was treated so unfairly then why did he sign a contract here? He could of left, but he didn't. He is who he is a 40-50 point winger who gets paid exactly for what he does. I'm not saying he's a bad hockey player but he isn't gonna be the stud you want him to be. I know this is an unpopular take, but Personally, I think he's a loafer. I little bit of a Vanek attitude in him. He can bring it some nights, but only when he wants to. And that is why he sees less ice time. No conspiracy to ruin his career. Just his own attitude towards a team game. 

[McMahon 6]

5 minutes ago, puck_hawg said:

He can bring it some nights, but only when he wants to. And that is why he sees less ice time. No conspiracy to ruin his career. Just his own attitude towards a team game. 

 

Yep, work ethic definitely looks like an issue. That's another reason not to juggle lines around like a revolving door. Why monkey around and mess up two or three lines, when one will do? Like ya said earlier, if Garth freaking Snow can figure it out, it can't be rocket science (or even sub-atomic physics)

 

I say find a place for Nino, leave the lines intact, and let the chips fall where they may. If Nino, EEk and Coyle do get it going, then so much the better for the good guys.

[rottenrefs]

If a line is creating scoring chances and not scoring, not giving up goals... Then leave it alone. Goals will come.

 

When other teams have to make adjustments to defend whatever line he's on, it gives other lines more opportunities. That's why they call it a team sport. Work together as a team. That's all part of the game.

[Tomdog]

On 10/13/2018 at 12:48 PM, McMahon 6 said:

 

Yep, work ethic definitely looks like an issue. That's another reason not to juggle lines around like a revolving door. Why monkey around and mess up two or three lines, when one will do? Like ya said earlier, if Garth freaking Snow can figure it out, it can't be rocket science (or even sub-atomic physics)

 

I say find a place for Nino, leave the lines intact, and let the chips fall where they may. If Nino, EEk and Coyle do get it going, then so much the better for the good guys.

Yes I would find Nino a place. On another team. The Islanders figured it out that Nino is a big talented winger who plays like a small girl. Gifted but doesn't like physical play. That's a recipe for failure in the playoffs.