2019-20 Iowa Wild and Prospects

[IllaZilla]

5 hours ago, Starofthenorth said:

Give Mayhew a chance on the top two lines of the wild. Why would you put the potentially top AHL goal scorer on the checking line? 

 

So who gets moved off the top six?

 

Fiala (9g, 19a), Parise (19g, 13a), Zucker (14g, 14a) or Zuccarello (13g, 15a)? Mayhew doesn't play center, so it has to be one of these guys...

 

Right now the Wild have about a 25% chance of making the Playoffs. If things continue to deteriorate, I'd say once the trade deadline passes Mayhew may see some time up here when teams can expand their rosters. But I still wouldn't bet on seeing Mayhew playing on one of the top lines...

[Starofthenorth]

11 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

So who gets moved off the top six?

 

Fiala (9g, 19a), Parise (19g, 13a), Zucker (14g, 14a) or Zuccarello (13g, 15a)? Mayhew doesn't play center, so it has to be one of these guys...

 

Right now the Wild have about a 25% chance of making the Playoffs. If things continue to deteriorate, I'd say once the trade deadline passes Mayhew may see some time up here when teams can expand their rosters. But I still wouldn't bet on seeing Mayhew playing on one of the top lines...

Well fiala is the only one that you listed that has a positive plus minus so I guess any of them. Mayhew has the potential to help the wild improve (if their goal is to make the playoffs).

[IllaZilla]

46 minutes ago, Starofthenorth said:

Well fiala is the only one that you listed that has a positive plus minus so I guess any of them. Mayhew has the potential to help the wild improve (if their goal is to make the playoffs).

In all seriousness no one is going to move those four off the top lines to take a flyer on an AHLer. 
 

Look how long it took Boudreau to finally move Koivu from the second line to the fourth line. A year of no production. 
 

Those other four are more or less producing. So they’re not going to get moved. Maybe if Guerin can move Zucker or Kunin or somebody there will be room for GerryTime. 
 

Plus it depends on the owner. If Fan Boy #1 still thinks this is a Cup contender, I doubt anyone gets moved. They shook up the roster last season to get into the Playoffs and we all know how that turned out. Not sure what their plans are right now. But who knows. Maybe after the bye week they’ll be too far out of the Wild card spot that there will be only one decision. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by IllaZilla

[CreaseAndAssist]

17 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

In all seriousness no one is going to move those four off the top lines to take a flyer on an AHLer. 
 

Look how long it took Boudreau to finally move Koivu from the second line to the fourth line. A year of no production. 
 

Those other four are more or less producing. So they’re not going to get moved. Maybe if Guerin can move Zucker or Kunin or somebody there will be room for GerryTime. 
 

Plus it depends on the owner. If Fan Boy #1 still thinks this is a Cup contender, I doubt anyone gets moved. They shook up the roster last season to get into the Playoffs and we all know how that turned out. Not sure what their plans are right now. But who knows. Maybe after the bye week they’ll be too far out of the Wild card spot that there will be only one decision. 

 

This probably isn't far off.  Sadly, for Mayhew and Anas...it doesn't matter what they do in Iowa.  The organization is too full of fossils to give them a real chance and the organization is not about to deal them to get that chance because they like seeing the seats full in Des Moines.  As far as Fan Boy #1 goes, he would have to be one of the few that really thinks this team still has a shot at the playoffs.  

[Alexandron]

Last game Mayhew extended his goals streak so far to 31 goals this season. Our team won that game against Grand Rapids Griffins with a score 4:1.

Stars of the last game were:
#1 Anas (1 goal;2 assists). He is having  for this season 15 goals; 34 assists in 47 played games ;
#2 Mayhew( 1goal). He  is having  for this season already 31 goals;14 assists; in 39 played games;
#3 Kahkonen, who was able to stop 27 out of 28 shots towards his net.

 

Mayhew and Anas could be at least in a 3rd line for the big club and Kahkonen  could be a starter for the big club as well if the Wild organization is planning to reach a Stanley Cup playoffs this year.  If not, then we should keep those players in Iowa for the second playoffs run in the Iowa Wild history.  Hope, at least one of our teams will make a playoffs run this year.

[lynxrattle]

The organisation has failed in planning, if it doesn't have a way of giving room for prospects who have proved worthy of a tryout. Even if they don't believe in Mayhew or Anas, they should find a way of playing them, as the morality of the prospects needs to be respected. "You work exceptionally well, you'll get your chance." This is what the organisation should be able to state to its prospects. Find a way, the sooner the better.

[CreaseAndAssist]

9 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

The organisation has failed in planning, if it doesn't have a way of giving room for prospects who have proved worthy of a tryout. Even if they don't believe in Mayhew or Anas, they should find a way of playing them, as the morality of the prospects needs to be respected. "You work exceptionally well, you'll get your chance." This is what the organisation should be able to state to its prospects. Find a way, the sooner the better.

 

I would agree.  Which is why I would hope we'd opt for shorter contracts.  But despite the claims of 'desirability' and 'quality of life' the Wild always seem to have to pay a premium to get anyone to want to come and ply in Minnesota.  And if we don't throw NMC's to them we worry about insulting them if we don't.  You're right, its flawed big time and sends a terrible message to guys like Anas, Mayhew and Menell...or anyone that kind of busts their ass and excells in the minors while other guys (drafted ahead of them) get a shot to audition for the club for a season even if they're clearly in way over their head.  That's been the Wild way for a long time unfortunately.  

[Alexandron]

On 2/3/2020 at 12:52 AM, lynxrattle said:

The organisation has failed in planning, if it doesn't have a way of giving room for prospects who have proved worthy of a tryout. Even if they don't believe in Mayhew or Anas, they should find a way of playing them, as the morality of the prospects needs to be respected. "You work exceptionally well, you'll get your chance." This is what the organisation should be able to state to its prospects. Find a way, the sooner the better.

Nice post. I would replace the word "organization" to the word "coach" who suppose to make the crucial decisions for using the promising prospects at least on a rotational mode. And Seeler was taking in seconds/right away by Chicago because he has the value, but that value was not really used by our coach. And Kahkonen should be playing more for the big club. It is always exist ways to find the room for rotating the promising players if we need to make the evident Wild team's progress as well as to build a strong professional Wild club's future. I am getting more and more frustrated because of his decisions. In my opinion, it is a time for him to go. Unfortunately, he practically does same mistakes as Richards and Yeo did - not developing our future club's young generation. We have so many promising offensively minded prospects playing in minor leagues, but I do not think they will be happy  to have same future as our current players from AHL.

[Alexandron]

On 2/3/2020 at 10:38 AM, CreaseAndAssist said:

 

I would agree.  Which is why I would hope we'd opt for shorter contracts.  But despite the claims of 'desirability' and 'quality of life' the Wild always seem to have to pay a premium to get anyone to want to come and ply in Minnesota.  And if we don't throw NMC's to them we worry about insulting them if we don't.  You're right, its flawed big time and sends a terrible message to guys like Anas, Mayhew and Menell...or anyone that kind of busts their ass and excells in the minors while other guys (drafted ahead of them) get a shot to audition for the club for a season even if they're clearly in way over their head.  That's been the Wild way for a long time unfortunately.  

Exactly LIG. That wrong way has been , unfortunately, for a long long time here.

[Alexandron]

Gerald Mayhew is named the best AHL player of the Month for January, where he recorded 19 points(12 goals;7 assists) in 11 games. He is the first player in Iowa Wild history  to receive the player of the Month recognition and second in Iowa to earn an AHL monthly award (other was Kaapo Kahkonen). 

Here is an article to read about his achievements:

https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/gerry-mayhew-named-ccmahl-player-of-the-month

 

 

 

[Alexandron]

Kaapo Kahkonen have got last game his 10th shutout in his career in AHL. Iowa Wild team won that game with a score 4:0 against San Antonio Rampage. Kahkonen stopped 19 shots out of 19 towards his net.

According to the Iowa Wild news : "The win was Kahkonen’s 18th of the season, tying Manitoba’s Mikhail Berdin for most in the league, and was the 10^th shutout of his career. The Wild’s win also extended its point streak to seven games, tied for the second-longest active streak in the AHL."

 

[Alexandron]

Our Gerald Mayhew is having already 36 goals!!! so far this season and passed  11 years record of 2009 year when Alexandre Giroux had the most 34 goals with Hershey team in that 2009 season.

[Alexandron]

We had last night another success  for our farm club in Iowa! We had a shutout game against a San Diego Gulls team, which we won with a score 3:0. Kaapo Kahkonen was able to stop all 33 shots toward his net and was a #1 star of the game. That was his 5th shutout this season and his 11th shutout by playing in AHL. 

Gerry Mayhew was a #2 star of the game by having a hat trick and who is having now 39 goals so far this season.  According to the info, Wild General Manager Bill Guerin was in Iowa to watch that game.

According now to the new data from the main Iowa Wild page they found a better scoring record in AHL history and moved from the record of 34 goals for Alexandre Giroux with Hershey in 2009 to the  2011-2012 season record when Corry Conacher had 39 goals with Syracuse team then. 

Here is link to read more about the last game in Iowa:

https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/iowa-shuts-out-san-diego-in-3-0-victory

 

 

[Alexandron]

Iowa Wild team is losing a game with a score 1:4 in 13 minutes remaining of the game against of San Diego Gulls team. Mat Robson is in the net allowing 4 goals out of 32 shots towards his net. Gulls out shot us already 32 vs ours 25 shots. Not the best day for both teams as well as it was really not the best for me too. I found out that my oldest friend for 23 years passed away.  Overall , a sad day.  It is a time to go, enough for today.

[lynxrattle]

They have been great. Every team loses here and there. Now it's a question will they make sure they won't lose two in a row.

[Alexandron]

Tonight Iowa Wild team will play a game against a Chicago Wolves team. This is going to be 100th AHL game for Dmitry Sokolov. He played in AHL 99 games and is having so far 52 points (31 goals; 21 assists;+/- + 8). During the last year in scoring he had 16 goals in 60 played games (mainly in the 4th line) and this year he is having  already 14 goals in 37 played games.

Last game on Friday we were able to win(4:0) in a shutout against a Texas Stars team. That was a 6th shutout for our goalie Kaapo Kahkonen this season, who is the best goaltender in AHL league by having the most wins (23) and shutouts(6). According to the Iowa Wild news "Since Jan. 20, Kahkonen is 9-1-1 with a 1.36 goals against average, a .957 save percentage and four shutouts. During that stretch, he leads all qualified goalies in wins, goals against average, save percentage, shutouts, minutes played (664) and saves (332)".
 

[Alexandron]

And Iowa Wild team just finished their game with a win 5:2 against  Chicago Wolves. Kahkonen stopped 21 shots out of 23 towards his net. His 24th win this season. As well as Sokolov had a goal tonight in his 100th AHL game. His 15th goal this season in 38 played games.

[lynxrattle]

Good news! We should have at least a future backup goalie in Kähkönen. That's absolutely great, when one looks at the erratic way both Dubnyk and Stalock have played much through this season.

[Alexandron]

20 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

Good news! We should have at least a future backup goalie in Kähkönen. That's absolutely great, when one looks at the erratic way both Dubnyk and Stalock have played much through this season.

Agree. Hope , some day he will be our first goalie for the Wild team. As more games he will get a chance to play in NHL as more professional goalie he will be in a future. Definitely, he has lots of talent. Sadly, he played not too many games(only 5) for the big club this season. In his 5 played games he had 3 wins ; 1 loss in regulation and 1 loss in OT. In my opinion, if he played more, then we would be in a better standing position too. 

[Hockey-78]

2 hours ago, Alexandron said:

Agree. Hope , some day he will be our first goalie for the Wild team. As more games he will get a chance to play in NHL as more professional goalie he will be in a future. Definitely, he has lots of talent. Sadly, he played not too many games(only 5) for the big club this season. In his 5 played games he had 3 wins ; 1 loss in regulation and 1 loss in OT. In my opinion, if he played more, then we would be in a better standing position too. 

Stalock and Dubnyk are providing very average/below average goaltending. Kahkonen is undoubtedly the hottest goalie in the AHL. Now they've even stopped giving starts to Robson.

 

I'd be very surprised to find out that the Wild management are content to carry on with this Duo of Averages and let Kahkonen continue to hone his skills in the minors. That's just clueless.

[Hockey-78]

Kahkonen named AHL goalie of the month in February.

 

Kahkonen's month started with five consecutive victories, pushing his franchise-long win streak to seven games.

 

Set the Wild's franchise record for single-season wins by a netminder with his 24th victory of the year.

 

Kahkonen becomes the first repeat monthly award winner in team history.

 

https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/goaltender-kaapo-kahkonen-named-ccmahl-goaltender-of-the-month

 

Sounds like a pretty decent 4th(!) round pick to me... the Wild management can only screw this up by hanging on to Dubnyk.

[Alexandron]

On 3/3/2020 at 5:35 AM, Hockey-78 said:

Kahkonen named AHL goalie of the month in February.

 

Kahkonen's month started with five consecutive victories, pushing his franchise-long win streak to seven games.

 

Set the Wild's franchise record for single-season wins by a netminder with his 24th victory of the year.

 

Kahkonen becomes the first repeat monthly award winner in team history.

 

https://www.iowawild.com/news/detail/goaltender-kaapo-kahkonen-named-ccmahl-goaltender-of-the-month

 

Sounds like a pretty decent 4th(!) round pick to me... the Wild management can only screw this up by hanging on to Dubnyk.

Agree. History knows pretty decent 4th-7th round picks who became/developed into a real treasure for the professional teams and also history knows multiple 1st round picks who became a real waste for the professional teams as well.

[lynxrattle]

Don't run me out of town, if I turn out to be wrong, but I have a good impression on Kahkonen's character. Seems to be positive and self-confident, social.

[Alexandron]

Is Kaapo Kahkonen injured? Mat Robson was in the net last game, which we lost to SJ Barracuda with  a score 1:5. And Dereck Baribeau  was as a backup goalie.

[lynxrattle]

1 hour ago, Alexandron said:

Is Kaapo Kahkonen injured? Mat Robson was in the net last game, which we lost to SJ Barracuda with  a score 1:5. And Dereck Baribeau  was as a backup goalie.

Yes he is, but I don't know how, or how serious it is.