2020 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview

[CreaseAndAssist]

2020 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview: Forwards

 

This the first of my four draft preview articles.  I identified 7 forwards I think could fit their needs and could very well be available at the 9th Overall pick.  I think there is a defnite chance the Wild might trade up to get the forward they really want but we still are a few months away from the NHL Entry Draft which is set to be held in October.  Probably towards the end of the week I'll post the next article.  Enjoy and discuss!  

[bbgarnett]

Good insights, and I think will probably Pick Lundell, from what I've been seeing/reading is most mocks have Rossi and Holtz off the board by #9. They say that Lundell is a good two way center so would be a perfect Koivu replacement and someone we'd pick. Lundell says he tries to emulate Barkovs game so hopefully we don't get a Koivu 2.0 if we choose him. I have also seen a couple of mocks that have Perfetti falling to us a 9 but no way I think that will happen.  I have also seen Iaroslav Askarov mentioned, but there is no way we take a goalie at 9 and if we do I think it'd be dumb as we have Kahkonen who I think should be given serious consideration as being a starter in the near future.

[CreaseAndAssist]

As the Penguins traded #15 to Toronto, I guess they kicked the tires of Anaheim who wasn't interested in dealing and neither were a few other clubs.  So trading up might be difficult.  

 

Yet, as Brandon Mileski of KFAN said...this might be the year TO trade up.  If the Wild really believe Rossi can be that center for the Top 6, then maybe that's where you make your move to do what you can to draft that player.  

[IllaZilla]

Love the article. Hate the Wild scouting. Once again, I think they’ll go with the “safe pick”. 
 

I kind of chuckle at their slogan of “Good isn’t good enough.” But yet that is all they strive for.  Good players. Mikko Koivu is/was a good player. But not someone you can build a team around. Zach Parise is a good player. But again, not someone you build a team around. But that is exactly what they chose to do. Build around good players, not great players. 
 

Five year plan, here we go again...

[4Check]

Very good synopsis of some highly likely options.    Sure wish Pitt would have chosen to give the Wild the 15 pick.   I think one of Mercer, Jarvis or Holloway would  be there.   Love the idea of getting Rossi.   As much as the Wild are desperate for a C, IMO it would be hard to pass on  RW Holtz if Rossi is gone.    IMO, the Wild, if afforded a reasonable offer, should move up as many slots as possible to increase their chances of getting Rossi (or even a bigger hope of Stutzle or Byfield )

The only small quibble I have with your analysis, is, IMO Hendrix Lapierre is a very good skater.  Now, his head (or latest suggestion that his issue is spinal) is a legitimate question mark.

[bbgarnett]

 

wonder if we kick the tires on acquiring that pick by offering up something starting around Dumba or Brodin + Greenway and other prospect(s) and get #15 as well as try to package in Nylander or maybe another young player like Abramov or the recently acquired Hållander 

Edited August 26, 2020 by bbgarnett

[bbgarnett]

 

And then Russo says he thinks he's gone for good so wonder if that changes our plans at all

Edited August 26, 2020 by bbgarnett

[CreaseAndAssist]

Doubt it.  This draft has some decent defenseman in it, but I can't imagine they'll draft a defenseman with their 1st pick.  I will have the draft preview coming up soon.  Menell leaving sucks for Iowa.  We'll see if he can thrive in the KHL and then come back the NHL later.  He certainly is a person who is kind of used to the unconventional route.  

 

Glad you are liking the draft preview so far.  

[EmptyShelf]

On 8/24/2020 at 5:44 PM, CreaseAndAssist said:

2020 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview: Forwards

 

This the first of my four draft preview articles.  I identified 7 forwards I think could fit their needs and could very well be available at the 9th Overall pick.  I think there is a defnite chance the Wild might trade up to get the forward they really want but we still are a few months away from the NHL Entry Draft which is set to be held in October.  Probably towards the end of the week I'll post the next article.  Enjoy and discuss!  

This is great information.  Given that you filtered this list with the likelihood that they SHOULD be available when the Wild pick at 9, and that you do not believe that the Wild will go D (and hopefully not G), what do you think the probability will be for each player being picked by the Wild (each assumed to be available)?  Additionally, what would you expect from each of these players in terms of production once they are established (1-5 years down the road)?

[CreaseAndAssist]

I also filtered out people that have skating issues.  Even if they might be highly ranked...I'm 100% not interested if they're average to slightly above average skaters.  We can't keep drafting players without wheels and then wonder why we can't attack or defend effectively when our guys are 1 or more steps slower than our opponents.  

[lynxrattle]

On 8/31/2020 at 5:26 AM, CreaseAndAssist said:

I also filtered out people that have skating issues.  Even if they might be highly ranked...I'm 100% not interested if they're average to slightly above average skaters.  We can't keep drafting players without wheels and then wonder why we can't attack or defend effectively when our guys are 1 or more steps slower than our opponents.  

Amen to that!

[DirtofMinny]

1 of these 3 will be available at #9-  Rossi, Holtz, Lundell.  I would pick them in that order, best of those 3.  Do you all think any of them could make the lineup right away, or will we need to wait?

[CreaseAndAssist]

2020 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview: Goaltenders

 

Here is Part 2 of my 4-part series on potential draft targets.  With the goaltenders, other than Askarov none should be a target with the #9 pick but perhaps for consideration later in the draft.  Enjoy and discuss...

[lynxrattle]

12 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

2020 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview: Goaltenders

 

Here is Part 2 of my 4-part series on potential draft targets.  With the goaltenders, other than Askarov none should be a target with the #9 pick but perhaps for consideration later in the draft.  Enjoy and discuss...

I got a  "This site is marked private by its owner"  message.

[CreaseAndAssist]

1 hour ago, lynxrattle said:

I got a  "This site is marked private by its owner"  message.

 

Strange.  I will look into that.  

[Alexandron]

7 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

I got a  "This site is marked private by its owner"  message.

That's true. Protected blog at WordPress.com account. It is requesting to register and to have a permission from the site owner.

[CreaseAndAssist]

I never made it private though.  According to what I see on my end, it says its marked public.  I'm looking into it.  Not sure when I'll get some help on this though.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

2020 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview: Goaltenders

 

It should work this time!  Enjoy and discuss!  

[lynxrattle]

Picking goalies is incredibly difficult, I feel. If I had to make a bet, I'd probably put my money on Askarov, just for the fact that he's big, was the best goalie in U18 and is Russian. (We need more Russians - all the other teams have found some gems there. We have only the hope of Kaprizov being one.) Hopefully our scouts and Chabot understand what makes a great future goalie.

[Alexandron]

12 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

2020 Minnesota Wild Draft Preview: Goaltenders

 

It should work this time!  Enjoy and discuss!  

Thanks. Nice preview. It seems among all presented goalies Askarov is the best candidate.An interesting observation during these round#2 playoffs,  as soon as 2 teams(Colorado, Vancouver) replaced their goalies then they were able to advanced to the game 7 of this round. 

[Alexandron]

6 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

Picking goalies is incredibly difficult, I feel. If I had to make a bet, I'd probably put my money on Askarov, just for the fact that he's big, was the best goalie in U18 and is Russian. (We need more Russians - all the other teams have found some gems there. We have only the hope of Kaprizov being one.) Hopefully our scouts and Chabot understand what makes a great future goalie.

Not sure if they are all the best, but, probably, it will create more interest to the team too, like teams with Vasilevsky, Varlamov and Khoudobin do. All 3 teams with these goaltenders also were able to move to the round#2 of these playoffs, which is a good team's achievement for this unusual year.

[Alexandron]

8 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

Picking goalies is incredibly difficult, I feel. If I had to make a bet, I'd probably put my money on Askarov, just for the fact that he's big, was the best goalie in U18 and is Russian. (We need more Russians - all the other teams have found some gems there. We have only the hope of Kaprizov being one.) Hopefully our scouts and Chabot understand what makes a great future goalie.

Lynxrattle, yes, so far for the big club we have just one Kaprizov. But, by the help mainly of our GM Guerin, we have already plenty of promising Russian prospects in our system, which need carefully to evaluate and to develop as a future NHL-ers - Firstov, Nesterenko, Guskov, Sokolov, Khovanov, Lodnia, Gordeev, and possibly for the 4th line, Svetlakov who has a nice experience in KHL by playing together with Kaprizov. The most closest candidates for the tryouts in the big club,in my opinion, are Sokolov(2 years of the nice experience in AHL) and Khovanov (the best stats of the Wild prospects and his consistent professional progress plus possible solid experience for the very tough Kazan Ak Bars club in KHL this season). The next pair, after them could be Firstov and Lodnia. All others players after those 4 candidates present a good interest  too.

[CreaseAndAssist]

Askarov is the only goaltender probably worthy of a 1st round pick.  Blomqvist and maybe Daws are 2nd or 3rd round picks.  After that you're probably picking those guys in the 5th round or something like that.  The most intriguing thing about Askarov to me is the combination of size, athleticism and the fact he's a 'wrong' catching goalie in that he catches with the right hand.  That's pretty rare and would likely make him more of a challenge for shooters to deal with.  However, his poor season last year is kind of cautionary.  

 

While Alexandron has listed a whole bunch of Russians; maybe 3 of them I think have a legit chance at an NHL roster.  Kaprizov, Khovanov and maybe Firstov.  The rest are pretty long shots to make it.  

[Alexandron]

I think, Nikita Nesterenko(New York native) still young(18 y.o.) prospect could present our attention too. This year he is playing for the Boston College probably together with our prospect Matt Boldy. Last year he had 56 points in 56 games(20 goals;36 assists) in BCHL and the season before total he had 47 goals;43 assists in 44 played games for 3 different teams.

[CreaseAndAssist]

14 hours ago, Alexandron said:

I think, Nikita Nesterenko(New York native) still young(18 y.o.) prospect could present our attention too. This year he is playing for the Boston College probably together with our prospect Matt Boldy. Last year he had 56 points in 56 games(20 goals;36 assists) in BCHL and the season before total he had 47 goals;43 assists in 44 played games for 3 different teams.

 

Nesterenko is such a long way off.  I wonder what line he'll play on with the Eagles.  That is a pretty deep team, and ice time might be tough to come by for a freshman.  I really hope he can start to fill out his frame as he's pretty slight.  IMO, way too soon to know what we have in him.  It doesn't mean he sucks or anything, but he probably has at least 3-4 years of college for us to see before we have any idea of what sort of possibe NHL future he may have.