Article: No Easy Answers For Why Wild Are On Verge Of Elimination

[Protec]

Quote

Have we learned nothing from the Rossi Experience?

Mercer looking good, goal last night against NYR in a win for the Devils.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

it's laughable to assume that Brackett's draft pipeline is 100% can't miss.

Nobody's pipeline is 100% can't miss. But, knowing that, if he misses on some, you can't can him for that, can you?

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

If that happens, Evason will likely be immediately hired by another team who has noticed his team winning regularly despite being hamstrung by a roster that is operating at 85% of the budget that many other teams are able to utilize.

Absolutely true. It's what makes Evason, in his current state, a starter coach. At that point, we will need to have a Trophy coach.  

[mnfaninnc]

9 minutes ago, Protec said:

Mercer looking good, goal last night against NYR in a win for the Devils.

Jarvis has also looked good for the Canes, especially when they've lost 3 good scorers.  

I think we'll see a different Rossi next time he's up.

[MNCountryLife]

I sure wish the Wild would sit Steel, put Nyquist at center and put Sundqvist on the same line with Foligno.  Steel can't win a faceoff any better than Nyquist and Nyquist is better with the puck.  Sundqvist doesn't give up anything on Steel for defense and is better at getting to the net then Steel.

[MNCountryLife]

If Zuc can't go put Nyquist on the first line and slide in Sundqvist to the 3rd line.

[Pewterschmidt]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Nobody's pipeline is 100% can't miss. But, knowing that, if he misses on some, you can't can him for that, can you?

Of course not.  And I'm calling my shot early on Brackett.  I don't believe Rossi becomes a top 6 C (9th overall) and so far Ohgren doesn't pass the eye test.  I've seen him play in WJC against his peers who he should dominate (at least be superior) and he was ordinary.  Tiny Kuze needs to be a grand slam of Kaprisovian proportions (Kuze was just Ok in WJC couple years ago.  I know, I know he was under-ager, etc.) and Yurov can just be middle six for Brackett to redeem himself.  I haven't seen any indications of this scenario happening 2-3 yrs from now so I'm calling my shot on Brackett's draft wizardry.  Fans will have to depend on BG's deadline/off-season dealings.  And he's demonstrated that he's capable in that dept.

[B1GKappa97]

Deans got to go. Plain and simple. His post season record speaks for itself and the fact we’re in a different year with the same issues is very telling. 
 

The GM seems to think this club is better than last year’s, and on paper I think he’s right. The issue is the lack of adjustments from a coach who’s becoming known for not ever adjusting. At least not until it’s too late.

The refs don’t help (and I hear the NHL admitted they screwed up all the calls on Foligno) but ultimately it’s on Dean to get the PP/PK rolling. And he has simply failed. 
 

it was fun while it lasted but if we don’t win another series after being up 2-1 then I think we need to be done with him.

[Mateo3xm]

12 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Take a page from Kirby Puckett's book- Note to Kirill Kaprizov, prior to game 6 in the World Series, a struggling Kirby Puckett told the press "you can count on me getting it done tonight." Or something like that. Puckett went out to have one of the most complete domination games in a World Series.  

This is what superstar players do. When needed, they come through. They don't care about injuries, they muster up something deep from within and get it done. While the game is on TBS again and I'll be watching in the morning, I'm expecting this to be Kaprizov's stamp on the series.  

What you wrote sounds good and all but playing through an injury in baseball is a lot different than playing through an injury in a fast paced contact sport like hockey.

 

Even if he “musters something deep within himself” it’s a team game. Not many players are going to take over a game in hockey when hurt. There’s far more aspects to this team’s game that needs improvement.

 

Blaming Kaprizov or any one player for this team’s underwhelming performance is weak.

Kaprizov has proven he can perform in the playoffs before so I’m sure he’s batting a pretty significant injury.

 

Most People have no idea how hard it is to play at that level and in the playoffs.

 

This team just isnt good enough to win in the playoffs this year. They added some decent depth and had phenomenal goaltending but injuries and lack of high end talent landed them where they are.

 

Dallas has Robertson, Benn, Pavelski, Hintz, Heiskanen (all with 70pts or more) Seguin and Oettinger 

 

This is pretty much how most unbiased people thought this was going to go.

[Protec]

Quote

This is pretty much how most unbiased people thought this was going to go.

Pretty solid statement here but at the same time the Wild have over-performed and exceeded expectations. It might have been biased but not crazy to think the Wild could beat STL last year or Dallas thins year. The Wild truly shot themselves in the foot this playoffs.

Dallas scores a lot more. Their grit, Marchment, Benn, Domi, etc. were all able to break through offensively in the series despite MN's solid defensive core. MN really didn't have the top end talent Dallas does in the guys you mention but Dallas got goals from their depth better than the Wild too. Boldy is a nice player but not like Hintz. Kaprizov might be a superstar but that's not enough to equalize Seguin, Benn, Robertson, Hintz, and Pavelski who Dallas didn't even need.

MN had a chance. Game two would have been a good time to get ahead in the series. Game four, losing their minds after seeing their PP suck and watching every penalty result in Dallas goals was essentially confirmation that the series was lost. Yeah the refs weren't great but the Wild need to realize having a productive season where they win more than expected doesn't mean anything once the playoffs begin.

If they draft another elite Swede or little Euro guy in July I'm gonna be pissed.

Edited April 29, 2023 by Protec

[Mateo3xm]

18 hours ago, Beast said:

Kaprisov is better than anybody they have on their team in terms of pure hockey talent.

Our forward group is better defensively.  Max Domi, Marchment, Dellandrea, Dadonov, Fafska, Glendenning, are not better than our bottom 6.  Not even close.  They have more scoring depth in the top 6, but they also allow more goals.

Our defenseman are better from top to bottom.

I guess I beg to differ.

They have that guy Robertson who had 109pts as a 23 year old.

Mn is ranked 8th in pk at 80.22%

22nd ranked pp at 21.32%

6th for Goals against 

Ranked 23rd in goals for

 

Dallas is ranked 4th in the pk at 83.27%

7th ranked in pp at 26.26%

 3rd for goals against

7th for goals for

so statistically Dallas is just as good as we are defensively if not better. It really doesn’t matter if they have better depth players when you have Pavelski, Robertson, Benn, Hintz, Heiskanen, Seguin, Oettinger and Johnston.

 

there really isn’t much of an argument on who’s better, it’s not the Wild.

[Dances With Gophers]

19 hours ago, IllicitFive said:

Beginning of the year not many if any thought this team would even make the playoffs

False. They were projected by most to finish around third in the conference. It’s worth a Google. 

[Protec]

Yeah, good facts. 
 

Dallas handled MN quite easily. Hintz emerging as a top playoff scorer. Ottienger, who the Wild could’ve but did not draft emerges as a top tendy. 
 

They definitely deserved to win.

[Pewterschmidt]

9 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

Blaming Kaprizov or any one player for this team’s underwhelming performance is weak.

Deboer get's the credit for this one.  Absolutely mind boggling how he was able to put an invisibility cloak over 97, just like he did two years ago in Vegas.  I look forward to a great hockey mind explaining what scheme/strategy/trap/zone he used to accomplish this.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

20 hours ago, jabuyer said:

The team was built for the regular season, not the playoffs.

Gaudreau and Sam Steel are the only healthy centers they had from the regular season. The Wild had good wing depth after the trade deadline, but the center depth was lacking after those injuries. Hard for Guerin to know he'd be losing both JEE and Shaw for the postseason.

Hartman is playing, but he's not healthy. Eriksson Ek is their most important center, possibly most important skater. Kaprizov was playing through injury that would have sidelined him for multiple games in the regular season.

If they were healthy, I think this team was built to play in the postseason, but losing JEE and Shaw right before the playoffs put a serious dent into the heart and soul of the team. That's their 2 top PK centers, who had excellent chemistry with their PK partners.

The Wild were facing a team with great center depth and the Wild did not have a lot of center depth once they lost half of them to injury right before the playoffs. Dallas has some young talent, but they also have veterans who've been great producers and have seen a lot more battles in the postseason.

Among Wild skaters who were with the team the entire season, Eriksson Ek was #1 on the team in points/60 at even strength. He's also their #1 PK center and #1 PP center. His loss was too significant to overcome.

[mnfaninnc]

13 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

Even if he “musters something deep within himself” it’s a team game. Not many players are going to take over a game in hockey when hurt. There’s far more aspects to this team’s game that needs improvement.

 

Blaming Kaprizov or any one player for this team’s underwhelming performance is weak.

Kaprizov has proven he can perform in the playoffs before so I’m sure he’s batting a pretty significant injury.

I'm not blaming Kaprizov for this team's underwhelming performance. I'm pointing out that Kaprizov and Boldy are our stars and have to be counted on to produce points. The above quote did not come after a Puckett injury.  He was this team's hitting star, and he was struggling, just like Boldy and Kaprizov were now.  

Puckett mustered up the will to perform in game 6 and pretty much stole the game as much as any individual could in baseball.  Kaprizov and Boldy needed to do the same in this game 6 regardless of what they're dealing with.  They didn't, and I believe both will go into the offseason and train extra hard because in their own eyes their performance did not meet their standards.

There is no need to defend Kaprizov from criticism.  He'll do it on his own.  The kid wants to win worse than anyone on the team.  He didn't get it done in his eyes, he will be better. The other #97 has to do the same thing. It has taken him awhile, but he's several times had to go back home knowing in his eyes he needed to be better.  

[IllicitFive]

6 hours ago, Dances With Gophers said:

False. They were projected by most to finish around third in the conference. It’s worth a Google. 

I was more talking about the hockey wilderness vibe during the off season. Google also shows that a lot of that is based on building on a lot of career years and there being no if little regression, Greef line continuing to be one the most most dominant shut down lines. Were you also expecting a one year thing to be a career altering trend for many members of the team? Also see how the temperature was after the first month or so of the season, you know, beginning of the year.