Article: Guerin Used Octane Booster When the Wild Needed Premium Gas

[Tom Schreier]

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[mnfaninnc]

I really love the metaphor. However, according to Guerin, the prospect pool simply wasn't ready yet. Rossi was sent down, and essentially stayed there. He deserved to stay there, he played himself into position to stay there. His eye test up here and down there has been kind of ugly. So, instead of doing a model overhaul that wasn't ready yet, the Guerin R&D department delayed the new roll out at center. Small sample size, but it seems like the engineers of the Wild may have finally gotten it right.

Calen "Ole" Addison was another curious move. What happened behind the scenes? Well, a -18 on the scoresheet suggested his engine was misfiring. He did however accomplish more goals for everyone else on the ice, regardless of team. At first he was sent to the rafters for a realignment, but after mouthing off and showing in subsequent play that he had learned nothing, the Wild parked him in the garage for a complete overhaul. Maybe we get a muscle car out of him next year, but I doubt it, he still appears to be a Prius.

Guerin also traded for Addison while he was in jr. There is an expectation of growth in the game, especially on the defensive side once a player graduates from there. In Addison's final season there, his team didn't even make the playoffs. We may have seen the writing on the wall for him late last season when he was put on the 3rd pairing.....in Iowa. His attitude shows no interest in the defensive part of the game, at least the harder defensive part, he shows no interest in initiating contact (and what Prius would), and he systematically gets taken out of plays on defense as he gets clobbered behind the play leaving Merrill mostly helpless to defend against everyone else, and Merrill isn't the best out there either.

While our prospect pool is rated #1 in the league, that doesn't necessarily mean they are that close. The Wall needs another season, as does O'Rourke and Hunt in Iowa. Lambos and Peart haven't even gotten there yet. Same with Spacek and Masters. All of them need a little more beef. Faber made the jump but also needs about 10 lbs. of strength. I'd say Beckman and Walker are the closest of the forwards. Beckman improved a lot this season. Walker seemed to hit a wall in February and dropped off.  

All these players, except for Faber did not pass inspection and could not have their models released just yet. And, it appears that even Shooter may have lost some patients with the R&D department by not renewing their contracts for next season. So, we had to go 1 or 2 more years on the older models which should have been redesigned already.  

I don't think our gas was the problem, here, I think we got caught up in a technology problem with the new models. Once we work the kinks out of that, we'll be fine. Maybe, just maybe, we can partner with another brand to bring in what we really need, developed centers.

[Pewterschmidt]

It's confusing when Guerin loses his composure (negative Fiala statements last year while actively shopping Fiala, this year end press conference)

He's a proven winner as a player whose been thru the battles and has the character/grit/perseverence to over come.

To see him go full mean girl when asked questions by a reporter doesn't sync with who I think he is.

[Willy the poor boy]

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

It's confusing when Guerin loses his composure (negative Fiala statements last year while actively shopping Fiala, this year end press conference)

To see him go full mean girl when asked questions by a reporter doesn't sync with who I think he is.

He lacks communication skills, which is really bad for someone in his position, and that frustrates him which turns into anger. He's a Mike Tice junior, but Mike never lost his temper, he was a good soul, he fought the frustration of not getting his point across. That's my take on it anyway.

I really worry this will prevent him from being successful. Time will tell.

[Pewterschmidt]

6 minutes ago, Willy the poor boy said:

He lacks communication skills, which is really bad for someone in his position, and that frustrates him which turns into anger. He's a Mike Tice junior, but Mike never lost his temper, he was a good soul, he fought the frustration of not getting his point across. That's my take on it anyway.

I really worry this will prevent him from being successful. Time will tell.

I’m beginning to think this may be the case.  Maybe it’s not a fatal flaw that’ll keep him from assessing player talent properly, but may be fatal flaw as the leader of the organization.  
 

seems like he shouldn’t be making these mistakes into a microphone at this point in his career

[Protec]

I've liked Guerin better than the others but he is still a relatively new GM. He's made some mistakes but it's not horrible. I think there's plenty of room to improve. The pressure should increase as you've had time to make changes and build. I think Guerin has done really well with the roster and strategies but on the PR side it's been rough. 

For example, at the beginning of the year they promote Addison and Rossi in a PR video and then both players kinda didn't make it after all. That wasn't a good look and I said at the time, which is it, are they ready or not? Weird, but both players really didn't perform as productive offensive and defensive guys. Addison can run the PP pretty well but that's it. 

Finally the "Grit" video and subsequent playoff fizzle. This is a bad look and going into difficult years now with what I would describe as a leveling in the Wild's positive trajectory. It's never been able to spike up over round one but the cap and timing now forces GMBG to begin looking at what prospects are ready and it's not such a sure thing. 

Answering questions about being lovers when you're promoting yourselves as winners can be tough. I think the Wild need to keep expectations down and keep their mouths shut and keep trying to get better. Show the progress in what you do. Talk is cheap. Guerin should know winning cures everything. When you lose and languish there's gonna be criticism. 

[Lovehockey]

Guerin is arrogant GM who does not accept any criticism. He came with agenda to “change the attitude of the Wild” while what was needed is to improve the team. Even if buyouts were needed (that I highly doubt) with them he put the team on at least 4 years of hold. He screwed up with Fiala (last chance for this team to be at least entertaining). If u subtract Kaprisov which presents has absolutely nothing to do with Guerin this team is worse that the one he inherited. But the worst part from all of this that Wild has a very strong chance loose Kaprisov soon. With what Guerin is doing I don’t see any reasons for Kaprisov to stay. And with Kaprisov having no-trade clause starting after next season I don’t see why he should wait and request trade earlier. 

 

 

 

 

 

[mnfaninnc]

Love- What were your expectations going into the season? What were your expectations on Guerin when he took over? Were you in the blow it up camp, or the just a couple more pieces camp?

[Lovehockey]

minfuninnc if this is question for me thank you very much. I am new to this forum and very happy to have conversations about Wild.

my answers when the chronological order.

1. When Guerin became a GM I was probably one of the few who was not on the “Billie we trust” thing. My expectations was that when unproven GM is coming to the team that make a playoff almost each season before his appearance is not to try to break everything but at least try to see if what can be done to move team to the next level.

2. For this season my expectation was that Wild will miss playoffs. I thought that they will not be able to score and they became much less talented. I still think I was right on that. I did not expect them to become 2:1 team basically getting back to Lemaire style

3. The only option now is 1. bring young players 2.Find center for Kaprisov even if this will require to trade half or the team. Wild will not be able to win anyway but they should create line which support their star. Then he may sign with you next contract and with salary cap gone Wild will be able to move forward.

[Protec]

^^^

I think this is a pretty good way of looking at things. It really doesn't matter who liked Guerin before getting hired. To this point he's avoided being burdened with any new bad contracts. Compared to previous GMs this has to be considered a win. Sure he's made some controversial decisions like the buyouts but he hasn't given away picks and prospects. A few future considerations here and there but overall adding some picks or gaining back through trades for what was given up elsewhere for a net positive drafting. No doubt they identified that as an issue coming in after Fenton. 

Continuing to make the playoffs has always been a double-edged sword for MN. I keep beating the drum about drafting and cite examples of good players picked around 20th. The Wild just never get one. Bill Guerin has managed to turn a floundering Wild club under Fenton with zero direction into a perennial playoff team who gets more than expected from mid-level talent.

There is still an obvious lack of talented young players emerging because of the results of 2016-2022 draft years. Boldy made it but everyone else who didn't or who the Wild are still waiting for have inhibited progress apart from a big trade. Using Dumba as our own rental wasn't bad especially because I don't think there was a lot of big offers coming in.

I believe the Wild need to continue to find guys like Nyqvuist and Johannsossn to keep filling holes with affordable veterans. Meanwhile the search and timing needs to arrive at a realistic center solution the Wild can afford. Trading a player to get a top line center isn't easy because of the lack of results from the draft. Guerin is in an impossible position. Regardless of the buyouts, Parise & Suter aren't centers. Kunin never materialized, Sturm was not a top line guy, and Rossi hasn't shown NHL translation. So with or without cap penalties, with or without Fiala the Wild don't have a center solution. The draft is where that talent should have some from. Since the Wild haven't got it, there's good reason for GMBG to be testy. He's getting to a stage where the progress is stagnating. It's reflecting poorly on him even though he's still being handicapped by previous GMs which I imagine is frustrating when you're in the midst of a current shortfall. What have you done for me lately is a question he should be prepared for. This is made into a big deal about arrogance or inability to accept criticism but in I think it's more of an urgency to produce that manifests as frustration when the rubber meets the road. The bottom line is the Wild lost, the coach and players didn't rise up and amaze everyone. The draft picks are languishing and the budget is tightening.

I think Guerin has been able to make good deals and find solid players. I think as GM or as fans the continued patience is important. Like rungs on a ladder, you have to take it one step at a time. Kaprizov is still under contract and the Wild have a chance to get better before next season. There's facets of the team that are in very good shape. The GM could potentially do some tweaks and the Wild compete again to win the Central. I think the culture and organizational quality is there and it's gonna boil down to young players stepping up. For the Wild to get deeper down the middle, they are gonna need to make a big deal. We all want that to happen but not for an exorbitant cost or at the expense of depleting an aspect of the team. Patience necessary.