Article: The Marat Khusnutdinov Countdown Starts Now

[Tony Abbott]

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[Tony Abbott]

Just want to leave this here. I wanted to fit it into the article, but it got cut for time:

 

[jessail]

Thanks for article. Didn’t realize might have K this summer. Is there a decent chance he ends up centering Kirill next season with Ek centering Boldy and JOJO and Rossi as 3rd line? (Move Hartman to wing somewhere)

i realized you discuss this … guess looking for even more thoughts and rampant speculation lol thx 

Edited May 10, 2023 by jessail
Fixed

[Imyourhuckleberry]

45 minutes ago, jessail said:

Didn’t realize might have K this summer.

I think you may have misinterpreted something in the article.

It appears that Khusnutdinov will play the 23-24 season in the KHL, and possibly be available in the summer of 2024.

The roster could look a bit different going into 24-25, given that the Wild have just 7 forwards under contract for that season at present, and a couple could be traded by then, so speculating on where someone might play at that time seems a tad premature.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Daniel Briere does seem like a relatively reasonable comp for Rossi, even if that looks like and unattainable upside comp at this point.

Briere was a bit more goal scorer, but similar in size. I still think Rossi's game will end up more like Mikael Granlund's at the NHL level, but added strength and skill over the next 2 years could change things a bit.

Granlund had a couple decent assist years at ages 21 and 22, but didn't exceed 8 goals until his age 23 season. Starting with that age 23 season through age 30, Granlund has 396 points in 592 games. That is roughly 55 points/82 games, and that 55 points would be around 17.5 goals and 37.5 assists.

Though slightly ahead of Rossi's development, Briere hardly did anything in the NHL before age 23, then scored 603 points in 701 regular season games from his age 24 season through age 34(roughly 30 goals and 40 assists per 82 games), so I think some patience with Rossi is definitely warranted.

Zuccarello did not play in the NHL at all prior to age 23. He then averaged around 18 goals and 38 assists per 82 games prior to being paired with KK97.

Rossi doesn't turn 23 until September of 2024.

[mnfaninnc]

I'm not just tracking Khus, but also Yurov. I'm wondering if these are eventually Kaprizov's linemates? I also wonder if Boldy-Rossi-Beckman are an eventual line? 

But '24 is as soon as we might see this happen. And, once the kids do come up, where does that leave some of our current players? They'll need to be thinned out. I could see something like a Duhaime-Ek-Freddy line, and a Shaw-Dewar-Milne line. (That was for Pewter)

This particular scenario is heavily favoring the left handed shot, and leaves no room for any prospect flaming out. It also starts out pretty inexpensive. This would allow for some influx of top 6 talent, if needed, in '25. At that point, could it lead to an offersheet?

Edited May 11, 2023 by mnfaninnc

[Protec]

Will Knudee become a bigger goal scoring threat? 

Mogilny was an outstanding goal-scoring Russian who had some of the same qualities. Of course he scored over 50 NHL goals at times. We can only hope it translates to the NHL. I like the trajectory so far. The skating and ability to create 2v1s is something I've noticed from Knudi highlights that is something he generates via directional change or jump into space. A little bit like a Barzal or Brayden Point. If he keeps getting stronger and shows up for 2024-25 on the same upward trend the Wild will be glad to have made something of the Kunin pick from 2016.