Article: Locker Room Culture Should Factor Into Wild's Decision-Making

[Mikki Tuohy]

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[Pewterschmidt]

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[Quebec1648]

Foligno and Dumba are good people, but they are not part of the teams future. This team is not going to be a legitimate cup contender for several years, so Foligno and Dumba will be old and washed up by then, and in decline mode. Even Spurgeon will be in decline mode by then.

Let the younger guys start a new leadership group. Kaprizov, Ek and either the Gus Bus or the Wall could be the new leadership group. I selected these names based on who is currently in the organization and who is likely to be a big name contributor to this club going forward. If the Wild make roster moves, then that list could be changed.

[jgodwin17]

14 hours ago, Quebec1648 said:

Foligno and Dumba are good people, but they are not part of the teams future. This team is not going to be a legitimate cup contender for several years, so Foligno and Dumba will be old and washed up by then, and in decline mode. Even Spurgeon will be in decline mode by then.

Let the younger guys start a new leadership group. Kaprizov, Ek and either the Gus Bus or the Wall could be the new leadership group. I selected these names based on who is currently in the organization and who is likely to be a big name contributor to this club going forward. If the Wild make roster moves, then that list could be changed.

This is very true, that said I think it is EXTRA important to maintain a good locker room culture because of that. We have mostly young players coming up and we are working on building the Wild of the future. Having a positive locker room culture and guys the young players can use as role-models for off ice behavior (and on ice work ethic) is extremely important. Good leaders help to develop good future leaders, and when the pieces are eventually in place in Minnesota locker room chemistry will be an extra edge.

Good culture will make this a place people want to play, want to stay, and it can be passed through multiple iterations of the team. Showing those young guys how to be great leaders will in turn help them be great leaders for the new young guys years down the road.

[mnfaninnc]

I believe the past 2 drafts will go a long way in determining this. The truly dominant teams seemed to be built around a nucleus that were drafted in a 3-4 year window where teams hit on 3-4 picks in 2 close drafts. 

So, in this, The Wall, Lambos, Ohgren, Yurov should all be good contributors. Out of those 2 drafts, we also need another pick to step up, like Petrovsky, Haight, Spacek, Bankier, Masters, Milne, Peart, Lorenz and Healey. We won't get all of them, we just need a couple of these later rounders, and from looking, to me, I'd say Milne, Peart, Spacek look like the best odds right now.

Outside of that this coming draft, and the 2 prior drafts probably will have a lot to say. So, in the Boldy draft, we get Firstov, Beckman as possibilities. In the Rossi draft, we get Khus%^&*, O'Rourke, and I'm including Faber, Hunt and Novak. And then who knows about this upcoming draft. 

Finding a group of guys in the same age group for some reason tends to form some sort of magic, especially if you get a couple of stars out of that group. 

These will be the guys leading us forward. And if they turn out, I would suggest targeting guys from these past 3 drafts in trades. Most know each other from international and national competitions. I think Fletcher tried to do that with the 2010 draft, but in reality, he could have spread it out around 4 years. 

Also, one factor that helps determine closeness: winning.

[Up North Guy]

22 hours ago, Quebec1648 said:

Foligno and Dumba are good people, but they are not part of the teams future. This team is not going to be a legitimate cup contender for several years, so Foligno and Dumba will be old and washed up by then, and in decline mode. Even Spurgeon will be in decline mode by then.

Let the younger guys start a new leadership group. Kaprizov, Ek and either the Gus Bus or the Wall could be the new leadership group. I selected these names based on who is currently in the organization and who is likely to be a big name contributor to this club going forward. If the Wild make roster moves, then that list could be changed.

Ok, I again have the opinion that the Wild will have a poor season next year. Too many things have to go perfectly to succeed. That said, maybe it is time to start unloading guys that will not be here for the turn around. Dumba is already gone. Moose and Zuccy are entering the final year of their contracts. Goose is entering his last year. There are others that I am not remembering right now. It is the time to get the young crop in Iowa into the NHL. They need the seasoning and the team needs to see exactly what they have. With the cap crap the team has two years to retool and get the experience they need.