Article: Minnesota's Draft Need Isn't Center. It's Upside

[Justin Hein]

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[Skolwild]

Position shouldn’t matter because you need good or great prospects to get an elite center through trade. The guy they draft won’t be here in the next two seasons regardless of position (barring somehow trading way up). In two seasons the cap is wide open to trade for a big name center if one is available. Draft the bpa, who can maximize their talent either for this team or in a trade for the missing piece.
 

this will be a lottery team next and probably the one after. 

[Protec]

I'm okay with this. Trotz makes a good point, supports your idea. At 21st will the Wild have an obvious target that could check superstar and center boxes? 

I just want to see MN more consistently get NHL players from the draft. Two or three in a 6-7 year period is simply not good enough. One per draft should be the baseline. MN always "needs time" for that to be true. Which tells me everything.

Danilil But, maybe. Elite Swede probably, I'm mentally prepared with expectations for the worst.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Kind of what I've been suggesting as well. Every team wants a top C, but if you end up getting the 11th best C when the 5th best winger is still on the board, are you really optimizing your pick?

Granted, some of the center prospects will be able to move to wing, but they may not excel at it the way someone could who's been focusing on the position for years and has high end skills & skating.

Didn't see Bankier listed above and he may be showing up in the NHL by that time as well. He'll turn 22 around the middle of the 24-25 season and could be getting some ice time within this window. Might be as close as Ohgren, who is almost exactly 1 year younger than Bankier.

Carson Lambos may be joining the defensemen that season too.  He and Bankier were born within 2 weeks of one another back in January of 2023, and I believe both will be starting this season with the AHL Iowa Wild. Merrill will be a free agent for the 2025-2026 season, so Lambos could replace him for that season.

[Justin Hein]

3 hours ago, Skolwild said:

Position shouldn’t matter because you need good or great prospects to get an elite center through trade. The guy they draft won’t be here in the next two seasons regardless of position (barring somehow trading way up). In two seasons the cap is wide open to trade for a big name center if one is available. Draft the bpa, who can maximize their talent either for this team or in a trade for the missing piece.
 

this will be a lottery team next and probably the one after. 

That's the big brain take -- the draft (and all talent acquisition) is an auction. You get it

[Justin Hein]

3 hours ago, Protec said:

I'm okay with this. Trotz makes a good point, supports your idea. At 21st will the Wild have an obvious target that could check superstar and center boxes? 

I just want to see MN more consistently get NHL players from the draft. Two or three in a 6-7 year period is simply not good enough. One per draft should be the baseline. MN always "needs time" for that to be true. Which tells me everything.

Danilil But, maybe. Elite Swede probably, I'm mentally prepared with expectations for the worst.

Most players take 3-4 years to hit the NHL after their draft season when you're picking in the range of a 1st round exit. In that timeframe, Minnestoa has selected Boldy, Beckman, and Dewar. Rossi and Khusnutdinov were delayed by COVID and Russia, I don't think that's the team's fault.

A lot of the lack of home-grown talent comes down to dealing away draft picks, so I'm hopeful Guerin's commitment to holding high picks can reverse this trend. 

[Justin Hein]

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Kind of what I've been suggesting as well. Every team wants a top C, but if you end up getting the 11th best C when the 5th best winger is still on the board, are you really optimizing your pick?

Granted, some of the center prospects will be able to move to wing, but they may not excel at it the way someone could who's been focusing on the position for years and has high end skills & skating.

Didn't see Bankier listed above and he may be showing up in the NHL by that time as well. He'll turn 22 around the middle of the 24-25 season and could be getting some ice time within this window. Might be as close as Ohgren, who is almost exactly 1 year younger than Bankier.

Carson Lambos may be joining the defensemen that season too.  He and Bankier were born within 2 weeks of one another back in January of 2023, and I believe both will be starting this season with the AHL Iowa Wild. Merrill will be a free agent for the 2025-2026 season, so Lambos could replace him for that season.

Bankier and Lambos were on the cusp of making this article, and they are high-floor guys who have a great shot at becoming regular NHL-ers. Bankier is already NHL sized and playing center, although he'll need to maintain that through the jump the AHL and the jump to the NHL. The future is bright, but it feels like there's a lack of first-line talent everywhere -- I think this is the year to go get it!

[Protec]

53 minutes ago, Justin Hein said:

Most players take 3-4 years to hit the NHL after their draft season when you're picking in the range of a 1st round exit. In that timeframe, Minnestoa has selected Boldy, Beckman, and Dewar. Rossi and Khusnutdinov were delayed by COVID and Russia, I don't think that's the team's fault.

A lot of the lack of home-grown talent comes down to dealing away draft picks, so I'm hopeful Guerin's commitment to holding high picks can reverse this trend. 

I don’t totally disagree because 2014-2018 picks weren’t well managed and it’s hurting the Wild now. I will say that examples of guys who step right into the NHL make it look worse that the Wild wait 3-4 years for every pick. I realize that’s the average case but the Wild currently haven’t proven much in a positive way. Which is why I choose to be generally pessimistic.

[Protec]

Let's all hope that Rossi is getting a full-grit injection from the Hendricks/McLeod/Bombardir Summer system.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

If the Wild can trade back with the Blues to come up with picks 25 and 29, I'd be interested in adding both C-David Edstrom(solid 2-way player, somewhat similar to JEE, but needs to add a little strength) and RW-Koehn Ziemmer(excellent scorer, particularly a PP weapon). Neither seems likely at 21, but both could go late in the 1st, or early in the 2nd.

Both are rated at least as high as the 21st best prospect by some "experts", so not completely out of the question for either to get selected there either.

[Justin Hein]

15 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

If the Wild can trade back with the Blues to come up with picks 25 and 29, I'd be interested in adding both C-David Edstrom(solid 2-way player, somewhat similar to JEE, but needs to add a little strength) and RW-Koehn Ziemmer(excellent scorer, particularly a PP weapon). Neither seems likely at 21, but both could go late in the 1st, or early in the 2nd.

Both are rated at least as high as the 21st best prospect by some "experts", so not completely out of the question for either to get selected there either.

In this trade scenario the Wild probably need to send back one of our second-rounders. I really wouldn't mind that, as it seems like there are going to be a bevvy of high-offense players available late in the draft. Many mocks I've seen include elite scorers with defensive blemishes falling hard. 

 

This could depend upon whether STL really feels like there's a talent drop-off in the early 20's. 

[Justin Hein]

16 hours ago, Protec said:

I don’t totally disagree because 2014-2018 picks weren’t well managed and it’s hurting the Wild now. I will say that examples of guys who step right into the NHL make it look worse that the Wild wait 3-4 years for every pick. I realize that’s the average case but the Wild currently haven’t proven much in a positive way. Which is why I choose to be generally pessimistic.

I get the defensive pessimism, but don't be afraid to get hurt again. I always find it's more fun to get excited than to be "ready for disappointment." If the prospects we have now bust, there will always be a new set to get excited about. Usually being hopeless and right is less fun than being excited and wrong. 

[Protec]

22 hours ago, Justin Hein said:

I get the defensive pessimism, but don't be afraid to get hurt again. I always find it's more fun to get excited than to be "ready for disappointment." If the prospects we have now bust, there will always be a new set to get excited about. Usually being hopeless and right is less fun than being excited and wrong. 

This almost sounds like you’re trying to convert curmudgeonism.

Persuasive positivity portends... Can be a coping-mechanism for someone who has been abused. You’re probably suffering from Wild draft PTSD and don’t even realize it. 🤔

[Justin Hein]

On 6/22/2023 at 8:26 AM, Protec said:

This almost sounds like you’re trying to convert curmudgeonism.

Persuasive positivity portends... Can be a coping-mechanism for someone who has been abused. You’re probably suffering from Wild draft PTSD and don’t even realize it. 🤔

Born and raised with Minnesota teams, who knows if I even know which direction is up anymore. 

[Protec]

^^^ 

A lot of credit to the GMBG era to soften the roller coaster ride. I have a better belief now that the Wild can eventually capitalize on small gains. The team hasn't sucked in the meantime. 

I'll take it.

[Up North Guy]

1 hour ago, Protec said:

^^^ 

A lot of credit to the GMBG era to soften the roller coaster ride. I have a better belief now that the Wild can eventually capitalize on small gains. The team hasn't sucked in the meantime. 

I'll take it.

Hopefully they can build a solid future during these lean years.

[Protec]

^^^
They’ll need to in order to keep Kaprizov in MN. Don’t want to plateau for too long or especially take a step back. If Rossi’s Summer goes good and he is able to get the Hanson Bro’s first shift hypnotized into his mind as part of the protocols, everyone is happy.

[mnfaninnc]

I have to completely disagree with Justin's take. WE NEED CENTERS! We also need RWs with RHSs. I get all the arguments about best player available etc... but the facts remain, we need centers. Don't like center #12, then go get one higher on your board. This is not a draft to be passive, we need to be aggressive and obtain 2 shiny new center prospects in the 1st round. 

If the last 3 playoff series have taught us anything, it's that we need centers. This was our main weakness (and size on the back end). We must change this and go get centers. 

I'll save the imbalance of the handedness for a different day, but this also needs to swing the other way. I don't believe that Guerin or Brackett really care about this aspect.