Article: The Wild's Veteran Extensions Revealed Their No. 1 Priority

[Justin Hein]

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[Luke Sims]

If this team had not been so crazy good at drafting, one has to wonder what the outlook would be. Imagine if there was no Yurov, Dino, or Ohgren on the way. Then what would the future look like? Craig has never wanted to rebuild. Judd Brackett is the real unsung hero of this team with his ability to keep this team's future bright. 

[Luke Sims]

*Trying to figure out how the Wild are going to afford any outside free agents now that Foligno and Hartman got massive raises that will hamper this team down the line*

[Justin Hein]

3 minutes ago, Luke Sims said:

If this team had not been so crazy good at drafting, one has to wonder what the outlook would be. Imagine if there was no Yurov, Dino, or Ohgren on the way. Then what would the future look like? Craig has never wanted to rebuild. Judd Brackett is the real unsung hero of this team with his ability to keep this team's future bright. 

Brock Faber and a bunch of old dudes

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

This is where I find the messaging from  Guerin to be contradictory. It is suppose to be about f*cking winning. How do we expect essentially the same team to take us to a cup. You can't make a cake if the ingredients aren't there.

The progress of the young guns that have found spots on this team has been fantastic. Dewar, Duhaime, Boldy, Rossi, Faber and even Addison are all showing flashes or more of why they should be in the line up. Now we are staring down the barrel of ~10M to sign Dewar, Duhaime, Addison, another defender, goalie and forward. We may see one or more of these young players with potential for improvement sent down the road for nothing or price themselves out of our range with a good year. Personally I would rather see Duhaime and Dewar retained than more 30+ year old veterans whose upside is, at best, limited and whose chance to decline is high.

Hopefully Jesper is ready @ limited cap hit, one defensive prospect can step up on an ELC and maybe even another forward prospect. That leaves 7M to sign the other three which is reasonable provided none of those three has a breakout year. However, banking on your young guys to stagnate instead of progress does not seem like a winning formula. That cap math certainly doesn't leave room to bring in impact free agents.

Not saying all three deals were bad. Zucc and Hartman were both reasonably priced. Just asking how these deals are going to further our quest for a cup, especially with the NMC's. I don't see Foligno or Hartman pricing themselves out of Minn this year, Dewar and Duhaime just may. Making us older and slower is not the way to take home the Cup.

[Dean]

So option 3 means bills been here almost a decade with nothing to show for it but well paid friends . Chicago has so many 1st and second round picks. When are option 3 rolls around Chicago will have a team of 1st and second rounders. We will have a couple 20 th overalls. 
    The wild don’t play meaningful hockey.. it’s only meaningful to Craig to get two home playoff games for profit. Not to win just to get his gate money and kappy  jersey sales. It’s just grifting . 
    Why didn’t we  sell off some players at trade deadlines over past few years  to acquire some picks? Why doesn’t are gm makes bold moves like Vegas or Florida.? Hartman is not a # 1 center .why do the wild spend more time making videos than trying to upgrade or improve their team?  I guess lots of people must think like Wes walz. . A 7 -4 loss showed lots of effort he says. Finding success in failure . I saw an undersized team getting pushed around by big centers and d while our d men  show they are going to get exploited all year with there lack of defensive skill. 
   Billy re upping all these guys tells me they’re never going to sniff the 2 nd round. 

[Greenbean]

The worst part of being a fan of a MN team is the other fans. Idk why as a group we accept the same crap every year. Stop buying tickets and see how quickly the owners of these teams change their tune. They won't be able to move, because no other state in this country is happy with the roll over and die mentality. There is a reason other markets get championships, their fans demand it, and the owners don't make money when the fans stay home. If I was drafted by the wild, I'd demand a trade day one. There is almost no path to the NHL in this organization. 

[Justin Hein]

1 hour ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

This is where I find the messaging from  Guerin to be contradictory. It is suppose to be about f*cking winning. How do we expect essentially the same team to take us to a cup. You can't make a cake if the ingredients aren't there.

It's likely that they think they can win now and in the future. I personally don't think the team is there yet, but most professional organizations simply can't wait to try and push for a cup. It's how they're wired. 

[Dean]

Honestly the wild are only about getting to 1st round to get those 2 home game’s for profit. It’s only about business not winning the round. Hearing Modano is around you would hope he would talk sense into bill about players and contracts. Instead bill re upped players who disappear in playoffs. So to me it says Craig is not willing to risk not getting two playoff home games over upgrading his team.  There is no winning culture in Minnesota. It’s grifting for profit. Just pay walz and parish to go spew propaganda. Don’t believe your eyes believe them. Haha. 

[M_Nels]

33 minutes ago, Greenbean said:

The worst part of being a fan of a MN team is the other fans. Idk why as a group we accept the same crap every year. Stop buying tickets and see how quickly the owners of these teams change their tune. They won't be able to move, because no other state in this country is happy with the roll over and die mentality. There is a reason other markets get championships, their fans demand it, and the owners don't make money when the fans stay home. If I was drafted by the wild, I'd demand a trade day one. There is almost no path to the NHL in this organization. 

You said it all in your first sentence...give me a break.

Edited October 20, 2023 by M_Nels

[Up North Guy]

A seemingly forgotten aspect of these contracts is the ability to move them. It would not be easy but it is doable (except Zuccy's I think). If that is Bill's plan all this goes out the window and is nothing more than a hedge against the timeline for player development.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

35 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

A seemingly forgotten aspect of these contracts is the ability to move them. It would not be easy but it is doable (except Zuccy's I think). If that is Bill's plan all this goes out the window and is nothing more than a hedge against the timeline for player development.

Zucc has a modified 10 team NTC this year followed by NMC for the remainder. Hartman and Foligno have NMC retroactively this year and for the rest of their contracts. Even Freddy got a 15 team NTC on his deal.

Literally the only people we can move without their blessing is JEE, Boldy, Kap, Rossi and the Dewy Bros. All our young players we are hoping to make a core out of💩

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

1 hour ago, Justin Hein said:

It's likely that they think they can win now and in the future. I personally don't think the team is there yet, but most professional organizations simply can't wait to try and push for a cup. It's how they're wired. 

We've already seen how that plays out. We can stay a middling team with a first round exit year after year.

[Justin Hein]

1 hour ago, Dean said:

Honestly the wild are only about getting to 1st round to get those 2 home game’s for profit. ... Bill re upped players who disappear in playoffs. So to me it says Craig is not willing to risk not getting two playoff home games over upgrading his team.  

I don't know if 2 extra games is the motive here. 3 home playoff games is an extra 7%. Significant, but not enough to build your whole business strategy around. It's far more likely that (if driven by profit only) it has a lot more to do with keeping the fan base engaged for those first 41 games. 

It seems far more likely to me that the team just doesn't think tanking is good for it's Stanley Cup chances. They're more concerned with winning every day, building a winning culture, and getting lucky on a deep run. You can disagree with that philosophy all you like. It didn't work for Florida. 

[Justin Hein]

12 minutes ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

We've already seen how that plays out. We can stay a middling team with a first round exit year after year.

I won't argue with you about this -- I'm somewhat inclined to agree. In the meantime I encourage all fans to enjoy the hockey we get, even if it's only 86 games a year. 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

3 minutes ago, Justin Hein said:

I won't argue with you about this -- I'm somewhat inclined to agree. In the meantime I encourage all fans to enjoy the hockey we get, even if it's only 86 games a year. 

I can absolutely agree to this! I still watch every Wild game, and cheer on their every victory. Starting to doubt the trust in BG is all. 

Thanks for a great article Justin!

[B1GKappa97]

On 10/20/2023 at 12:02 PM, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Now we are staring down the barrel of ~10M to sign Dewar, Duhaime, Addison, another defender, goalie and forward. We may see one or more of these young players with potential for improvement sent down the road for nothing or price themselves out of our range with a good year. Personally I would rather see Duhaime and Dewar retained

Wtf are you talking about? 
A) those are 4th liners. Yeah they’re good 4th liners but so was Sturm and somehow we replaced him, right? 
B) Addison isn’t going to cost a ton. Maybe $3M tops. 
C) they’ve been drafting defenders high in the draft since 2020 and those guys will be able to come in and replace Goose and Merrill. That’s not getting old and slow. It’s not going to cost them millions. 
D) Wallstedt is clearly the future starting goalie for this team after MAF retires following this season.

Chill out bro. The panic about the cap and future of the team is completely unsubstantiated.

I get that the deals for Zucc/Foligno/Hartman lock us into much of the same core but are you also aware this core has led us to back to back 100 point seasons?? 103 points last year was the 3rd best total in total team history and that was without Kevin Fiala and no Faber until the very end of the year. No Rossi either. 

I get we lose in the first round, and that sucks, but both times they were up 2-1 in the series before collapsing. The players seem okay, the question is coaching tbh. Dean has gotten outmaneuvered in back to back series. 

We’ll see how he does this year but I don’t think we’re in nearly as much of a bind as you’re playing it out to be. He may not be the long term answer at HC, but that’s a fairly easy remedy.

Roster wise they’ll be okay.

Edited October 22, 2023 by B1GKappa97

[Up North Guy]

15 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

B) Addison isn’t going to cost a ton. Maybe $3M tops.

The way Addison got rag dolled by Jenner last night I really don't see a spot for him going forward. His claim to fame is as the QB of the PP. Not sure I am seeing his value there either.

[Will D. Ness]

11 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

The way Addison got rag dolled by Jenner last night I really don't see a spot for him going forward. His claim to fame is as the QB of the PP. Not sure I am seeing his value there either.

I'm pretty sure that they are telling Addison to just shoot it from the blue line on the PP anyways even though his shot is weak.    He moves the puck ok but then again so could half the team.  His defense is so bad is he really better than a forward in that QB role? 

The guy is pretty much filler IMO.  Not even close to worth 3M let alone a roster spot. 

[Been There Done That]

If this is the way the season is going to go, all these extensions will have provided will be a top 5 pick each of the next 3 years. Unfortunately there will be no room on the roster. Unless they sell off those without an NT...but those are the guys who are young, skilled, fast, have a ton of upside and are really giving it their all. Oh well.