Article: The Wild Are Showing Us What They Are

[mnfaninnc]

11 hours ago, Sviginak said:

But I think we could have won a couple of the losses with just a little bit of puck luck, which tells me we are not far behind the teams we have lost to.Watching Toronto and L.A. tonight confirms my suspicions. It is early in the season for everyone.  We will get better, will it be enough to move from tied for fourth in the Central to a much safer playoff position? I hope so and will keep watching.

On this, I remember something that was said during the Fletcher era: The Vets tend to take 20 games to get going. It's the young guys who are leading the 1st 20 games. If this were true, and I believe the article was talking about Koivu, Suter, Parise, and maybe some other aging vets, it would help explain a slower start. 

I also believe that as players age, their summer routines become more about maintenance, and many also have family obligations that take a lot of their time. I don't know how that worked with our guys, but the young guys are working out and trying to bulk up (in theory) and the old guys are trying to recover from the grind of the season. Of course, this is generally speaking.

[mnfaninnc]

The similarities between Rod Brind 'Amour and Mikko Koivu are interesting. When Carolina won the Stanley Cup, Ron Francis was already part of the front office, and Brind 'Amour was about to retire. Koivu has since retired for a couple of seasons and is toiling in the front office right now. 

I think Koivu did an excellent job of mentoring Granlund and Ek into the players they became. He's got some coaching talent. Brind 'Amour had the respect of every single player in Carolina's organization, he was a legend. Koivu has that same standing with us, maybe even more so with his lengthy captaincy. 

But, when would he get that coaching experience? I'd suggest he gets it right now by becoming director of player personnel-forwards unit. Here he would be emphasizing the 200' game, positioning in the defensive zone, draws and strategies, and many other details the kids don't get yet. He would travel around, spend time in Europe, with the Hearlanders and baby Wild along with developing guys like Rossi, Boldy, and further with Ek, and maybe a couple of visits to jrs. teams. 

We have a certain system we play in, and it's a system that is fully team oriented. For that to happen, everyone needs to be on the same page. Incidentally, we also need this same position with the defense. These kids need both team coaching and personal development coaching.  I think a good way for Koivu to start making his front office mark is to get involved in this way.  Perhaps he and Modano could work as a team where Modano could go over some offensive strategies and the importance of developing more footspeed.  They would be a great forward tandem mini clinic team, and both have to be respected due to their long and successful playing careers.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

We all know that Boldy and Spurgeon’s absence alone isn’t holding them back.

I do not know this. Spurgeon led the team in +/- by a mile last season while Boldy was 2nd in goals and 3rd in both total points and power play points.

You take the team captain top defenseman, along with the 2nd best goal scorer off of any roster, chances are pretty good they will not win as often. A team in that situation is likely to give up more goals and score less.

Allowing more goals and scoring less is an obvious recipe for losing. If Spurgeon and Boldy come back at full strength, it will likely have immediate ramifications for the entire roster and have them climbing the standings.

 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

13 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Dean, I get your venting. But let's get to reality. OCL demanded that his teams make the playoffs, so a tear down and build up was not possible from that standpoint. You'd need a different owner to follow that logic. 

Guerin took the job knowing that he had to field a competitive team. By definition, a competitive team is fighting for a playoff spot with 10 games to play. Guerin's teams have overperformed this standard each year. 

Guerin then had to draft better than everyone else somewhere in the late teens to early 20s. He caught a break with the pandemic which jumbled all prospects up and another break when Judd became available. Now, guys draft there do not typically become stars, but they do become solid players, but, due to the pandemic, we could get more stars out of that group. 

But, your beef is with the coaching, and that is mine too. Before we ever extended Dean, an extension I believe was earned, I pointed out his dismal track record in playoff series for his whole professional coaching career. Was he the right guy for the job? He earned his extension, but he was only the right guy for the job as long as he kept improving the kids. He hasn't been doing that lately. His teams don't win draws, don't kill penalties, don't score on must needed PPs (and sometimes refuse to shoot), and take periods off. Oh, lest we forget, they don't particularly like to practice either. 

I would say his message has grown stale, and he is not getting the response he needs from his players. So, if he's gone, Dean, this is the question, the only question: Who takes his place?????

I've got 2 names on my list: Mike Sullivan and Gerard Gallant. Gallant is available now, Sullivan is still a Penguin. Anyone else want to add a name? And I'd also suggest that Darby Hendrickson and Woods might have to be replaced as well.

I would throw in Joe Sacco and Meghan Duggan. Meghan has done amazing things with player development in New Jersey and Joe has been solid as an assistant coach on the Bruins for 9 years.

[raithis]

17 hours ago, Dean said:

Ek Brodin and Faber are only ones I see bringing  it consistently .

I'd add Rossi to that list.  He's definitely been pushing hard and digs out pucks.  He's not the passive player he was last year.  I wish he was a little bigger so he could body people a little more, but he seems to have taken a bit from Spurgeon on how to effectively defend at a smaller stature.  Spurgeon is still quite a bit ahead of him, but he's doing some of the same things.

Also, it's hard to say that Dewar isn't bringing it every shift too.

But yeah, that's only enough to put 5 on the ice.

I think others are definitely putting in effort, Kaprizov for instance.  But he's too much in his own head second-guessing everything he's doing that he isn't playing like he can.

[raithis]

15 hours ago, Protec said:

The Wild have to repair the special teams play and get some consistency going. Those things are making it look worse than it is, but...

Expecting good netminding and a PP goal more than 1 in 10, or a PK more than 1 in 3 isn't too much.

I think it was mnfaninnc that mentioned how we park Ek in the middle for cleanup on PPs and then put everyone else on the perimeter.  The opposing team boxes up and doesn't open up to give us any good lanes for shots.  I believe he hit the nail square on the head.  To solve this, I think we need another forward shifting in and out with Ek to keep opening the defense up (Hartman?, Boldy?).  If we are just going to keep shooting from the perimeter straight into a pile of defenders that barely has to move around, our PP is going to continue to be bad.

[mnfaninnc]

23 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Meghan has done amazing things with player development in New Jersey

This one came out of left field a little bit for me, and is definitely and out of the box kind of candidate. While hockey is hockey, there are some stark differences between the women's game and the men's game. 

So, I had to do a quick little tutorial on Wikipedia to find out a little more. Meghan does have a little coaching experience with Clarkson University, though it didn't say if it was an assistant role or the head role. I assume it was assistant since she was still actively playing. She's also had an administrative role with the player development in NJ. 

So, my questioning starts with: Are the players willing to accept and respect a female head coach? This candidate coach has very little coaching experience and none on the professional level. Will the players buy into a system designed by a coach with no experience? Regardless of gender here, this would be a huge question. 

So, Gooses, my question to you on this topic is what do you see in Duggan that I'm not seeing in the brief introduction? Please explain the details of "amazing things" in the player development.  For instance, I'm looking at Alex Holtz and wondering why he hasn't progressed so quickly. She's only been on this job for a couple of years.  

I think Joe Sacco is a decent target. I would have to imagine, though, that doing this in season would be difficult, so this would likely be an offseason change.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

This one came out of left field a little bit for me, and is definitely and out of the box kind of candidate. While hockey is hockey, there are some stark differences between the women's game and the men's game. 

So, I had to do a quick little tutorial on Wikipedia to find out a little more. Meghan does have a little coaching experience with Clarkson University, though it didn't say if it was an assistant role or the head role. I assume it was assistant since she was still actively playing. She's also had an administrative role with the player development in NJ. 

So, my questioning starts with: Are the players willing to accept and respect a female head coach? This candidate coach has very little coaching experience and none on the professional level. Will the players buy into a system designed by a coach with no experience? Regardless of gender here, this would be a huge question. 

So, Gooses, my question to you on this topic is what do you see in Duggan that I'm not seeing in the brief introduction? Please explain the details of "amazing things" in the player development.  For instance, I'm looking at Alex Holtz and wondering why he hasn't progressed so quickly. She's only been on this job for a couple of years.  

I think Joe Sacco is a decent target. I would have to imagine, though, that doing this in season would be difficult, so this would likely be an offseason change.

Yeah the development of Holtz hasn't been fantastic. But what about the Hughes brothers both Luke and Jack? Nico Hirscher development from 21-23? Kevin Bahl? Mercer from 21-23? 

Look at the progression of these guys from 21-23. All of them have come a long ways from their first year. It is a young team with what is clearly a great development program. I would necessarily put her at head coach but she would be great for the development of our up and comers. I don't think the newer generation reacts the same way to guys like Evason, Guerin and Mclean. The days of tough love are long gone and they don't seem to maximize the players anymore. 

Look at what Torts has done in Philly. He has a very modern style of coaching and that team has exploded, with the same players and mostly the same systems as last year. Look at how our team seemingly reacts to Dean in post season and to start the season. Not well. We start slow and often get down on ourselves. Deano's policy of not being in the room needs to change. He cannot just say the players are saying all the right things and leave it at that.

I think our GM and Coach are living in the past as evidenced by signing Fleury and Reaves, I don't think they are progressive and I don't think their style is conducive to fostering growth in our younger players. Guys with the right attitude coming in will thrive (Rossi, Boldy, Faber) but IMO we will miss out on some solid players with their hard line style.  

[mnfaninnc]

2 minutes ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Yeah the development of Holtz hasn't been fantastic. But what about the Hughes brothers both Luke and Jack? Nico Hirscher development from 21-23? Kevin Bahl? Mercer from 21-23? 

Look at the progression of these guys from 21-23. All of them have come a long ways from their first year. It is a young team with what is clearly a great development program.

Ok, but let's look at this a little closer. Some of these guys are top of the draft guys. Their talent alone has a lot to do with the success. I'll give you Bahl, I've liked him for awhile and wanted us to trade for him as a 2nd redwood on D. 

But where could she actually go? Anything we could offer at this point would be like a lateral move. If you're going to pluck someone, you've got to give them a better opportunity. I don't think we're replacing Guerin at this point. 

Now, if she were a free agent, well, that might change things. 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

19 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Ok, but let's look at this a little closer. Some of these guys are top of the draft guys. Their talent alone has a lot to do with the success. I'll give you Bahl, I've liked him for awhile and wanted us to trade for him as a 2nd redwood on D. 

But where could she actually go? Anything we could offer at this point would be like a lateral move. If you're going to pluck someone, you've got to give them a better opportunity. I don't think we're replacing Guerin at this point. 

Now, if she were a free agent, well, that might change things. 

Not every top of the draft guy develops though. NJD have had great success in not only drafting well but also developing well and I hardly think that has nothing to do with the Director of Player Development. Meghan has been a proven winner throughout her career at every level and is clearly bringing something with her to this program. 

Not saying she would be available or easy to get, only to say I think she could be a big asset with our prospect pool 

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Not every top of the draft guy develops though. NJD have had great success in not only drafting well but also developing well and I hardly think that has nothing to do with the Director of Player Development. Meghan has been a proven winner throughout her career at every level and is clearly bringing something with her to this program. 

Not saying she would be available or easy to get, only to say I think she could be a big asset with our prospect pool 

I like the outside of the box thinking on it.