Article: Wilderness Walk: A Winning Streak!

[Thomas Williams]

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[Citizen Strife]

I'm starting to think Addison isn't long for the team, whether they dump Merrill and Goligoski first.  Spurgeon, Brodin, and Faber are obviously better.  Mermis is proving to have just as much offensive skill, with less defensive lapses.  I'm not sure they'd get rid of 3 d-men all at once.  However, I don't know if Addison has what it takes to hold up.  Faber and Rossi made tremendous improvements.  Addison just made incremental improvement in a "prove-it" sort of situation.

[Protec]

Next up NYR and DAL. The Wild will need to get a win or two to keep the good thing going.

I mentioned this last night but looking at the back end and seeing Faber, Mermis, Hunt, and Addison is quite a departure from Spurgeon, Dumba, Goligoski, and Merrill.

Good enough last night so, not a gripe but can rookie D-men be expected to stop the Rangers or Stars offense? Big test for the new group. Is it telling that a couple wins come with Merrill in the press box? He and Mermis on the PK was not working at all there for a few games. I thought Mermis should have hit Wahlstrom last night on the rush when he scored but not too bad given that was the final goal the Wild allowed.

Can Gus get redemption at MSG and put the last Rangers game behind him?

[Will D. Ness]

I'm not sure Addison is NHL calibre at this point.  He just doesn't offset his defensive liability with any real offensive prowess... and it looks like his inefficiencies on the D end are not going to be overcome anytime soon.  

Mermis has gained confidence and is finding his niche.  He has outperformed Merrill by a good margin, but ceiling looks like 7D to me.  

Middleton is starting to get back to form, still needs to bring the physical game a little more but it's clear he needs a partner with talent and speed.  

Brock of Ages is stellar and should be in the running for the nonexistent Calder for D.

Brodin is actually been struggling a little without Dumba.  His role has changed and there seems to be a little chaos that he hasn't quite tamed yet but is getting there.

Hunt hasn't really played enough yet.  I would like to see him get more time.

 

 

[MrCheatachu]

3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

I'm starting to think Addison isn't long for the team, whether they dump Merrill and Goligoski first.  Spurgeon, Brodin, and Faber are obviously better.  Mermis is proving to have just as much offensive skill, with less defensive lapses.  I'm not sure they'd get rid of 3 d-men all at once.  However, I don't know if Addison has what it takes to hold up.  Faber and Rossi made tremendous improvements.  Addison just made incremental improvement in a "prove-it" sort of situation.

I've been impressed with Faber's offensive skills.  Dude has no qualms about walking the puck into high danger areas, and also has a pretty keen sense of when to dish.  His stick in the defensive zone has been surprisingly good.

I agree with you that he's likely to get move this season.  Still have some team control with RFA, but I also don't think he's earned the raise he's likely to get.  That said, he's a Guerin guy who Guerin brought over from PIT in the Zucker trade...and we all know how Guerin has a tendency to pay 'his guys' for being 'his guys' rather than on performance.

Was interesting to note last night that Addison wasn't on the PP1 as Dean was rolling 5 forwards on PP1 (Kap, Ek, MoJo, Rossi & Boldy), which was absolutely scary watching Boldy trying to play D on the short-handed rush.  I've not been a fan of Addison, and this team can't afford 'specialists,' but he's a clear upgrade over having two forwards on the blue line on the PP. 

[Up North Guy]

52 minutes ago, MrCheatachu said:

I've not been a fan of Addison, and this team can't afford 'specialists,' but he's a clear upgrade over having two forwards on the blue line on the PP. 

I really think Faber would do a better job on the PP right now. I worry that he will get worn down by too many minutes in his first year but I believe it needs to be done. It will help when Spurgeon returns and the team will have two full starter caliber d-pairs.

[Protec]

Some nice guesses early today here gents. We were looking at the defense core and 4 of 6 were of little experience last night.

Liked: Brock of ages. 👍

Bogosian, no grit injections or development needed. Also, extremely strong beard. Huge upgrade over Addison's molestostache. 😁