Article: Is A Lack Of Internal Competition Causing the Wild's Slow Starts?

[Justin Hein]

View full article

[Citizen Strife]

I do think the Wild was limited in what it could do, both via cap reasons (and Guerin's early contract extensions).  I don't know if it is truly all complacency.  Foligno and Maroon were great from the jump.  Hartman was kinda up and down (as per usual).

I definitely think a few key players (Kaprizov, Zuccarello, Middleton, and Gus) are certainly off for some reason.

I wish everyone played like Ek.  Doesn't matter what game nor opponent; he just plays possessed.  It is probably because he keeps getting punched in the face.

[Will D. Ness]

Too bad this turned into a protagonist piece for Addison.  I agree with the coaching stoicism though.

[Justin Hein]

6 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Too bad this turned into a protagonist piece for Addison.  I agree with the coaching stoicism though.

If you're referring to the one sentence I threw in at the end, I'm sorry that ruined it for you. 

[Justin Hein]

47 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

I definitely think a few key players (Kaprizov, Zuccarello, Middleton, and Gus) are certainly off for some reason.

This is what I'm referring to. All of these guys are outstanding players, but they have struggled to find their game early in the season. 

I wouldn't call any player out as complacent, but I think it may be the explanation for the edge they've been missing early in the season. It also explains Guerin's early-season moves this year and last year. 

[Will D. Ness]

39 minutes ago, Justin Hein said:

If you're referring to the one sentence I threw in at the end, I'm sorry that ruined it for you. 

Pretty much.  One thing to add, playoffs always expose the over conservative coaching across all sports.  Slow starts, poor playoffs, strong records against weak teams... all indicate a narrow coaching mindset.

The one exception here is GREEF.  I mean how many years have they tried to move Ek to some version of a finesse line and every year they fall back to the rock that we call GREEF in some form and it all clicks like a jigsaw piece.

I don't get it.  You would think that GREEF would be a crutch for a guy like Evason but instead it is the hammer he is constantly losing.

 

[Justin Hein]

37 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Pretty much.  One thing to add, playoffs always expose the over conservative coaching across all sports.  Slow starts, poor playoffs, strong records against weak teams... all indicate a narrow coaching mindset.

The one exception here is GREEF.  I mean how many years have they tried to move Ek to some version of a finesse line and every year they fall back to the rock that we call GREEF in some form and it all clicks like a jigsaw piece.

I don't get it.  You would think that GREEF would be a crutch for a guy like Evason but instead it is the hammer he is constantly losing.

 

It's tough. Eriksson Ek is so good you want to get him more minutes (I liked him last year with Boldy. ), but he's so valuable in a checking role that coaches will always come back to that for him. If you could get a whole line made of guys like him, it could do both. 

[WheelSnipeCelly]

15% through the season, so probably a bit premature to do this, but I thought it was as good a time as any to look around the NHL and see how all of the past Wild players are doing compared to the current roster. I'm sure I missed a few ex-Wild players, but current roster are marked in bold:
 

Players:

1. Kevin Fiala (LAK): 2G, 12A, 14P, -2
2. Joel Eriksson Ek: 7G, 6A, 13P, +2, 21 Hits
3. Mats Zuccarello: 3G, 10A, 13P, -5
4. Charlie Coyle (BOS): 5G, 7A, 12P, +3, 53.3 FO%, 14 Hits
5. Kirill Kaprizov: 4G, 8A, 12P, -8
6. Ryan Harman: 7G, 4A, 11P, +3
7. Nino Niederreiter (WPG): 5G, 5A, 10P, +5
8. Alex Tuch (BUF): 4G, 6A, 10P, -3
9. Pat Maroon: 2G, 7A, 9P, +3, 14 Hits
10. Nick Bjugstad (ARI): 2G, 6A, 8P, +5, 16H, 54.4 FO%
11. Jake Middleton: 2G, 6A, 8P, -7, 15 Hits
12. Marcus Johansson: 1G, 7A, 8P, +1
13. Marco Rossi: 5G, 2A, 7P, ±0
14. Erik Haula (NJD): 5G, 2A, 7P, ±0, 53.5 FO%
15. Jack McBain (ARI): 4G, 3A, 7P, +1, 33 Hits
16. Ryan Donato (CHI): 3G, 4A, 7P, +0
17. Jordan Greenway (BUF): 2G, 4A, 6P, +3, 21 Hits
18. Marcus Foligno: 2G, 4A, 6P, +4, 43 Hits
19. Matt Boldy: 1G, 5A, 6P, ±0
20. Brock Faber: 1G, 5A, 6P, +7
21. Jonas Brodin: 1G, 5A, 6P, +10
22. Dakota Mermis: 2G, 3A, 5P, -1
23. Carson Soucy (VAN): 2G, 3A, 5P, +7, 15 Hits
24. Connor Dewar: 2G, 1A, 3P, -4
25. Brandon Duhaime: 3G, 0A, 3P, 29 Hits
26. Jason Zucker (ARI): 2G, 0A, 2P, +0
27. Jon Merrill: 0G, 2A, 2P
28. Nicolas Deslauriers (PHI): 0G, 2A, 2P, -2, 39 Hits
29. Luke Kunin (SJS): 1G, 1A, 2P, -9
30. Matt Dumba (ARI): 1G, 0A, 1P, -6, 19 Hits
31. Mikael Granlund (SJS): 0G, 1A, 1P, -1, 53.6 FO%
32. Nico Sturm (SJS): 0G, 1A, 1P, -11
33. Ryan Reaves (TOR): 0G, 0A, 0P, -9, 29 Hits
     

Goalies:

1. Cam Talbot (LAK): .930 SV%, 2.03 GAA, 7W, 2L, 1OT
2. Marc-Andre Fleury: .898 SV%, 2.75 GAA, 3W, 3L, 1OT
3. Darcy Kuemper (WSH): .892 SV%, 3.07 GAA, 3W, 3L, 2OT
4. Kaapo Kahkonen (SJS): .876 SV%, 4.30 GAA, 0W, 4L
5. Filip Gustavsson: .871 SV%, 4.89 GAA, 2W, 3L, 1OT

A few things standout for sure:

• Definitely didn't expect Talbot to bounce back the way he has — he's currently ranked 7th amongst all goalies.
• Gustavsson is ranked below Kahkonen right now at 50th amongst all goalies. Definitely hoping he can turn it around and put this rough start behind him.
• Maroon is a much much much better and more rounded player than either Reaves or Deslauriers.
• San Jose leads the NHL now with 5x ex-Wild players: Kunin, Granlund, Sturm, Addison and Khakonen
• Arizona has 4-ish ex-Wild players (if we include McBain): Zucker, Dumba, Bjugstad, and McBain
• Foligno is ranked 3rd in the NHL with 43 hits. Really wish McBain had wanted to stay/play with the Wild, as he's ranked 18th in the NHL with 33 hits.
• Apparently Coyle and Niederreiter are still top contributors for their teams.
• Also, didn't expect to see Dumba, Granlund, and Zucker's contributions so low.

[Protec]

5 hours ago, Justin Hein said:

This is what I'm referring to. All of these guys are outstanding players, but they have struggled to find their game early in the season. 

I wouldn't call any player out as complacent, but I think it may be the explanation for the edge they've been missing early in the season. It also explains Guerin's early-season moves this year and last year. 

I wonder how much Guerin's moves light a fire under the players. He's said he wanted more "Eff you" out of Rossi and that seemed to work.(Rossi proved he could do it.) We know Guerin sent a message to Addison.(Little change.)

Maybe it doesn't hurt, he's got a reputation for getting rid of guys who don't meet the expectations. To a degree this is true but it seems like they give opportunity for players to correct. Younger guys perhaps less than vets. Last year, Jostitos got stale, Greenway began to turn yellow and wilt, and Steel was not polished enough to shine. The players needed a jolt perhaps but the biggest issue is the injuries and garbage special teams along with Boldy and Kaprizov slow starts. 

[mnfaninnc]

I don't believe it's a lack of internal competition as much as it's a lack of Evason being able to switch things up. We always complained about BB's blender, and I kind of liked that Evason kept lines together. However, there is penciling people into lines, there is inking them into lines, there is sharpying them into lines and there is writing them in stone.

Evason has chosen the etching in stone model. This worked until it didn't, it grew old and got stale. More importantly, it got predictable. Was there ever anything anyone could have done in camp to grab a vets spot? Probably not really. 

I agree with marinating young players in the A, but do not agree with them not taking gym days seriously. I think we've had too many players sharpied into the lineup in training camp and not enough opportunity. The results might have looked the same, but the process would have been different. Young players need to know there is a path to making a team. They're the hungry ones, they need to know there is a chance if they sparkle. Who really cares if you're the last 2 cuts in camp? Nobody cares, they want to know they've got a chance. Injury should not be the only open window.

I would be remiss in not saying that I believe that Evason's message has grown stale. A change needs to come soon. The players are no longer responding to the coach(s) and the only viable option right now is an interim coach. Probably on the other side of Sweden is the best time to do it. 

I'm also kind of hoping that on this trip, Shooter is going along, watching the team, and then heading to Russia to watch Yurov and Dino play. I think the players seeing their GM in the stands could help them, and know they are on his mind. 

 

[Up North Guy]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I don't believe it's a lack of internal competition as much as it's a lack of Evason being able to switch things up. We always complained about BB's blender, and I kind of liked that Evason kept lines together. However, there is penciling people into lines, there is inking them into lines, there is sharpying them into lines and there is writing them in stone.

Evason has chosen the etching in stone model. This worked until it didn't, it grew old and got stale. More importantly, it got predictable. Was there ever anything anyone could have done in camp to grab a vets spot? Probably not really. 

I agree with marinating young players in the A, but do not agree with them not taking gym days seriously. I think we've had too many players sharpied into the lineup in training camp and not enough opportunity. The results might have looked the same, but the process would have been different. Young players need to know there is a path to making a team. They're the hungry ones, they need to know there is a chance if they sparkle. Who really cares if you're the last 2 cuts in camp? Nobody cares, they want to know they've got a chance. Injury should not be the only open window.

I would be remiss in not saying that I believe that Evason's message has grown stale. A change needs to come soon. The players are no longer responding to the coach(s) and the only viable option right now is an interim coach. Probably on the other side of Sweden is the best time to do it. 

I'm also kind of hoping that on this trip, Shooter is going along, watching the team, and then heading to Russia to watch Yurov and Dino play. I think the players seeing their GM in the stands could help them, and know they are on his mind. 

 

One thing I think the Wild have been in past years is a very disciplined team. They were coached to play a very specific type of game whether it was LeMaire or BB behind the bench. They played that way under Deano up to the playoffs last year. Starting then they have been scattershot and wild eyed on the ice. Witness Moose running all ver the ice like a wild man (even though he was hurt or maybe because he was hurt). Also, the flagrant unneeded penalties they are doing now is killing them. Take lots of penalties even knowing you have a terrible PK?