Article: The Wild Have A Blueprint To Survive Jonas Brodin's Injury

[Tony Abbott]

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[Burnt Toast]

“Brock Faber has yet to play 30 NHL games.” Mind blowing stat and extremely hard to believe. Gotta give a shout out to BF then add the Wild scouting department…. Nice job.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

I think you can make a case for the Wild being a top 8 team in the Western Conference when at full strength. They haven't been at full strength much this season, and there are a lot of mediocre teams currently in front of them.

The 4 teams below the Wild appear to be clearly the 4 worst in the conference. A handful of teams ahead of them seem passable, including Nashville, Arizona, St. Louis, and Calgary. Possible Winnipeg falls off a tad as well.

If the Wild can tread water through Brodin's return, and have good health for several weeks after that, they could make a push for a playoff spot.

[Luke Sims]

The Faber for Calder propaganda must remain strong. 

Great work, Tony.

[mnfaninnc]

I'd like to say that in the lead part of the article, claiming Brodin as irreplaceable is a stretch. The facts were presented below that, the Wild can replace him with Spurgeon and Faber. Ek is the most irreplaceable guy simply because we have nobody who can do what he can do in the organization. Kaprizov is 2nd. 

This is not a no love for Brodin post. It is simply to admit that the Wild have some decent defensive players that can cover. But where we are in trouble is with Goligoski and Merrill.

I don't know if they've done it yet, but putting Brodin on LTIR is probably the 1st transaction that should take place. The 2nd is putting Merrill on waivers to be sent down to Iowa. The 3rd is putting Goligoski up in the press box behind the "break glass in case of emergency" area. And, I don't think he's far from that. Did anyone else notice the displeasure on Hynes' face when he took that holding penalty in the 1st?

Goligoski started out the night as Spurgeon's partner on the top pairing. 12:21 in TOI suggests he quickly relinquished that position. So, on to the other steps. Step 4 is recalling Daemon Hunt and placing him with Bogosian on the 3rd pairing.  Hunt would be the new Merrill except faster. Step 5 is recalling Lambos. Lambos pairs with Faber, a preview of the pairing to come for many years. You never know when your number will be called and even though he's struggled a bit in the A, sometimes you just get your opportunity when it arises. 

I think it is a solid short term plan to get these kids acclimated and debuted. Look, they're not going to be perfect, and there will be growing pains, but they will be better for it. Both Hunt and Lambos have NHL size and are upgrades over Goligoski and Merrill. Now is their time. Come in, give them the minutes and a decent runway, and let them play and gain experience. 

Goligoski is too small, now too slow, and too much of a defensive liability. Shooter, take off your past glasses and assess where he's at now. You should have had this talk with him before the season began: "It's over, come join me in the front office." You know the player is usually the last to know it's over. 

Lambos was one of the last cuts in '22. He stayed pretty long in camp this year too. He gives the Wild a better chance to win. Putting him with a steady Faber increases his chances of success. Plus, if we're going to make any noise in the postseason, our 3rd pairing needs to be upgraded! That left side defender #3 is the place where we can improve. Bogosian will be a solid partner for either of them. 

Shooter, I agree with the marinating plan, but sometimes, you just have to take the kids out of the kiddy pool and let them swim with the adults. This is that time!

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

“Brock Faber has yet to play 30 NHL games.” Mind blowing stat and extremely hard to believe. Gotta give a shout out to BF then add the Wild scouting department…. Nice job.

The Brock-ta-puss

[Tony Abbott]

Brock Me Amadeus

[Pewterschmidt]

Brock-ta-mom

[Pewterschmidt]

Other than Boldy lighting the lamp, I didn't see much natural chemistry between the new look lines.  36 becomes almost 100% invisible.  Not saying the line blender isn't necessary from time to time.  I hope he leaves them like this for 5 more games to get a real test, but didn't see much chemistry forming on night one.

[Patrick]

Brodin is so good he got Dumba 6 million a year. Don't underestimate how much his game facilitates his partners. While I want Faber to be the our Kaprizov on defense (and I believe he will) as much as the next guy, don't underestimate how easy it is to play with Brodin.  Dumba is playing like a bottom pair guy in Phx. 

[Disco Strangler]

33 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Brodin is so good he got Dumba 6 million a year. Don't underestimate how much his game facilitates his partners. While I want Faber to be the our Kaprizov on defense (and I believe he will) as much as the next guy, don't underestimate how easy it is to play with Brodin.  Dumba is playing like a bottom pair guy in Phx. 

Look how much better Middleton has been playing since they paired him up with the Captain. Coinkydink? Hardly..

[Dean]

I couldn’t watch game last night because lapanta and walz have to be one of the worst broadcast teams.  Lapanta -Carter are good. Lapanta - Lou nanny are perfection.  Walz just runs his mouth the entire game about exaggerated things from 20 years ago. IMO he is the most annoying color guy in the league. A paid cheerleader that’s just fills the air with nonsense. 
    Lapanta and walz should have some respect for the game and call it.  We need an Eddie o, Keith jones or a Darren pang . Not a guy who is in love with hearing himself stutter and talk 

[Citizen Strife]

The team survives by throwing Evander Kane into a bus...oh wait...

[Protec]

First of all, liking the expression on Brodin's face in the pic for this article. Has sorta a Bradley Cooper/Wet Bandits kind of vibe.

Secondly, #7 would be a heavyweight in the Brock-ta-gon...

 

[Protec]

Every Faber shift it's like the Wild have erected a Brockade around their net. He's got the stamina to go the distance and deliver a Brockout-punch in the final round. If Don Cherry wasn't canceled in Canada he could produce a video in MN called Brock-em, sock-em hockey no problem. From out West in Benson to Blaine or Brooklyn Park, B-Boys know who's Brock'n and lock'n for the Wild. Whachu say to that?

[Pewterschmidt]

^^^

[Wildy Coyote]

Hope Brodin recovers quickly. Nice breakdown. I’ll just add that Zach Bogosian doesn’t always get mentioned but I believe it’s because he just gets the job done most nights without always showing up on the scoresheet. He was a 3rd overall pick as a dman with great skating skills who knows how to move the puck generating relatively few turnovers. Knows how to recover and get back in the play quickly. He also does the job in front of the net and along the boards. He reads the play well and lets the opposing players know he’s there. I believe he’ll be a great asset for this team. He had increased minutes in the last game and was a +2. I don’t believe he’s seen a minus game since joining the club . 

[Quebec1648]

The Wild are going to be in trouble without Brodin, because they have no depth on defense. Guerin has been reluctant to give the young guys in Iowa a chance, so we get folks like Goligoski and Merill.

The other major problem, is that Guerin preaches Grit and psychical toughness, yet other teams continue to take liberties with Wild players. Why is Evander Kane taking out Brodin? Why did Stanley take down Kaprizov? It's because the other teams don't fear the Wild, and if anything, they sense weakness. The Wild need to change how they go about things, or other teams will continue to take advantage of the Wild.

[Protec]

Guys, you might wanna crown my ass "Grandmaster Grit" for the plethora of jam-related comments, but it isn't true.

They've all been jokes because too many Wild players aren't the more important combination of big, fast, AND skilled. 

"If the grit don't fit, you gotta acquit." 

The Wild are who we thought they were. When healthy, with team hockey, the Wild can be very good. Edmonton is the same kind of team. So is Toronto, they're teams trying to get to what it REALLY takes which is heaviness. 

The Wild aren't a heavy, fast, skilled team overall, they're trying to combine elements to become what requires a roster like Vegas has. 

The whole league is trying to do the same thing. MN simply has a variety of good players who are just decent if you averaged them.(Like put Kaprizov with Merrill and you get a guy who's rated like a 6 out of 10.)

Rossi might be skilled but will he wear down Ryan O'Reilly or Chandler Stephenson? Honest question and no dig against Rossi. 

Bottom line is the Wild keep cheap-talk'n grit but what they really need is speed & skill with heaviness and true toughness. Guys who practice knife-fighting and bull-riding, not golf'n all Summer and going to pride events for facial media.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, Protec said:

Guys who practice knife-fighting and bull-riding

[Protec]

Plus if they are dating a redheaded woman you can be sure there's sufficient grit mentally. 

I think the Wild GM has to find one Chris Pronger type defenseman from Hardass, Ontario. They need a center or wing like Steve Yzerman who can take a slapper to the face and come back to add a 1G/1A. On top of that, they could use a Dave Andreychuk or Bill Guerin type guy who is big and heavy and skilled with a scoring prowess. Like a Jason Robertson of today.

If the Wild could upgrade to that today with three guys, they'd be a contender perhaps but that is so far from any possible reality that we just have to deal with injuries, cap penalties, draft insufficiencies, and veteran placeholders. 

The problem is MN planned to be a playoff team and don't have tradable guys too much if they realize they might miss it for sure. They're gonna need to make January and February look really good to erase their bad start.

[mnfaninnc]

19 hours ago, Dean said:

I couldn’t watch game last night because lapanta and walz have to be one of the worst broadcast teams.  Lapanta -Carter are good. Lapanta - Lou nanny are perfection.  Walz just runs his mouth the entire game about exaggerated things from 20 years ago. IMO he is the most annoying color guy in the league. A paid cheerleader that’s just fills the air with nonsense. 
    Lapanta and walz should have some respect for the game and call it.  We need an Eddie o, Keith jones or a Darren pang . Not a guy who is in love with hearing himself stutter and talk 

Obviously you have never heard much from Tripp Tracy. He is the gold standard of which all color criticism is based upon. That said, I do prefer Carter over Walz. Nanne is also a breath of fresh air, but, I believe he has about a 2 game shelf life before it gets old. 

In coach Lombardi's words, well then "what the hell is going on out there?" There has been a deterioration in all sports with, specifically, the color commentator. However, it has also bled through to the play by play guys being below average. 

My theory on this is that the great play by play guys had some very good radio experience and had to learn how to describe what their eyes saw into what others ears could hear on the fly. Today's broadcasts lack that experience. Color is even less experienced. In the rush to put female voices up front, that's all they needed, was to be female. A name helped like Leah Hextall. But, she didn't/doesn't have refined talent yet gets to call national games. It's not just female, it's the males also, especially former athletes. They don't have to pay their dues in radio or lower ranks, they get to learn on the fly in the majors and are, for the most part brutal!

There are very few Tony Romos out there who pick it up right away. Walz has been doing this for awhile now, and yet there is little improvement. Carter didn't go through prior training, but he has gotten better along the way. 

Like the officiating getting a lot of turnover in the past few years, some of the great broadcasters have also ridden off into the sunset. Many broadcasters simply do not offer much enhancement to the game itself, almost warranting just turning down the sound. There is no excellence anymore in television broadcasters and it's a real shame. How do you solve it? You'd think the networks would have a minor league training program. They don't, they just try to steal someone else's talent, so nobody is developing these guys. 

Great point Dean, now, how does this get solved? Did you have an idea?

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, Protec said:

Bottom line is the Wild keep cheap-talk'n grit but what they really need is speed & skill with heaviness and true toughness. Guys who practice knife-fighting and bull-riding, not golf'n all Summer and going to pride events for facial media.

This is a summary of my whole issue with our development program. How can you truly expect a Ryan O'Rourke to play a devastating brand of hockey at 180 lbs.? He may be able to do that for a short while, but will mostly be on the injured list. It just doesn't translate and won't be effective against a 6'3" 215 lb. wing. 

Spacek, Masters, Lambos, Hunt, all need to fill out and add strength. Spacek and Masters both need about 20 lbs. Lambos and Hunt maybe 10. Same thing with Beckman, he'd be here if he got to 210 all strength. But, for reasons unknown, it was not mandated in the A to grow and bulk up. Ultimately, players have to do this through their own decision, but it needs to be spelled out clearly to the players: Bulk up to what is needed to compete in the N or you won't see the opportunity. 

Beckman and O'Rourke have seen several seasons where they've had that opportunity and they have failed to take advantage of it. And, this is the easy part that any player can do.

Developing better skill may be what they are focusing on. It takes less physical energy to do this, but also needs to be done. Personally, I feel like golf is a good cross train for hand-eye coordination, as would be lacrosse, but you've also got to put the time in the gym and in skating. I applaud Boldy for making it to the Canadian tournament this past summer, but in training for that, he also needed to be lifting and getting his skating lessons. Was there enough time in the day to do everything? Well, take care of your day job first! His play to start the season would indicate he did not.

One more thing on this that needs to be emphasized. I've been on record saying we do not need the top picks to develop a contender. It can be done picking in the 20s if you choose correctly, they fit the organization, AND you hit a cluster of picks in a 3 year period. Making sure to bulk up in this group has to be stressed. They need to be bigger and badder than the other guys in the league because they will never be quite as skilled. They can be really effective in the right system, must play structured and know how to bury their chances which will likely be less. What makes it fun is that everyone in the cluster is working together for the same thing! Seeing the blood and sweat from your teammates here adds to everyone having each other's back.

[Quebec1648]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Obviously you have never heard much from Tripp Tracy. He is the gold standard of which all color criticism is based upon. That said, I do prefer Carter over Walz. Nanne is also a breath of fresh air, but, I believe he has about a 2 game shelf life before it gets old. 

In coach Lombardi's words, well then "what the hell is going on out there?" There has been a deterioration in all sports with, specifically, the color commentator. However, it has also bled through to the play by play guys being below average. 

My theory on this is that the great play by play guys had some very good radio experience and had to learn how to describe what their eyes saw into what others ears could hear on the fly. Today's broadcasts lack that experience. Color is even less experienced. In the rush to put female voices up front, that's all they needed, was to be female. A name helped like Leah Hextall. But, she didn't/doesn't have refined talent yet gets to call national games. It's not just female, it's the males also, especially former athletes. They don't have to pay their dues in radio or lower ranks, they get to learn on the fly in the majors and are, for the most part brutal!

There are very few Tony Romos out there who pick it up right away. Walz has been doing this for awhile now, and yet there is little improvement. Carter didn't go through prior training, but he has gotten better along the way. 

Like the officiating getting a lot of turnover in the past few years, some of the great broadcasters have also ridden off into the sunset. Many broadcasters simply do not offer much enhancement to the game itself, almost warranting just turning down the sound. There is no excellence anymore in television broadcasters and it's a real shame. How do you solve it? You'd think the networks would have a minor league training program. They don't, they just try to steal someone else's talent, so nobody is developing these guys. 

Great point Dean, now, how does this get solved? Did you have an idea?

Training of broadcasters may be a bit lacking, but supply is also an issue. Back in the 1950's and 60's, there were fewer broadcast positions to fill, since we didn't have as many teams / tv networks. When you have as many broadcasting positions as they do now (plus the radio gigs), there is simply not enough talent to fill every position, so some spots will be filled with sub par broadcasters.

Theater / Radio is an excellent place to start before moving on to film or tv, but we need to also rethink how many broadcaster spots we need. 

[Tony Abbott]

6 hours ago, Protec said:

Bottom line is the Wild keep cheap-talk'n grit but what they really need is speed & skill with heaviness and true toughness. Guys who practice knife-fighting and bull-riding, not golf'n all Summer and going to pride events for facial media.

Everyone in the NHL golfs, the only reason you seem to hold it against Boldy is he's good enough at the game for you to hear about it.