Article: Wilderness Walk: Unable To Douse Flames

[Thomas Williams]

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[B1GKappa97]

Well geeze Hartman, don't tell him afterward! 

If you're gonna goon it up, just embrace that unapologetically. 

[FredJohnson]

JFC.

[Protec]

Boldy is not a gamebreaker.

Without Kaprizov and the Norwegian Hobbit MN's offense is impotent. 

The balance MN had just isn't there this year. A couple years of things going right have caught up to them. 

MacGuyver comments about a beaten down Wild barely making the playoffs and losing hits home. 

I'm no longer interested in MN trying to just make playoffs with all the injuries. Ride out the year and try to get a good pic. 

I mean it's New Year and you're second to last in the division.

[Pewterschmidt]

After watching last nights MN Wild: Junior Varsity edition who's of the belief that the next wave of leaders is going to come from our current AHL roster?  Sammy "one of us" Walker is not the answer.  I think he's too light and NoJo brings more sandpaper.  Jake Tortellini is just fun to say, but not fun to watch.  Perennially hurt Beckman?  Believe it when I see it.  Duhaime has always under impressed me.  He's gone at the deadline.  If we get a 3rd I'd be very happy.  I'm even beginning to turn on Dewar.  He just isn't getting over the top yet.  Now he's only 24 so if we can retain him for cheap I'd say yes, but if we can get a 2nd then ba-bye.  That's hard for me to type.

[mnfaninnc]

16 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

After watching last nights MN Wild: Junior Varsity edition who's of the belief that the next wave of leaders is going to come from our current AHL roster?  Sammy "one of us" Walker is not the answer.  I think he's too light and NoJo brings more sandpaper.  Jake Tortellini is just fun to say, but not fun to watch.  Perennially hurt Beckman?  Believe it when I see it.  Duhaime has always under impressed me.  He's gone at the deadline.  If we get a 3rd I'd be very happy.  I'm even beginning to turn on Dewar.  He just isn't getting over the top yet.  Now he's only 24 so if we can retain him for cheap I'd say yes, but if we can get a 2nd then ba-bye.  That's hard for me to type.

I have to wonder about some of the other guys on the list, even with designations. They might also end up being traded as we see what we have in Iowa. The designation guys would, essentially, get to pick their destination. I'm talking about guys like Fleury and Goligoski. They may not even want 1 more shot at a title?

Pewter, Beckman isn't always hurt. He did have an LBI before Christmas. He picked a lousy time to get one too, as I think he might have been a callup.

You are right about Sammy Walker, fringe depth guy at best. He had 1 notable shift last night, 1. You cannot stay on the roster doing that. You need to stand out for good reasons. Both Dewar and Rossi had tough games filled with mistakes. I love the way Duhaime plays, but he's playing himself to a trade in about a month. Something is missing, and I'd suspect he's playing through something.

As I noted earlier, there are ways to compete even down the cap space we are. However, one of them is to have your best players stay healthy. If that doesn't happen, you're toast. A second one is to have plenty of overperforming players due to cap. This is accomplished from ELCs and bridge deals. Sometimes you get lucky and a guy signs for a lot with term but it will be a great deal on the back 9 (Boldy).

So, right now we've got Faber, Rossi who are overperforming on ELC. But the reluctance to put in other ELC players is hurting. Yet, the other ELC players did not do enough to earn a spot. Specifically, they needed to be larger players and they simply didn't do enough gym work (or, perhaps, the right kind of gym work). This applies to guys like Beckman, O'Rourke, and maybe even Hunt to some degree. I simply cannot comprehend how this message did not reach their ears!

The trick of having your best players stay healthy and your young players overperform their contracts typically comes from youth. This is where I believe Shooter made mistakes. I can certainly understand loyalty being a 2-way street. However, where are we going to put these young, cap overachievers? We could have signed 1 of those 3 UFAs to be. And, getting back Vladamir Firstov should be a little more of a priority now. 

With our injuries, the Baby Wild are sliding down the standings too. Would it be better to bring some up after the TDL and the selling of players? I'd say probably. Hynes has got a lot of teaching to do.

[mnfaninnc]

2 things struck me last night.

1. We had to play a really tight checking game with no mistakes. We had plenty of mistakes in the 1st period which sunk our chances. As the game went on, though, when Calgary entered the Wild zone, they tried to get something to happen in the middle of the ice, and played a 3rd forward really high which gave us trouble. However, when the Wild entered the Calgary zone, they tried to get pucks deep, get them on the boards, and shot from the perimeter for I don't know what purpose. Of course, as soon as I noticed this, Maroon breaks out 3 on 1 and buries it from in front of the ice. Yet, we then went back to the perimeter strategy. It would seem to me that if you are short of talent, trying to create something like Huberdeau did on the 2nd goal would be the way to go. You don't just want guys standing in front, you want them moving. We don't do this and I'm curious as to why?
2. Near the end of the game we pulled our goalie. Calgary cleared their zone, Johansson picked up the puck and then for reasons unknown just slapped one in around the boards completely giving up possession. I cannot think of a more idiotic play than to do that. Naturally, Calgary got possession, gained the red line and scored on the empty net. Picking on Johansson here is not smart, it could have been anybody on this roster, but why would you make such a low % play like that, especially when you are the best puck carrier into the zone? Why is slapping it in around the boards even a good play? You have to go in, work hard just to regain possession when you're desperate. As soon as I muttered "that was stupid" Calgary gained control and easily left the zone. 

I certainly hope that Hynes points out this play and calls it idiotic. We have no business playing hot potato at that point in the game, and if you do, you have simply recused yourself from playing in that position again. 

I was happy to see that Hynes took Goligoski off of the Spurgeon pairing. That has been a brutal pairing, and Bogosian is a much better partner for Goligoski. I didn't mind having Mermis play with Spurgeon, I'd prefer Hunt to get some extended time, though. I think it would do Hunt a lot of good playing with a good partner like Spurgeon, and at this point, longterm has to be something we look at.

I was also very disappointed with Matt Boldy. I hope this is a lesson to the young stud, you need to focus on hockey in the offseason. Golf was fun, and I'd encourage crosstraining with it, but at the expense of strengthening and skating that needed to happen and looks like it didn't. Boldy needs more purpose in his stride. He needs more bulk for the corners and endboards, he also needs edge work to smooth out some of the things he wants to do. You can see now that he did not do these things this past summer and it is evident. If it were me, I would encourage him to spend a summer with Ek. In fact, most of this young core should do that. 

Boldy should have a huge summer of training this year!

Is all lost for this season? We are closer to the bottom of the conference than the top. We cannot compete with the current cap/injury situation, and I don't know about anyone else, but after losing O'Hearn, I'm a little worried someone's going to do the wrong thing and we're going to lose a player. This season isn't over yet, but, it is slipping away pretty fast. 

[MNCountryLife]

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

After watching last nights MN Wild: Junior Varsity edition who's of the belief that the next wave of leaders is going to come from our current AHL roster?  Sammy "one of us" Walker is not the answer.  I think he's too light and NoJo brings more sandpaper.  Jake Tortellini is just fun to say, but not fun to watch.  Perennially hurt Beckman?  Believe it when I see it.  Duhaime has always under impressed me.  He's gone at the deadline.  If we get a 3rd I'd be very happy.  I'm even beginning to turn on Dewar.  He just isn't getting over the top yet.  Now he's only 24 so if we can retain him for cheap I'd say yes, but if we can get a 2nd then ba-bye.  That's hard for me to type.

I've always like the effort Duhaime and Dewar put forth.  Every year I have watched Ek get better.  I was hoping Duhaime and Dewar would do the same.  They haven't.  Both look similar to last year.  They are both still 4th line players that are not capable of playing up on the line up.  BG needs to judge them appropriately.  If they have reached their maximum potential they need to be gone... and I agree with you.  It makes me sad to type that.  I had high hopes for both.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

2 things struck me last night.

1. We had to play a really tight checking game with no mistakes. We had plenty of mistakes in the 1st period which sunk our chances. As the game went on, though, when Calgary entered the Wild zone, they tried to get something to happen in the middle of the ice, and played a 3rd forward really high which gave us trouble. However, when the Wild entered the Calgary zone, they tried to get pucks deep, get them on the boards, and shot from the perimeter for I don't know what purpose. Of course, as soon as I noticed this, Maroon breaks out 3 on 1 and buries it from in front of the ice. Yet, we then went back to the perimeter strategy. It would seem to me that if you are short of talent, trying to create something like Huberdeau did on the 2nd goal would be the way to go. You don't just want guys standing in front, you want them moving. We don't do this and I'm curious as to why?
2. Near the end of the game we pulled our goalie. Calgary cleared their zone, Johansson picked up the puck and then for reasons unknown just slapped one in around the boards completely giving up possession. I cannot think of a more idiotic play than to do that. Naturally, Calgary got possession, gained the red line and scored on the empty net. Picking on Johansson here is not smart, it could have been anybody on this roster, but why would you make such a low % play like that, especially when you are the best puck carrier into the zone? Why is slapping it in around the boards even a good play? You have to go in, work hard just to regain possession when you're desperate. As soon as I muttered "that was stupid" Calgary gained control and easily left the zone. 

I certainly hope that Hynes points out this play and calls it idiotic. We have no business playing hot potato at that point in the game, and if you do, you have simply recused yourself from playing in that position again. 

I was happy to see that Hynes took Goligoski off of the Spurgeon pairing. That has been a brutal pairing, and Bogosian is a much better partner for Goligoski. I didn't mind having Mermis play with Spurgeon, I'd prefer Hunt to get some extended time, though. I think it would do Hunt a lot of good playing with a good partner like Spurgeon, and at this point, longterm has to be something we look at.

I was also very disappointed with Matt Boldy. I hope this is a lesson to the young stud, you need to focus on hockey in the offseason. Golf was fun, and I'd encourage crosstraining with it, but at the expense of strengthening and skating that needed to happen and looks like it didn't. Boldy needs more purpose in his stride. He needs more bulk for the corners and endboards, he also needs edge work to smooth out some of the things he wants to do. You can see now that he did not do these things this past summer and it is evident. If it were me, I would encourage him to spend a summer with Ek. In fact, most of this young core should do that. 

Boldy should have a huge summer of training this year!

Is all lost for this season? We are closer to the bottom of the conference than the top. We cannot compete with the current cap/injury situation, and I don't know about anyone else, but after losing O'Hearn, I'm a little worried someone's going to do the wrong thing and we're going to lose a player. This season isn't over yet, but, it is slipping away pretty fast. 

Mnfan I assume you create these tomes in a word doc and then copy/paste.  I assume you’re not on mobile

[MNCountryLife]

My faith in our prospect pool is dwindling.  Too often I see players coming up that are not strong enough, lack the skill... or both.  I don't care what the record is for the IA Wild.  They are supposed to be prepping these young men for the drive up I35... Strength, speed, hockey IQ and nutritional habits.  Some of these players have been in IA for a couple of years and are still lacking in multiple areas... how will they ever transition to the NHL... and yes... I blame BG for that.  Drafting and trading is only a portion of his job.  He needs to ensure that these players are progressing in the areas they need.  

Most of our rookies skipped the A or were barely there...

[Pewterschmidt]

59 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Too often I see players coming up that are not strong enough

I think Benito Guerin is aware of this and that's why we've drafted Foligno types (Ohgren, Stramel, RasmuKampu) who are built to play the big boy NHL game and might lack the hands/vision/etc (see: Zuccy) of the water bug type players.  He's betting that some of these lumberjack types can grow their game enough to fill middle six roles creating space for the water bugs (Khus, Zuccy, Haight, Heidt, Rossi) to create offense.  I like this strategy.  The question is whether or not we're drafting the correct lumber jacks.  We'll get to find out soon enough. 

Boston is uniquely skilled at identifying the water bugs who can play with the big boys (Marchand, Potias, etc).  Meatheads are easy to find in the aftermarket, so if you spend a high pick on Stramel, Stramel MUST develp into a middle six contributor.  Otherwise you spent a 1st round pick on Duhaime.

Edited January 3 by Pewterschmidt

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Meatheads are easy to find in the aftermarket, so if you spend a high pick on Stramel, Stramel MUST develp into a middle six contributor.  Otherwise you spent a 1st round pick on Duhaime.

Looking like the Wild could be regretting that choice over David Edstrom.

Quote

Big centermen who succeed on both ends of the ice are always in high-demand and I expect he will be drafted in the mid-20s on day one of the draft. If he can improve his offense and fill out his frame a bit, Edstrom would profile pretty similarly to Joel Eriksson Ek, who is a great two-way center in the NHL. -- TheHockeyWriters.com

 

[WheelSnipeCelly]

3 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

My faith in our prospect pool is dwindling.  Too often I see players coming up that are not strong enough, lack the skill... or both.  I don't care what the record is for the IA Wild.  They are supposed to be prepping these young men for the drive up I35... Strength, speed, hockey IQ and nutritional habits.  Some of these players have been in IA for a couple of years and are still lacking in multiple areas... how will they ever transition to the NHL... and yes... I blame BG for that.  Drafting and trading is only a portion of his job.  He needs to ensure that these players are progressing in the areas they need.  

Most of our rookies skipped the A or were barely there...

I agree that the Wild do need to figure out how to better prepare their Iowa prospects for the jump to the NHL. Of the 5 most recent grads from prospects to the NHL (Rossi, Faber, Boldy, Addison, and Dewar), the 2 most successful so far have spent the least amount of time (or no time at all down in Iowa): Faber and Boldy (NCAA). Rossi is the best most recent grad from Iowa, but took a couple years to develop and build up the confidence/skillset for the jump.

You do have to take into consideration 2020 was Guerin / Brackett's first draft (RD1: Marco Rossi, RD2: Marat Khusnutdinov, RD2: Ryan O'Rourke, RD3: Daemon Hunt, and RD5: Pavel Novák). Rossi made the jump this year, Khusnutdinov will hopefully make it next year, O'Rourke and Hunt have only been in Iowa for 1 season (and D typically take a bit longer to develop), and this is Novák's first season in Iowa due to undergoing cancer treatment. Below is a breakdown of where each of the prospects since 2020 are playing currently:

2nd Season with Iowa Wild:

• Jesper Wallstedt (21yo)
• Daemon Hunt (21yo)
• Ryan O'Rourke (21yo)
• Michael Milne (21yo – has been out with injury entire season so far)

1st Season with Iowa Wild:

• Pavel Novák (21yo)
• Carson Lambos (20yo)
• David Spacek (20yo)
• Caedan Bankier (20yo)
• Kyle Masters (20yo)

KHL/SHL Players:

• Marak Khusnutdinov (KHL - 21yo)
• Danila Yurov (KHL - 20yo)
• Liam Öhgren (SHL - 19yo)

NCAA/USports Players:

• Josh Pillar (USports - 21yo)
• Nate Benoit (NCAA - 21yo)
• Jack Peart (NCAA - 20yo)
• Aaron Pionk (NCAA - 20yo)
• Ryan Healey (NCAA - 19yo)
• Jimmy Clark (NCAA - 19yo)
• Rieger Lorenz (NCAA - 19yo)
• Charlie Stramel (NCAA - 19yo)

OHL/WHL Players:

• Servác Petrovsky (OHL - 19yo) — was leading the WJC-20 tournament in points
• Hunter Haight (OHL - 19yo)
• Rasmus Kumpulainen (OHL - 18yo)
• Kalem Parker (WHL - 19yo)
• Riley Heidt (WHL - 18yo)

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

16 hours ago, WheelSnipeCelly said:

I agree that the Wild do need to figure out how to better prepare their Iowa prospects for the jump to the NHL. Of the 5 most recent grads from prospects to the NHL (Rossi, Faber, Boldy, Addison, and Dewar), the 2 most successful so far have spent the least amount of time (or no time at all down in Iowa): Faber and Boldy (NCAA). Rossi is the best most recent grad from Iowa, but took a couple years to develop and build up the confidence/skillset for the jump.

You do have to take into consideration 2020 was Guerin / Brackett's first draft (RD1: Marco Rossi, RD2: Marat Khusnutdinov, RD2: Ryan O'Rourke, RD3: Daemon Hunt, and RD5: Pavel Novák). Rossi made the jump this year, Khusnutdinov will hopefully make it next year, O'Rourke and Hunt have only been in Iowa for 1 season (and D typically take a bit longer to develop), and this is Novák's first season in Iowa due to undergoing cancer treatment. Below is a breakdown of where each of the prospects since 2020 are playing currently:

2nd Season with Iowa Wild:

• Jesper Wallstedt (21yo)
• Daemon Hunt (21yo)
• Ryan O'Rourke (21yo)
• Michael Milne (21yo – has been out with injury entire season so far)

1st Season with Iowa Wild:

• Pavel Novák (21yo)
• Carson Lambos (20yo)
• David Spacek (20yo)
• Caedan Bankier (20yo)
• Kyle Masters (20yo)

KHL/SHL Players:

• Marak Khusnutdinov (KHL - 21yo)
• Danila Yurov (KHL - 20yo)
• Liam Öhgren (SHL - 19yo)

NCAA/USports Players:

• Josh Pillar (USports - 21yo)
• Nate Benoit (NCAA - 21yo)
• Jack Peart (NCAA - 20yo)
• Aaron Pionk (NCAA - 20yo)
• Ryan Healey (NCAA - 19yo)
• Jimmy Clark (NCAA - 19yo)
• Rieger Lorenz (NCAA - 19yo)
• Charlie Stramel (NCAA - 19yo)

OHL/WHL Players:

• Servác Petrovsky (OHL - 19yo) — was leading the WJC-20 tournament in points
• Hunter Haight (OHL - 19yo)
• Rasmus Kumpulainen (OHL - 18yo)
• Kalem Parker (WHL - 19yo)
• Riley Heidt (WHL - 18yo)

You forgot Firstov and Guskov in the KHL, Sam Hengtes who is injured in the AHL and both Raska and Cajkovic who are AHL guys we got in trades but are both fairly young. 

[B1GKappa97]

16 hours ago, WheelSnipeCelly said:

I agree that the Wild do need to figure out how to better prepare their Iowa prospects for the jump to the NHL. Of the 5 most recent grads from prospects to the NHL (Rossi, Faber, Boldy, Addison, and Dewar), the 2 most successful so far have spent the least amount of time (or no time at all down in Iowa): Faber and Boldy (NCAA). Rossi is the best most recent grad from Iowa, but took a couple years to develop and build up the confidence/skillset for the jump.

Well I mean that's because Boldy made it clear quickly in his NHL opportunities that he was ready for the jump. Same with Faber. 

Rossi did not, so he got sent back down. After spending the offseason working out in the facilities, he looks MUCH stronger on the puck than he did at any point last season. He simply wasn't ready from a physical standpoint, it wasn't so much that his skillset was bad. 

I think there's a case to be made they need to re-examine their strength and conditioning of these guys down in the A.

[mnfaninnc]

21 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Mnfan I assume you create these tomes in a word doc and then copy/paste.  I assume you’re not on mobile

I really don't. But, I am on a PC with ad block on. I don't think I could handle typing on a mobile device. Sometimes I'll read the articles and comments on mobile, but with all the ads and bouncing around, it would be miserable to comment. 

Plus, when I look at it, I realize how long it must look on a mobile device. Hopefully it has some entertainment value?