Article: Why Didn't the Wild Have A Contingency Plan?

[Tom Schreier]

View full article

[Protec]

I don't think it's that important to have a contingency plan when you have zero flexibility and face 15M in dead cap.

I.e. Guerin rewarded the guys who earned raises during 100 point seasons. At that point, the course is set. Why worry much about a backup plan when juts two outcomes are possible and injuries are an impossible thing to predict. Especially with guys who have generally been durable. 

That would be my reasoning and if I were GMBG, I'd be looking at these seasons as bumps in the road more than changing my overall plan or switching course. Setbacks this year, yeah. Crying about it while Yurov and Wallstedt ascend, not at all. 

 

[Eddy]

I don’t care what team you choose take there top 3 point producers(boldy, kap,zuc), top 2 defense(spurg,brodin) and various role players off a team and you are destined to lose there is no contingency plan for a team in this situation even without our cap restrains. Look bad luck happens hopefully they get healthy from here. This team before the injury bug hit them (again!!!) was one of the hottest teams in the league while doing through the harder part of their schedule. I think I’ll base the talent level on a healthy roster and not on bad injury luck because that is unpredictable especially at the level the Wild have experienced this year. If you choose to not like the extensions that’s fine but injuries especially at the rate the Wild have seen this year is unheard of and not a norm. Understand you cannot just plug and play a kap,zuc,spurg,brodin,boldy, even Gus bus type of player they are not readily available in the minors or they are on another team 🤦‍♂️. This is the NHL level you cannot lose your top players and say next man up!!!!!!!!

[Lern2spell]

Can we please move past complaining about the buy-outs? If Parise and Suter were still here, the Wild would be spending the same money and have two PIA players disgruntled by having been moved down in the lineup. Parise may even be retired, which would create even more cap hell. They were served a helping of humility by being bought out, and have moved on. I don't have a problem with the cost certainty option. Having Hartman, who can move up the lineup if need be, on the third line with Foligno is not a bad option. Are they over paid? Maybe, but Hartman took a significant discount on his last contract, and Foligno being a team leader is worth something, but will they be over priced in a couple years as the cap limit jumps? Again maybe, but surely their cap % value will increase. And with the cap going up, it won't be long before Gaudreau's salary is commensurate with most other bottom 6 forwards, and he also can play up in the lineup in a pinch, which is about the only back-up plan one could have when key players are on IR to the magnitude of which struck the Wild.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

Foligno is a 20-point-per-season player who’s aging out of his prime. His contract likely wouldn’t offer value, no matter how much leadership he provides.

That's not who he had been much of his time with the Wild.  He was averaging 38 points per 80 games the last 4 years, and he's not far off that pace this year.

[Rohn]

Can't fix this team.  But starting right now, Guerin needs to worry that Kaprizov will not stick around once his current contract ends, after the '25-'26 season.  Kaprizov is looking at two more years of nobody to play with and more cracked ribs that no one pays for.  Why would Kaprizov want to stay with this Stanley Cup golfing team?  He'll want to win a cup.   He'll get plenty of offers from GMs of contenders, and for more moolah than Guerin can offer.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

[mnfaninnc]

Quote

Minnesota’s home-and-home series with the Winnipeg Jets became a turning point for its season.

I would say it was more than just a turning point, and it wasn't just because they lost both. It was that they lost 2 key players, 1 to an egregious crosscheck that went unpunished. It was like Staal got crosschecked in the neck all over again. 

That was gutless, and each player should be looking at themselves in the mirror. Need I remind everyone that when Montreal took a run at Kaprizov, Rossi stood up for his star. There's a lot the big boys on the team need to answer too, and at least Hartman has the guts to do what is unpleasantly necessary. 

Tom, you are absolutely correct that this was a turning point, and it was a painful one as a fan. To have them again in your own building on a b2b and not do anything was even more painful. This after knowing the extent that Kaprizov was injured. Next time we play Winnipeg, I hope those memories are long, because when we head up to their place, 3 times we've lost a star with no push back.

And, for those wondering, no, Midsy challenging Dillon was not the end of the matter.

[Dean]

The NHL is managing the cap for the Minnesota wild.  That’s what they were saying on judds hockey show. Wow. It’s funny the pay for beat writers never talked about that or asked bill about investigations. . 
    So from what they were saying on judds show.  Any trade at deadline would need to go through nhl approval first. Make sure cap is right. I can’t think of ever hearing a team using the nhl as capologist..  the other point they made was how clueless bill was to cap. Not knowing what he can and can’t do with cap.  For a gm to be here 5 years and our front office is in total disarray  is alarming. An another warning sign.  Stanley cup contenders don’t have the nhl holding there hand. 
    Lou Naane  was on k fan other day talking wild. He is so impressive at his age!  He didn’t think the wild had a chance to make playoffs. He also liked the idea of getting a top 5 pick versus a fake run for playoffs . He thought this year would be good to be bad and get high pick. He also said. You can’t build a Stanley cup winner by drafting 20 th overall every year!!!  He said you need that high end top 5 or top 10 talent to get to cup. . He also said the wild are just giving lip service to idea of playoff run. To keep fans interested. 
   Lou also talked about how greedy the nhl an nfl have become on ticket prices. How they are pricing out there loyal fans. It reminds me of Craig whose team I just saw valued at 1.2 billion asking for tax money.  To totally renovate excel and then jack the prices on the taxpayers that paid for it .  That’s why Craig sold Nashville and bought minny. Were easier to grift off. 
   The wild aren’t going to do anything until there front office is fixed. I think bill should go but know Craig won’t do that. So they need an assistant gm to take over bills work.  They should focus on playing youth to responsibly tank and get that top 5 . They should trade whatever they can at deadline and bring in hungry guys on cheap contracts next year. . It’ll be another tough year but two high draft picks would be worth it. Enough of the mediocrity. 

[greg]

This wild team too many times doesn't even show up for games.  Yes they have had injuries like a lot of teams this year.  But that helps them to find a blame for losses.  Yup bad luck and bad officiating are the reasons when we lose games.  Those so- called tough guys we have added to the roster haven't done much at all to protect our key players.  They have been a big bust.  So we keep sending them on the ice to do something.  It surely isn't playing hockey as their skill set isn't made to actually skate and score goals.  It used to be fun watching this team skate and play hockey.  The "grit up" philosophy makes for boring and unsuccessful hockey.  We have the big buyout cap hit.  We also have the cap hit from slugs that can't skate and produce.  The NHL as a whole has been reducing itself to a league of thuggery that injures star players and doesn't seem to care.  It's long past time for some changes at the NHL kingpins.

[Protec]

You mean Bettman and Daly are like corrupt cronies who do an agenda like promote ideology, rip off small market teams, punish Russians, and make sure CHI, LA, and NYC get top picks, and it's all about the money???

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, Dean said:

The NHL is managing the cap for the Minnesota wild.  That’s what they were saying on judds hockey show. Wow. It’s funny the pay for beat writers never talked about that or asked bill about investigations. . 
    So from what they were saying on judds show.  Any trade at deadline would need to go through nhl approval first. Make sure cap is right. I can’t think of ever hearing a team using the nhl as capologist..  the other point they made was how clueless bill was to cap. Not knowing what he can and can’t do with cap.  For a gm to be here 5 years and our front office is in total disarray  is alarming. An another warning sign.  Stanley cup contenders don’t have the nhl holding there hand. 

You're right, this is alarming. I wondered how it was being done. If the NHL screws up the cap, does it come back down on the team? I'd love to know where you go find a cap guy. 

I was not expecting Guerin to "know" the cap. Some GMs simply delegate that sort of thing to their capologist. This I'm not worried about. But I am worried about having the hole there and I do think it needs to be filled pretty quickly. My hope is that you find a guy who is also creative. This is not easy to find as most accountants have very limited creativity.

[raithis]

15 hours ago, Dean said:

So from what they were saying on judds show.  Any trade at deadline would need to go through nhl approval first. Make sure cap is right. I can’t think of ever hearing a team using the nhl as capologist..

Umm, you do realize that EVERY trade by EVERY team has to be approved by the NHL before it's considered final, right?  I think you are blowing some of that a little out of proportion.  Yes, I'd agree it's probably better to have your own people rather than having to go to the league for everything.  I feel like it's a bit like letting everyone else see your cards, but given that the team doesn't have much to work with, everyone pretty much knows our hand already.  They should definitely try to find someone in the off-season though.