Article: The Wild Are Their Own Worst Enemy

[Tony Abbott]

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[Protec]

This is how it goes. We've said this for years. MN can never figure out how to beat Central rivals. It ends up being their demise. Every time...

[Protec]

Every single team in the Central has at one point been the Wild's nemesis and beaten them with the exception of ARI. NSH may not have ousted the Wild in the playoffs but they've had MN's number in years when the Wild were near the top of the standings. 

It's so frick'n predictable, how can that be? Over a decade of totally different characters but the same theme??? This season WPG kills MN. A season or two ago, MN had WPG's number and they looked like they were also between good & bad. Just weird...

[Eddy]

I like how you pointed out Rossi was demoted…..why not MoJo at this point??? He’s just not playing at a 2nd line lvl right now nor most this year. At this point any scoring threat is better 56games 25pts and on a line with a rookie having a great season and zuc who’s damn near a point per game player is not beneficial. Yes Rossi can score, yes zuc is a playmaker but you can’t expect that line to excel and provide scoring with Mojo only contributing with speed through the neutral zone. At this point Hartman has to be a better fit playing as wing or center at least he shoots the puck and can find a soft spot in the zone. Definitely can’t see putting Rossi on the 4th line and cutting his mins like Hynes is doing when we need scoring from somewhere other than our top line!!

[Willy the poor boy]

57 minutes ago, Eddy said:

I like how you pointed out Rossi was demoted

I don't know how Hynes was viewing it, But I looked at it like more of a promotion for Vinny and Linguini rather than a demotion for Rossi. Those two play with hustle and have looked good IMO... It's worth a look to see what kind of chemistry you can get from a line like that.

[Burnt Toast]

I know a lot of stats were in the Wild’s favor last night. The eye test reveals a Jet team that looks  bigger, faster and stronger. They put Chisholm on waivers because he was the odd man out. That identified him as their 8th best D. I’m glad that the Wild picked him up. He’s already pushed into mid tier territory on our D. We need a lot of pieces and until we find them the Wild are  going to be the tarmac the Jets use to drive all over.

[Dean]

Great article 

[Will D. Ness]

Elephant in the room is goaltending.  I thought the Wild outplayed the Jets.

[Protec]

10 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Elephant in the room is goaltending.  I thought the Wild outplayed the Jets.

It certainly hasn't been consistent.

[bisopher]

4 hours ago, Eddy said:

I like how you pointed out Rossi was demoted…..why not MoJo at this point??? He’s just not playing at a 2nd line lvl right now nor most this year. At this point any scoring threat is better 56games 25pts and on a line with a rookie having a great season and zuc who’s damn near a point per game player is not beneficial. Yes Rossi can score, yes zuc is a playmaker but you can’t expect that line to excel and provide scoring with Mojo only contributing with speed through the neutral zone. At this point Hartman has to be a better fit playing as wing or center at least he shoots the puck and can find a soft spot in the zone. Definitely can’t see putting Rossi on the 4th line and cutting his mins like Hynes is doing when we need scoring from somewhere other than our top line!!

MoJo needs a night in the press box, and so does Feeddy G.  Give Shaw the chance he so richly deserves for at least a couple of games, and let those two "rest" and "get their game back" on alternate nights.

Edited February 22 by bisopher

[TCMooch]

This tean is going to miss the playoffs by one point aren’t they?

[AKwildkraken]

5 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

Jets use to drive all over.

Jets taxi on the tarmac. Lol, but I agree with your post.  

Edited February 22 by AKwildkraken

[AKwildkraken]

I was thinking maybe Hinee switched up the lines to help match with their size.  I was also thinking what this game would've looked like with Foligno and Maroon, but then I remembered the earlier games and just got frustrated as I think it would be the same result with more penalties.

[Rohn]

No Wild was within shouting distance of Vilardi when he tipped in the two Winnipeg PP goals.  Wild D was out by the hash marks and actually had to take a stride to get to the paint after the goal.  I suggest this PK experiment should end and we should do what high school teams do -- cover the guy standing next to the paint.  

[B1GKappa97]

16 hours ago, Willy the poor boy said:

I don't know how Hynes was viewing it, But I looked at it like more of a promotion for Vinny and Linguini rather than a demotion for Rossi. Those two play with hustle and have looked good IMO... It's worth a look to see what kind of chemistry you can get from a line like that.

Hard to tell, tbh. Rossi's ice time got cut by a couple minutes from what it was a few games back, but Lettieri's and Lucchini's went up, so.. seems like he's just shuffling lines. 

And honestly, that trio did pretty well together. Might be our new 3rd line? 

[B1GKappa97]

Quote

All they have to show for it now is going from the seventh-best lottery odds to the 12th. That's bad territory because even if Minnesota wins the lottery in that spot, they can't even pick first overall. 

It's the worst outcome to neither get to the playoffs nor a top pick.

Meh. Being at 12th isn't terrible. Honestly, aside from Celebrini being the clear-cut best player, I think there's a pretty big plateau of talent from what I've gleaned reading on the prospects. Here's an article I found that helps consolidate some of the mid-season rankings:

https://www.bleachernation.com/blackhawks/2024/02/19/2024-nhl-draft-lets-compare-four-analysts-mid-term-prospect-rankings/

There's about 6 blue-liners projected to be top-pairing guys and there's no consensus whatsoever on which is the best. Silyayev tends to be near the top consistently, but I think that's mostly just because he's a 6'7'' player who can skate decently and not necessarily because of what he's actually shown he's capable of. 

Add in some sizeable top-6 forwards, an all-around guy in Catton, and a sniper in Eiserman, and even if we miss out on a lotto pick we could still land a top-4 defenseman or a top-6 forward even at pick #16. This really is not a draft where you NEED a top pick to get a good player. 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

17 hours ago, Willy the poor boy said:

I don't know how Hynes was viewing it, But I looked at it like more of a promotion for Vinny and Linguini rather than a demotion for Rossi. Those two play with hustle and have looked good IMO... It's worth a look to see what kind of chemistry you can get from a line like that.

I tried to see it in that light too but his TOI said otherwise.

[Willy the poor boy]

2 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

I tried to see it in that light too but his TOI said otherwise.

Either way at least Marco responded with 2 goals and an almost hatty...

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

Just now, Willy the poor boy said:

Either way at least Marco responded with 2 goals and an almost hatty...

Heck yes he did. It would be nice to see him get more TOI because of it. Every prove-it moment, he shines.

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

Lettieri's and Lucchini's

There seems to be a passing of the torch from Dewey twins to the Italian Stallians for the bottom six grinder TOI

[Protec]

Evason was from Flin Flon, Dewar from The Pas. Duhast is from Germany so you'd think Hienz is a match but I think Pewterschmidt is right. More kicks at the can. If players don't take control of a roster spot well enough to oust NoJo, that's a tough assessment.