Article: Will the Wild Repeat the Same Mistake With Zach Bogosian?

[Tony Abbott]

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[Outskated]

Bogo on a one-year, $1mil dollar deal would be fine, but please no more Guerin.  Especially if they can waive Merrill to Iowa and get that $1.2mil off the books.  He would be fine to pair with Chisolm next year on the 3rd pair.  With as many times as Bogo has been traded, they will be more than happy to stay in their MN home for another year.  

[Citizen Strife]

The defense has a lot of holes to fill.  Chisholm is definitely staying, as is Hunt.  Is Lambos ready to be a contributor?  Maybe as a 5th/6th to start, so between.

Brodin/Faber

Middleton/Spurgeon

Hunt/Chisholm

Lambos (Yay) and Merrill (bleh)

That's enough right there.  You can never have enough depth, but Bogo seems like the odd man out.

[Dean]

Good article. Bogs on a one year doesn’t bother me . He’s a big rugged playoff d man that would have some value at next trade deadline..Depending on where the kids are on development,  it’s probably not a bad deal. 
    What really concerns me is Bill giving out Freddy g like contracts to end the year . I’m concerned, the Dewey’s , mermis , luccini or letteri will get the Freddy g special. Long contract with clauses that make movement impossible. I know letteri has another year but I don’t trust bill with contracts. It just seems like another dumb one is coming. The ahlers have done well this year for the most part but that shouldn’t get them a long contract or any Freddy g clauses. . Bill should sell at deadline, draft some high end talent and then see whats out there in free agency to fill in spots kids won’t fill. 

[Dean]

The wild should figure out how to trade for Rempe . That rangers kid is a freak of nature. 

[Protec]

2 hours ago, Dean said:

The wild should figure out how to trade for Rempe . That rangers kid is a freak of nature. 

Yes!!! But it could never happen. Too big and tough. too much hype in two weeks of hockey for the kid. He's gotta be a favorite in NY already. 😄

[B1GKappa97]

2 hours ago, Dean said:

    What really concerns me is Bill giving out Freddy g like contracts to end the year . I’m concerned, the Dewey’s , mermis , luccini or letteri will get the Freddy g special. Long contract with clauses that make movement impossible. 

Freddy G was coming off 82-points across two seasons when Billy gave him his 5-year deal. 

Duhaime has 17 points over the last two years. Dewar has 30 point over the last 2 years. Mermis has 8 points. Lucchini has 2 points. Lettieri has 7 points. 

I really don't think you need to worry about them getting 5 year extensions... let alone any...

Edited February 29 by B1GKappa97

[Protec]

Bogo kinda like when the Wild had Benn on defense. Large beard capable of deflecting clap-bombs from the point into the corner. Hard to stand around in front of the net with either guy on the team. Amazing, offensive guy or smoothest skating puck-mover, no. Good enough to help the Wild while the cap penalties play out, sure! At 1M or so, I don't mind Bogosian. A couple years at 1.1M wouldn't be too bad either while MN defensive prospects are very young yet. Better to have the experienced bearded big-man than the insecure rookie if in a bind.

Just cause Fred has had a poor year, or NoJo sucks doesn't mean hanging on to Bogo is totally foolish. He could be worse, and still be a valuable player for MN because grit, size, and imposing beards are few and far between on the back end for the Wild.

[Protec]

Now I can't stop wishing the Wild had Rempe. They could send him out to give Suter the whomp'n of a lifetime. That would be awesome!

[raithis]

I'd be fine with Bogosian as long as it's a short deal (2yrs at most), on the cheaper side (probably $1M at most), AND Lambos isn't ready.  Merrill's contract ends at the end of next season, so even if Lambos isn't ready for next year, Merrill's spot can open up the way for Lambs when he is ready.

[AKwildkraken]

Unless he gets overpaid the short answer is no.  I think Bogo will age better than a smaller bodied player.  As already suggested, one year at a million would be a good signing in my opinion if they are going to compete next year. 

I hate to mention it, but he question is, how is Spurgeon going to look next year?  Bogo could be a insurance plan for us.  

[B1GKappa97]

Quote

Guerin's Wild tends to fall in love with their bargains and then pays them to the point where they're no longer valuable deals. Merrill was an excellent pickup for one year, $850K. Slap a three-year extension on him, and suddenly, he's a 32-year-old whose $1.2 million AAV is one they'd probably rather not have. Gaudreau is a great player at $1.2 million for two years. Not so much when that contract balloons to five years at $2.1 million per year. How many Wild fans would turn down the opportunity to Thanos-snap Johansson's $2 million freight for this year and next out of existence?

I mean is paying Merrill an extra $400K really that big of a deal to get a 3rd-pair/7th D stopgap while we wait for guys to develop? Gaudreau's drop-off is unfortunate but I don't think anyone saw him dropping off to the extent he has at the time he signed the deal. And honestly, $2.1M isn't awful either. 

https://theathletic.com/4583624/2023/06/06/nhl-free-agency-contract-guide/?access_token=7688440&redirected=1

According to the Athletic's research, a low-end 3rd line forward is worth $2.2M AAV in free agency. Given that Freddy was producing roughly 40 points per season for us at the time he was signed, we actually got a minor discount. 

He's not living up to the contract this year, at all, but I don't necessarily think that means he's going to only produce 11 points for us for the next 4 years either. Something is definitely up with him this year, whether an injury or him still mourning the loss of his buddy-coach, or both, but I think there's some reason for optimism for a future bounce-back regression toward the mean.

[MNCountryLife]

11 hours ago, AKwildkraken said:

I hate to mention it, but he question is, how is Spurgeon going to look next year?

I wonder that myself.  He has barely played the entire year.  How will that affect his play?  How long will it take him to fully return to form... if ever?  It gets hard in those later years and he will be 35 next year.  I'm a big fan of Spurge.  But age and injuries can take it out of the best of players.

[Patrick]

Well...this article is a bit stupid. Johannson's contract is great value. Merrell hasn't been playing well but he is supposed to be our 6/7 defender so what do you expect? Gaudreau's deal is bad no arguing there.  Most importantly the author conveniently left out Nyquist who is having a great season for Nashville.   BG has not made terrible decisions. The Wild haven't played as well this year due to injuries and poor goaltending.  Do you expect a team with 15 million in dead cap to have amazing depth? And before you idiots chime in about the buyouts, would we be better or worse with Suter and Parise on the ice? I say worse.

[Pewterschmidt]

6 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Well...this article is a bit stupid. Johannson's contract is great value. Merrell hasn't been playing well but he is supposed to be our 6/7 defender so what do you expect? Gaudreau's deal is bad no arguing there.  Most importantly the author conveniently left out Nyquist who is having a great season for Nashville.   BG has not made terrible decisions. The Wild haven't played as well this year due to injuries and poor goaltending.  Do you expect a team with 15 million in dead cap to have amazing depth? And before you idiots chime in about the buyouts, would we be better or worse with Suter and Parise on the ice? I say worse.

Patrick brings the heat

[mnfaninnc]

12 hours ago, AKwildkraken said:

I hate to mention it, but he question is, how is Spurgeon going to look next year?  Bogo could be a insurance plan for us.  

I was going to say this same thing. Bogosian is insurance. He plays a big boy game. He's an RHS. He kills penalties rather well. If someone needs an attitude adjustment, he's one that can give that. 

Nobody's suggesting 3 X $3m. I think 2 X $1.2m would be a raise for him and a good solid signing for us. 

Lambos has played 50 games in the A. Of the kids that came in this year, he's probably the farthest along. But, he is a LHS. His scoring line is 3-9-12. He's a -12 with 38 PIMs. I do not believe this is ready for the beginning of next year and will once again state that he is undersized as far as strength/weight goes. 

But, up above it is said correctly, Lambos isn't after Bogosian's spot, he'd be after Merrill's/Goligoski's spot. The guys after Bogosian's spot are Spacek and Masters. Both of them are undersized too and probably more than a year away. Masters is behind Spacek and has played as many games for the Heartlanders as he's played for the Baby Wild. 

That means that Bogosian is useful for 2 more seasons. I anticipate Hunt and Chisholm being in the young mix next season. I could see them spelling Bogosian once in awhile. And, as AKWild has so specifically articulated, what about Spurgeon? Does he come in great, take one hit and is broken again? Will Spurgeon need more time off to take stress off his frame? Can he go b2b and 3/4 without hurting himself? 

Also, something to consider, does Bogosian's play fit the Wild system well? Could it be that his strengths are exactly what this system needs? Maybe his resurgent play is more about a better fit than anything else? That would make it sustainable. 

[Glenn]

Blunder Billy only thinks about hockey when he played. He's really acting like a rookie GM when he did all those stupid signings. 89 for 5 yrs wtf 17 for 4yrs wtf 38 for 4yrs maybe. Those 3 are going to have to be 4 liners. That means 21 and 26 are gone and the same with Shaw [those 3 would be the perfect 4 line].Now with the Russian's here and Olgren. 90 needs to be gone and the same for Spurgeon. Oh wait Blunder wants a free Thanksgiving dinner. Get those youg de here and let them play they need the experience. We need to be Younger Faster and somewhat bigger not older and slower.

[joebou15]

1 hour ago, Patrick said:

Well...this article is a bit stupid. Johannson's contract is great value. Merrell hasn't been playing well but he is supposed to be our 6/7 defender so what do you expect? Gaudreau's deal is bad no arguing there.  Most importantly the author conveniently left out Nyquist who is having a great season for Nashville.   BG has not made terrible decisions. The Wild haven't played as well this year due to injuries and poor goaltending.  Do you expect a team with 15 million in dead cap to have amazing depth? And before you idiots chime in about the buyouts, would we be better or worse with Suter and Parise on the ice? I say worse.

"Johansson's contract is great value"

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Dude is terrible. The double-down on Johansson by Guerin might be one of the most glaring of mistakes by Guerin. I also have been talking about how th3 extension to Merrill has been bad ever since it was signed. Goligoski? Has the guy played this year?

And to answer the question of Parise and Suter. If you're asking me if I would go back and not do the buyouts, I wouldn't. I still think buying out of those contracts was thr kind of nuclear move that needed to be done. But if you're asking if player would make this team better, I think there is a big yes on Suter, and probably flat "meh" on Parise. 

[raithis]

55 minutes ago, joebou15 said:

"Johansson's contract is great value"

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Dude is terrible. The double-down on Johansson by Guerin might be one of the most glaring of mistakes by Guerin. I also have been talking about how th3 extension to Merrill has been bad ever since it was signed. Goligoski? Has the guy played this year?

And to answer the question of Parise and Suter. If you're asking me if I would go back and not do the buyouts, I wouldn't. I still think buying out of those contracts was thr kind of nuclear move that needed to be done. But if you're asking if player would make this team better, I think there is a big yes on Suter, and probably flat "meh" on Parise. 

Again...since I have to say this over and over, not buying out Parise and Suter means we would have had to leave more people unprotected during the Seattle expansion draft.  Buying out and making sure that Parise didn't unexpectedly retire due to the back issues he was having and force us to get rid of players we'd rather keep because of his ridiculous contract was a good thing.  Getting rid of the locker room cancer that Suter supposedly is was a good thing.  In no way would things have been better if those two weren't bought out.  Our leading goal scorer would likely be playing for Seattle.

[Patrick]

3 hours ago, joebou15 said:

"Johansson's contract is great value"

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Dude is terrible. The double-down on Johansson by Guerin might be one of the most glaring of mistakes by Guerin. I also have been talking about how th3 extension to Merrill has been bad ever since it was signed. Goligoski? Has the guy played this year?

And to answer the question of Parise and Suter. If you're asking me if I would go back and not do the buyouts, I wouldn't. I still think buying out of those contracts was thr kind of nuclear move that needed to be done. But if you're asking if player would make this team better, I think there is a big yes on Suter, and probably flat "meh" on Parise. 

2 million for a middle 6 winger is good value. He will probably end up with 35-40 points. Look around the NHL. That's good value. And Merrell is supposed to be our 6/7 dman. If that's the worst contract on the team the GM is doing a great job.

[PNW Wild]

Bogo, is due for regression, but I think as many have said at the right price and term it could be a good idea to bring him back. One thing that is continuously talked about with the Wild is their inability to play well in the playoffs. One thing on my mind is how they played well this last week against teams that like to skate and play with skill. That is a type of team that you can put a Brodin and Faber on the ice for and watch things shrivel. But, its the grind it out games (aka playoff hockey) where the Wild seem to struggle (Winnipeg, anyone?). And that is the type of game that Bogo was made for. Is he the premier large D-man at this point? Not at all, but to have him as a 6/7 who can come in and push guys from the net to protect our goalies could be invaluable as the team looks to solve the problem in the long term. 

[mnfaninnc]

20 hours ago, raithis said:

Again...since I have to say this over and over, not buying out Parise and Suter means we would have had to leave more people unprotected during the Seattle expansion draft.  Buying out and making sure that Parise didn't unexpectedly retire due to the back issues he was having and force us to get rid of players we'd rather keep because of his ridiculous contract was a good thing.  Getting rid of the locker room cancer that Suter supposedly is was a good thing.  In no way would things have been better if those two weren't bought out.  Our leading goal scorer would likely be playing for Seattle.

I'm not so sure. Here is our protected list:

1. Fs: Eriksson Ek, Fiala, Foligno, Greenway, Hartman, Sturm, Zuccarello
2. Ds: Brodin, Dumba, Spurgeon
3. Gs: Talbot

If buying out Suter, who could still play, to get rid of the cancer, you still protect those 3 defenders. But, looking up at the forwards, Ek and Fiala are definite keepers. Zuccarello stays, Greenway, Hartman or Sturm would be sacrificed. I believe Hartman would have been the guy, betting, this was not a player that Seattle was looking for. 

This would have been before they experimented with Hartman at C on the top line. In hindsight, probably the guy who should have been on that list would have been Greenway, and there is a decent chance that Greenway would have been picked up. 

Just my 2 cents on the topic.

[mnfaninnc]

Wow, last night, yikes. I was very disappointed with the effort and thought we were going to take that one. To me, there were 2 highlights in the game, Bogosian back and played well, and Middleton's fight where he absolutely dominated and I think we need to see more of that.

I do not understand how this team could completely fall apart after the Dewar goal. I'll have to give Burnette a lot of credit for getting this large team playing like a real team. They were bigger and faster than we are. Would Foligno and Maroon have made a difference? I don't know, Nashville was completely healthy. 

But, it was the way they scored and didn't score. Nashville consistently got behind our defense all game long. And they had no problem scoring from within 6'. Bogosian seemed like the only D that could handle the front of the net. This was the type of team he does well against. Even Middleton had trouble handling the size of these guys, there were just too many.

I fully expected a great 3rd period from the Wild, playing with their season on the line. Nope! That did not happen. That was disappointing. Now Guerin has got to monitor the heartbeat of this team. Is it courageous, or have they thrown in the towel? 

I realize that Dewar scored the goal, and Duhaime got the primary assist off a shot, but to me, Duhaime looked like a player who knows he's likely being traded. I expected more fight from him. Dewar, after his goal, was pretty invisible. I'd say he's 50/50 out the door. 

Nashville gave everyone else a blueprint on how to stop our #1 line. A big, fast 4th line shut them down and kept them bottled up in their own end. I thought our top line had a real tough night. 

We also played a pretty contact free game. With our 2 biggest forwards out, there just wasn't much contact initiated. We've got to finish our checks and it seems like not many people are interested in that. Note to Beckman: if you want a job in the N, finish your checks, and to do that, you need body strength, bulk up this summer.

Chisholm had a horrible giveaway on the 2nd goal, but he wasn't the only player giving pucks away, it just happened that Goose2 bailed them out. We needed this one, and getting curb stomped in an important game like this was real disappointing. 

I think some roster shuffling is in order. One thing that was fairly evident was that Merrill was too slow for this game. We've got a week to trade him or send him down. Hunt should be in that position. At this point he's better. Has anyone seen Goligoski lately? He needs to go, it's over for him and he doesn't even look like he's trying anymore. As much as I'd like to see a Shaw-Dewar-Dino line (all 3 may be smaller, but they play tenacious), I'm not sure we'll still see Dewar here. I could see a Shaw-Dino-Beckman line, though. 

Gaudreau, Johansson, and Hartman, I thought all had tough nights. There wasn't anything glaring, just that they got physically dominated. They all need heart checks today IMO.