Article: Wild Send Pat Maroon To the Bruins

[Thomas Williams]

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[FredJohnson]

Down...Boston is geographically down from St. Paul.

[FredJohnson]

Making room for dem yutes?

[Protec]

Since Maroon wasn't really playing anyway, might as well make room for late season auditions.

[MNCountryLife]

Maroon will be a good addition to Boston.  He is a smart player in the lower half of the lineup.  The quest for finding top 6 players for the Wild continues.  I hope we can see Marat in action on Sunday.  Anyone hear any recent news about Yurov?    

[Pewterschmidt]

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, FredJohnson said:

Down...Boston is geographically down from St. Paul.

Guessing it was reported as it was due to a song...

 

[MrCheatachu]

1 hour ago, Protec said:

Since Maroon wasn't really playing anyway, might as well make room for late season auditions.

Dude had back surgery on Feb 7, they said he was out 4-6 weeks, so hopefully he'd be about ready to return, but also puts some context around the conditional pick.

Getting the a decent prospect (Toporowski) seems like a good return, his scouting report reads seems to be a guy with some upside (https://blackngoldhockey.com/2023/08/counting-down-the-top-ten-bruins-prospects-7-luke-toporowski/)

Quote

He has an incredible shot that he can load up and release quickly, firing away with immense power and precision. His hands are quick enough to get his shot off through traffic, and he can also tee it up when given time and space. The other great things about Toporowski are his motor and speed.

 

[Willy the poor boy]

Alrightski, this should put us over the Topski!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

58 minutes ago, MrCheatachu said:

Getting the a decent prospect (Toporowski) seems like a good return, his scouting report reads seems to be a guy with some upside

Topper!

Undrafted, but looks like someone with a solid offensive background.

In the 2022 playoffs for Kamloops, he was 2nd in scoring for the team at 23 points(9 goals and 14 assists) in 16 games.

[B1GKappa97]

Aw man Hertl to the VGK 😞 why do they get to have multiple top-line centers and we only have Ek!? 

[Dean]

Billy came into the wild talking tough  about winning and the cancer in the clubhouse . He was real tough when the players weren’t his. Now this team is his and he’s a fluffer . Proud of his guys who don’t show up for half the games this season. Proud of his fred contract. The. Guy with  12 pts and -20  . While the guys who didn’t sign here because of him or were traded because of him make him look like a fool every time we play them. Bill says he’s proud we’re in playoff hunt. . Gaslighting or plain ignorance. This team is mathematically still in it like every team in league probably still is. .its not because we’re playoff caliber. Thanks to Billy , his friends and his unwillingness to do anything to help this franchise. They say he had a group of advisors for trade deadline. The same advisors that green lighted the  extensions . What a clown show. At the start of the season we could have got a 1st and more but thanks to Billy and the bozo advisors we got squat . Nothing for a wasted season! That makes Billy proud. Gaslighting or ignorance? 
      Billy has done nothing in his time here . Nothing that any mediocre gm couldn’t do. He’s regressed this team. He hangs his hat on these kids we’ve drafted. Kids that have proven nothing yet. Reminds me of  granlund hype or Bouchard , Shepard etc. Billy didn’t draft kappy. He drafted a bunch of d men . That were the talk around here till we figured out they aren’t what the wild were selling us on. So now we need to go draft more size and skill in d core. 5 years from now we’ll see these players he drafted aren’t bad but not franchise changing players. That we wasted 10 years on Billy’s lies . 
    The wild are an entertainment company not a hockey club. They care more about PR  than wins. There goals are so low every year that there impossible not to make. Except this year . So Billy just lowers the goal posts for his guys . Entitled babies that just want a country club life. I can’t stand Billy and his lies anymore . Tonight we’ll see a real organization, with good ownership, good GM, good roster and a good fan base that holds there team accountable  play the entertainment organization of the wild . There broadcasters will be talking playoffs while walz tells us how lucky we’re are to have these clowns who can’t win a big game or even show up half the time.  I’m sorry but Marat isn’t going to fix this 

[raithis]

2 hours ago, Dean said:

Billy came into the wild talking tough  about winning and the cancer in the clubhouse . He was real tough when the players weren’t his. Now this team is his and he’s a fluffer . Proud of his guys who don’t show up for half the games this season. Proud of his fred contract. The. Guy with  12 pts and -20  . While the guys who didn’t sign here because of him or were traded because of him make him look like a fool every time we play them. Bill says he’s proud we’re in playoff hunt. . Gaslighting or plain ignorance. This team is mathematically still in it like every team in league probably still is. .its not because we’re playoff caliber. Thanks to Billy , his friends and his unwillingness to do anything to help this franchise. They say he had a group of advisors for trade deadline. The same advisors that green lighted the  extensions . What a clown show. At the start of the season we could have got a 1st and more but thanks to Billy and the bozo advisors we got squat . Nothing for a wasted season! That makes Billy proud. Gaslighting or ignorance? 
      Billy has done nothing in his time here . Nothing that any mediocre gm couldn’t do. He’s regressed this team. He hangs his hat on these kids we’ve drafted. Kids that have proven nothing yet. Reminds me of  granlund hype or Bouchard , Shepard etc. Billy didn’t draft kappy. He drafted a bunch of d men . That were the talk around here till we figured out they aren’t what the wild were selling us on. So now we need to go draft more size and skill in d core. 5 years from now we’ll see these players he drafted aren’t bad but not franchise changing players. That we wasted 10 years on Billy’s lies . 
    The wild are an entertainment company not a hockey club. They care more about PR  than wins. There goals are so low every year that there impossible not to make. Except this year . So Billy just lowers the goal posts for his guys . Entitled babies that just want a country club life. I can’t stand Billy and his lies anymore . Tonight we’ll see a real organization, with good ownership, good GM, good roster and a good fan base that holds there team accountable  play the entertainment organization of the wild . There broadcasters will be talking playoffs while walz tells us how lucky we’re are to have these clowns who can’t win a big game or even show up half the time.  I’m sorry but Marat isn’t going to fix this 

You know what?  All sports teams are mostly entertainment.  Yes, the players and coaches and management are trying to win but there is an obvious and overwhelming focus on the team as a product.  All teams do this.  All teams try to sell you on the team and players.  Some teams do it in different ways, but the goal is to make the owners money so their investment is profitable.

Now with this in mind, consider the fact that what management says is partly to further the profits of the owner.  The owner wants to make the playoffs every year to make more money.  Any GM is going to have to toe a line that falls in line with what the owner wants.  That may even mean he has to say things that may seem unrealistic to keep optimism and ticket sales.  But like with anyone trying to sell you anything, you need to read between the lines and see it for what it is.

You also have to give drafted players time to develop.  Most of the drafted players have yet to play because they are still very young and are nowhere near ready.  Will all of them work out?  No.  Most of the players drafted by teams never become full-time NHLers.  And the further they are from 1st overall, the more likely that they take a little longer.

You also need to remember that we didn't have much for prospects, and in the years before that Fletcher gave up a lot of picks and prospects.  To his credit, Guerin has been building up that pool.  Why?  Because, again, most of the players drafted by teams never become full-time NHLers.  Since our cupboards only had a couple good players to bring to the table, we needed to add a lot more to replace what Fletcher destroyed.

Building that back up takes time, and it means needing NHLers during that time while we find out which players can do well.  Bringing young players up too early and throwing them to the wolves for tons of games is a great way to destroy all the confidence they have, so we need players to fill those roles during that time.  Over time we will cycle these players out for others that we have drafted or maybe a free agent and solidify the team even more.

Saying Guerin has done nothing is just bizarre.  Turning Fiala (a player that did not want to stay here) into Faber and Ohgren is not nothing.  Wallstedt, Yurov, and Khusnutdinov certainly look like something.  He's gotten other players for nearly nothing and turned them into more.  Yes, the early season trade that brought Maroon over wasn't a blockbuster, but we got Maroon and Cajkovic for a 7th, and turned that into two prospects and a 6th.  Even if the two prospects never play an NHL game, it's all those small, little improvements that slowly make the team better and better.  It's the opposite of the kind of moves Fletcher made.  Whether players like Wallstedt, Yurov, and Khusnutdinov do well in the NHL remains to be seen, but they seem as promising or better than most team's highly rated prospects (and is partly why our prospect pool is usually rated fairly high). 

I don't agree with all Guerin's decisions.  In fact, there's a lot I would go about a bit differently, but overall the trajectory is positive and so I'm somewhat optimistic. 

Teams don't build playoff teams in a single season, and teams that tank don't generally bounce back for years because what you usually have to give up to build a solid team again.  The asterisk there is if you are in a larger market, it seems to go a little quicker since the marquee names in free agency tend to more often gravitate towards those markets.

Be a little more patient.  It might be hard to see right now, but Wallstedt, Yurov, and Khusnutdinov seem like they will be legit, especially the first two.  In a year or two, things should really start to come together.  I know the MN mantra is "next year" but in the next year or two once all 3 of those players are here, we will see what Guerin really has built.  Players like Boldy and Faber will be solidly in their primes then too.  For the first time in a while, I actually feel good with where the team will be in the future.  We need a few more big-bodied players with skill (a power forward who can score at least 25 goals a season and a defenseman with size/reach and can skate would be nice).  Whether we get that in free agency or through a trade or whatever in that 1-2 years, it doesn't matter, but I feel that's what they need.

Try looking at where we are going rather than where we are.

 

[Protec]

I.e. A big picture perspective, not a snapshot of Fred's crummy season during the first of two cap penalty payback years. 

There's a ton to be positive about. Faber looks like he'll be a Norris candidate in less than 100 NHL games. Boldy & Ek both locked up for value deals. Record holding KHL 20 year old. 

You can't spin those things to be negative or be outweighed by some medium cost vet signings of recent Wild heros or an HOF tendy.

[Protec]

I liked Maroon early in the year. His point pace was nice. Wonder how long his back was hurt before surgery?

It's another kick at the can MN could afford. I think Guerin deserves credit for always doing these moves. Like picks, sometimes they work out. Most probably won't. If he does enough of em, odds are you get some to hit. 

It's been a good strategy within the confines/process of buyout penalty exodus. 

[raithis]

33 minutes ago, Protec said:

I liked Maroon early in the year. His point pace was nice. Wonder how long his back was hurt before surgery?

It's another kick at the can MN could afford. I think Guerin deserves credit for always doing these moves. Like picks, sometimes they work out. Most probably won't. If he does enough of em, odds are you get some to hit. 

It's been a good strategy within the confines/process of buyout penalty exodus. 

Completely agreed.

To do well there, you also need good scouting and good player development.  The former I feel is pretty good.  The latter I'm not so sure about.  That's something I'd like to see them look more at this off-season and maybe find a way to improve.