Article: Marat Khusnutdinov Came As Advertised For The Wild

[Luke Sims]

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[Citizen Strife]

Rossi and Foligno put up points early in the season and controlled play.  Foligno is kinda like Hartman: better offensively than he gets credit for at times.  Gaudreau was also stapled to Rossi...so whatever.  I'm not going to use, "Oh, he's playing with such and such" as an excuse.  If Hynes wants Khusnutdinov on 1st or 2nd line, he's going to put him there.  It's not an indictment of a guy with 3-4 games that he wasn't immediately stapled to Kaprizov.  He's giving the team a defensively sound performance right off the bat.  

Here's another thought: Rossi and Khusnutdinov aren't clones.  You can't expect one guy to just be a 20 goal scorer because another rookie did.  If Khusnutdinov is a defensive wizard with a secondary scoring touch, while another guy has more offensive presence, that's who they are.  

I'm just happy he's already found his footing and looks like a good player from the jump.  That's all it should be after less than 5 games.

Edited March 23 by Citizen Strife

[Luke Sims]

4 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Rossi and Foligno put up points early in the season and controlled play.  Foligno is kinda like Hartman: better offensively than he gets credit for at times.  Gaudreau was also stapled to Rossi...so whatever.  I'm not going to use, "Oh, he's playing with such and such" as an excuse.  If Hynes wants Khusnutdinov on 1st or 2nd line, he's going to put him there.  It's not an indictment of a guy with 3-4 games that he wasn't immediately stapled to Kaprizov.  He's giving the team a defensively sound performance right off the bat.  

Here's another thought: Rossi and Khusnutdinov aren't clones.  You can't expect one guy to just be a 20 goal scorer because another rookie did.  If Khusnutdinov is a defensive wizard with a secondary scoring touch, while another guy has more offensive presence, that's who they are.  

I'm just happy he's already found his footing and looks like a good player from the jump.  That's all it should be after less than 5 games.

Not an excuse, just an observation. 

[Will D. Ness]

Put Shaw on his line, Heinz.

[Citizen Strife]

I know.  I just think there's this kneejerk feel that "Oh, he has to be an offensive guy, or its a failure."  Not really.  The goal here is, "Is he a better player than Dewar, Duhaime, Maroon, etc.  I think he is.  He fills a role the Wild desperately need: solid defensive two-way center, and someone who thwarts other teams just as much as he helps the Wild directly.

If anything, the Wild's main issue is keeping opposing teams in and around the goaltender.  Winning faceoffs and cutting people out of their lanes is an unsung benefit.  He's got some speed, he's got some smarts while playing in a whole new environment, and I think he'll do just fine.

[Will D. Ness]

I think he is just getting warmed up too.  He looks like he will take on Dewar's role, but with more speed, better FO%, and more effective physical play.

I would think he is a good fit for PK duty but maybe needs time to acclimate. 

[Protec]

I think it's a perfect time for Knudi to get into the NHL. He'll have a run to the end with important games. He's earning trust and once he has an off-season to regroup after seeing the NHL, I think he's gonna get better. He's obviously a smart player, and he's shown good instincts offensively already. I'd say he's also smart because he's tried to learn systems before getting to MN and wise to get good on draws. Did Marat know that would be good for him? 

I would say yes. He appears to be paying his dues and playing smart til the role & responsibility increases. That will be a fresh start at the beginning of next year when hopefully, NoJo has to go on LTIR for a non-lethel neck-beard hair that is found growing into his brain and causing absolute-apathy and Knudi can get some better wings? Hopefully...

Good article Luke. I'd like to see Beckman on the wing next to Knudi. That seems like a potential match of skillsets that could produce. Imagine an O-zone face off win to Beckman who snipes one. It's a difficult thing to imagine but on the PP too, Kirill could shoot if Marat can win a few clean ones. Sadly, it seems like it's always the other team with a set play against the Wild.

Edited March 23 by Protec

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

I know.  I just think there's this kneejerk feel that "Oh, he has to be an offensive guy, or its a failure."  Not really.  The goal here is, "Is he a better player than Dewar, Duhaime, Maroon, etc.  I think he is.  He fills a role the Wild desperately need: solid defensive two-way center, and someone who thwarts other teams just as much as he helps the Wild directly.

If anything, the Wild's main issue is keeping opposing teams in and around the goaltender.  Winning faceoffs and cutting people out of their lanes is an unsung benefit.  He's got some speed, he's got some smarts while playing in a whole new environment, and I think he'll do just fine.

Dino reminds me a bit of Haula when he first came up. Like Haula, Dino isn't that concerned about offense, he is in his comfort zone of a defense first center. Unlike Haula, he has had 0 time playing with any of his teammates. Haula had some time with some of the players, and had a training camp, Dino's had none of that and doesn't really speak English. 

For him to be performing this well is great, it's just a 15 game transition period for him to get a jumpstart on next season. We have seen him a little more physical than we expected, but we haven't seen him showcase that speed yet. It would appear that he has a very conservative mindset when it comes to the game, but he'll loosen up when he gets those things down.

[mnfaninnc]

Another big game, another game where the Wild come up short. Do they win with Ek and Brodin in the lineup? Likely that is the difference. Sometimes it's not who you face but when you face them. Like Nashville, St. Louis was at full health when we faced them. 

This team has just had bad luck all season long. If it isn't puck luck, it's injury luck and when you play a team. Will this roster, fully healthy, be formidable next season? I think they can be, and I'd still promote from within.

A couple of notes, I liked the way Faber and Rossi played as rookies. Even though Faber made the mistake of getting penalized at the end of the game, he did something that was big scoring the 4th goal. Those guys produced. 

I liked what I saw from Beckman and thought he was flying in his little ice time. Wild are off for 4 days so they really shrank their bench. If I were Heinzy, I would have mandatory practices for the young players in these days off, specifically with Dino. I'd get him up to speed on the PK and PP. And, I'd work with them on specific things in order to give them more responsibility. There's a reason why when the bench was shrank that they were on it. Heinzy doesn't trust them....yet. Let's get them up to speed.

Zuccarello's ole was atrocious. He's got to take the man and cancel him out at that point. I know he's not a defender, but it was paramount that he follow through with the hit directly and not get beaten like that. Especially Kyrou who was their hot player. 

Johansson's first goal and celly showed that he cared. He had crazy eyes after the goal as if 50 lbs. was taken off his back. The last 3 games I've watched, his play has been far more engaged. We pick on him a lot here, but we've also got to acknowledge a good effort.

I thought Mermis had an up and down game. To me, it looks like there is enough tape on him now for teams to find his holes. He is an AHL callup, and I'd replace him with Hunt during these next few days. His last 2 games have made him look just like that, an AHL callup. We really need a guy to leapfrog over Merrill, so Hunt should get that chance to fill in for Brodin. I'd rather have a guy who's 21 there than a guy who's 30. Mermis has been a good story, but he's had a lot of rust to shed. This makes Merrill look like a decent fit as #7 or 8. 

Did anyone see Chisholm get leveled kind of behind the play? More evidence that he needs 10 lbs. of muscle this offseason. Did anyone see Rossi's interview after the 2nd? He's got some thick arms. While I still think he needs more this offseason, I think Pewter might be right, get it in the butt. I would like to see a thicker chest too.

In a must have game, I thought Fleury was sparkling early, but let in 3 softies to finish out the game. If it were up to me, I would not bring him back next year and I'd ride with Goose2 (who will then simply be known as Goose) and The Wall. That's it for the pipeline, and we'll need a good experienced 3rd goalie. I would look into Hutchinson as that guy or another lefty. We could have 3 guys at about $5m. Of course, that goalie would be making a pretty good A salary too. Fleury had to be better vs. Kings, and had to be better today. He wasn't, and Guerin's got to see that!

 

[Dean]

I like that k-nat so far.  He seems to have good hockey IQ, stick skills, speed ,physicality and some tenacity. It’ll be interesting to see him get some chemistry with players and how his finishing skills are .He definitely looks nhl caliber. Judd has done well. It’s impressive he’s got two guys in nhl already. I’d give Judd and the scouts a B + so far . The rookies this year have impressed also. Faber and Rossi have done well for themselves . I’m still not sold on Rossi but he has been getting consistently better. 
    As far as Billy. His stated goal this year was to make playoffs. I think it’s pretty safe to say that’s a failure. He gets an F. It’s either pass or fail.  For front office management I’d give Billy another F. Running staff and the cap guy out of town is a failure. Especially having league run your cap. For contract negotiations I’d give Billy another F for the clauses that didn’t need to be . For cap management I’d give bill an F. Starting a season Not having any cap to call up players  in a sport with injuries is bad management.  How hard was it to have at the least leauge minimum cap space .  It’s obvious Billy will blame injuries yet he left himself no ability to do anything about them with cap room.  The biggest fail IMO is not making playoffs and not getting good draft picks from selling at deadline.  Looks like we are in that 15 range for 1st. Out of top ten with nothing to show for it. 
   As far as Hynes I’d give him a B for the season. He’s done well with what he’s had roster wise. He hasn’t done stupid stubborn things like Dean . Can he coach in playoffs. Who knows because this team isn’t even close to winning a playoff round.  
    Listening to the Wes walz pr machine today reminds me of how every year ends . With embarrassment.  5 years of Billy going backwards.

[mnhockeyfan03]

This whole team needs a makeover.  Rossi, Spurgeon, Middleton, Johansson, Freddy G, Gustafson, anyone on the 4th line as they aren’t NHL players should be traded for anything they can get.  Zuccarrelo should be a 3rd liner and not on PP at at all and need a right hand shot on PP1 not named Hartman(4th liner) Will need to get via free agency.  This team is in a world of hurt and it’s just starting unless they make big changes soon!

[Protec]

The first STL goal was a brutal giveaway by Foligno and Middleton gamble. Fred didn't pick up Schenn and the puck ended up with him and led to the broken play goal. Bad bounce but after unforced errors.

Then the Wild get hemmed-up deep in their zone and again a bouncing puck leads to an STL goal. 

Fleury didn't pick up the third goal coming out of his defenseman's feet.

The last two were both grade A chances. I don't fault Fleury. It's a hard pill to swallow but MN always gets shown-up by Central rivals big players. STL has like 4 guys who have pretty much beat the Wild twice in the past week by themselves. 

Not a terrible game by MN but they didn't catch any breaks. STL got the bounces and capitalized. MN just doesn't have the extra oomph with their injuries. The Central division woes continue...

[Pewterschmidt]

14 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

The Wall

Russo said on his Lapanta podcast that Fleury is back next year because #1 can’t miss prospect Wallstedt is not ready yet.  General goalie play as well as conditioning are not ready for prime time.  The Panther agreed.  That’s material because the Panther is a wild org spokesman and extension of marketing dept.  we may need to be patient with wall.  His one game shelling didn’t exactly instill confidence. Figure it out young man, you were a damn high pick for a goalie

Edited March 24 by Pewterschmidt

[mnfaninnc]

14 hours ago, Dean said:

I’m still not sold on Rossi but he has been getting consistently better. 

Dean, just wondering, but statistically speaking, what would be your expectations of the rookie Rossi to at least give him a "hold" rating?

[mnfaninnc]

14 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

need a right hand shot on PP1 not named Hartman(4th liner) Will need to get via free agency.

I agree with this need. I'm not certain that free agency will give us an answer, and Stamkos, should he get there is probably not the solution. Does it have to be free agency, or would trading for one be ok? Perhaps someone younger?

[WildWest Fan]

He doesn't have enough ice time for most stars to have meaning, especially with points. Does he look confident?

[Pewterschmidt]

Jake String Bikini is a serviceable 4th liner but he needs to understand his role on an nhl roster is to be more clutterbuck and less free skate.  Bro seems to be simply chasing puck around the ice without accomplishing much of anything.  But Pewter that line seems to make plays from time to time.  Agreed, but usually that was letteri breaking free and making a play with Scorsese following up the play.  Kids got good energy but needs to become a ground and pounder to keep spot on roster beyond mid season call up status. Right now he’s Duhaime light.  
#callabrasihottake

Edited March 24 by Pewterschmidt

[WildWest Fan]

stats

[mnfaninnc]

12 hours ago, Protec said:

The last two were both grade A chances. I don't fault Fleury.

I find this a little curious. Kyrou was St. Louis' hottest player, and on goal 4 Fleury's got to have that one. He was out and in position, he just didn't react quick enough to the shot. Fleury at 35 probably makes that stop. On the OT goal, I thought that Fleury should have had it, and based upon him smashing his goal stick on the post, I think he thinks he should have had it. In tight like that is where Fleury typically shines. This is why I thought they were a bit soft.

I do wonder, had Brodin been in the game, would Kyrou have gotten his 3rd goal or does that get blocked or tipped?

[Pewterschmidt]

Now to Foligno…I know he’s supposed to be a statistical darling but he continues to fail the eye test.  He assisted STL first goal when he turned over puck at offensive blue line when he attempted a cross ice pass thru stl sticks.  Foligno is incapable of consistently making hockey plays.  Tape to tape passes that maintain possession are not his strength.  His hands are terrible.  This guy continues to collect a large nhl paycheck for one season when the Greef line caught lightning in a bottle.  I like 17’s consistent effort and passion, but we’re watching him go full big-body-pylon right before our eyes.  Next year we’ll pay $1M for each post fight helmet spike 

[mnfaninnc]

24 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Russo said on his Lapanta podcast that Fleury is back next year because #1 can’t miss prospect Wallstedt is not ready yet.  General goalie play as well as conditioning are not ready for prime time.  The Panther agreed.  That’s material because the Panther is a wild org spokesman and extension of marketing dept.  we may need to be patient with wall.  His one game shelling didn’t exactly instill confidence. Figure it out young man, you were a damn high pick for a goalie

Generally speaking, goalies do not make an impact until they're 25. The Wall is quite aways ahead of that curve at 21. So much of what goalies rely on is confidence. We can see the difference in that simply by looking at Goose2 from last season to this season. Somewhere along the way, he lost confidence. 

Now it can be debated whether or not The Wall is ready, and to be honest, I have not spent much time eye testing The Wall in Iowa. But, by just looking at statistics, he's having a pretty good year on a bad team. Part of that bad team part is that the top players on that team were stolen by the Wild due to injury.

Last season, The Wall played 38 games and went 18-15-5 with a .908 sv% and 1 SO. This season, The Wall has played in 39 games, is 20-17-2 with a .912 sv% and 2 SOs. Yes, this is improvement, ever so slightly, and on the surface level looks like a disappointment and the need for another year of development. 

However, diving in deeper, let's look at the other goalies. Last year, Zane McIntyre had 34 games, went 16-12-5 and had a .899 sv% with 3 SOs. This season, the same goalie is at 21 games, a 3-13-3 record and .879 sv% (which is the highest it's been all year), 0 SOs. Hunter Jones made a cameo each year, last season was 1 game .925 sv%, this season was 1 game .889 sv%.

When looking at the full picture, to me, this looks like the Baby Wild defense stinks! Is it forwards not coming back? Is it the influx of learning defensive rookies? (This is likely) Is it that McIntyre and Jones simply didn't pack their games this year? I don't really know the answer, but it would suggest that The Wall's tiny improvement is really much larger than we thought. 

While those are Russo and LaPanta's opinions, and I will give weight to LaPanta's opinion, I do think that The Wall has accomplished what he needed to do in the A and is ready for a backup role in St. Paul. I'd really like him to get a couple of more starts before the end of the season up here too. 

But, and this is a big but, is Goose2 ready to take on a full #1 status for the big Wild next season, or will he need more help? I do not know if The Wall would be ready for 40 NHL games, I was thinking more around the 20-25 mark as a backup. If the conclusion is that Goose2 (soon to be simply Goose) is not ready for that and an experienced duo is needed (especially since Guerin is expecting to make the playoffs), perhaps The Wall needs to do more in Iowa and get better with the conditioning, etc... 

I think he's ready for a backup role and learning more of NHL speed, shots, and angles. That would be the direction I'd go in, trying to get him 20-25 starts/reliefs and letting him learn what an NHL goaltender needs to do on a daily basis. I'd also suggest bringing over the goaltender coach of Lulea since he trained both Goose2 and The Wall in Sweden. He could be an assistant goalie coach.

[mnfaninnc]

4 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Now to Foligno…I know he’s supposed to be a statistical darling but he continues to fail the eye test.  He assisted STL first goal when he turned over puck at offensive blue line when he attempted a cross ice pass thru stl sticks.  Foligno is incapable of consistently making hockey plays.  Tape to tape passes that maintain possession are not his strength.  His hands are terrible.  This guy continues to collect a large nhl paycheck for one season when the Greef line caught lightning in a bottle.  I like 17’s consistent effort and passion, but we’re watching him go full big-body-pylon right before our eyes.  Next year we’ll pay $1M for each post fight helmet spike 

In the offseason, this would be my focus of improvement on Foligno, stick handling and getting off one timers better. I think he can still improve in this area, and you're right he doesn't really help himself handling the puck. 

[mnfaninnc]

For those wondering:

• Heidt has 117 pts.
• Farjestad is down 2-0 in their series as the #1 seed, Ohgren with 0 points so far.
• Kumpulainen is keeping up his PPG status and is at 28-28-56 right now.
• Rieger Lorenz has had a nice season, 15-13-28 in 40 games. Quite an improvement.
• S. Johansson scored again, 8-11-19. His last 10-12 games have been really good.

That's about it for the prospects.

[mnhockeyfan03]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I agree with this need. I'm not certain that free agency will give us an answer, and Stamkos, should he get there is probably not the solution. Does it have to be free agency, or would trading for one be ok? Perhaps someone younger?

Doesn’t have to be via free agency.  Can be a trade.  There are lots of hard decisions Billy G is going to have to make and he is going have to trade away many of his friends to make this team better. Realistically to build toward 2025 which should be there goal to contend. In 2024 there should be 6 new forward players and 3 new defenseman to build.  I keep seeing people saying they have had bad injury luck this year and would be better without that.  It’s so untrue.  You create your own luck and good teams find a way.  Don’t make excuses for a bad team.  This team needs many changes now.  

[Protec]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I find this a little curious. Kyrou was St. Louis' hottest player, and on goal 4 Fleury's got to have that one. He was out and in position, he just didn't react quick enough to the shot. Fleury at 35 probably makes that stop. On the OT goal, I thought that Fleury should have had it, and based upon him smashing his goal stick on the post, I think he thinks he should have had it. In tight like that is where Fleury typically shines. This is why I thought they were a bit soft.

I do wonder, had Brodin been in the game, would Kyrou have gotten his 3rd goal or does that get blocked or tipped?

Just my opinion but there's a spot about 18" off the ice, low, stick-side, where when the goalie reacts into the butterfly, that spot opens and is very hard to stop unless the goalie guesses it's going there. 

Just my opinion again, but I think a good shooter has the advantage greatly if he hits that spot. It was just inside the post and a perfect shot. Much like Schenn's goal last week.(Perfect shot)