Article: Bill Guerin Has To Rebuild Trust With the Minnesota Wild Fanbase

[Tony Abbott]

View full article

[mnhockeyfan03]

 In order to build trust back from the fans the GM is going have to take a hard look in the mirror.  The goal for the team is to win a Stanley cup!  Well start building for it and it takes hard decisions from the GM.  The GM should not be able to be close friends with the players as there should be no emotional attachments. This is a business and the goal is to win the cup.  Rossi, Spurg, Freddie, Gus, Middleton, any of the 4th liners this year are not going to get us there.  Start making changes now to get us there.  Enough with the friend zone.  Get some competition and some f you in this lineup.  If you aren’t going to compete you aren’t going to play whether a veteran or rookie.  Get after it.  It comes from the top to set that tone!

Edited April 23 by mnhockeyfan03

[Citizen Strife]

One down season shouldn't completely define Guerin's tenure when most of the team that was supposed to help the team weren't available until late into the season.  Rossi and Faber are mainstays of the franchise going forward, and there's enough room to see change either early or probably later into the season.  Having actual cap space to sign a 2nd line scorer is a difference from last year.  

Note: I scoff at the Rossi hate, because I'll take his 20 goals and his hustle over any option people would trade or re-draft him for.  He's part of the solution.  Faber has revamped the defense enough to make Fiala a memory, and Ohgren hasn't even done much yet.  He and Khusnutdinov could be viable 3rd/4th liners or more given time.

Sad thing is, patience is NOT something I see a lot of.  I get wanting results, but I also saw the "surefire" up and coming teams like New Jersey, Ottawa,, and Buffalo fall flat too.  I'll keep saying that so people can temper the hatred until it is proven the Wild are just completely out of rope.

[Burnt Toast]

Part of the Wild’s lack of success this year points to Western Conference teams making significant improvements. Stars, Jets, Preds, LVGK (post trade deadline). Their waiver wire players become upgrades on our team. Wild management keeps communicating a message of “ we’re close” “we believe in these guys”. Sure I want to believe too. Some of them are fantastic, about half. Replacing 6 forwards, 3 D, and a goalie is what can build trust. The Wild desperately need to bring in an outsider to help with player evaluation. That’s what I’m hoping for with the next AGM hire. 

[Pewterschmidt]

22 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

Wild management keeps communicating a message of “ we’re close” “we believe in these guys”.

Watch just one period of COLvWPG or DALvVGK and compare it to our bottom 9 and ask yourself if it's apples vs oranges.  Or is it apples vs a canoe.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

Guerin commented on these assessments, agreeing with the team's leadership. He noted that in the past, "We had swagger, we had confidence, we had a lot of ‘Eff You’ in our game… We didn’t have it this year. In my mind, to be a playoff team, to be a championship team, you need to have… that resiliency."

Seems like that was part of what Evason brought to the table--the 'eff you'. They won at a 95 point pace with Hynes, which could have left the Wild 3 points shy of the playoffs if they did that for the whole season.

Hard to say if Hynes is a better coach until he goes through the whole training camp and we see the team next year. Spurgeon and the rest of the injuries are meaningful. Vegas finished 13 points lower in the standings this season compared to last, partly due to injuries. That missing talent matters, particularly for a team like the Wild playing $14M short of everyone else.

Getting Yurov over could help solve a lot of issues, assuming he hits the ground running and develops chemistry with some linemates early on. 

[MacGyver]

Guerin should probably start rebuilding his relationships and trust with his professional peers he works with everyday, then the players. The fans will take care of themselves. Minnesota fans will never abandon this team regardless. They know what it's like not to have one. 

[Will D. Ness]

I haven't lost "trust" with BG if that is what you want to call it.  He has always made reactionary decisions and has a fundamental bias towards Pittsburgh which hasn't panned out all that great.

There wasn't much trust there to begin with.

Now the one thing I would say is that he has gone yard with quite a few moves and his obtuse use of the sledgehammer in regards to Parise and Suter were foundation shaking moves that takes balls that you just don't find these days.  

You gotta respect that.

This season did expose a few things.  He got lost in the finer details as most obtuse tools do.  His loyalty and generosity to players painted us into a corner this year.  His loyalty to Pittsburgh made him sign old players that just didn't bring the return.  Fleury needs to be included in that conversation.  Goligoski is the biggest crime. 

Zuccarello, Hartman and Foligno extensions are limiting but overblown by the media mostly, but I think he did miss the finer details in those as well.

His batting average is down but if guys like Khus and Ohgren and Chisholm turn into what I think they will, then all the sins of 23-24 will be forgiven.

 

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

My biggest gripe on Guerin is his focus on Room guys and his double standard for the vets vs the young crowd. He seems to not be able to see the forest for the trees when it comes to underachieving veterans and most of his trades and signings have made us older, not younger. I feel like the win now mentality has left us in a less advantageous position when the cap hits come off because we will be saddled with inflexibility in the roster that his deals seem to consistently include. 

I'm fine with bringing in cup experience as TDL additions provided they bring something more than that. In all reality what did Reaves bring to the table? Couldn't that money have been utilized elsewhere even if just for callups?

I hope his focus shifts this year to what should be our core; Rossi, EEK, Kap, Boldy, Faber, Dino, Declan and Ohgren. 

Maybe a change up of the Iowa staff to make sure the development team in the office down there is top notch and fill out our skeleton crew FO for the Wild. McLean has done nothing to bolster faith in him so far and should be on thin ice at the very least. His special teams with the big club never got to be all that special and some of the guys in Iowa have gone backwards in development. Red flags for the coaching staff if there ever was some.

[Dean]

Great article. I agree . I also agree people should watch dal/vegas . Winnipeg / col. It’s crazy how good they are compared to us . The size and speed plus physicality is another level compared to us. . Adding a 3-4 mil winger isn’t going to do it.  Bill needs to do some horse trading. 
    Listening to Russo and lapanta worst seats pod cast was ridiculous. Lapanta is clueless. Just an excuse maker that doesn’t know hockey. This wasn’t even close to a playoff team. Fred and Jo Jo had terrible seasons. Injuries aren’t the problem. Jojo on 3 rd line next year isn’t a good 3 rd line. K-nat and Fred on 4 th line is a disaster. To small . K nat needs size with him . 
     

[TCMooch]

I haven't had much faith in Guerin the past few years. I think is re-signings of an aging and under performing vet core is stupid and is holding the team back. I think his ability to negotiate contracts and the timing of it is terrible.

He comes off as a meat head old school NHL player/GM and I'm not sure he's savvy enough to actually make this team and more successful than Chuck Fletcher did during his reign. I think whatever culture he wants to create is probably a shitshow when you have an assistant GM "mutually part ways" and he verbally abused a long time employee enough that the employee filed an HR complaint and then again mutually parted ways.

Edited April 23 by TCMooch

[Pewterschmidt]

15 minutes ago, Dean said:

Lapanta is clueless

I’m a loyal listener and fan of Lapanta but I don’t completely disagree with your take.  I don’t think the Panther is clueless, but he’s definitely a wild employee which keeps him from being impartial (at a minimum). His dogged defending of NoJo and Fred is embarrassing

[punch_cut]

16 hours ago, TCMooch said:

I haven't had much faith in Guerin the past few years. I think is re-signings of an aging and under performing vet core is stupid and is holding the team back. I think his ability to negotiate contracts and the timing of it is terrible.

He comes off as a meat head old school NHL player/GM and I'm not sure he's savvy enough to actually make this team and more successful than Chuck Fletcher did during his reign. I think whatever culture he wants to create is probably a shitshow when you have an assistant GM "mutually part ways" and he verbally abused a long time employee enough that the employee filed an HR complaint and then again mutually parted ways.

The NHL told the Wild O'hearn had to go. The mutual parting ways was a way for him to step aside, but he was fired.

[mnfaninnc]

18 hours ago, Dean said:

Lapanta is clueless.

LaPanta is a play by play guy not a color guy. The color guy should be bringing clues as to why things happen. The play by play guy is just a voice who reports what's happening. He's not paid to actually know why.

For real cluelessness, everyone needs to listen to the "treat" of Tripp Tracy. All cluelessness gets compared to that guy!

[mnfaninnc]

I don't believe that Guerin needs to win back the fanbase. Really, his focus is going to be on winning favor with Mr. Leipold. But, for this to be successful, getting the fanbase excited again will need to be part of his plan. So what needs to happen?

1. We are in firing season. While everyone else is doing their scouting jobs, Guerin needs to be doing his: Scouting for quality front office guys that get mixed up in FO turmoil. Snap them up quickly, like he did Judd.
2. This team needs visual excitement. Changing to the '78s or '80s for both home and away primary jerseys would go a long way in a visual change, and put more money in the owner's pocket. Fans will want those jerseys. Coming up with a new, great alternative 3rd home jersey would help too. But, the psychological part of this is the biggest victory. It says we are not the same old Wild! Every time we wear the '78s, the non-home media people rave over how good the jersey looks. Capitalize on that!
3. It is time to expand the front office. Instead of having your right hand man be your capologist, split the role into 2 people. Your right hand man needs to be a creative trade coordinator too, as it is very apparent that Shooter doesn't really have that in him. We will be needing that very soon.
4. I do not believe that the roster needs to be overhauled. With the kids coming up, that will be the majority of roster flipping. However, if we could figure out a way to bring in Brady Tkachuk, and maybe David Jiricek (yes, I concede that TGAL has valid questions about the character of this player), that would probably be enough outside change that we need. Both of these deals would need to be creative.
5. Getting Yurov over here for next year would be a major thing. Talking with his agent now, or maybe even yesterday about coming over next season should be a priority. 
6. The message of BULKING UP. I know this sounds like a broken record, and I'd be fine with changing our whole strength/conditioning program. Listening to the suggestions above, they are saying watch the Central Division playoff games. Seriously, some of our vets need to be strengthening themselves because of past injuries. All of our kids, possibly with the exception of Ogie NEED to be bulking up. Get this message through, trade out the ones who refuse. 
7. Get Stramel's head on straight. Ok, it's been 2 lousy hockey years for the prospect. This next season things change! He needs to be excited about life again. If he needs psychiatric help, get it to him! We need this guy in a few years.
8. Help on the farm. We had several defensive prospects come in last season. By the looks of things, the only guy who has really developed is Daemon Hunt. How do you not have a former respected player developing these guys? This is a crime. Get some help down there with a strong voice. Also, piggybacking this, I think we need some diversity among the player development guys. Each guy there was a grinder. Really, it's the same kind of player. We need some new voices in that room, and how that group of guys don't have guys bulking up completely amazes me.
9. TV. Bally Sports North may not even be around soon. Guerin will need to be looking for a new media partner, even if it's just a backup. This is not a back burner issue, a partner needs to be found. I would suggest going back to a network broadcast. This will appease the local fans. Hopefully, it won't detract from us out of market guys either.
10. Game day innovation. I do not think that the X needs a huge face lift. Throwing money at it isn't the answer. With what we've got, I think much more can be done. I would be challenging the audio guys to come up with some new things. Make the game day experience more memorable.
11. Something must be done about our color guys. Walz has run his course. Ryan Carter has improved a lot. Lou Nanne is good to hear once in awhile. Bring Greenlay back to tv some. I think you could have some special guests in the booth more often. Also, I usually fast forward the intermissions due to watching on delay, does Russo still make intermission appearances?

A lot more can be done with the intermissions, especially when we are looking at the prospects. When did I watch intermission stuff? When it was giving highlights of the State Highschool hockey tournament. With all the high school and college hockey around, there's so much more that can be done with the intermissions. 

This is a long list of things to cover, but it is doable. Jerseys would need league approval, I think, but it needs to be pushed. Leipold may be a better driver here. There are a lot of examples of brand changing stupidity. This is not one of those times.  Nobody else is using those colors.

[Mateo3xm]

In no certain order, here are some players we should target or draft.
A Center with skill and size or a RHD/LHD with skill and size would be fantastic and top of the priority.
There has been talk about catton dropping because he’s short. I think he’s closer to 5’10. We need big players but Catton is exceptionally talented.
Hage would be one of my favorite picks. He’s Extremely talented, skilled and fast and he’s rocketed up the rankings recently.
Yakemchuk would be fantastic but I have a feeling him, Iginla, Catton and probably Eiserman will probably all be taken before it’s our turn.

Tij Iginla C 6ft 185 lbs
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2024-nhl-draft/player-profiles/Tij-Iginla

Cole eiserman Wing 6ft 196 lbs
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2024-nhl-draft/player-profiles/Cole-Eiserman

Carter Yakemchuk RHD 6’3 190lbs
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2024-nhl-draft/player-profiles/Carter-Yakemchuk

Berkley Catton C
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2024-nhl-draft/player-profiles/Berkly-Catton

Michael Hage 6’1-6’2 C 190lbs
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2024-nhl-draft/player-profiles/Michael-Hage

Adam Jiricek. 6’2 RHD 175lbs
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2024-nhl-draft/player-profiles/Adam-Jiricek

Consta Helenius C/RW 5’11 180lbs
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2024-nhl-draft/player-profiles/Konsta-Helenius

Liam Greentree Rw 6’2 188lbs
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/577205/liam-greentree


there are a ton of big defenders in this draft so I hope they absolutely grab some in their 2nd to 4th round picks

[raithis]

20 hours ago, Dean said:

Injuries aren’t the problem.
     

While I agree in part, discounting the massive effect that significant injuries to significant players for a team that is largely successful with team chemistry and knowing where your linemates will be may in fact make you the one who is clueless.

I'm not saying that this team would match the top 4 teams in the conference in the playoffs, but games against them would have been more competitive and we might have actually won a round this year.

With our younger guys developing and (hopefully) a less injury-riddled year, I see us being better next year even with the same lot.  Do I expect a cup next year?  No.  That was never going to be realistic during the heaviest part of the cap penalties.  But it will set us up for the other side of it.  Johansson will hopefully be gone, Fleury will be retired, and probably two other players currently under contract will be out the door by that off-season if not sooner.

This is what rebuilding looks like unless you go all-in and completely mortgage your future.  Going the all-in route only lasts so long, and if you fail, you are resigned to being a bottomfeeder for years.

Most of what mnfan says needs to happen.  It doesn't need to burn down what's being built.  We need to reinforce it so we can build higher.

[Mateo3xm]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

. However, if we could figure out a way to bring in Brady Tkachuk

I heard this rumor but I think it’s complete and utter nonsense. He’s one of their best players and a player you NEED in the playoffs. I think that rumor came from some small podcast who claimed to have insider knowledge. I wouldn’t even consider it an option even though I’d love it.

[Patrick]

The other Tony Abbott(the positive one) seems to think the Wild are well positioned for a window of contention starting in 2025.  I think most fans understand this and are happy with what BG has done.  The prospects he inherited have developed.  He has drafted extremely well and buying out Suter and Parise was absolutely the right move. The fact that he did all this AND put a winning product on the ice isn't appreciated enough by some.  Personally I don't like the Freddy G and Zuccarello signings but I also think the body of work is exemplary.

[Dave E]

Guerin has had more than enough time to have improved this team. He should be shown the door

[raithis]

22 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

I heard this rumor but I think it’s complete and utter nonsense. He’s one of their best players and a player you NEED in the playoffs. I think that rumor came from some small podcast who claimed to have insider knowledge. I wouldn’t even consider it an option even though I’d love it.

I kind of hate it.  I mean, I'm totally aware that we could use a power forward player with size, skill, and grit like Tkachuk, but he's just such an undisciplined ass.  I feel like he hurts a team almost as much as he helps it.

[Mateo3xm]

20 hours ago, Patrick said:

The other Tony Abbott(the positive one) seems to think the Wild are well positioned for a window of contention starting in 2025.  I think most fans understand this and are happy with what BG has done.  The prospects he inherited have developed.  He has drafted extremely well and buying out Suter and Parise was absolutely the right move. The fact that he did all this AND put a winning product on the ice isn't appreciated enough by some.  Personally I don't like the Freddy G and Zuccarello signings but I also think the body of work is exemplary.

You drank the cool aid without giving it a thought. You will see how preposterous the statement was that we will be in a window of contention in 25. I also don’t think you speak for most of us about BG. This team is going to be even older with our core players locked into contracts. The prospect coming up still have a few years to get the kinks ironed out before they enter their statistical prime.

there isn’t enough of them to fill the aging vets that are declining. I think BG as done some good things but he’s done an even better job of convincing some people that we have a chance for contention. This team is doing exactly what it always has done and will most likely get the same result.

[Pewterschmidt]

21 hours ago, Patrick said:

The prospects he inherited have developed.

Boldy and #97 are on this list.  Who else?

[Protec]

This coming season Spurgeon can be moved. Zuccarello and NoJo are expiring along with Merrill and Fleury. 

The Wild have a decent pick coming in the draft.

There's gonna be changes coming along. Hopefully the Wild can cultivate more of a roster composition that includes the kind of balance needed to really win. Less Johansson.

[mnfaninnc]

On 4/24/2024 at 2:00 PM, Mateo3xm said:

I heard this rumor but I think it’s complete and utter nonsense. He’s one of their best players and a player you NEED in the playoffs. I think that rumor came from some small podcast who claimed to have insider knowledge. I wouldn’t even consider it an option even though I’d love it.

Someone said he may be disgruntled in Ottawa. I don't know where they got the information, but if there's a sliver of a chance he is, and wants to move to the States, start begging, pleading, tying up the Ottawa GM's phone lines, send subliminal messages, take out billboards, blimps, anything you can think of to get him here! We need a guy like this.

Also, Cayden Lindstrom has been compared to the Tkachuk brothers, that would be a guy to trade up for in the draft!