Article: The Wild Can Expect More From Their Top Line Next Year

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

Turns out putting the best scorers on the same line leads to good results.  Too bad it took a new coach to figure that out.  It helped Kaprizov too, because putting Boldy up there instead of Zuccarello cut down on the endless give and goes.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

This article highlights why getting rid of Rossi is a needless and reckless move. He was tied for second on the team at even strength scoring with Boldy for 19 goals. He was also great defensively. Considering he played most of the year on a line with Mojo who was -15, Rossi was a meager -4 with 40 pts. Even Zucc with 63 pts was -5. These were his linemates for the majority of the year and he appears to be more a defensive influence than both of them. He was also 2.3 GA/60 which is in the top 5 on the team regulars. 6th on the team in takeaways and 4th on the team for Corsi Relative.

I mean gawd damn, how much more do you want from the kid considering his linemates? He was a stud this year and Billy is truly stunned to send him down the road because we have a excess of depth. Yurov, Heidt, Haight and even Dinov have yet to prove anything in the league, but let's trade the one guy who has after losing an entire year to myocarditis and doing everything we asked of him to become better. 

His attitude, story and stats speak for themselves. If this isn't a good enough reason to keep him I say we jettison BG and his assbackwards favoritism instead. 

[viper3119]

37 minutes ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

His attitude, story and stats speak for themselves. If this isn't a good enough reason to keep him I say we jettison BG and his assbackwards favoritism instead. 

louder for the people in the back and the wilds front office wanting to trade him!

[Will D. Ness]

I think Boldy is on the cusp of being a 40 goal scorer as well.  He was a little shaky most of the year, but post all star he really looked confident and has looked scary good when he attacks the net.

Heinz needs to keep this line together.

Edited April 25 by Will D. Ness

[MNCountryLife]

Does anyone know the stats for the PK with Evason vs Heinz?  It sure seemed like our PK did way better under Heinz.  I would be curious to know the final stats for the PK and how each coach compared to other teams.

[Dean]

Good article. I agree that top line is good. They could go head to head with Eichel or Hintz , mackinnon in the playoffs.  Boldy would need to strengthen up and toughen up for playoff hockey.  The problem is the other 3 lines and no d core . 
     Vegas is huge, deep, tough , skilled  and professional in how they play.  Hertl as your #2 center and Carlson as 3 rd center . Rossi wouldn’t stand a chance . Sorry Rossi people . It’s about winning cups not regular season games. Points during season are nice but it’s about what you do in playoffs.  Yes Rossi hasn’t gotten much of opportunity in playoffs but his demeanor and play tell me he’s not a playoff player at this time in his career. Maybe 5- 10 years. Mitch marner is unbelievable during regular season and then disappears in playoffs. Just like I think Rossi would. 
    They need to build a legit team quick so kappy stays. You can’t wait 5 years for Rossi to be strong enough to take on playoff hockey. Who cares what he does in reg season if he’s not doing it in playoffs  
    I don’t see how people think we’re close to anything after watching playoffs this year . Vegas all star lineup isn’t going anywhere or is Colorado. They prove you need all your players to play a heavy style game when playoffs arrive. Something the wild can’t do with guys like Fred , Jo Jo , Spurg , Merrill , Rossi .  
    Vegas is impressive . Professional men who know how to do there job . A gm who knows how to find those professional winners  an a cap guy who can make miracles happen . Meanwhile we are a collection of misfits . A team full of the same type players.  Wingers and undersized d is all we have besides are one stud center . to win a cup the d core needs total overhaul. , 2 nd line needs a legit center. The 3rd an 4 th lines need men who can hit , win battles  and block shots . 

   I was encouraged by Billy’s off season presser but can he really upgrade with the right people? Or will it be more of his friends who like to golf ? 

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, Dean said:

Rossi wouldn’t stand a chance . Sorry Rossi people . It’s about winning cups not regular season games. Points during season are nice but it’s about what you do in playoffs.  Yes Rossi hasn’t gotten much of opportunity in playoffs but his demeanor and play tell me he’s not a playoff player at this time in his career. Maybe 5- 10 years.

Dean, I've just got to ask, how much strength would Rossi need to build? Ek took 2 seasons to build his strength. Then he worked on his skill. Rossi already has skill, and is one offseason away from bulking up. If he can get to 200-205, that's solid with his low leverage. 

There is some upper body bulk he's got to have, his arms are thick, but his chest needs help. He can put larger players off balance with great edge work, and I think at 200 there's another level of explosion he could have. 

I think he's built thicker than Marner at this point.

[Outskated]

14 hours ago, Dean said:

Vegas is huge, deep, tough , skilled  and professional in how they play.  Hertl as your #2 center and Carlson as 3 rd center . Rossi wouldn’t stand a chance . 
 Vegas is impressive . Professional men who know how to do there job . A gm who knows how to find those professional winners  an a cap guy who can make miracles happen .

The difference with Guerin and Vegas' GM, is the Vegas GM doesn't get attached to guys.  He moves guys out when they are close to being done.  Like he did with Fleury and next with the 36yr old Alec Martinez for Hanifin.  A GM with a better eye for talent would have found a way to keep Gustav Nyquist at $1m more and dump JoJo.  This fascination Guerin has with guys he knows will be his undoing here with the Wild.  He needs to immediately stop doing this and do what it takes to get the best players here regardless if he likes or knows them already.  When you win, the 'room' is always going to be just fine.  

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

15 hours ago, Dean said:

Rossi wouldn’t stand a chance . Sorry Rossi people . It’s about winning cups not regular season games. Points during season are nice but it’s about what you do in playoffs.  Yes Rossi hasn’t gotten much of opportunity in playoffs but his demeanor and play tell me he’s not a playoff player at this time in his caree

Can you show me any evidence on this claim? His demeanor is one that works hard every game and goes to the front of the net with all these huge D men you speak of. He is not a Mojo or Freddy who avoids contact nor is he scared to be in the dirty areas. 

We have yet to see Rossi in playoffs so I'm not so sure how you can write him off just like that. I'm with MNfan, he needs one more season of bulking up and he will be a hard guy to knock off the puck with the low center of gravity.

[raithis]

21 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

Boldy ... has looked scary good when he attacks the net.

The problem is that he doesn't do this more.  I'd like to see him attack the slot at least twice a game.  Make the other team have to worry about it.  Instead, he has a bias to staying on the perimeter, and the opposing team knows it.

He could be much more dangerous offensively if he was just a little less predictable.  That's the difference between the great players and the elite players when it comes to offense.  They avoid predictability by reading the defense and attack using their entire skill set.

 

[Will D. Ness]

3 hours ago, raithis said:

The problem is that he doesn't do this more.  I'd like to see him attack the slot at least twice a game.  Make the other team have to worry about it.  Instead, he has a bias to staying on the perimeter, and the opposing team knows it.

He could be much more dangerous offensively if he was just a little less predictable.  That's the difference between the great players and the elite players when it comes to offense.  They avoid predictability by reading the defense and attack using their entire skill set.

 

Definitely.  I want to see a stronger and more physical Boldy... a more bold Boldy... with a pinch more of killer instinct next season.  I think he is starting to believe he can do it.

[mnfaninnc]

On 4/26/2024 at 1:58 PM, raithis said:

The problem is that he doesn't do this more.  I'd like to see him attack the slot at least twice a game.  Make the other team have to worry about it.  Instead, he has a bias to staying on the perimeter, and the opposing team knows it.

He could be much more dangerous offensively if he was just a little less predictable.  That's the difference between the great players and the elite players when it comes to offense.  They avoid predictability by reading the defense and attack using their entire skill set.

I wonder if his constant button hooks that allow defenders to read it helps him when he decides to go to the net. I would rather it be the other way around where his default was going to the net and every time he enters the zone he puts defenders on their heels. 

But, for him to constantly drive the net, he would need more strength, and his frame has room for that. I suppose he needs to attend my strength/bulking up camp!

Boldy has the potential to be elite, but he needs some more physical tools to do it. The thing is, he's one dedicated offseason away from doing it. If he would just do it, he'd be a monster!

[Protec]

On 4/26/2024 at 5:13 PM, Will D. Ness said:

Definitely.  I want to see a stronger and more physical Boldy... a more bold Boldy... with a pinch more of killer instinct next season.  I think he is starting to believe he can do it.

He doesn't have the demeanor. He's golfing while Hartman is turkey hunting. I'll take the grizzled-up killer over the 3-fot putter any day.

Sure Boldy is skilled but after three years, he's still the exact same player. His game has not evolved. He's gotten a little better and number have improved but when has he stepped up to takeover a game? Think about it.

When MN needs a big win against Dallas, STL, NSH, or WPG, nuthin. Boldy is a tall, skill player who isn't physical or mean. The Wild are built like a cupcake. Filler and frosting but soft as shit, carbs & sugar.

People gripe that HArtman threw his stick. For cryin out loud at least one player has some emotion and fire that hates losing.

This is becoming a great joke. GMBG asks Spurgeon, "what's it all about?"

Spurge: "Workign hard and having fun."

GMBG: "It's about effin winning!"

Proceeds to sign NoJo twice, and tries to adopt "grit" as a slogan with the smallest, most Euro team in the Central. Then fans wanna keep all the same guys who can't get over the hump. So weird.