Article: Ondrej Kase Can Be the Marcus Johansson Replacement

[Luke Sims]

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[Up North Guy]

If the medicals are good it would be good to do at least a prove-it deal.

[Citizen Strife]

It wouldn't exactly be the flashiest move.  Then again, unless they trade out Gus, they won't be going after the higher end guys anyway.  

[Protec]

If we've gotta have Euros on the team, might as well get a Czech guy, especially if it's a cheaper replacement for NoJo. 

All you need is 30pts over 80 games to upgrade the NoJo spot.

[FredJohnson]

Ondrej Kase Can Be the Marcus Johansson Replacement

I'd prefer an improvement.

[raithis]

Considering what's available in the UFA market this summer for players that shoot right, Kase is probably one of the better forward options.  The others will either be out of our price range even if we trade Gustavsson or will want longer term contracts at their age than we should be handing out.

For the most part, I don't dislike this idea.  Sure I'd like him to also be 6'2" 217lbs or something but he could easily be an improvement over Johansson IF he's not afraid of getting hit.  Sometimes players get an injury that threatens their career and then they start worrying more about getting hurt again and just make poor plays.  That's what Johansson's play reminds me of - someone who's gotten injured and is worried about getting hurt again more than playing.

If Kase isn't in that boat, then this could be a good way to upgrade on the cheap.  Otherwise he could end up being another Johansson.

[Justin Hein]

Kase could be a great value addition even if he's not healthy all season. If they can bring him in for less than $2 MM, he'd be a threat on the third line. They could even add him alongside another veteran on the second line. 

Only downside I see is they'd like to add a righty on the power play, and Kase's PP numbers above aren't great. The team needs 5v5 secondary scorers though, which Kase can help address if he's cost-effective. 

[MrCheatachu]

Quote

The Wild have a type, and Kase is kind of their type. Kase is a strong skater who battles hard for pucks.

Quote

Concussions and the lingering complications from those concussions limited Kase after a promising season in Toronto.

We've had a front row seat to seeing how injuries can derail 'strong skaters who battle hard for pucks' (cough foligno cough), BUT with one more season of the country club dues scoring Kase at a decent price is more intriguing to me than seeing whatever floats up on the waiver wire. Plus, if he ends up struggling with concussions again like in his carolina season, he can always head to LTIR to free up that cap/roster space.

What's a decent price is to be argued I suppose...plenty of people in these comment sections seem to think that spending $2M on a Freddy/Mojo should be a fireable offence for BillyG, or spending on $1.25M on Bogo (b-b-b-b-but his WAR/SPAR singlehandedly shows he is the reason the Wild missed the playoffs....without him, we would have won EVERY game last season) is reason to launch BillyG into the sun.

 

Edited May 31 by MrCheatachu

[Need4speed99]

This doesn't make any sense to me... there are already too many underperformed vets on the team and roster spots are at a premium. The best you can hope for is 30 points probably more like 20ish.

Put a prospect in if you find someone who can produce like rossi and you could get more like 40 pts. Not to say that will happen but we have legit prospects and they are unknown their ceiling could be SO much higher than kase.

[Protec]

1 hour ago, Need4speed99 said:

This doesn't make any sense to me... there are already too many underperformed vets on the team and roster spots are at a premium. The best you can hope for is 30 points probably more like 20ish.

Put a prospect in if you find someone who can produce like rossi and you could get more like 40 pts. Not to say that will happen but we have legit prospects and they are unknown their ceiling could be SO much higher than kase.

I like to see MN use younger NA guys who can develop or grow into a role. Cheap attempts to catch lightning in a bottle isn't bad but it's kinda reminiscent of the Bergenhiem, Aberg, Hanzal, NoJo type guesses which don't move the needle at all and end up feeling like a waste compared to a Beckman or similar prospect who could find their way.

Sam Steel is better than NoJo in retrospect. A couple fewer points, more everything else. Same with Bjugstad. MN has kinda tried to give chances and opportunity to younger guys. So far only Rossi has really secured a spot totally. Nobody can say Duhaime, Dewar, Shaw, Addison, or Chisholm didn't get a chance to grab a roster spot with the big club.

[Need4speed99]

2 hours ago, Protec said:

I like to see MN use younger NA guys who can develop or grow into a role. Cheap attempts to catch lightning in a bottle isn't bad but it's kinda reminiscent of the Bergenhiem, Aberg, Hanzal, NoJo type guesses which don't move the needle at all and end up feeling like a waste compared to a Beckman or similar prospect who could find their way.

Sam Steel is better than NoJo in retrospect. A couple fewer points, more everything else. Same with Bjugstad. MN has kinda tried to give chances and opportunity to younger guys. So far only Rossi has really secured a spot totally. Nobody can say Duhaime, Dewar, Shaw, Addison, or Chisholm didn't get a chance to grab a roster spot with the big club.

So you are comparing one or 2 failures to your claims?

I never said anyone would be a crazy take over, or that they would find a diamond in the ruff... simply suggested their have a better chance with better results actually going with high prospects.

If your rebuttle is bjugstad or steel, I'm seriously wondering what team you root for. Also, you have to be one of the biggest

2 hours ago, Protec said:

I like to see MN use younger NA guys who can develop or grow into a role. Cheap attempts to catch lightning in a bottle isn't bad but it's kinda reminiscent of the Bergenhiem, Aberg, Hanzal, NoJo type guesses which don't move the needle at all and end up feeling like a waste compared to a Beckman or similar prospect who could find their way.

Sam Steel is better than NoJo in retrospect. A couple fewer points, more everything else. Same with Bjugstad. MN has kinda tried to give chances and opportunity to younger guys. So far only Rossi has really secured a spot totally. Nobody can say Duhaime, Dewar, Shaw, Addison, or Chisholm didn't get a chance to grab a roster spot with the big club.

I think steel is an anomaly at this point. Decent 4th line guy but when playing on a stacked team he flourishes. Never was a 1 or 2 center and he STILL didn't put up great numbers with the wild. 

To be honest, you would be stupid to keep the same mantra over letting kids play. Playing aging vets with low upside puts the wild right back in the mushy middle at best.

You can't make a big trade so the best way yo show kk you can win, at this point, is youth. They can't win next year, as is, let the kids play and see what you've got. If 1 or 2 come out ahead with something to build on you can sell kap. Without it you get a bunch of aging vets and if you lose your star, you go back to banking on prospects primarily, so same spot.

[mnfaninnc]

No thank you.

An injury prone forward with concussion history. He plays great in Pewter's non-contact spritzer league. He gets bounced around once or twice, and on the shelf he goes. Did we not learn a lesson in the Martin Havlat fiasco?

[mnfaninnc]

Last night, Saginaw drubbed Moose Jaw 7-1 to take their spot in the finals. Really, this is 2 OHL clubs in the finals which should show the strength of that league in jrs. this year. Finals are Sunday, not Saturday as I previously stated. 

To me, the relevance to this conversation is this: Hunter Haight probably has more upside at this point than Ondrej Kase. I believe their body types are similar too, with Haight being slightly taller, and has some filling in to do. 

If it were me, I'd put Haight in the Kase spot. He's got more skill and probably works better on the PP. He's younger and healthier and the contract doesn't really get much cheaper than his.

[Protec]

18 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

No thank you.

An injury prone forward with concussion history. He plays great in Pewter's non-contact spritzer league. He gets bounced around once or twice, and on the shelf he goes. Did we not learn a lesson in the Martin Havlat fiasco?

The Wild should stick with their building process. No need to really go outside the organization for depth guys like this who give ya marginal upgrade quality unless you can cut NoJo loose. 

Right now GMBG is like the dog owner who sees there's something wrong around the butt-fur area of their pet-friend. Somewhat embarrassed and grossed out they don't get immediately to the task of hosing the butt area and removing the fouled or attached excrement from the animal's rear-end. That awareness stage is where we sit currently. Guerin needs to just put the gloves on or whatever you gotta do to clean that shit up and get on with life...

[Protec]

3 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Last night, Saginaw drubbed Moose Jaw 7-1 to take their spot in the finals. Really, this is 2 OHL clubs in the finals which should show the strength of that league in jrs. this year. Finals are Sunday, not Saturday as I previously stated. 

To me, the relevance to this conversation is this: Hunter Haight probably has more upside at this point than Ondrej Kase. I believe their body types are similar too, with Haight being slightly taller, and has some filling in to do. 

If it were me, I'd put Haight in the Kase spot. He's got more skill and probably works better on the PP. He's younger and healthier and the contract doesn't really get much cheaper than his.

100%!

Of course, he's gotta get in the gym in a few weeks and be eating lots of healthy protein to add strength. Not a joke, these young guys have to be able to handle the physical part of the NHL. It's a man's game.

If you don't like contact or don't have the will to fight through it all, you're probably not gonna be a big NHL player. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

15 hours ago, Need4speed99 said:

This doesn't make any sense to me... there are already too many underperformed vets on the team and roster spots are at a premium. The best you can hope for is 30 points probably more like 20ish.

If he replaced Johansson's minutes(nearly 16 per game) from last season, he'd probably score 40+ points, but I don't know that they'd play him that much or that he'd stay healthy to play 78-80 games.

Kase has scored at a rate just over 40 points/80 games since his rookie year.

[raithis]

11 hours ago, Need4speed99 said:

I think steel is an anomaly at this point. Decent 4th line guy but when playing on a stacked team he flourishes. Never was a 1 or 2 center and he STILL didn't put up great numbers with the wild.

How exactly is he flourishing?

Steel put up better numbers in 12 LESS games and only slightly higher ice time with the Wild than he has with the Stars.  I totally agree he's not a top 9 player, but to say he's flourishing is laughable, especially when his production was better with the Wild.  How are his numbers so great for Dallas? 

He's another low-tier player in a league that has hundreds of players around that level.  He's not an anomaly.  He's a cheap option to fill the roster for a team who doesn't have a lot of cap space.

[Pewterschmidt]

57 minutes ago, raithis said:

How exactly is he flourishing?

Steel put up better numbers in 12 LESS games and only slightly higher ice time with the Wild than he has with the Stars.  I totally agree he's not a top 9 player, but to say he's flourishing is laughable, especially when his production was better with the Wild.  How are his numbers so great for Dallas? 

He's another low-tier player in a league that has hundreds of players around that level.  He's not an anomaly.  He's a cheap option to fill the roster for a team who doesn't have a lot of cap space.

Tyson Sign Jost 2.0

 These are roster spots that should be filled with players on their ELC or bargain basement roughnecks @ 1-1.5M who are face punchers and just happy to be in the league.  Wilds apathetic core will be bottom six for next 4 years all earning ~$4M per

#dontbedumbbill

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, raithis said:

Steel put up better numbers in 12 LESS games and only slightly higher ice time with the Wild than he has with the Stars.  I totally agree he's not a top 9 player, but to say he's flourishing is laughable, especially when his production was better with the Wild.  How are his numbers so great for Dallas? 

I think the point was that he's still playing.

[mnfaninnc]

I'm not sure how we missed this, but Darby Hendrickson got relieved of his coaching duties yesterday. Also, today is D-Day for Servac Petrovsky. In an interview with him, it appears that Petrovsky says the Wild can't sign him for some reason. My guess: 50 contracts.

I'm thinking it would have been good to sign him and trade somebody out.

Edited June 1 by mnfaninnc