Article: What If Minnesota Goes All-Out On Drafting Big Defensemen?

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

BEEF!

[Dean]

I like the drafting big d idea. I agree with Tony that Middleton is a bottom pairing d man on a good team.  His upcoming contract extension has me concerned. Billy obviously overvalues his guys versus what the league thinks of them . I like middles but as a 3 rd pair d on a very reasonable contract . Not another 5 yr clause laden handcuff contract. Spurgs contract isn’t going to age well so to have another overpaid d man locked up for 4-5 years isn’t moving us forward. Just more mushy middle. 
     Dean hasn’t been hired as a coach with all the job opportunities this year . Obviously the league doesn’t see him like Billy does.  Just like the rest of the leauge wouldn’t give Freddy g that contract term and clauses . So my concern is once again Billy will over pay in money , term and clauses .  I like middles but Billy’s contracts makes me not like the players . Hopefully Billy does something smart. But I doubt it. Haha. 

[UncleWalt]

The trade was a first and a second for a first and two seconds. 

[Pewterschmidt]

38 minutes ago, Dean said:

So my concern is once again Billy will over pay in money , term and clauses .  I like middles but Billy’s contracts makes me not like the players . Hopefully Billy does something smart. But I doubt it. Haha. 

If you believe Russo, Guerin will re-sign Midzy for term @ $4M+ per.  And I like Midzy as a player and person, but we've extracted all the value from him (got quality TOI at a value price).  Let someone else overpay him for his injury riddled 30+ years.

#dontbedumbbill

Edited June 19 by Pewterschmidt

[Imyourhuckleberry]

I think I would go offense with pick #18 in this scenario, but going large defense with the next 3 picks makes sense. Someone around the level of Greentree is going to still be there at #18, and the drop off could be bigger on offense than defense after that.

[B1GKappa97]

3 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

If you believe Russo, Guerin will re-sign Midzy for term @ $4M+ per.  And I like Midzy as a player and person, but we've extracted all the value from him (got quality TOI at a value price).  Let someone else overpay him for his injury riddled 30+ years.

#dontbedumbbill

Middleton is your ideal bottom-6 defenseman imo. Big, defensively sound, and tough. He is exactly the kind of guy you want as high quality depth throughout the blue line. Especially for the post-season where the ability to play a heavy game is a necessity. 

A future Chisholm-Middsy 2nd pairing wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. 

And if one of the young defensemen step up and turn out to be better than Middleton, he easily slides into a 3rd pairing role as your enforcer defensive defenseman. 

That's worth keeping around for a Cup team imo. Even if you overspend a little. 

[B1GKappa97]

Ugh I knew you were gonna say Solberg. And I get why. I just question the ceiling based on what I've read about him. It sounds like he'll top out as a 2nd pairing guy. 

And while that is 'safe,' it definitely doesn't hurt to try and take a swing on a potentially top-line forward or defenseman who might be available. #13 is definitely worth having more than #18 in this draft. That's about the tail-end of the top-end talents. 

Admittedly, I'm also always nervous about late-risers. They're usually just based on the size of the guy. Sort of like Sennecke. 

If its between Solberg at #18 or, somehow, Parekh at #13 who would you prefer? 

Edited June 19 by B1GKappa97

[Tony Abbott]

11 minutes ago, B1GKappa97 said:

If its between Solberg at #18 or, somehow, Parekh at #13 who would you prefer? 

I would grab Parekh at 13. If I were deciding in this mock based only on my preferences, I would have taken Catton and been done with it.

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

Middleton is your ideal bottom-6 defenseman imo. Big, defensively sound, and tough. He is exactly the kind of guy you want as high quality depth throughout the blue line. Especially for the post-season where the ability to play a heavy game is a necessity. 

A future Chisholm-Middsy 2nd pairing wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. 

And if one of the young defensemen step up and turn out to be better than Middleton, he easily slides into a 3rd pairing role as your enforcer defensive defenseman. 

That's worth keeping around for a Cup team imo. Even if you overspend a little. 

Good point. I guess I won’t be mad if he stays.  It’s as much about team culture as mid’s on ice play

 that said we don’t have luxury of stashing middling players (and that’s what miszy is w/o spurge), so I’d rather convert mid s into a 25 yo bertuzzi 

Edited June 20 by Pewterschmidt

[Secord Sucks]

Fun article—people suggesting that we take a forward with one of the picks are kind of missing the point. I read this article as imagining (not suggesting) that we take a whole fleet of big Dmen and what that could look like.

One question though, can we squeeze Charlie Elick in there somewhere? He’s projected to go late first round (mid to late 20’s) so he doesn’t really fit where we’re picking, but he’s a 6’3” right-shot D and some reports I’ve seen say he might be the hardest hitter in the draft.

Edited June 20 by Secord Sucks

[Tony Abbott]

10 hours ago, Secord Sucks said:

Fun article—people suggesting that we take a forward with one of the picks are kind of missing the point. I read this article as imagining (not suggesting) that we take a whole fleet of big Dmen and what that could look like.

One question though, can we squeeze Charlie Elick in there somewhere? He’s projected to go late first round (mid to late 20’s) so he doesn’t really fit where we’re picking, but he’s a 6’3” right-shot D and some reports I’ve seen say he might be the hardest hitter in the draft.

Elick was a guy who was on my short list to profile in this piece, I think I just had to make a call. If they got him in the second-round, I'd get it. 

[B1GKappa97]

16 hours ago, Tony Abbott said:

I would grab Parekh at 13. If I were deciding in this mock based only on my preferences, I would have taken Catton and been done with it.

Catton would be ideal imo, I just don't see how he slips past Philly unless Yakemchuk is also there and they decide they like a bigger defenseman over a smaller top-line forward. 

I'm hoping that somebody overdrafts the late-risers in the picks ahead of us and somebody unexpectedly falls! 

[FredJohnson]

I still wanna try using fat goalies.

[mnfaninnc]

This was a really good article, Tony. One thing that you nailed is the size of the player paired with their skating. Brackett loves the skating quality and if he is being directed to look at bigger players, I could see these being terrific candidates for him. 

Would Chicago give up 2 seconds and 18? I'm not sure they do, but this would be quite a haul if they did. It would also give us a nice mix of defenders in the pipeline. 

I didn't see an ODC post here, so what would this do to Kaprizov's view? Rossi would be staying, and I believe that Kaprizov would look at the monsters drafted thinking that was a really good draft. Is it enough for him to stay? 

This is where ODC and I differ. I don't think it really matters how the Wild do next season, it's in '25 that matters and he's got to see a realistic shot at being a contender. That many big defenders helps make his goals far more substantial. 

ODC also doesn't like to count chicken's in egg form. But, I am pretty high on both Heidt and Yurov being top 6 players. They've proven nothing to date in the N. I get that, but I also like the potential they have for the N. 

As for Berkly Catton as a pick, honestly, if you want to set the franchise back, you pick another little guy, guys we just have too many of. Speed kills until the playoffs role around. Then, suddenly, size matters more. I just think the risk of Catton is finding another Tyler Ennis, and that did not end well. I know he'll fill out some, but 5'11" 163 is a long ways to go.

[Up North Guy]

15 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Speed kills until the playoffs role around. Then, suddenly, size matters more.

Exactly

[Tony Abbott]

17 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

As for Berkly Catton as a pick, honestly, if you want to set the franchise back, you pick another little guy, guys we just have too many of. Speed kills until the playoffs role around. Then, suddenly, size matters more. I just think the risk of Catton is finding another Tyler Ennis, and that did not end well. I know he'll fill out some, but 5'11" 163 is a long ways to go.

I think the Wild were a fast team when Fiala was in the picture. I don't think this has been a fast team since. 

[raithis]

17 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

ODC also doesn't like to count chicken's in egg form. ...  They've proven nothing to date in the N. I get that, but I also like the potential they have for the N. 

Except Sammy Walker for some reason.  To him, all the youngsters are unproven and should be traded for someone to keep Kaprizov (I'm starting to wonder if ODC is really Chuck Fletcher the way he is so quick and willing to move on from prospects), but for some reason Sammy Walker is going to make an impact this year even though he is more unproven than others have already shown in less chances.  Hell, maybe he's Sammy Walker.

I'm on board with not trading known commodities for unknowns in the draft.  I'm also onboard with not getting so attached to a player and to be willing to trade a player if they either become a problem or if it improves the team.  And honestly if Kaprizov started demanding that the team do x or y, I'd rather they move him just like they would to anyone.

That said, I don't believe Kaprizov is that type of player.  I think he wants to win and this last year has been as frustrating to him as it has to the other players and the fans.  If we don't have the same trouble with injuries this year, I think we do much better.  We still need more to advance in the playoffs, but things are improving.  I think we will need to get a player or two from free agency or trade to fill certain voids that we just don't seem to draft for, but overall the trajectory is positive and we can start accelerating more as this next season progresses.

Guerin needs to resist the urge to sign another veteran over 30 to a 3 or 4 year deal.  I'm not opposed to it down the road a couple years if the right person is available and some of the existing contracts age out, but right now we have enough of those unless it's a short term plug in a role we don't currently have until a prospect or other younger player is capable of filling it.

 

[mnfaninnc]

8 hours ago, raithis said:

Except Sammy Walker for some reason.  To him, all the youngsters are unproven and should be traded for someone to keep Kaprizov (I'm starting to wonder if ODC is really Chuck Fletcher the way he is so quick and willing to move on from prospects), but for some reason Sammy Walker is going to make an impact this year even though he is more unproven than others have already shown in less chances.  Hell, maybe he's Sammy Walker.

I haven't known ODC to be a Sammy Walker champion. If he has commented on Walker, I believe it's in sarcasm. Walker's another one of those Iowa guys who have proved nothing.

[mnfaninnc]

8 hours ago, Tony Abbott said:

I think the Wild were a fast team when Fiala was in the picture. I don't think this has been a fast team since

My eye test sees the same thing. But, Fiala was pretty thick with that speed and shiftiness. Catton at 163 has a lot of growing to do. 30-35 lbs. is a lot of filling out. I did that, but not in the way an athlete would do it 😉

[Up North Guy]

23 hours ago, raithis said:

If we don't have the same trouble with injuries this year, I think we do much better. 

this team really needs to start planning for injuries. They have too many guys on the wrong side of 30 who will be increasingly prone to injury. Quality depth players need to be identified and groomed. Hopefully all the injuries won't strike  at the same time again but they certainly can be cumulative. Development in Iowa needs to be ramped up bigly.