Article: Guerin Should Weaponize Waivers To Maximize Roster Flexibility

[Adam Overby]

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[Willy the poor boy]

"Before you start popping champagne corks, Guerin is a “players GM,” and the likelihood of him weaponizing this loophole to send out the contracts he signed is about as likely as Ivan Demidov dressing for the Wild next season."

I'm gonna push back on this because it's just not true; Throws Fiala under the bus, Throws Tbot under the bus, throws Marco under the bus. Parise and Suter were never talked to about the buyouts, just a phone call saying they were bought out and not with the team anymore. Those are just off the top of my head in about a minute, I am sure I can come up with more.

Edited Wednesday at 03:42 PM by Willy the poor boy

[Pewterschmidt]

Guerin needs to make 2-3 moves this off-season with the existing roster in order to set the table for near term future seasons.  He needs to undo some of the damage made by extending the apathetic core.  Off-load one or more of the dirty four (Foligno, Mojo, Fred, Zuccy) this off-season.  How can he do that with the NMC's?  That's Guerin's problem to solve.

If we end the off-season with effectively the same roster we ended last season, plus a #13 draft pick that is a FAIL by Guerin.

#BeBoldBill

#dontbedumbbill

[WIWild]

Anybody remember what line Zucci was on with the Rangers? They were looking good in the playoffs until Zibanejad and Kreider's production dried up. Maybe the Rangers could be enticed to bring Zucci back to help set those 2 up? Pretty sure he was a fan fave there.

[mnhockeyfan03]

Great article and exactly the thing Guerin should be doing.  Freddie, Nojo, Foligno, Hartman, Spurgeon should all be looked to be put on waivers now.  Go to them and say if you don’t waive your no trade clause we are going to do this.  I bet they waive their no trade clause when you do this.  It’s all about winning right Guerin?  Well it takes hard choice and the old fat taking up to much cap space has to be moved out now. The NHL is a business of trying to win a cup not about having the GM being friends with guys in the lockerroom.  If anything they should be scared of the GM to want to work harder to keep their spot. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

Minnesota Wild will get over $14.75 million back onto the books after the worst of Buyout Purgatory finally expires.

Technically, they will only get slightly more than $13M of cap space back when the worst years of the buyouts expire.  They will carry forward $1.667M for the remaining 4 years after 24-25.

[MNCountryLife]

Not sure I fully understand what happened with Barclay Goodrow.  Any chance someone could clarify this scenario for me.

What I know:  Rangers were having trouble with his NTC so they put him on Waivers and San Jose claimed him.  I assume Barclay had a 1 way contract so they couldn't send him down. 

What I don't understand: What happened to his contract.  Why isn't it dead cap space like Parise and Suter?  Did NY get back the entire contract back on the books?  

[punch_cut]

50 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Not sure I fully understand what happened with Barclay Goodrow.  Any chance someone could clarify this scenario for me.

What I know:  Rangers were having trouble with his NTC so they put him on Waivers and San Jose claimed him.  I assume Barclay had a 1 way contract so they couldn't send him down. 

What I don't understand: What happened to his contract.  Why isn't it dead cap space like Parise and Suter?  Did NY get back the entire contract back on the books?  

When someone is picked off waivers the contract goes with them to the new team.

Suter and Zach were bought out not waived.

[Dango]

I know that  some  people want certain players replaced  and are critical of their game but when it comes to Foligno  who would replace his enforcer role if he was gone  ,  Middleton can do some but im not sure thats enough  though  .    we dont need a  heavy Reaves type but we do need an Olan Nolan , Chris Stewert ,  Staubitz  type  .

[WildRam]

Foligno needs to realize he has enough talent to be more effective offensively and make that his focus with a better understand of when / where to be an enforcer. 

[Burnt Toast]

Excellent article!! If a player is not giving maximum effort on a regular basis I’m all for bringing on The Waive. It’s on management to discern why certain players are underperforming and treat each situation respectively. It’s a team game and it seems like the players need to know there’s some accountability in the locker room too. 

[Protec]

4 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Great article and exactly the thing Guerin should be doing.  Freddie, Nojo, Foligno, Hartman, Spurgeon should all be looked to be put on waivers now.  Go to them and say if you don’t waive your no trade clause we are going to do this.  I bet they waive their no trade clause when you do this.  It’s all about winning right Guerin?  Well it takes hard choice and the old fat taking up to much cap space has to be moved out now. The NHL is a business of trying to win a cup not about having the GM being friends with guys in the lockerroom.  If anything they should be scared of the GM to want to work harder to keep their spot. 

The hard part about this is the season prior to last these same guys were good. MN lost to Dallas in six that year but Fred single-handedly won multiple games via the shootout. Foligno and Hartman play solid roles and Zuccarello adds offense. I'm not greatly disappointed in all of them but Foligno is not unique. Fun-loving cement-head who gets a greasy one or zings a wrister top-corner once in awhile.

NoJo is the deadest weight of them all. His occupation of the L2 wing position is a disgrace to elite Swedes and face-slap to hard-working NHL rookies.

I would waive NoJo prior to the season start when two things are possible. Teams looking for a depth guy and MN with an NHL option to replace a winger. Depending on UFA signings, MN should in my opinion add a guy who challenges NoJo for his spot and takes it while there's a player lower in the lineup like Clarke or some other UFA like Dakota Joshua who can thrive in a bottom six role. The likelihood somebody takes NoJo then is greater and the backfire potential is zero. Of course the 2M is not free in time to use, it would buy the Wild some cap cushion going forward from the season start.

I agree with Pewter, the same lineup to start the year would not be impressive. There are some guys who I can appreciate and I'm okay with giving em another chance to be good like Spurgeon, Fred, and Gus. If they come out of the gate and it's not good, I'd begin to doubt whether the roster can be fixed before the deadline. There's still a lot to play out over the next few months, but I'd be done screwing around with the cagey old vets if I was cross-eyed Bill. Time to focus on new blood and upgrades anywhere I can.

My top targets would be Yakov Trenin, Dakota Joshua, Michael Amadio, Connor Brown, Danton Heinen, Dimitry Kulikov, Steven Lorentz, Vlad Tarasenko, Dominik Kubalik, Denis Gurianov, Erik Johnson, Brady Skjei, or Alex Wennberg.

There's no top tier guys on my list other than Skjei or Tarasenko. Wennberg, Connor Brown, and the other two will probably earn more money and would be the most difficult to get due to competition from other teams. Skjei would be more realistic if MN was willing to trade out a top 4 LD like Middleton but it sounds like that's not happening. Could they trade Chisholm before he endears himself to MN fans and they collectively agree he's indispensable? Maybe if we had faith in any of Brackett's defensive prospects but it looks more and more like MN will bite the bullet and require more than the players on the roster can deliver. Most of the guys I mention are realistically affordable upgrades if MN had the guts to go for it but sacrifices would have to be made. NoJo to waivers, Lulongo Bros back to the AHL, and Skjei would eat up all of the available money if they went all in for him. 

For me, the solid off season would be to bring back Kulikov if possible, get Joshua, and Tarasenko to sign UFA deals. That eliminates a need for NoJo and Merrill while giving MN more experience, toughness, and scoring on the wing. Maybe you can't afford Tarasenko, but you've upgraded two positions with affordable guys who give you balance and depth. Joshua scored more than NoJo for half the money last season. Tarasenko has two Cups now and if he kept the Lenin-beard becomes top-3 strongest beard guy for MN. No matter what Guerin could spend 5-6M and get at least two UFA upgrades with playoff experience to sprinkle in. Might be a pipe-dream but if they could get Vlad the Lenin-beard for 4M and Joshua for 2-3M it would blow doors off what MN just had last season. That way there's some depth too if AHL guys like WhasssSop, Clarke, Haight, and Heidt score goals and use their AHL time to get closer to NHL reality.

This would be a pretty okay lineup with the goal of replacing the Norwegian Hobbit, NoJo, and Bogo if he doesn't have a good year. If Yurov comes in the next season and Heidt let's say on the wing or at center MN would have flexibility to upgrade even further to address weaknesses or let guys simmer in the AHL. All year and now the biggest problem is NoJo cause he sucks.

Kaprizov(45g) Ek(30g) Boldy(29g)  No description necessary.

Zuccarello(12g) Hartman(21g) Tarasenko(23g)  Skill and scoring potential.

Ogie(NA) Rossi(21g) Joshua(18g)  Bigness-balance and scoring potential.

Foligno(10g) Knudi(NA) Shaw/Freddy(~10g) Responsible L4.

Brodin Faber

Spurgeon Midds

Bogo Chisholm

With this lineup you'd have much better balance with the little guys being on lines with bigger, tougher players, and your skill is spread out with your bangers down-low. No mention of NoJo cause he's the new Rask, 14th forward, dead-weight, dead-money. Billy-blunder #1, totally don't need him, don't want him. Off to the Zima-League with him...

[mnfaninnc]

I have to disagree with this line from Adam:

Quote

Plus, they have a GM with the creativity to incorporate boldness into every trade decision

I do not see creativity as Shooter's strong suit, instead, I believe it is a weakness.

As for trading and waiving guys let's be clear: You cannot waive a guy on an NMC. The players above have NMCs for this year, some for next. The threat becomes when they have a full NTC or Modified NTC (M-NTC). So, we will have to wait on some of this year by year. 

I've suggested using this threat since way before NYR actually did it. We're in a different area than NYR. They need cap space (well, so do we), but the roster spot may be more important for us to fill with an ELC player. Doing that means that both Johansson and Gaudreau can be sent to Iowa and we get a roster spot + enough room for an ELC. 

What's interesting about the NYR method is this: NYR could have had a deal with San Jose, but Goodrow likely vetoes it. But, since San Jose is #1 on waiver claims and probably would have gotten Goodrow for nothing anyway, they were able to put the claim on him. If San Jose wanted Johansson, we could do the same exact thing circumventing Johansson's full NTC. However, you can only do that once. I think NYR will now have problems with players actually getting an NTC or M-NTC because it won't be honored. They will need to give far more NMCs in the future.

Shooter isn't like that. Shooter would most likely invite the player to his office and present him with the scenario of "I can waive you for no protection or I can send you where you want to go." "Where do you want to go because here is not working out?" The player gives him a team or a collection of teams. Or, Shooter might call the entire league and present the player with 5 options of teams that will have the player. His question then would be "which team would you like to go to?" 

Now, Willy puts up a decent argument. I'm not sure Addison got the courtesy of being brought into his office, he just got jettisoned to San Jose. Talbot got jettisoned to Ottawa, and Talbot has nobody to blame but his agent who did not act in a fiduciary manner with his client. But Shooter's player reputation is that he will try hard to find a good fit for you if you don't fit in here. 

[Burnt Toast]

4 hours ago, Protec said:

With this lineup

This lineup would be a nice upgrade from last year with even more potential built in. What I’m holding my breath on is the goalie position. Kinda closing my eyes and hoping halfway through the season somebody sprinkled magic puck luck dust on those guys.

[Burnt Toast]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Where do you want to go

I agree with your breakdown of BG. Definitely a balancing act going on when it comes to dealing/ dealing with players. I think he’s trying to get MN a favorable reputation so when other teams’ players are asked “ where do you want to go?” They say MN. 

[Fezig]

I have to admit. The U.S. continually promoting the Russia / Ukraine war has me worried that our Russian players might not want to, or be able to, play here. That will sure make next seasons lineup look incredibly different, and not in a good way.

[Sam]

3 hours ago, Fezig said:

I have to admit. The U.S. continually promoting the Russia / Ukraine war has me worried that our Russian players might not want to, or be able to, play here. That will sure make next seasons lineup look incredibly different, and not in a good way.

I think last year was more of a problem than this year. I remember the fear of getting Kirill back in the US was a problem. Hopefully it will dwindle down soon…. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

3 hours ago, Fezig said:

The U.S. continually promoting the Russia / Ukraine war has me worried that our Russian players might not want to, or be able to, play here.

Not sure I understand that comment. The US is not promoting a war there, they are lending aid to a country that has been invaded. I believe the US would prefer a ceasefire and complete withdrawal of one country from the other country's borders that had been recognized for lengthy period of time prior to 2014.

[mnfaninnc]

7 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Not sure I understand that comment. The US is not promoting a war there, they are lending aid to a country that has been invaded. I believe the US would prefer a ceasefire and complete withdrawal of one country from the other country's borders that had been recognized for lengthy period of time prior to 2014.

I don't think it will impede us from getting our guys back over here, but I have to disagree with the preference of a ceasefire. There's a lot more going on here than just aid to a foreign country, but I cannot comment further in fear of breaking the non-political content rule on the site. 

About the only thing that would have me worried is if the Russian government started to use a draft that included hockey players like what happened to the goalie a couple of years ago. While I think this risk is small, it is still a risk. 

Now, if things do escalate over there, Ukraine runs out of their own men and women to draft into soldiers and somehow our military gets involved with boots on the ground, that would change things. At this point, though, it does not seem like the American people would be in favor of sending our kids into that conflict. Actually having Russians coming over to play hockey is a good sign that something is working in communication. They might be the best ambassadors Russia can send here at this time.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

15 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

There's a lot more going on here than just aid to a foreign country, but I cannot comment further in fear of breaking the non-political content rule on the site. 

If you get news from conspiracy factories that get supplied information indirectly from the Russian government, that makes a lot of sense. Hopefully no other countries are drawn into the conflict. Russia can withdraw at any time, discontinue occupation of Ukraine territory, and recognize the previously established borders.

[Pewterschmidt]

MN Hockey Podcast Update: new addition to the podcast stable is Wooden Sticks w/Kevin Gorg

I found it by searching for it in my iphone podcasts app.  (didn't find it on Youtube) 

There's always room for more Gorgo.

[Dango]

They're going to have a charity game in Russia between their  current KHL  and NHL players  , i see Kirill #97  isnt part of it, but many other big name players are . It sort of scares me if they'll all be free to come back here  .  I wonder if theyre viewed as money generators for their economy  and its better for them playing in the NHL  .

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

If you get news from conspiracy factories that get supplied information indirectly from the Russian government, that makes a lot of sense. Hopefully no other countries are drawn into the conflict. Russia can withdraw at any time, discontinue occupation of Ukraine territory, and recognize the previously established borders.

I'd suggest you review the 2014 Minsk agreement that was admittedly negotiated in bad faith by the West according to Angela Merkl. It gives the disputed area certain rights to vote for if they want to stay a part of Ukraine, if they want to become independent or if they want to join Russia. The territory mainly consists of Russian speaking Russians, not Ukrainians. This vote was never allowed to take place. As usual, there are always 2 sides to every story, but our press consistently presents only 1 side. 

I grew up with a distaste for Russia, but it was mainly due to communism, the arch enemy of capitalism. But, once communism failed, why still the hatred for Russians? They are no longer communists. It was supposed to be that idea that we hated, not the people.  

For a reference point, the Minsk agreements, I believe, came after Crimea was invaded by the Russians around the time of the winter olympics that year in Sochi. They also have a heavy Russian speaking population, so it is not a stretch that they would also want to be part of Russia. And that is how they voted. It is possible that the vote was rigged, but with such a Russian population, it could also be that Crimea identified more with Russia than Ukraine. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

They also have a heavy Russian speaking population, so it is not a stretch that they would also want to be part of Russia. And that is how they voted. It is possible that the vote was rigged, but with such a Russian population, it could also be that Crimea identified more with Russia than Ukraine.

It might not be a stretch if that information came from the Crimea region prior to 2014. Anything since then is likely coming from the Russian gov't mouthpieces.

Given how many of Putin's detractors have already perished in unusual circumstances, and how any non-state media no longer operates there due to punishment when there is suggestion that the government isn't perfect, it stands to reason that the people of the Crimea area, under Russian military occupation, understanding their lives are probably worth less to Putin than people who grew up in Russia, many not have voted their hearts...at least those whose votes were actually counted.

Russia is actively anti-America in their international endeavors, so treating them as anything other than that could be perilous.  I'm not going to suggest I had vast knowledge of the history of the Crimean peninsula, and their preferences prior to 2014, but I suspect there were different ways to go about determining the desire of Crimea than by infiltrating it with foreign soldiers and forcing a vote at gun point to get the desired outcome.

No matter how much information is fed through back channels to suggest that the people there wanted to be part of Russia, I'm not going to believe it based upon the way the vote was carried out.

When Russia was unable to influence the Ukrainian politicians through corruption to the level that they could obtain Crimea without military intervention, they took it through military expansionist action, and a sham forced vote that nobody truly recognizes as legitimate.

If England invaded Maine, telling us that Maine has long wanted to be part of England, which is evident because they still speak English, I'm not going to buy that line of reasoning either. No matter who in Maine suggests(under gun point) they welcome England's soldiers there as they always felt connected to England, I'm not going to believe that is the sentiment of the entire state.

[MacGyver]

6 hours ago, Dango said:

They're going to have a charity game in Russia between their  current KHL  and NHL players  , i see Kirill #97  isnt part of it, but many other big name players are . It sort of scares me if they'll all be free to come back here  .  I wonder if theyre viewed as money generators for their economy  and its better for them playing in the NHL  .

Why wouldn't Kaprizov be part of this? He hasn't been back to Russia since his first trip back after his inaugural season here and he had difficulty getting back here. As far as I know anyhow. His parents have either been coming here or they meet in other parts of the world. Could there be some truth to the rumor Kaprizov had the fake military documents? That whole thing kind of got buried in the same litter box with Guerins turds.  

Putin has been vocal in the past about Russian players coming west to get rich. You never know what is going on with the Russians.