Article: The 2024 Wild Draft Class Was Built To Pick Up the Pace

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

I don't expect all of these people to play for the Wild.  But both the Minnesota and Iowa versions could use the skill injection.

[Will D. Ness]

I love the graph with the true Calder being one of the elite.  He is only going to get smoother and more confident.

[mnfaninnc]

Tony's take here is spot on. There are a lot of commenters on the site who are looking for speed and skill and think we win with that. I believe one comment was at the end of the day it's about putting pucks in the net. 

This is true to an extent, but putting more pucks in the net also suggests you at least tread water on giving them up. A nice structure can help, having forwards play a full 200' game, and we've got a lot of forwards who do that. 

But, I thought we were after a Stanley Cup. Speed helps us get to the playoffs, but what happens once we get there? 

I am not as excited about the way Brackett drafts and the tendency he shows to draft the same type of defender. A team is made up of several different roles, and we have to have players who can fill all those roles. When are goalies are our biggest players, both in height and weight, we're in trouble. 

Many here have commented that a Middleton extension at 4 X $4m is a waste of money. But, look at this draft. Now, we have to extend Middleton, there's nobody there to fill his role. The same thing was happening with the forwards, as he was taking smooth skating, high skill guys who don't have size. Brackett simply doesn't pay attention to that uncoachable stat, and Guerin expects this team to play with a certain identity that requires that size. 

Yes, we indeed got faster! Was that the right move with so many large defenders available that we now have to skate through? And here's where I think the problem lies: There is a different vision between Guerin and Brackett for what this team should be. And, if we look into the Canucks, we will see that under Brackett, they had no problems being undersized. He hasn't changed his MO one bit.

I am convinced that Guerin took over the draft for the 1st 2 picks last season. Now with Stramel's troubles, I can see Guerin backing off a bit. Where the issue is is that Judd Brackett has a certain type of player he's looking for in every draft. He constantly drafts that specific type of player. The attributes are smart, great skating, skill. These guys are generally between 5'11" and 6'2" and weight doesn't really matter. He won't take the big rigs mainly due to them not skating very well. It takes them 2 years to get their feet under them from growing. 

The pendulum can't fully swing the other way either. You can't just build a team on strength and size. There's also got to be some speed. And that's why a buffet of different types of players is necessary. To me, it looks like on defense, you just keep rolling these guys out pairings 1-3 and keep moving the puck. Who cares about defending leads and getting walked by bigger forwards? There's a place for those dynamic guys, but there's also a place for the big lunch bucket guys. 

The same thing holds true with the handedness. We're way out of balance with lefties. We need more righties.  We've still got nobody to sit in Ovechkin's office. PKs can crowd the right side of the rink a bit more because there's no threat coming from the other side. In the NHL, that closing of margin for error almost guarantees it'll take a perfect shot to get in. 

So, while Tony's article here is spot on, the question lies with was it the right way to draft this year? That remains to be seen. We did get faster. Speed is another uncoachable trait. But, I fear we also got smaller, and we didn't need to do that. 

Also, reading up on Kiviharju, this guy was an absolute steal. Injuries was what was blamed for him falling, but, really, it was an ACL injury that kept him out half a year. Maybe we just say for our defense we've got BuKiviLameart. It seems like the same player 4 times. Left handed, puck moving defenders who lack size.

[Dean]

I agree this article is spot on. I also agree with mnfan s post. He was spot on as well. I didn’t see us get bigger. Just the same type players we’ve already been drafting.  I don’t see the vision of getting the right players to make a run for cup. Where is the size/length going to come from ? Getting one or two guys in free agency isn’t going to solve the problem. This draft was loaded with huge kids in every position. Stramel  could have been got in this draft with a 2-7 th round pick. There were so many kids bigger than him with more talent in every round !  I’ve given Judd enough time to say I’m not impressed with his drafting here or in Vancouver. Elias Peterson is the type of player we don’t want . He’s weak with no confidence.  We need Sam Bennett s , Matt or Brady T’s ,  Lundell s. . Guys with fight in them.  My other concern with Judd is his description of Rossi when drafted. . He said he was only guy who could play in nhl now. Well that was bs. It took a few years of the weight room . I’m not criticizing development I’m criticizing the scout who thought he was nhl ready.  Obviously our scouts are in there own little world . They must not watch the playoffs like Billy said he didn’t. Pretty hard to know what to do if you don’t scout the Stanley cup playoffs and think you know more than the rest of the league.  Our roster is small and average, our coach is average, our scouting is average to below average, our development of prospects is abysmal, our front office is abysmal imo. Getting out of buyouts isn’t going to change anything if management doesn’t change there priorities. 

[Citizen Strife]

https://www.flohockey.tv/articles/12695805-how-did-zeev-buium-fall-to-the-minnesota-wild-at-no-12

A neutral website with a take on Buium (VERY complimentary), and definitely thinks Philly is gonna regret the trade.