Article: The Wild's Extended Veterans Must Buy Into New Roles

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Supposedly has some skill with the puck although nobody scored on any of his passes last year.

Based on the little bit i've read so far this guy better come in and be hitting everything but the brakes.  Not expecting any offense and that's ok if he knows his role and is a punishing forechecker.  If this guy is Duhaime 2.0 it's another Guerin misuse of assets.  Not saying that yet, but Tenin is giving me Foligno vibes.  We don't need another player to punish the end board glass.

#dontbedumbbill

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

since days mieteninen joined our top line.

Ole Antti Offense

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, MrCheatachu said:

'solid 3rd line player'

Or a 4th liner who can play 3rd line minutes.

Expectations are definitely managed.  This meatball better make clutterbuck look soft.

[Protec]

Pretty soon I see Spurgeon, Faber, Midds, Brodin, Bogo, Chisholm, and Buium with the Buoy marking the channel between old & new. Spurgeon and Bogo can begin their retirement plans while MN fills in around the new core behind Faber, Middleton, and Brodin. There's your three guys who can hold down a defense pairing. I think Middleton with Buium in a year or two is a good match. So too would Bogo and the Buoy be a bountiful bromance on the back end. 

Guerin's eyes aren't crossed for no reason boys, that's the look of experience.

[Citizen Strife]

Guerin's eyes aren't crossed for no reason boys, that's the look of experience.

I mean, if your ball hit a giant with a guy's shirt saying, "Guns don't kill people, I kill people," you'd get messed up eventually.

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, viper3119 said:

can't bank cap space in the NHL, that only works for the NFL

My hope is that he's referring to banking it for the TDL.

[mnfaninnc]

The premise of this article is that the guys resigned will get new roles and they have to embrace them. Well, they don't really have to embrace them, but if they don't, they will get shipped out. 

Here's the thing. Heinzy's a different coach. Johansson, Gaudreau, Foligno, Zuccarello, Hartman were all resigned to be a veteran presence. They were resigned assuming that another good season was coming and to try to get Evason off the schneid in playoff series. 

Yet, a funny thing happened along the way. Evason was fired and Heinzy came in. John Hynes did his best to come in mid year and work with the system that Evason had built. This year is his year. Do all of those guys fit his scheme? I believe he has serious dislike for the style of play Johansson executes. But, this could be said for a lot of these players. 

1st shot across the bow-Yakov Trenin to the team. He's a John Hynes alumnist, and is coming back for more. He also knows what Hynes wants out of a 4th line player. Boldy is already a fan, Hynes got his game completely turned around upon his arrival. 

My suspicion is simply this: If you don't like your knew role, where would you like to go. (Shooter) I can make this happen for you. As for the group listed above, every one of them will have to look and see if this is the type of style they can play in. For me, I think Zuccarello might be a question mark. He's the one with the NMC. Waivers don't matter to him. I could see him expressing some question about where he fits. A bigger question might be where does he fit better?

Older guys do not like getting bumped down the lineup. But it happens, look at Goligoski. Will Mats have the same fate? It's tough when you think you're still a top 6 player and suddenly you're bumped down with the grinders. My eyes saw him not being worthy of the #1 line anymore. My eyes also saw him slow down and miss defensive assignments. I highly doubt PKing is in his future. Might he be asking for a way out?

[Dango]

16 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

My hope is that he's referring to banking it for the TDL.

Basically dont  spend it yet if you dont need to  ,  perhaps the Wall needs more Iowa time and we need a short term goalie to fill the flowers role for another year

[Pewterschmidt]

59 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

My eyes saw him not being worthy of the #1 line anymore. My eyes also saw him slow down and miss defensive assignments. I highly doubt PKing is in his future. Might he be asking for a way out?

Re Zuccy - I agree.  If I had to bet which of apathetic old core moves this offseason my money is on Zuccy.  Someone out there will see value in Zuc in their top six.  They’ll be wrong as Zuc looked old, slow and ineffective without 97.  This was also how he looked in Wild Jersey before 97 arrived and resurrected his career.  
#getitdonebill

#dontbedumb

[Protec]

L2: Rossi, Trenin, Ogie.

L3: I like Hartman, Zuccarello, and Fred.

L4: Knudi, Foligno, Lauko.

These lines aren't amazing as of today but by training camp perhaps things change. If NoJo is around yet, plug him in on the 4th sometimes. Fred and Hartman hold down the fort on L3 and if Zuccarello stays healthy there's a little better balance and the Wild can develop the younger players. If injuries happen, Lauro, Clarke, or Sop are there.

IA will be better we hope with similar experience and youth mixture. Maybe at some point MN can swing a trade too. 

Winning solves everything. That's gonna be on the current roster, coaches, and special teams factor. Small gains is better then fence-swinging...