Article: Vibe Check On the 2024 Minnesota Wild Draft Picks

[Mikki Tuohy]

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[Citizen Strife]

Ritchie about to challenge Spurgeon in the "30 year olds who looks 18 forever" sweepstakes.  Rossi's probably on that track too.

[Sam]

Positive vibes here, boo-ya! That was great to find some young talent on the blue line as a first priority. 

[mnfaninnc]

Drafting Leskovar is probably a pretty big project. Mikki didn't even mention him being an overager too. I am quite worried about the lack of size from the draft too. Buium probably will be fine, he'll add, hopefully like his brother. 

I'm also quite concerned about development. I know there was a changing of the guard in the player development area. I certainly hope that Matt Hendricks can get these guys moving fast towards the N, and demanding they develop NHL type bodies. When we had Kurvers, we had a guy who could really speak to the defenders. We don't have that kind of guy right now, and I would have thought we could have brought in a long time defender to help out these kids. Maybe Goligoski is the answer? 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Just want to note that in addition to Stramel, not all of the Wild's other prospects are small. Stramel is bigger than these other forwards, but these guys aren't tiny either:

These guys and Stramel will all be at developmental camp next week. Another year adding strength/weight could make a big difference for these guys.

[MNCountryLife]

D-men that can move the puck out of the zone in a controlled manner are worth their weight in gold.  Zeev and Aron should help that dramatically.  We saw what happened when we lost Spurgeon.  Much of our D just shoved the puck up the boards.  We should see an improvement on that in our near future. Good draft.

[MNCountryLife]

19 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I'm also quite concerned about development

Me too.  I'm not convinced that IA is doing enough to prepare our players for the N. 

[mnfaninnc]

17 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Just want to note that in addition to Stramel, not all of the Wild's other prospects are small. Stramel is bigger than these other forwards, but these guys aren't tiny either:

These guys and Stramel will all be at developmental camp next week. Another year adding strength/weight could make a big difference for these guys.

But this is kind of the point. It's not about the height, it's about the full body. It was my main complaint against the 6'2" Adam Beckman. These 6'2" guys have got to get between 205-210 to reach their potential. Even Brodin at 6'2" 195ish is just plain too light. He's really good at skating and stick defending, but he gets walked from the corner specifically against the Blues. 

These guys might have enough strength and power to hit someone hard with leverage, but it's when you have no leverage when you need that extra strength. When you're off balance you need that extra strength.

[Mateo3xm]

On 7/4/2024 at 9:12 PM, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Just want to note that in addition to Stramel, not all of the Wild's other prospects are small. Stramel is bigger than these other forwards, but these guys aren't tiny either:

These guys and Stramel will all be at developmental camp next week. Another year adding strength/weight could make a big difference for these guys.

I have no idea where you’re getting these heights from but Haight has always been 5’10-5’11…

unless he somehow grew 3-4inches at 19 years old but I highly doubt that. I certainly wish he was bigger but that has to be a typo.

 

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/603614/hunter-haight

[Imyourhuckleberry]

4 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

unless he somehow grew 3-4inches at 19 years old but I highly doubt that. I certainly wish he was bigger but that has to be a typo.

Good question. Could be a typo.  I didn't recall his size and didn't question it because it came from the Wild's developmental camp roster.

https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/minnesota-wild-to-hold-development-camp-july-9-11-at-tria-rink-070124

Most of the others seemed to line up with the size I remembered them to be, but I haven't kept a close eye on Haight. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a typo because his weight doesn't look much different than when he was listed at 5'11".