Article: Do the Wild Have Another Calder Contender?

[Thomas Williams]

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[mnfaninnc]

Good morning from Floodsville. Actually we've had Debby rain starting at about 3am this morning and has continued. I've got a creek in my backyard which has been filled to capacity since about 7am. We've had worse, but the recently reported drought conditions in our area will probably be erased by Tuesday (when the reports come out). Huh, just looked like a deer got carried down the current of the creek!

I don't believe this year we have any Calder candidates, but next season with Yurov and The Wall should be real interesting! Lambos could also have something to say about it, but I'd expect that in '26. 

While I think Dino will be a decent player, Ohgren is the guy who could put up numbers, I think. But I doubt it'll be enough. 

 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

31 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I don't believe this year we have any Calder candidates, but next season with Yurov and The Wall should be real interesting! Lambos could also have something to say about it, but I'd expect that in '26. 

While I think Dino will be a decent player, Ohgren is the guy who could put up numbers, I think. But I doubt it'll be enough. 

I agree with that. Ohgren more likely than Dino to be in the conversation.

If an injury forces him into regular action, Wallstedt could maybe be up for consideration this season, but more likely for 25-26.

Hopefully no Debby damage for you. That's an awful lot of precipitation!

KHL season starts first week of September, so the Yurov watch should begin within 4 weeks.

Edited August 8 by Imyourhuckleberry
Adding KHL note

[AKwildkraken]

29 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Good morning from Floodsville. Actually we've had Debby rain starting at about 3am this morning and has continued. I've got a creek in my backyard which has been filled to capacity since about 7am.

I have a swamp in my backyard thanks to Debbie, but I think that is to be expected here in SW Florida.

Not saying our rookies will be bad, but I don't see them getting the opportunity to rack up points on the PP, even with injuries.  

Buium has the best shot at it if you ask me, but he is going to be in college most of the season, so he won't really be an option this year.  The end of the season is going to be very interesting. As will next year.  Buium, Yurov, and Wally will be fun to watch if things pan out as I'm hoping.

[bisopher]

5 hours ago, AKwildkraken said:

Buium has the best shot at it if you ask me, but he is going to be in college most of the season, so he won't really be an option this year.  The end of the season is going to be very interesting. As will next year.  Buium, Yurov, and Wally will be fun to watch if things pan out as I'm hoping.

Agreed. IF he makes the team, I'd say Heidt probably has a better chance at the Calder than Dino or Ohgren in 24-25, due to his talent as a scorer.

Next year could be really interesting, especially if Heidt doesn't make the roster and Buium pulls a Faber and joins the team in April.  We could have Yurov, Wallstedt, Buium and Heidt all Calder eligible, and all high level talents.  Who ya got? 

[Sam]

Shirley, Heidt didn’t score a million points… that is silly.

[mnfaninnc]

8 hours ago, AKwildkraken said:

I have a swamp in my backyard thanks to Debbie, but I think that is to be expected here in SW Florida.

I would have thought it would have drained by now. I guess it will soon be skeeter heaven!

[mnfaninnc]

This is way off topic, but Sunday I was looking for a new golf bag. Carroll's had a nice red Wild bag, and everything else I saw was the hunter green. What I was really looking for was a reverse retro bag. Has anyone seen anything like that?

It seems to me that with the popularity of the reverse retro, either one, that several items could have been made with that and probably sold well. Sometimes, the marketing people confuse me, because when they have an obvious winner, many times they choke. 

With the original reverse retro, I made the mistake of waiting until the price came down. Big mistake, as they sold out in my size very quickly. I didn't make the same mistake the 2nd time around getting a Kaprizov jersey. They could have sold tons more, but I guess wanted it to be an exclusive item. 

They are missing out on a gold rush by not switching the team's color scheme. We need a new look, and a new look is a visual representation of a new era with the team. It signals change is coming, and that is exactly what the fanbase needs.

[Protec]

@AKwildkraken

SW FL swales, streets, and ponds filling up hasn't interrupted beer-league hockey so that's cool. 😎

[Protec]

I think the greatest chance of the Calder is Wallstedt. One of the other guys gets hurt, Vaj holds down the fort in IA and Wallstedt comes in hot.

For me that's the most likely scenario to see a Wild player have a shot. Heidt needs to make the team before we can start guessing too hard. Ogie and Knudi aren't bad, but it's gonna be a tough year to beat the newest NHL golden-boy for the Calder.

[Sam]

43 minutes ago, Protec said:

I think the greatest chance of the Calder is Wallstedt. One of the other guys gets hurt, Vaj holds down the fort in IA and Wallstedt comes in hot.

For me that's the most likely scenario to see a Wild player have a shot. Heidt needs to make the team before we can start guessing too hard. Ogie and Knudi aren't bad, but it's gonna be a tough year to beat the newest NHL golden-boy for the Calder.

Are you predicting the Wild to trade Gus?

[Protec]

Not really but I could see Wallstedt coming in and getting a shutout or having a few games at .930 and the Wild look confident. Next thing you know, Wallstedt looks like 1A for the next 5-8 years and Fleury/Gus are relegated to the back-burner. 

That seems more likely to me than another Wild player beating Celebrini who like Bedard will play a lot of mins in SJ.