Article: Could the Wild Get A Bounce Back From One Of Their Worst-Value Contract Players?

[Luke Sims]

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[Citizen Strife]

Hartman's the best choice unless Ohgren proves otherwise.  The thing with Hartman is he's a jack of all trades, Master of none, but a 20-goal scorer who plays his ass off regardless of placement is a great thing to have.

Yurov chose to not sign here this year, and Ohgren may or may not be a 20-goal scoring winger.  Hartman always seems to get shit on, but then reaffirms his value in a "oh fuck, we keep forgetting he's good" sort of way.

Edited August 9 by Citizen Strife

[Amaddeo]

8 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Hartman's the best choice unless Ohgren proves otherwise.  The thing with Hartman is he's a jack of all trades, Master of none, but a 20-goal scorer who plays his ass off regardless of placement is a great thing to have.

Yurov chose to not sign here this year, and Ohgren may or may not be a 20-goal scoring winger.  Hartman always seems to get shit on, but then reaffirms his value in a "oh fuck, we keep forgetting he's good" sort of way.

I agree with this. I would rather Hartman on that second line over Nojo any day and let Ohgren get up to speed in a sheltered role, unless he dominates. I think that should be the safest bet, and hopefully he can continue to drive play with Rossi and Zuccy. I think in their limited time together last season, they were a strong possession line but just didn’t show scoring results. Hoping they changes this year. 

[mnfaninnc]

I would say Hartman is the favorite to be the 3rd wheel on the 2nd line. He and Zuccarello have a history of chemistry and Rossi can fit right in. Hartman can help Rossi with draws on his strong side and he is an RHS. I could certainly see a benefit here. And, let's face it, he played way better than Johansson.

You know what encourages someone to waive an NTC? Put him under a different head coach and change his role. Some may see it as a refreshing change, but given Johansson propensity for flyby defense, I don't believe he is part of that some. 

But, when it comes to Johansson and Gaudreau, what were we expecting from guys making $2m and $2.1m? What sort of stats do those guys put up? I'd argue 11 goals and 30 points is probably better than average for a $2m contract, however, those points usually come with a certain amount of grit, that if it was there, it was darn near invisible (although, Johansson did take Radko Gudas into the boards and sent him to the IR). 

Johansson isn't a 2nd line wing, and a 2nd line wing would be grossly underpaid at $2m. I think we got what we paid for. A great gift idea for Johansson would be a knob for the end of his stick, maybe that would help? As for Gaudreau, I'd expect at least double the point production from him, and a + in the +/- category. Where he earns his bonus is as #3 in the shootout where he was money 2 seasons ago. Since we had few shootouts last year while he was healthy and he wasn't particularly good in them, a bounce back here could be something we see. 

But, let's also be realistic: Both players can be waived and sent to Iowa or claimed by another team if a youngster whose place they hold beats them out in camp. They were not signed with Heinzy as coach, and he didn't seem to like either of their play. Was it that they were too high in the lineup? Heinzy had little choice with the injuries and a 4th line consisting of AHL players very often. Sometimes when you switch coaches in the regular season, the best a new coach can do is simply play the hand dealt to him until he can get to the offseason and then install his system, and emphasize what he thinks is important.

Heinzy went on record early in his tenure that he was merely trying to tweak Evason's system last year, and point out some things that could make them better, but it was pretty obvious that last year was not his brand of hockey. I think we see a very different style next season, good or bad, but different. I also don't think that Heinzy is going to put up with cardio shifts. Looking at Heinzy's reaction to the cardio shifts makes me think that he's thinking "you want cardio shifts? Fine" and he bag skates him/them the next couple of practices. 

I do believe in the bounce back from those 2 players, but I also believe highly in the production improvement being internal. All of our young guys need to be better.

[Dango]

I wonder if there is enough time in the off season and the pre season to  teach heinz different style or if players dont even require it and can just go because the pre season is mostly prospects and some regulars .  

[FredJohnson]

On 8/9/2024 at 4:41 PM, Citizen Strife said:

Hartman's the best choice unless Ohgren proves otherwise.  The thing with Hartman is he's a jack of all trades, Master of none, but a 20-goal scorer who plays his ass off regardless of placement is a great thing to have.

Yurov chose to not sign here this year, and Ohgren may or may not be a 20-goal scoring winger.  Hartman always seems to get shit on, but then reaffirms his value in a "oh fuck, we keep forgetting he's good" sort of way.

Agreed. Hartmann is the player I want to see on the 3rd line that gets elevated to the top-6 when a forward is hurt or struggling.

Frauddy is fine in the bottom 6. I don't think he's the player you want to have in the top 6 for more than a game or 2.

Nojo should be in the press box most of the time.

[FredJohnson]

H8 to post the word "buyout", but if Frauddy can't be moved or stashed somewhere (AHL or press box) do we pull the plug to make room on the roster for a prospect before he becomes the new Goligoski?