Article: What Does Matt Boldy Have To Do To Take the Next Step?

[Kalisha Turnipseed]

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[mnfaninnc]

The Wild will start with Zuccarello-Hartman-Kaprizov. This sounds like the beginning of training camp. How long does it last? Well, 1st scrimmage, Zuccarello tries an east-west pass to Kaprizov while Dino picks it off and races the other way on a breakaway....line is broken up immediately!

At least, that's how I see it. Boldy-Ek-Kaprizov was money. Trying to make the other pieces fit together because Guerin signed them is difficult. Can Rossi effectively center a Zuccarello-Rossi-X line? Put Ohgren in the X spot and see if it works. 

The big problem here is that Zuccarello is slowing down and won't go into the dirty areas often to get bounced around. He's also a liability going back down the ice. At his age, would he be faster or slower this year? Odds are slower by game 30. 

If Zuccarello isn't playing with Kaprizov, there's going to be a point drop off that will make his contract appear to be an overpayment. I think we've got a problem, he is clearly a passenger, a distributing passenger, yet a passenger just the same. 

What if Ohgren and Heidt impress greatly in camp. Could the Wild actually try a Ohgren-Rossi-Heidt line? What would that do to Zuccarello? I don't think a 4th line Zuccarello is going to be happy. Hmmm, unhappy enough for that NMC to be waived? Let's throw another monkey wrench into the plan, what if Milne and Bankier both impress and come in ripped? What if the majority of the resignings get passed in training camp?

Heinzy has promised an open camp. Johansson, Merrill and Gaudreau are all on NTCs (maybe not Merrill) and can be sent to Iowa. This would be a good problem to have. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

26 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

The Wild will start with Zuccarello-Hartman-Kaprizov. This sounds like the beginning of training camp. How long does it last?

If they can all stay healthy, I wouldn't be surprised if it lasts all season. Having a potent 2nd line that plays just as many shift even strength and elevates Boldy/JEE to 1st line PP is probably best, but that depends greatly upon the wing of that 2nd line.

If Johansson is that line 2 wing and he can't top 40 points, then it's a waste.  Rossi as that 2nd line wing would likely make for 2 strong lines, but if Ohgren's game is strong enough that they can play him there, Boldy, JEE, and Ohgren could be an excellent 2-way line.

Rossi centering line 3 again where he started strong last year wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing as the Wild will play line 3 a lot and he was scoring there last year.

The Wild are much better positioned going into this year than they were last year as far as depth and injury replacements, but getting Yurov over to replace Johansson next year is where this team could really take off.

[Will D. Ness]

I think Boldy really started to show confidence in his game and abilities when playing with KK and Ek to end the 23-24 season.  I personally think he is the real deal but I also think that his development and confidence was partly due to playing with KK and Ek.

I wonder that if we put him on a line where we replace KK with a complete dud then will that help or hinder his ability to take the "next step"?

[Lovehockey]

Agree with mnfuninnc 100%. I think changing the lines is pure Guerin idea. He believes in his signings but to show this he needs multiple lines to be able to score. Problems I wee with this:

1. First line will have a lot of turnovers, the risky plays will be the only option for them. The oppositions figure out how to handle them - just be physical. They will score but less , aging Zuccarello would not help. Kaprizov will be overworked and overpowered 

2. Second line will score but Boldly and Ek success depended a lot on playing with Kaprizov. So they will regret statistics wise for sure

3. We had this wealth distribution before and this is actually cost Dean Evanston job.

In addition for me personally:

- it will be much less entertaining hockey

- it will make Wild much less desirable destination for Kaprisov. Cannot say if he want or does not want to sign as of now but he definitely cares about his personal numbers and they will be down for sure 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

10 minutes ago, Lovehockey said:

2. Second line will score but Boldly and Ek success depended a lot on playing with Kaprizov.

Boldy scored 31 goals the year before and JEE averaged roughly 25 goals the 2 prior seasons. The even strength goals might come down a bit, but the total scoring output of lines 1 & 2 could increase.

Zuccarello needs Kaprizov far more than Boldy and JEE do, which is why I suspect they'll try to stay with it if Hartman and Zuccarello can stay health and that Kaprizov line is producing goals.

Having 1 goal scoring line was problematic against teams that had excellent shut down lines, particularly in road games.

I could be certainly be wrong, but injuries and a slow start, possibly due to some complacency, led to Evason's firing, not rolling more than 1 scoring line. When I heard that Evason was telling guys they could skip the morning skate, and a lot of people starting choosing that route, I wondered if it might lead to some complacency--the long term deals Guerin handed out didn't help in that department either.

Guerin was ready to move for new leadership as soon as the team faltered under Evason, and after a frustrating season, I think the Wild will come into this season in better shape and ready to fight for the playoffs again.

[Pewterschmidt]

12 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

possibly due to some complacency, led to Evason's firing

Don’t forget about him getting badly outcoached in both his first round playoff losses

[WIWild]

I want to see this:
L1 - Hartman between Kaprizov, and Zuccarello
L2 - Rossi between Boldy and Ohgren
L3 - Ek between Foligno and Trenin -- if GREEF got so much credit, why wouldn't this work? Or are Foligno and Trenin on the same wing?
L4 - Knut between Freddy and Lauko

[Pewterschmidt]

9 minutes ago, WIWild said:

L3 - Ek between Foligno and Trenin

FEkin-A line

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Perhaps they should move Rossi out to wing on line 2?

BEER line might just need to happen, as it has excellent marketing and/or drinking game opportunities.

[Lovehockey]

4 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Boldy scored 31 goals the year before and JEE averaged roughly 25 goals the 2 prior seasons. The even strength goals might come down a bit, but the total scoring output of lines 1 & 2 could increase.

Zuccarello needs Kaprizov far more than Boldy and JEE do, which is why I suspect they'll try to stay with it if Hartman and Zuccarello can stay health and that Kaprizov line is producing goals.

Having 1 goal scoring line was problematic against teams that had excellent shut down lines, particularly in road games.

I could be certainly be wrong, but injuries and a slow start, possibly due to some complacency, led to Evason's firing, not rolling more than 1 scoring line. When I heard that Evason was telling guys they could skip the morning skate, and a lot of people starting choosing that route, I wondered if it might lead to some complacency--the long term deals Guerin handed out didn't help in that department either.

Guerin was ready to move for new leadership as soon as the team faltered under Evason, and after a frustrating season, I think the Wild will come into this season in better shape and ready to fight for the playoffs again.

From Tony Abbott article on June 6.

”The Minnesota Wild had the ultimate weapon last season: A top line capable of buzzsawing through any team. When Kirill Kaprizov joined forces with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy, the trio out-scored opponents 30-18 over 374 5-on-5 minutes. It was an incredible run of dominance, and there's room for that line to get even better.”

like I said there is reason for spitting this line but in my opinion it will not bring desired results AND will have negative long term effect. But this is my option only 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, Lovehockey said:

the trio out-scored opponents 30-18 over 374 5-on-5 minutes.

That's about 20 games of action, so around 1.5 goals per game. That's very good and there were nights the line put up a few goals and they dominated lesser opponents, but there were also the other half of games where they scored 1 or 0 goals that the Wild got beaten easily when the top line got shut down. I think it's easy to make an argument either way.

I'm fine with whatever they decide, but I can understand optimizing the chemistry that Zuccarello has with Kaprizov because Zuccarello doesn't have that with anyone else on the team and it can be a challenge to get scoring elsewhere when you stack all of the top talent on one line and opponents have strong defensive lines to shut them down.

[bisopher]

My preferred lines:

Kaprizov - Ek - Zuccarello 

Boldy - Rossi - Johansson

Foligno  - Hartman -  Trenin

Ohgren - Dino - Gaudreau 

Lauko 

 

Reasoning:

- JEE is our best center. He belongs on L1. If KK and Zucc work well with a grinder with some skill like Hartman, they should be even better with Ek.

- Rossi is our 2nd best center, so he gets L2.  He also had great chemistry with Boldy for the short time they played together in Iowa (something like PPG+ for each of them, even if it was only ~10 games).  Johansson is here until Yurov or Heidt are ready.

- L3 can be GREEF-lite. Hartman deserves to be here a lot more than on L1, as Tony covered in his article.

- L4 allows Ohgren and Dino to develop more chemistry 

[Fezig]

I think there are plenty of acceptable line pairings for Hynes to work with - if the defense is at all improved from last year - which it should be.

[mnfaninnc]

16 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

The Wild are much better positioned going into this year than they were last year as far as depth and injury replacements, but getting Yurov over to replace Johansson next year is where this team could really take off.

I like your reasoning, but the giveaways between Kaprizov and Zuccarello were atrocious last season. Even before all the injuries, they would cough up pucks near the top of the blue line and be late to help defend, usually ending in great scoring chances for the opponents. 

If this happens again, I do not believe that Heinzy will have any patience with it. He likes a tight defense and no turnovers, that's his style. Zuccarello just isn't fast enough to keep up with Kaprizov anymore. He always button hooks i the zone and refuses to drive the net. Everyone knows what's coming, you simply jump the pass. 

I too like 2 scoring lines and prefer 3. As a team we simply are not there yet. And, getting back to my quote, we are more than 1 or 2 players away from contending. I would say we are close to half the roster away + experience. 

What we really need is for these kids to pass the vets convincingly on the ladder and trust Shooter that he can trade out the vets. This likely won't happen coming out of training camp, but may happen similar to the way Boldy and Shaw broke into the lineups. They were good enough to stay so room needed to be made. 

I do fear that Chisholm is in this area. Sure, we picked him up for peanuts and he performed well, I thought. But, if he did not gain strength over the summer, he may be traded for a Hunt coming up, or anticipation of Buium getting signed at the end of the year. Lambos is a wildcard in this scenario. Why not the vets, why Chisholm? The vets still add a lot, and Chisholm's play would need to exceed them, which it can. Of course, a Spurgeon LTIR stint throws a monkey wrench into this whole thing. 

[Up North Guy]

11 hours ago, bisopher said:

My preferred lines:

Kaprizov - Ek - Zuccarello 

Boldy - Rossi - Johansson

Foligno  - Hartman -  Trenin

Ohgren - Dino - Gaudreau 

Lauko 

 

Reasoning:

- JEE is our best center. He belongs on L1. If KK and Zucc work well with a grinder with some skill like Hartman, they should be even better with Ek.

- Rossi is our 2nd best center, so he gets L2.  He also had great chemistry with Boldy for the short time they played together in Iowa (something like PPG+ for each of them, even if it was only ~10 games).  Johansson is here until Yurov or Heidt are ready.

- L3 can be GREEF-lite. Hartman deserves to be here a lot more than on L1, as Tony covered in his article.

- L4 allows Ohgren and Dino to develop more chemistry 

I think i would try Ohgren on L2 and move NoJo to somewhere he could do no harm (Prossbox?)

 

[Dango]

For Boldy id like to see the game slow down for him ,  i hear that phrase alot about players ability to see things in a more slower motion and using a slightly little bit more time to make more accurate shots i often wonder if Kaprizovs scoring % would also improve in that way,  ekk on the other hand is a take 15 swings until he sets the nail leaving hammer dents all over because his size allows him to do that .

[bisopher]

8 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

I think i would try Ohgren on L2 and move NoJo to somewhere he could do no harm (Prossbox?)

 

I'm 100% in favor of this myself (my dream L2 is Ohgren - Rossi - Heidt behind the KK - Ek - Boldy L1), but I gave MoJo / NoJo the benefit of the doubt because I know Hynes will be doing the same.

[Protec]

More effyuu in Boldy's game. Bop somebody in the mouth. Get the stick into the soft spots and antagonize the enemy. A skillful dump-in or two every game just so you can run a defenseman in the corner. 

None of that Lady Byng crud. Some Gordie Howe hat-tricks and flying-elbows would impress me. Do some boxing with Trenin on off-days and develop stamina to go the distance Rocky IV style. Run some goalies and then pop the first guy who objects. Iron-League stuff ya know. 

[Up North Guy]

10 hours ago, Protec said:

More effyuu in Boldy's game. Bop somebody in the mouth. Get the stick into the soft spots and antagonize the enemy. A skillful dump-in or two every game just so you can run a defenseman in the corner. 

None of that Lady Byng crud. Some Gordie Howe hat-tricks and flying-elbows would impress me. Do some boxing with Trenin on off-days and develop stamina to go the distance Rocky IV style. Run some goalies and then pop the first guy who objects. Iron-League stuff ya know. 

Old school for sure.

[mnfaninnc]

23 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

I think i would try Ohgren on L2 and move NoJo to somewhere he could do no harm (Prossbox?)

I like this idea, but training camp is going to have players starting with a clean slate. If Johansson picks up the effort and stays hungry, he might still be talented enough to stay on the 2nd line, but the moment he decides to take a cardio shift, next shift Ohgren gets put in that spot!

From a coaching point of view, I always loved it when I had a couple of extra players. 1) it was nice in case someone was sick and 2) it was definitely motivation to get everyone working hard. Heinzy may finally have a couple of pieces he can elevate, not out of injury desperation but out of young hungry talent, that need an opportunity. Then, the guys who have the spots need to work hard so as there is no opportunity. In my experience, everyone worked harder when starters had other players nipping at their heels. 

[mnfaninnc]

21 hours ago, Dango said:

For Boldy id like to see the game slow down for him

One of the things that translates from golf to hockey is seeing what I would call tunnels or alleys. When you can visualize a shot that has to go through a very narrow corridor to be successful because you have hit a wild shot previously. I likely have more practice at this than most 😁.

If the game were to slow down for him, he could see lanes on the ice he can take instead of his button hooks. If he realizes how big of a player he really is, he could take these lanes very effectively. Your mind would have to work quicker than golf but, seeing those lanes is really important. I would think the more you see, the quicker you see it. If he worked on acceleration over the summer, perhaps that extra gear is smoothly hit instead of grinding the gears trying to get there.

[mnfaninnc]

14 hours ago, bisopher said:

I gave MoJo / NoJo the benefit of the doubt because I know Hynes will be doing the same.

I do not believe this is the case. Training camp will have Johansson having to earn every bit of trust from ground zero. Looking at Heinzy's face last season, Johansson did not impress him, and, in fact, Johansson's style of play is anti-Heinzy. Sure, Johansson has an NTC and $2m deal, and someone will have to clearly pass him on the depth chart, but Johansson better have come to camp to work. His contract does NOT put him as a front runner for L2, just a front runner for a roster spot.