Article: Can Jakub Lauko Squeeze Onto the Wild Roster?

[Robert Brent]

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[Protec]

Guerin had Goligoski sit out quite a bit last year. Hopefully, double-hopefully, NoJo will be in the press box like Rask was. Lauko brings more of what the Wild need and the younger guys have speed and hunger you just don't see from old Euros. 

I think it's time to insert the Ogies, Laukos, Knudis into the lineup for good. Keep your old-duffers in reserve. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Hopefully Boldy makes it back from injury before the season starts, as is projected. If not, it could open playing time for both Ohgren and Lauko.

At minimum Lauko seems like a solid replacement for Duhaime, after getting a 2026 3rd round pick for Duhaime.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

38 minutes ago, Protec said:

Hopefully, double-hopefully, NoJo will be in the press box like Rask was. Lauko brings more of what the Wild need and the younger guys have speed and hunger you just don't see from old Euros. 

I think they'll give Johansson every chance to prove he can still contribute, but if he's not getting the job done, I would expect he'll see his ice time reduce significantly from last year.

I had suggested 55 points would be a good season from him going into 23-24, assuming he was with Boldy and JEE as he was to start the year. 45 points would have been somewhat acceptable.

30 points and bad defense is completely unacceptable. He should see zero PK shifts, zero OT shifts, and I'm not even sure he should see PP shifts. I've also been advocating for press box time if the Wild don't move him. He has some ability to play like he belongs on the ice, as seen the prior year, but he's very inconsistent in showing it and he's a defensive liability.

Edited September 24 by Imyourhuckleberry
Added OT comment. Kills me to see him out there 3 v 3.

[Patrick]

Give Freddy G 10 games show last year was a fluke and then send him to Iowa for Lauko.  Slow and turnover prone veterans don't excite anyone.

[MNCountryLife]

2 hours ago, Protec said:

Hopefully, double-hopefully, NoJo will be in the press box like Rask was

I would spend the next 24 hours clicking like on this comment if it was possible.  

[Enforceror]

Looks like we get to see Lauko again tomorrow.  Hoping we get to see Rossi and/or Khus with Ohgren on the wing. Here we go! 

[WheelSnipeCelly]

15 hours ago, Enforceror said:

Looks like we get to see Lauko again tomorrow.  Hoping we get to see Rossi and/or Khus with Ohgren on the wing. Here we go! 

Roster breakdown for tonight's game — spoiler alert, Dallas is definitely bringing a more seasoned roster:

• Wild: Average 90 GP/player
  • 14X Players who have played less than 40 games: Chilsholm (33), Khusnutdinov (16), Walker (13), Öhgren (4), Clarke (3), Jones (2), Crotty (1), Hlavaj (0), Masters (0), O'Rourke (0), Cecconi (0), Spacek (0), Haight (0), Heidt (0), 
  • 7X players who have played more than 80 games: Merrill (612), Shore (443), Boyd (296), Gaunce (177), Gustavsson (111), Rossi (103), Lauko (83)
     
• Stars: Average 336 GP/player 
  • 8X Players who have played less than 40 games: Lind (31), Stankoven (24), Bäck (0), Hyry (0), Krys (0), McDonald (0), Pettersen (0), Stranges (0), 
  • 12X Players who have played more than 80 games: Benn (1,112), Duchene (1,056), Seguin (969), Smith (694), Dumba (674), Lindell (604), Heiskanen (425), Hintz (392), Marchment (240), Oettinger (193), DeSmith (163), Lundkvist (144)

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, WheelSnipeCelly said:

Roster breakdown for tonight's game — spoiler alert, Dallas is definitely bringing a more seasoned roster:

• Wild: Average 90 GP/player
  • 14X Players who have played less than 40 games: Chilsholm (33), Khusnutdinov (16), Walker (13), Öhgren (4), Clarke (3), Jones (2), Crotty (1), Hlavaj (0), Masters (0), O'Rourke (0), Cecconi (0), Spacek (0), Haight (0), Heidt (0), 
  • 7X players who have played more than 80 games: Merrill (612), Shore (443), Boyd (296), Gaunce (177), Gustavsson (111), Rossi (103), Lauko (83)
     
• Stars: Average 336 GP/player 
  • 8X Players who have played less than 40 games: Lind (31), Stankoven (24), Bäck (0), Hyry (0), Krys (0), McDonald (0), Pettersen (0), Stranges (0), 
  • 12X Players who have played more than 80 games: Benn (1,112), Duchene (1,056), Seguin (969), Smith (694), Dumba (674), Lindell (604), Heiskanen (425), Hintz (392), Marchment (240), Oettinger (193), DeSmith (163), Lundkvist (144)

Agreed.  That's practically Dallas' game 1 lineup.  I'm not expecting a win from our boys.  Just hoping to see some bright spots: MaRat, Rossi, Ogzy, Heidt, and Chisolm.  Also hoping to see Jakub "wrecking crew" Lauko create some chaos tonight.

[M_Nels]

29 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Agreed.  That's practically Dallas' game 1 lineup.  I'm not expecting a win from our boys.  Just hoping to see some bright spots: MaRat, Rossi, Ogzy, Heidt, and Chisolm.  Also hoping to see Jakub "wrecking crew" Lauko create some chaos tonight.

As long as last game wasn't an outlier Lauko looked dang good, speed was evident all night and looked great on the forecheck.  I hope he can carve out a starting spot and supplant one of the passengers we're carrying. Big game tonight for a lot of reasons but want to see how Gus looks in net even behind a preseason roster.

[mnfaninnc]

On 9/24/2024 at 12:34 PM, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I think they'll give Johansson every chance to prove he can still contribute, but if he's not getting the job done, I would expect he'll see his ice time reduce significantly from last year.

I had suggested 55 points would be a good season from him going into 23-24, assuming he was with Boldy and JEE as he was to start the year. 45 points would have been somewhat acceptable.

30 points and bad defense is completely unacceptable. He should see zero PK shifts, zero OT shifts, and I'm not even sure he should see PP shifts. I've also been advocating for press box time if the Wild don't move him. He has some ability to play like he belongs on the ice, as seen the prior year, but he's very inconsistent in showing it and he's a defensive liability.

Just out of curiosity, what would you expect from a $2m player?

This is what Johansson is, a $2m player who can get hot at times. $2m players score in the 30s for points unless they add some other attribute. It seems like Johansson's other attribute is getting up from the corner, picking up his stick looking out the ear hole of his helmet, and then looking very confused on the bench as to how this happened.....again.

If he got 40 points without looking like a complete defensive liability, I'd be pleased. Out of those 40 points, 15 must be goals. That's his season, whether he plays 82 games or 60, he needs to produce at least 40 points....and not be resigned.

If he got 55 points, we'd be in terrible danger of him being resigned!

[mnfaninnc]

After watching the game vs. Winnipeg, it was fairly evident that Lauko outplayed Gaudreau hands down. Now, given that Gaudreau has value as the 3rd guy on the shootout (and I'm not even sure if Hynes will use him there), we didn't get to see any of that vs. Winnipeg. I was hoping they'd do a shootout at the end anyway, which sometimes happens in preseason. 

Lauko had more speed, Lauko was more physical, Lauko put up a goal, Lauko blocked shots, Lauko played PK. All of these were better than Gaudreau. I'm not advocating for buying out Gaudreau, but I am advocating to bury him in the A. He can still help the up and comers with what to expect up a level. If they want to see a real reason why you bulk up, they only need to see Gaudreau get blindsided by former teammate Ryan Reaves. 

While Reaves' hit I thought was dirty, taking on a guy like that at 180 lbs. means your dead meat. It also helps if Reaves can catch you and for that to happen you've got to be kind of slow. Gaudreau showed nothing offensively and was pretty much invisible playing against half a team of prospects. I'd send him down hoping that Columbus picked him up on waivers.

[Will D. Ness]

Lauko has scored two nice looking goals now and I like his speed.  I don't think just scoring goals is what determines roster spots but it can't hurt.  He still looks a little green though.

Ohgren and Heidt also looked quite green.

 

 

 

[Pewterschmidt]

23 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Lauko has scored two nice looking goals now and I like his speed.  I don't think just scoring goals is what determines roster spots but it can't hurt.  He still looks a little green though.

Ohgren and Heidt also looked quite green.

 

 

 

I’m not getting warm fuzzies from Ogzy’s Luke warm reviews. 

how did MaRat look?

[Will D. Ness]

18 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I’m not getting warm fuzzies from Ogzy’s Luke warm reviews. 

how did MaRat look?

Hard to say.  Dallas had like 90% of their last season's roster out there and we had 10%.  

I thought MaRat looked ok in the chaos, sharp on the PK and a few moments where I saw his speed.  It will be hard to really get a good look until we trim the roster more IMO.  

I would say the same for Rossi as it was chaos out there.  

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Just out of curiosity, what would you expect from a $2m player?

This is what Johansson is, a $2m player who can get hot at times. $2m players score in the 30s for points unless they add some other attribute.

$2M players aren't always on the top 2 lines either, but that's where Johansson was.

He scored 18 points in 20 games the year before. I didn't really expect all that much from him, but to be carried by Boldy and Eriksson Ek like had happened the year before. As a veteran who had played with many talented players, Guerin clearly had hoped he could contribute to winning like he had the prior year.

Instead NoJo seemed to tank every line he was on. Playing with some of the most talented players on the roster, for roughly 16 minutes a night, you'd almost think he'd accidentally collect 30+ assists, but not this guy.

[mnfaninnc]

11 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Instead NoJo seemed to tank every line he was on. Playing with some of the most talented players on the roster, for roughly 16 minutes a night, you'd almost think he'd accidentally collect 30+ assists, but not this guy.

I can see the logic in that. Of course, taking Ek and Boldy from him tanked his chances for that. I hope he has an absolutely fabulous camp and a great start to the season, but reality says that won't happen.

[Up North Guy]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

After watching the game vs. Winnipeg, it was fairly evident that Lauko outplayed Gaudreau hands down. Now, given that Gaudreau has value as the 3rd guy on the shootout (and I'm not even sure if Hynes will use him there), we didn't get to see any of that vs. Winnipeg. I was hoping they'd do a shootout at the end anyway, which sometimes happens in preseason. 

Lauko had more speed, Lauko was more physical, Lauko put up a goal, Lauko blocked shots, Lauko played PK. All of these were better than Gaudreau. I'm not advocating for buying out Gaudreau, but I am advocating to bury him in the A. He can still help the up and comers with what to expect up a level. If they want to see a real reason why you bulk up, they only need to see Gaudreau get blindsided by former teammate Ryan Reaves. 

While Reaves' hit I thought was dirty, taking on a guy like that at 180 lbs. means your dead meat. It also helps if Reaves can catch you and for that to happen you've got to be kind of slow. Gaudreau showed nothing offensively and was pretty much invisible playing against half a team of prospects. I'd send him down hoping that Columbus picked him up on waivers.

I agree but I have to believe that if the Wild tell him he will be sent down he would waive his NTC to avoid that. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

taking Ek and Boldy from him tanked his chances for that.

That's true, but Johansson's line lacking success had quite a bit to do with him and that was part of the reason they were moved to another line.

Of 248 forwards to record at least 12 minutes of 5v5 ice time per game and played at least 20 games, Johansson ranked 219th in points per 60.  That's not far from the bottom 10%.

I suspect many of the guys below him were given that much ice time because they are strong defensively, but we know that isn't why he's on the ice. He has bad defensive tendencies and lacks toughness, so he's getting ice strictly to produce offensively and not doing that despite a top 6 role. I don't think there's any secret to the reason his contract ends when the cap penalties drop off significantly.

[Protec]

NoJo sucks.

[Protec]

[Protec]

[Protec]

Please play #94 NOT #90...

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I suspect many of the guys below him were given that much ice time because they are strong defensively, but we know that isn't why he's on the ice. He has bad defensive tendencies and lacks toughness, so he's getting ice strictly to produce offensively and not doing that despite a top 6 role. I don't think there's any secret to the reason his contract ends when the cap penalties drop off significantly.

All of this is accurate, but the fact that he's only making $2m is a sign that he shouldn't be getting 2nd line minutes. He should be getting borderline 3rd line minutes, but most likely he is an upper 4th line player. 

The only type of guys making less than this on the top 6 are guys on an ELC or bridge deal. Johansson is well past that. A hope and a prayer is what we have if he's playing 2nd line minutes. 

He's simply not very good and he's paid like he's not very good. There really isn't value here. He is what he is and it equates to $2m. If we can squeeze .5 pts/game out of him, we should be ecstatic. That may only be possible if he plays on Kaprizov's line often.