Luke Sims Hockey Wilderness Contributor Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago View full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Strife Verified Member Posted 2 hours ago Share Posted 2 hours ago Boyd, Jones, Shore, and Clarke have played pretty well in the preseason. You have some players who haven't (Peart last night coughed up twice in the D-zone). However, the aim this year was to make sure if people had to get called up, there would be more people suited to those 3rd/4th lines and bring their A-games to those spots. Early signs say that could be a good turnaround. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protec Verified Member Posted 1 hour ago Share Posted 1 hour ago Jones, Clarke, Hunt, Lauko, Knudi, and Ogie have all done pretty good for the few pre-season games they've played. Better than Heidt from our initial looks. It's gonna be hard for the Guerin/Hynes to round out their roster. Some of these guys will make it, but some should end up in IA. I wanna see Vaj get a preseason game. I'd like to see some of the duffers put on a shelf for a rainy day. At this point, Merrill and NoJo have experience but that's about it by comparison. I wanna see the hungrier, newer players getting a chance to establish themselves. If IA has Clarke, Jones, or some third guy who isn't staying in St.Paul, they should be pretty good. Vaj of course, will be a key element. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protec Verified Member Posted 1 hour ago Share Posted 1 hour ago 23 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said: Boyd, Jones, Shore, and Clarke have played pretty well in the preseason. You have some players who haven't (Peart last night coughed up twice in the D-zone). However, the aim this year was to make sure if people had to get called up, there would be more people suited to those 3rd/4th lines and bring their A-games to those spots. Early signs say that could be a good turnaround. Forgot about Shore & Boyd. That's what I'm saying. Looks like those guys all competing is good. Lauko is a front-runner it seems, but Jones and Clarke seem like they can score some goals too. Better depth for the Wild this season. Ogie & Knudi should keep getting better, you hope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Strife Verified Member Posted 9 minutes ago Share Posted 9 minutes ago Russo posted what he thinks are the likely lines barring any further injury (accounting for Boldy's current one) Kaprizov/Hartman/Zuccarello Johansson/Ek/Ohgren Foligno/Rossi/Trenin Lauko/Khustnutdinov/Gaudreau Jones as 13th Brodin/Faber Middleton/Spurgeon Chisholm/Bogo Fleury/Gus/Wallstedt This tells me a few things. Jones has been an impressive guy all camp, and I'm not splitting hairs about him at 13th over Boyd. Either guy really works. Ohgren being in Boldy's spot for now is fine. Ohgren will probably get Mojo's spot in the lineup when the inevitable trade happens. Defense looks pretty well set. Betting it's Hunt or Lambos taking over 7th duties once Merrill is let go. I saw all I needed to from Heidt and Peart from the last couple games to know they are gonna need more work. They either made mistakes, weren't prepared for actual NHL quality players, or at best invisible. Anyone wondering why 5-10 different 3rd/4th line guys or AAAA AHL depth guys were signed to contracts, well, I think they made their case pretty well in just three games. Even being a journeyman NHL player is a world apart from value prospect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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