Article: The Wild Have A Liam Öhgren Conundrum

[FredJohnson]

1 hour ago, Protec said:

I think they see Ogie squeezing carbon fiber out of his stick and can he go 82 NHL games mentally?

I'd think JEEk could put the proverbial arm around Ogie and coach him the details.

[Outskated]

Man, Ohgren was awesome against Chicagi.  Bottom line, BG needs to trade NoJo and let Ohgren play on the Ek line.  He will be a force like Boldy is now in 2 years.  

[Stymie]

They keep mojo around to show the newbies how not to do it

[Enforceror]

19 minutes ago, Outskated said:

Man, Ohgren was awesome against Chicagi.  Bottom line, BG needs to trade NoJo and let Ohgren play on the Ek line.  He will be a force like Boldy is now in 2 years.  

I think he'll take a little longer to develop, kind of like Ek but I also don't think he'll be a liability either. I like how he battles net front. Next year he'd be putting up better numbers than our favorite villain. Give him the spot.

[Enforceror]

2 minutes ago, Stymie said:

They keep mojo around to show the newbies how not to do it

Dude doesn't even bring grapes to share.

[Protec]

It's a question of whether you could disrupt Ogie's development VS. NoJo who is already toast. So would the Wild take that risk with Ogz? Will he be able to loosen-up somewhat in the next couple games? Will NoJo continue to contribute zip? 

It would be an easy decision for me, NoJo, the 13th forward. He's Victor Rask 2024 but unable to show up for random games and score. His consistency and jam in non-existent. If I said coast'n, poor-reaction, water-ski backchecking, stick-swing'n, curling-nostopping, lack of intensity, emotionless, puck-watching, neck-beard, you'd all automatically know exactly who I'm referring to... 

😉

 

Edited October 3 by Protec

[LittleBallofHate]

All it took for me to agree with the prevailing anti-NJo thought here were those couple of key games for development (when playoff hopes were dying) so they started putting Rossi in more key spots & you'd start to see flashes out of Rossi & great offensive shifts followed by a fu$%'ing silver platter apple to who else; #90 whiffed & out of the zone. This lameduck type of play was not just an odd-shift. It was multiple shifts of promising offense squashed by #90 mishandles & I couldn't believe coaching was still talking about leaning on this dud for zone entries!!! - blow my freak'n mind on that. I hate to heap on him because their is a good hockey player in their somewhere, just not here, when it is killing young player development.

[Protec]

The crazier part is that it's his second go-round. He had three good weeks with Boldy two years ago. That's it. 

He's been net-negative NoJo for like 4 years since the Wild went 7 games with Vegas. 

[Will D. Ness]

15 hours ago, Protec said:

It's a question of whether you could disrupt Ogie's development

From what I have seen so far, he looks ready.  Still slightly green but not deer in the headlights green like Rossi was 2 years ago. 

Tonights game is looking to be decisive.

[Dis-allowed display name]

Kap-Rossi-Lizard

Boldy-Ek-Ohgren

Trenin-Hartman-Foligno

the rest

If the top line needs more toughness, I maybe try K-nut at center, bump Rossi down to Boldy/Ohgren, and bump Ek down to line three over Hartman.

Edited October 4 by Dis-allowed display name

[Pewterschmidt]

30 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

From what I have seen so far, he looks ready.  Still slightly green but not deer in the headlights green like Rossi was 2 years ago. 

Tonights game is looking to be decisive.

Great assessment of Ogz right now.  I hope he gets more dog in his game as he gets more experience…. And he doesn’t go down the Greenway path.  Big body who avoids contact 

[Pewterschmidt]

14 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

Kap-Rossi-Lizard

Boldy-Ek-Ohgren

Trenin-Hartman-Foligno

the rest

If the top line needs more toughness, I maybe try K-nut at center, bump Rossi down to Boldy/Ohgren, and bump Ek down to line three over Hartman.

I hope to see MaRat get a couple shifts with 97.  1C is Rossi’s spot imo but I saw some flashes of chemistry between 22 and 97 that could serve as good change of pace option throughout the long season

[M_Nels]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Great assessment of Ogz right now.  I hope he gets more dog in his game as he gets more experience…. And he doesn’t go down the Greenway path.  Big body who avoids contact 

Man Greenway could've (should've) been a monster on the forecheck, along the walls and in front of the net with his size but he played much smaller.

[mnfaninnc]

Ok, this may be a reach but what if we did something like this:

Ogzie-Rossi-Kaprizov

Boldy-Ek-Zuccarello

Here's my thought, Ohgren is a hard working puck retriever with a nice quick shot and plays hard, especially in the corners. He digs out pucks. Why not just throw him into the deep end and see what that line can do. He's going to get the best looks playing with those guys. Nothing helps you get more ready for the N than confidence. Potting gimmes still count as points and the confidence rises. His main role will be bringing the stick back to Kaprizov for a shot just like a trusty dog. This should get him a fair share of apples. 

Now, I have no idea if this will work, but I'd sure like to see it tried in a preseason game to see if there was anything there. At this point in time, if you are Heinzy, using the line blender liberally could be a good thing just in case you find lightning in a bottle. 

[Pablo]

The lines will change as injuries happen and game plans are adjusted.  It will be continued development for several younger guys but this team could rip it up gooood from the start! Last year’s disappointment is long gone! Just ask the 5-0 vikes.