Article: Ben Jones Beat the Odds To Make the Wild's Roster

[Luke Sims]

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[Citizen Strife]

The 4th liners and veteran forwards have earned their spots.  I'm hopeful they bring a lot more to the table than a lot of the depth the team had last year.  

[Pewterschmidt]

BJ! BJ! BJ!

[Outskated]

Jones hasn't made anything.  Ohgren absolutely should be on this roster so Jones will be sent down.

[Citizen Strife]

11 minutes ago, Outskated said:

Jones hasn't made anything.  Ohgren absolutely should be on this roster so Jones will be sent down.

Yes.  Let a Top 20 pick sit on his ass all season.  That'll help him.  Ohgren is better off getting top line or top-6 minutes in Iowa working out some kinks so he kicks ass when Mojo is traded.

Edited October 5 by Citizen Strife

[Outskated]

1 minute ago, Citizen Strife said:

Yes.  Let a Top 20 pick sit on his ass all season.  That'll help him.

NoJo should be the 13th forward and scratched most nights. 

[Citizen Strife]

Just now, Outskated said:

NoJo should be the 13th forward and scratched most nights. 

Doesn't solve the Ohgren situation.  Lauko's got the 4th line spot on lock (and has the 3-4 preseason goals and awesome effort to show it).  Hynes sees these people day in day out, and if he was going to put Johansson in the press box, he would have.  He can't be sent to the AHL like Merrill can, and the Wallstedt situation precludes giving the spot to Ohgren.

Excuse me if thinking Ohgren has been "good enough," but hardly such a game altering player than waiting out for an injury or trade is the worst thing.

We saw it in actual practice: Ohgren is fine, Heidt and Peart and a lot of guys were not, and just giving them roster spots because they were top picks is a mistake.  

[Outskated]

1 minute ago, Citizen Strife said:

Doesn't solve the Ohgren situation.  Lauko's got the 4th line spot on lock (and has the 3-4 preseason goals and awesome effort to show it).  Hynes sees these people day in day out, and if he was going to put Johansson in the press box, he would have.  He can't be sent to the AHL like Merrill can, and the Wallstedt situation precludes giving the spot to Ohgren.

Excuse me if thinking Ohgren has been "good enough," but hardly such a game altering player than waiting out for an injury or trade is the worst thing.

We saw it in actual practice: Ohgren is fine, Heidt and Peart and a lot of guys were not, and just giving them roster spots because they were top picks is a mistake.  

Cool, send Merrill down and bench NoJo and put Ohgren on the 2nd line with Boldy and Ek.  Ohgren is going to become a game altering player, he just needs to play.  He's earned his spot and is clearly a top 6 talent.  If BG was smart, he'd be looking to dump NoJo to some team for future considerations, it would free up a lot of cap space.  We have some depth in IA now and can withstand a couple guys getting banged up.  

[Pewterschmidt]

16 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Yes.  Let a Top 20 pick sit on his ass all season.  That'll help him.  Ohgren is better off getting top line or top-6 minutes in Iowa working out some kinks so he kicks ass when Mojo is traded.

Agree!  Send ogz to IA and ask him to be first line wing and play the #1 PP.  He still needs to acclimate to the intensity level on every shift at this level.  Remember Rossi’s first season when he was gliding around on his heels watching…ogz has to remove that from his game and that’ll come with the confidence he gains from dominating in the A. 

[Citizen Strife]

Sending Merrill down means Hunt gets 7D.

There's a method to the madness.  You think Guerin hasn't tried getting offers for Gus or Johansson in the offseason?  If teams aren't biting, then shit happens.

Ohgren isn't as good as Kap, Boldy, Zucc, Ek, Rossi, Hartman, etc: he's not the type of player to go apeshit over just because "he's not on our opening day roster boo fucking hoo."

He's looked good, but getting better is a matter of time.

Edited October 5 by Citizen Strife

[Imyourhuckleberry]

If Ohgren goes to AHL, he should be the first call up. No question that he's a more complete player than Johansson right now. If they really want to play Johansson, Ben Jones sitting out makes some sense. I'd lean towards a semi-permanent Johansson press box seat, but the Wild may have a different plan.

Wallstedt should start in the AHL, along with Hunt.

[Citizen Strife]

Apologies for the "boo fucking hoo" comment.  Seemed a bit much for the stance I was trying to make.

 

 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Also, that article only seems to indicate Ben Jones had made the NHL squad while Boldy was sidelined.

"Hynes indicated that Jones' play has earned him a spot with the NHL squad from Saturday's practice but it doesn't mean its a guaranteed spot."

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Wild currently have 24 players on their roster, so at least 1 player will need to be sent down, and maybe 2 will. This article seems a bit premature.

NHL.com does not list Hunt on the Wild roster despite him playing last night, so he could be going to AHL along with a forward and/or possibly Wallstedt.

[Protec]

These are big shoes to fill Benny. Wearing Prosser #39 is a bold statement. Fighting Dumba is a good start for now. Gonna need more 4th line chemistry with Knudi.

[Willy the poor boy]

Rossi's gonna get paid, unless BG trades him instead...Who needs scoring.

Edited October 5 by Willy the poor boy

[Outskated]

Little bit premature and I said in my first comment Jones will be sent down. They are keeping Ohgren because he's good....really good and he's played well. 

Edited October 5 by Outskated

[Protec]

And he's GMBG's guy. 

[Citizen Strife]

Well, color me surprised.  Ohgren might stay after all.  Whether he takes that left wing spot on the 2nd line on opening night is the other question to be answered.

Edited October 5 by Citizen Strife

[FredJohnson]

NoJo is like herpes...we just can't get rid of him.

Edited October 6 by FredJohnson

[Fezig]

21 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

BJ! BJ! BJ!

Welcome to escort night at the Excel Energy Center. Tonights player to watch....

[Luke Sims]

On 10/5/2024 at 11:17 AM, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Also, that article only seems to indicate Ben Jones had made the NHL squad while Boldy was sidelined.

"Hynes indicated that Jones' play has earned him a spot with the NHL squad from Saturday's practice but it doesn't mean its a guaranteed spot."

preemptive it seems 

[mnfaninnc]

On 10/5/2024 at 9:56 AM, Citizen Strife said:

He can't be sent to the AHL like Merrill can,

This is not true, Marcus Johansson has a full NTC, that allows him to be sent down to the A, no questions asked. It also means he'd have to pass through waivers and anyone could pick him up for free (and pay his salary). 

If he has been actively shopped an there are no takers, then to Iowa he should go and keep Jones here, but instead, they send Jones down. IMO, if Jones outplayed Johansson, he should be on the club. We've really only been able to see the games, we don't know about the practices. 

But both players could play a 13th forward and in a pinch both players can play all 3 forward spots. I saw how Hynes looked at some of the cardio shifts last year, he was unpleased. Maybe he goes and takes knees out in the locker room if he's had enough and uses LTIR on him? 

And, here's the thing, Shooter needs to give Heinzy the best possible roster he can. If Johansson isn't a part of the top 13, then he needs to go. I can tell you this, Heinzy is an effort guy, if you're not giving effort, you're in his doghouse. Somehow, I can see bag skates on the horizon for #90. 

This also applies to #89.

Edited October 7 by mnfaninnc

[Protec]

NoJo and Fred had the worst +/- on the team last year. NoJo has become more hated than Rask, nearly reaching Suter levels of blowbaggery IMO.

[Up North Guy]

13 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

This is not true, Marcus Johansson has a full NTC, that allows him to be sent down to the A, no questions asked. It also means he'd have to pass through waivers and anyone could pick him up for free (and pay his salary). 

If he has been actively shopped an there are no takers, then to Iowa he should go and keep Jones here, but instead, they send Jones down. IMO, if Jones outplayed Johansson, he should be on the club. We've really only been able to see the games, we don't know about the practices. 

But both players could play a 13th forward and in a pinch both players can play all 3 forward spots. I saw how Hynes looked at some of the cardio shifts last year, he was unpleased. Maybe he goes and takes knees out in the locker room if he's had enough and uses LTIR on him? 

And, here's the thing, Shooter needs to give Heinzy the best possible roster he can. If Johansson isn't a part of the top 13, then he needs to go. I can tell you this, Heinzy is an effort guy, if you're not giving effort, you're in his doghouse. Somehow, I can see bag skates on the horizon for #90. 

This also applies to #89.

It was my understanding that NoJo had a NTC vs NMC also. Waivers should be the correct plan. The Athletic listed the NHL coaches most likely to be fired and Hynzy was ranked 4th. I don't see that but apparently some writers do. I agree that it is on BG to put the best players on the roster.