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Article: Jacob Middleton’s Contract Comes With New Expectations


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In order for Middzy to keep from becoming Merrill 2.0 (these players are not disimilar in style of play, skating ability, physicality and size) Midzy will have to learn from Bogo.  Middle's needs to bring more sandpiper and edge to his game and be more intimidating because he doesn't have the skill-set to be a PP QB or even a top 4 d-man without an elite partner (ie Merrill).  And he's only getting older and slower.  I think Midzy has it in him so time will tell.

I would have like to have seen Midzy flipped for a middle six contributor (Big Kahk>Mids>middle 6 wing) would have been real value creation by Guerin, but I'm not super mad Mids is still here.

#tarpsoffbro

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Certainly seemed like they should have been able to extend Middleton in the $3.5M - $4M range, but hopefully he will produce really solid results.

It is promising that the awful Wild PK last season had some of the best results with Middleton on the ice, and teamed back up with Spurgeon, I imagine we can anticipate more of the same, assuming they can stay healthy.

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17 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

(these players are not disimilar in style of play, skating ability, physicality and size) 

So you’re saying they are similar? That’s not good… 

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I think if someone like Hunt or Lambos were up to game speed, Middleton would be gone.  The fact is they weren't, and were at best replacement player level.  Brodin and Faber and Middleton/Spurgeon (at their skill level) is pretty damn good.

Let's say for argument, "ok. but if Buium hits, Middleton is a $4.5m 3rd liner."  You can counter that by any number of things that could happen.  Merrill's gone after this season.  Bogo's gone in a couple years, making room for Buium, Hunt, Lambos, etc. Chisholm may or may not stick (though I'm not betting on it). Spurgeon might sign a shorter term good faith deal like Zucc or Fleury at a lower cap, and Middleton and Spurgeon stay as 3rd pair until the end of both contracts.  Middleton could seek a trade, so that $4.5m is someone else's problem.  We don't know how long Brodin has either.  He's younger than Spurgeon, but not by much.

Realistically, this is what the Wild face RIGHT NOW.

Brodin/Faber

Middleton/Spurgeon

Bogo/Chisholm/Merrill

Well, in a year or two, that becomes

Buium/Faber

Brodin/Hunt or Lambos

Middleton/Spurgeon/Hunt or Lambos

You'd better fucking hope Buium, Hunt, Lambos, etc become something.  Cause if Brodin and Spurgeon retire...

Buium/Faber

Middleton/Hunt

Lambos/Spacek/Masters/O'Rourke (you may even keep Chisholm around...but unlikely)

Those aren't exactly great options.  Someone like an emerging free agent d-man could always be an option, but the Wild need to set aside money for forward extensions more than anything else.  Middleton is a bottom-pair quality guy being paid like a Top-4 d-man because Spurgeon and he do really well.  He's also there because we have no clue if the defensive guys are anywhere close to ready.  Faber did the Wild a favor.  Buium MIGHT be better, or he could be a name on a dart board.  

Edited by Citizen Strife
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11 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Those aren't exactly great options.  Someone like an emerging free agent d-man could always be an option, but the Wild need to set aside money for forward extensions more than anything else.

Brodin and Spurgeon are both paid pretty well. The Wild should be able to find quality free agents at or below their cap numbers if they retire or are traded.

Having the top end guys like Faber and Buium will be key to not needing to overspend on free agents down the road.

The cap will be increasing and the Wild seem to be setting themselves up nicely for the future at defense. Sebastian Soini might even be decent by the time the Wild are moving on from Brodin. Hunt and Lambos aren't that far away from being solid 3rd line guys, at minimum.

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3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

I'm curious what free agent d-men will be available after this season.  I know Miller is done the year after, but I wonder how much an extension would be if he's making $3-4m now.

Ryan Suter, Jack Johnson, Brent Burns, Alec Martinez, Jeff Petry...assuming SillyG still has a hardon for guys on 35+ contracts who may/may not have played with the Penguins.

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37 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Suter has to play for the Avalanche, Blackhawks, Jets, and Hockey Club first.  Maybe he can retire before getting back around to the Preds and Wild again.

Time it right maybe we get Fiala too???

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https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41684772/mlb-produce-local-games-guardians-brewers-twins

So, similar to other MLB teams, they are probably doing MLB.tv subscriptions, and then team specific packages for $20/month or $100/season.  A bit spendy, but Ballys was subject to all sorts of blackout bullshit.  This apparently gets rid of that.  I'd like a free trial of the service before getting on board with that though.

I wonder if the Wild would move that to sort of model.

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1 minute ago, Citizen Strife said:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41684772/mlb-produce-local-games-guardians-brewers-twins

So, similar to other MLB teams, they are probably doing MLB.tv subscriptions, and then team specific packages for $20/month or $100/season.  A bit spendy, but Ballys was subject to all sorts of blackout bullshit.  This apparently gets rid of that.  I'd like a free trial of the service before getting on board with that though.

I wonder if the Wild would move that to sort of model.

I live out of state and outside of blackout territory so thankfully I can watch on ESPN+ (except when they play the Blues). I can't even buy BSN because I'm in BSMW territory. I'm wondering if ESPN would lose the rebroadcast(?) rights if it goes to a league subscription model? 

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Billy likes Middsy for two reasons.  One is his size and the other is Guerin just likes 'his' guys because he likes the guys that he picked.  He's rarely willing to look outside when there are upgrades out there.  He makes a lot of good moves, but this is his biggest downfall as a GM.  

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Mids has potential to be a positive factor in the playoffs. One thing’s for certain he’s not getting any smaller. I’m ok with his limitations during the regular season. I’m sure JS likes having a bigger tougher player on his Dpair. It also seems like he gets along with his teammates. That’s gotta be worth something right? Maybe it’s a stats= this$ vs this player/ package = this$. I just hope he brings the effort and intensity he has shown in the past. 

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My big worry about Middleton was that we saw him play above his value when he first arrived. He stayed at home, allowed Spurgeon to create, and provided enough physicality in front of his net. But he also is a player that was selected last in his draft class for a reason. He has a very low ceiling and what I don't want is him to become a saddle bag weighing down Spurgeon. Now, we'll have to wait to see with a healthy Spurgeon and Middleton if that's more trend, or an injury-riddled mirage. However, that's my biggest worry with him and, much like most of the extensions Guerin has handed out the last 2 seasons, is that there is nothing wrong in letting things play out and seeing what Middleton shows up. But he didn't and now we have to see the Wild deal with it.

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My big worry about Middleton was that we saw him play above his value when he first arrived. He stayed at home, allowed Spurgeon to create, and provided enough physicality in front of his net. But he also is a player that was selected last in his draft class for a reason. He has a very low ceiling and what I don't want is him to become a saddle bag weighing down Spurgeon. Now, we'll have to wait to see with a healthy Spurgeon and Middleton if that's more trend, or an injury-riddled mirage. However, that's my biggest worry with him and, much like most of the extensions Guerin has handed out the last 2 seasons, is that there is nothing wrong in letting things play out and seeing what Middleton shows up. But he didn't and now we have to see the Wild deal with it.

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13 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41684772/mlb-produce-local-games-guardians-brewers-twins

So, similar to other MLB teams, they are probably doing MLB.tv subscriptions, and then team specific packages for $20/month or $100/season.  A bit spendy, but Ballys was subject to all sorts of blackout bullshit.  This apparently gets rid of that.  I'd like a free trial of the service before getting on board with that though.

I wonder if the Wild would move that to sort of model.

The Wild streamed their pre season games on their web site. I would speculate that was a trial run for what they may do going forward with all their games. The NHL runs all the teams web sites so yes it would be the same as what MLB is doing. The Bally's app was $20 a month and it was horrible to stream. Lots of buffering, blackouts and log in issues. I won't buy it again this year which means I won't see the games this year but I'm not paying for a big tv package that I don't watch. 

$20 a month is about all I'm willing to pay to watch the Wild games but I would be surprised if any package offered by the NHL would come in that cheap. 

I started watching games on https://thetvapp.to/ last season. Not sure how this works but it does. 

 

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I wish this site had "thumbs-up" instead of hearts for likes. 

I wanted to give the thumps up, but the HW.com reaction options are about as sweet as the multitude of ads that reload your page or begin audio randomly that you learn is embedded in the thread comments.

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I think he needs a puck moving defenseman next to him. He was good with Karlsson, he's been good with Spurgy. But when he doesn't have one, I think he just tries to do stuff he has no business (or skill) doing. Dude, you're a 6'3 bruiser, what are you doing in the O-zone corner?

Without Spurgy, he's looked like a 6th/7th D-man imo. I hate the extension so much.

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4 hours ago, Protec said:

begin audio randomly that you learn is embedded in the thread comments

This is the latest "how can the ads get worse" example.  so you scoll up and down on the ad filled screen to find the one that you need to turn off.

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1 minute ago, Pewterschmidt said:

This is the latest "how can the ads get worse" example.  so you scoll up and down on the ad filled screen to find the one that you need to turn off.

What drives me crazy is when I'm reading a comment and the page suddenly bolts to the stratosphere because I just HAD to know about beneficial ownership reporting information. Arghghh 

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