Article: Is Guerin's Plan Putting Too Much Pressure On the Wild's Prospects?

[Chris Schad]

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[Citizen Strife]

"Potential" can be a dirty word sometimes.  Buffalo spent year after year trying to make it.  3 games in, and...woof.  Detroit, Ottawa, etc: same thing, supposed to make it, but didn't and still may not.  At least the Wild could say that in most instances, they made the playoffs outright.  You just can't know a sure thing is gonna be.  In Boldy's case, sure was.  Faber?  Still looking good.  Rossi got top line minutes last night and struggled quite a bit.  It's one game though.  It just has to not be a trend.

What the Wild has going for it now as opposed to the first "young core" is two things: slow, sustained debuts each year instead of "SPLAT on the floor go now!" and so many future options, it could keep going for awhile.

Yes, you may have your missed (Addison, Beckman) but if 2-3 others hit even modest milestones and 1-2 become those high end guys, you change the complexion of the team.

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[mnfaninnc]

I don't think it's too early for some of the prospects. Ohgren and Dino looked fine at the end of last season, and The Wall needs NHL shots, not AHL ones. Because of the better NHL shooters, The Wall must get his angles right against better shooters and that takes some time. It would be nice if some of the best Wild shooters stayed after a bit in practice to shoot on The Wall and get him up to speed. 

Last year it was Rossi and Faber, this year it's the 3 up top and maybe Hunt. Guerin is slow rolling in the kids so that their roles aren't too much pressure and they all will have vets they can lean on. I think this is better than ripping it all down, throwing the kids in the deep end and standing on the bench yelling "swim!" They've got some guys that can model being professionals. 

And, while Rossi did have an inconsistent night last night, he did make some nice plays too. I'm not so sure that this line has had a lot of time together, so it may take a bit to get them all moving together. 

Next year poses even a different group as Buium and Yurov should be in and possibly Lambos. It could also be The Wall's actual rookie year. Older players drop off and the younger guys are escorted in. Team speed likely improves. 

Also, for those wondering:

Kumpulainen has 8 pts. in 9 games....with 16 PIMs. I hope they were earned.

Buium has 4 apples in 2 games.

Yurov has 4 points in 9 games.

Heidt has 8 points in 5 games.

Ritchie only has 1 apple in 5 games.

Stramel has an apple in 2 games.

[mnfaninnc]

Chris, you might want to edit this unless the Bruins took Swayman when he was 11 years old.

Quote

The Boston Bruins took Swayman in the fourth round of the 2011 draft, and he debuted as a 22-year-old with 10 games in the 2020-21 season. 

was the '17 draft.

[FredJohnson]

Simple solution: KK97 takes a team-friendly deal that enables GMBG to go get talent to make the roster Cup worthy.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Chris, you might want to edit this unless the Bruins took Swayman when he was 11 years old.

Wallstedt already signed his next contract as well, so may want to edit this note too...

Quote

Let’s say that Wallstedt will make $5 million on his new contract. According to CapWages, that would put Minnesota with $56.9 million in total contracts and $40.1 million in cap space entering the 2025-26 season. 

Wallstedt's extension runs through 26-27 at $2.2M per season starting with 25-26.

[OldDutchChip]

coming in with a lot of optimism - be warned!

the one thing that may still help get Kap to resign has very little to do with prospects nor "brilliant" planning by Billy. it's the play of Boldy. He was a beast yesterday. It seems like he is reaching another level and is morphing into a Pastrnak / Barkov clone. You can see the dominance on the ice, and attributes that make Pasta and Barkov great were there with Boldy! If that's the Boldy from now on and consistency and motor is there - we then have two tier 1 players. That would be insane. I did not think Boldy will look that good. One game - but still...Boldy reaching superstar status may be the only thing that makes Kap pause and think about extending. It won't be unknown prospect or his new center mate......

 

 

[FredJohnson]

Is Guerin's Plan Putting Too Much Pressure On the Wild's Prospects?

I'd think they know how to deal with pressure (performance expectations) by now.

[Citizen Strife]

ODC with some positive vibes.  You love to see it.