Article: The Wild Need More From Their Rookies

[Bekki Antonelli]

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[Citizen Strife]

Ohgren is going to get sit in the press box or sent to the AHL once Hartman comes back.

Ohgren is just plain invisible.  Khusnutdinov at least gives you defensive responsibility and speed.  Ohgren has yet to show anything worth keeping on the roster.  Send him down, give him more time and less pressure and competition, and maybe he'll pull a Rossi and return better equipped to at least make SOME positive contribution.

 

[Will D. Ness]

I think Ohgren has the tools but it's looking like the baptism by fire is messing with his head.  He just isn't up to NHL speed yet.

Iowa might help but honestly I think playing here is better but he has to show some sort of progress.

[Pewterschmidt]

I'm still high on Khuz's prospects as a bottom six energy bug and occasional top six fill-in.  I was hoping to have seen more flashes by now, but I think he's progressing ok.  He is 23 (i think) so the time is now bro-chella.

The disclaimer with Ogz is that he's only 20.  That said he's looking like the guy who no-showed on the score sheet for those couple of WJC's.  But P-Snot he was captain of those teams....likely a man among boys situation for him.  I'm definitely not writing him off but I'm getting more convinced his ceiling is Nino 2.0 because he don't got much dog in him.  He's not the top six white night he's been hyped he'd be.  Again he's only 20.

[B1GKappa97]

Considering we are top-10 in goals-for and 5th in goals-against per game, I think the rookies are doing aight so far. 

Ohgren looks a little out of place but I think Khusnut and Lauko (shout out Billy G for a great trade.. and I believe Marat came from the Kunin trade...) are providing energy/big shifts pretty routinely to this point. Flyers game wasn't great, but everyone kind of sucked in that game.

Replace Ohgren with Hartman when he's healthy and I think that line could be 3rd-line quality and just tilt the ice even more. 

Edited October 30 by B1GKappa97

[MNCountryLife]

I've been happy with the young guys.  Let's not forget that among them is Faber, Boldy and Rossi.  The 3 are definitely performing well.  

[MNCountryLife]

A Spurgeon sighting happened last night.  Was good to see him back on the ice.  He definitely looked rusty but I thought he improved in the 3rd.  Was smart of Hynes to put him with Brodin.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Will D. Ness said:

I think Ohgren has the tools but it's looking like the baptism by fire is messing with his head.  He just isn't up to NHL speed yet.

Iowa might help but honestly I think playing here is better but he has to show some sort of progress.

You're right, Will, but I'd argue that he has shown progress. Showing progress is much more than just showing up on the scoresheet. I pointed out before the season started that Ohgren's MO is he's a slow starter. 

As long as he's not costing the Wild goals, keep playing him. I'd like to see a little more check finishing from him, but his legs have gotten pretty close to up to speed. Unfortunately, his hands are still behind, but this is typical for him. 

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I'm definitely not writing him off but I'm getting more convinced his ceiling is Nino 2.0 because he don't got much dog in him.  He's not the top six white night he's been hyped he'd be.  Again he's only 20.

But, P-Sizzle, Nino played a lackluster rookie year, and played year 2 in the minors. Sometimes, these guys take a little longer to acclimate. By the time we got him, he had a little more in the tank.

[Pewterschmidt]

8 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

But, P-Sizzle, Nino played a lackluster rookie year, and played year 2 in the minors. Sometimes, these guys take a little longer to acclimate. By the time we got him, he had a little more in the tank.

Then I guess you're making my point.

[mnfaninnc]

These kind of mistakes are hard to swallow Bekki:

Quote

Unfortunately, his visa issues last season contributed to his not playing for Minnesota or Iowa. While Khusnutdinov got plenty of ice for HK Sochi, he may have had more developmental success in Iowa.

Yes, Dino did have visa trouble, but he also had enough time to get in 19 games.

This also was a little misleading:

Quote

Marco Rossi played only 2 NHL games in his first season and 63  AHL games. He also had complications from COVID-19.

While this was true, he was a late callup when we had a bevy of injuries right before the playoffs, including Ek's broken ankle, the real questioning started when he started the following year in St. Paul, lasted for 19 games with a token assist and got sent back down to Iowa again. 

Turns out, he lacked strength, and was playing below his jr. weight. 

Neither of these have much to do with Ohgren. The hope is that Ohgren progresses at a stronger pace than Ek did, as they are similar and picked in similar spots. Ohgren may be more worried about his own end at this time and, like Ek, looks a bit lost in the O zone. He played well enough in the A last season to get a call up. I think he deserves to be here, and is improving almost every game. 

MaRat on the other hand has yet to showcase his speed, but he has showcased his hands a few times. The difference he has is other 3rd-4th line players that cannot do much with his sneaky little passes. He has also shown some nice tight space stick handling but has little to show for it.

Lauko I am most impressed with, as he has at least given himself opportunities with his speed. Many here compare Trenin to Duhaime, but Lauko is, essentially, the same package. I think he's got a little more speed. 

Also of note, moving Freddy to the 3rd line was a midgame adjustment that Heinzy made. Freddy seemed to fit in more between the two checkers, perhaps because they moved at similar speeds. I liked the switch and linking MaRat back up with Lauko to form a Grape knuts pair. To this point, Ohgren hasn't earned a spot on this line.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 minute ago, mnfaninnc said:

Lauko I am most impressed with, as he has at least given himself opportunities with his speed.

Shout out to BG for the Grape-O pick up.  People talk about him being muscle out there, but I don't think he's got much of that to his game.  LOTR-O is all Finnish no Swedish though which is nice

*CaddyshackCarlgif*

[mnfaninnc]

11 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Then I guess you're making my point

He reminds me an awful lot of Nino. I can't say that's his ceiling, but Nino was a top 5 pick in his draft and has played a bunch of years in the N. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?

I also think that what we'll find from Ohgren is that he will end up doing a lot of the dirty work on a line. I'm not sure that was Nino, though he did his fair share, but so did Coyle. 

The difference will likely be that Ohgren will be part of the core of this team in a way that Nino, Coyle and Granlund never were.

[Pewterschmidt]

4 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Grape knuts pair

MNFAN wins the blog today!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I liked the switch and linking MaRat back up with Lauko to form a Grape knuts pair. To this point, Ohgren hasn't earned a spot on this line.

Much respect to the "Grape-Knuts" pairing! Ohgren is raw, but given that he's supposed to be defensively solid, maybe they can develop him at the NHL level and have him look like he's earned it by the time the calendar flips.

Ohgren has been on the ice for 1 goal for and 3 goals against in roughly 67 minutes. Not great, but his line isn't getting scored on at an extremely high rate. Giving how the season has gone, I trust Hynes to decide how to play it.

[Will D. Ness]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

You're right, Will, but I'd argue that he has shown progress. Showing progress is much more than just showing up on the scoresheet. I pointed out before the season started that Ohgren's MO is he's a slow starter. 

As long as he's not costing the Wild goals, keep playing him. I'd like to see a little more check finishing from him, but his legs have gotten pretty close to up to speed. Unfortunately, his hands are still behind, but this is typical for him. 

He has shown a little progress but he still looks out of position and behind the play way too much.  I think he has the speed, the size, and you are right his hands are behind, but most of all he needs to get his head straight.

I think it comes with time.

[RedLake]

The Wild have the fastest 4th line in the league. Add Hartman to the third and we might win one playoff series this year.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

I think patience is a virtue when we are talking about rookies. Not every prospect is going to be Boldy or Faber, who can step into an NHL role at will. In fact, those two are anomalies in terms of development. I think Ohgren hasn't been noticeable but his line has been solid. Not being noticeable isn't a bad thing when we talk about a rookie playing his first handful of games. At least he isn't making awful mistakes.

I like the path Heinzy is taking with our young guys. Unless they are being a detriment to the team, we need to let them play and develop. That is the way they will become a contributing member. For a guy like Ohgren, I'm not sure there is much for him in the AHL. He needs to acclimate to the pace of the NHL, not the lower leagues. If we want him to be a factor next year he needs this experience. 

There are going to be warts and bumps along the way, that just comes with bringing young guys into the league. So far I think the 4th line has been bringing energy, speed and momentum while playing responsibly in their own zone. For two out of three new to the league and no one over 100 NHL games, I will take that 100% of the time. I think Lauko and Khus already contribute more than the Deweys and Ohgren is young and adapting. On a line where no one is over 24, these guys are doing fine.

[mnfaninnc]

22 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

I like the path Heinzy is taking with our young guys. Unless they are being a detriment to the team, we need to let them play and develop. That is the way they will become a contributing member. For a guy like Ohgren, I'm not sure there is much for him in the AHL. He needs to acclimate to the pace of the NHL, not the lower leagues. If we want him to be a factor next year he needs this experience. 

There are going to be warts and bumps along the way, that just comes with bringing young guys into the league. So far I think the 4th line has been bringing energy, speed and momentum while playing responsibly in their own zone. For two out of three new to the league and no one over 100 NHL games, I will take that 100% of the time. I think Lauko and Khus already contribute more than the Deweys and Ohgren is young and adapting. On a line where no one is over 24, these guys are doing fine.

Let's also mention 1 other thing about Ohgren: It is a positive that he has outgrown the A, which probably means that the SHL is fairly close to the A in competition. Ohgren is 3 years ahead of schedule. It would be abnormal for him to not need some seasoning, especially as a pick in the 20s. 

I know we preach that the young players need playing time, but it is not a bad idea to sit him in the Prossbox a few times and give him assignments to watch as he sees the game from up top. It would also be good to have some sort of coach sitting upstairs with him to point things out (and keep him focused). 

But, the coaches are on ice level? Who wouldn't love to have a Mike Modano yapping in your head? That's the sort of insight a guy like that can give you, even though he's concentrating on different things right now. Modano saw the game differently than most players, having insight from him could be invaluable. This is also part of the organization, as a whole, working together to have a better on ice product. 

I don't know how much Modano watches the games from the X, or how much he goes on the road, but helping out the kids should be part of the goal. The fact that Ohgren is 3 years early should be a motivating factor for a guy to help the kid out.