Article: Faber and Buium Could Be Pillars For the Next Decade

[Justin Wiggins]

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[Citizen Strife]

The Wild sure could use Buium right now.  Faber is nice to have, but Brodin and Spurgeon are still rocks when healthy.  The operative word is "when."  Jiricek has been a decent surprise, but it is obvious Bogo, Chisholm, and Merrill are not going to get the Wild anywhere.  Buium may not immediately bolster the team like Faber did, but what if he does?  You have Buium and Jiricek growing into Brodin and Spurgeon's spots, without really spending a dime elsewhere.  

Just a few months now, and we'll get to see if Buium in a Wild sweater is as good as the potential says.

[Pablo]

Getting Buium and Jiricek rolling by may, we could make a cup run if everyone else is healthy!! Reinforcements via young studs will trump buying a rental in march.  We are poised to see some great hockey for years to come!!!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Buium had 3 assists and an EN goal over the weekend to get his point pace right at the same pace as last season now--24 points in 20 games.

Denver is a top 8 team this season.

Michigan State is #1 and Stramel is up at 21 points in 24 games, which means he has now outscored his point production of the prior two seasons combined, where he had posted 20 points in 67 games.

Reuniting with his US hockey development coach has absolutely been key to getting Stramel going, and we may see Adam Nightengale in the NHL some day if he decides to move beyond the college game.

[RazWild]

A couple things.

1)  Zeev wasn't the Captain for team USA. Ryan Leonard was. Perhaps you're confusing him with Aron Kiviharju? He Captained Finland to a silver medal.

Zeev however did lead in TOI for all skaters at the would juniors.

2) I wouldn't call Zeev, Brodin's replacement. I would instead call him Suter's logical replacement as 1LD. We're still looking for an eventual replacement for Brodin on the 2nd pairing LD side of things.

Hopefully, one of either Lambos or Kiviharju rises to filling that last top 4 defenseman spot after Faber, Buium, and Jiricek post Brodin.

[FredJohnson]

9 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

it is obvious Bogo, Chisholm, and Merrill are not going to get the Wild anywhere

They just need to get us through this spate of injuries. FFS!

[Patrick]

When did bottom of the NHL in adjusted save percentage become "starting caliber goaltending" - Dubnyk sucked.

[mnfaninnc]

Dubnyk didn't suck. He was merely adequate and competent. He stopped what he should have until he wore down. It was the defense that was the star of the show, not Dubnyk. His stats were elevated due to the defense. 

But if you look at how he did in all star games, that was brutal and usually had him come back to MN with 0 confidence.

[mnfaninnc]

I like how Justin is thinking here, but I have to say he's thinking too small. It's not just Buium + Faber, it's Buium + Faber + Jiricek + Lambos. All 4 of these guys are going to be rocks for us. 

Now, the hard part is going to find partners. Justin mentions Spurgeon + Suter as a top pairing, but Spurgeon + Scandella was a really good pair too and how they broke into the league. Suter could play with anyone. 

I also believe that on defense, Brodin will soon be the Admiral with these young guns being under his command. I think Brodin's game will translate to his later years and he has a good 6 years left here, though, I'd recommend him doing some strength training to help balance a lost step.

This is a very exciting group to have and a great group of guys I hope will not be undersized. I'm still waiting to see Buium's official weight/strength, but I'm hoping it's closer to 200-205. 

Good grief, there he goes again is the likely response. But, truly, you've got to have the strength to tie a guy up on the boards when he's got the leverage, and you've got to have the meat to take on NHL punishment. Both Faber and Lambos added muscle this offseason, and it looks like Chisholm did a little less, but still strengthened. 

[Up North Guy]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Good grief, there he goes again is the likely response. But, truly, you've got to have the strength to tie a guy up on the boards when he's got the leverage, and you've got to have the meat to take on NHL punishment. Both Faber and Lambos added muscle this offseason, and it looks like Chisholm did a little less, but still strengthened. 

I would like to see Jiricek bump up to 210-215 also on 6'4" frame. It is glaringly obvious that the Wild are still undersized and not strong enough in front of the net and in the corners.

[mnfaninnc]

11 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

I would like to see Jiricek bump up to 210-215 also on 6'4" frame

I'm a little more aggressive on this with 225. I think his lower body can still take on a lot of strength too.

[Up North Guy]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I'm a little more aggressive on this with 225. I think his lower body can still take on a lot of strength too.

My only concern there is that he already has shaky skating ability. I would not want to make it worse.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

Jiricek looks like he may finally be comfortable in this av's game, has me all excited for the future of this team, more specifically the defense. Zeev, Faber, Jiricek are all looking like solid futures. One i think may actually end up providing some huge value in a couple years is Chisholm. He has improved since he got here and if his progression continues I think he could be a huge value on a low cost deal. 

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

My only concern there is that he already has shaky skating ability. I would not want to make it worse.

Trust in Andy Ness!!!

 

Edited Monday at 11:40 PM by mnfaninnc

[mnfaninnc]

53 minutes ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Jiricek looks like he may finally be comfortable in this av's game, has me all excited for the future of this team, more specifically the defense.

Did you notice them putting Jiricek in the top 4? That was a pleasant surprise, and I thought he did well there. 

[1Brotherbill]

On 1/19/2025 at 9:09 AM, Pablo said:

Getting Buium and Jiricek rolling by may, we could make a cup run if everyone else is healthy!! Reinforcements via young studs will trump buying a rental in march.  We are poised to see some great hockey for years to come!!!

As good as they have played this year with all the injuries it is hard to imagine that they could put a seven game series in against Edmonton, Colorado, Vegas, or Winnipeg.  Let alone Florida, New Jersey etc.  

First round would more than likely be Dallas or Colorado.  And if the wheels fall off the Bus they would see Vegas or Edmonton.  I think Dallas is a good match this year.  There seems that there is something off with them this year.  But everyone else seems like they have just a bit more than the Wild.

Then again if everyone is healthy and they are playing at top form come April the Wild could see some success.  As long as the league wants them to win.  Even strength the Wild has a good shot at a playoff run.  But if they also have to play against the Refs it is going to be a short playoff run. 

[LittleBallofHate]

Speaking of Zeev... Cameraman did a great job doing a: "Where's Zeevo?" bit and spotting him in the sea of people between periods at the 'Lanche game tonight. At least I'm 90% sure that was him, I'm pretty solid with faces & he is pretty recognizable 🙂

[LittleBallofHate]

Someone else let me know if I am right here. Not a bad game to rewatch from Wild perspective anyway

[Pewterschmidt]

13 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

One i think may actually end up providing some huge value in a couple years is Chisholm.

I’ll disagree here.  Chisholm is showing the league he can play so his days of cheap contracts are numbered

[Pewterschmidt]

14 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Jiricek looks like he may finally be comfortable in this av's game

Agree.  I’ve seen enough in just a couple games to understand why Guerin wanted this kid.  His size and grit are nhl caliber AND the kid isn’t waiting for his “opportunity”.  He’s taking the minutes he’s getting and showing everyone he deserves more minutes (looking at you ogz.  Ogz release valve pass to blue line followed by bogo’s seeing eye wrister doesn’t mean Ogz had a great game)

[MNCountryLife]

On 1/19/2025 at 5:15 PM, RazWild said:

Hopefully, one of either Lambos or Kiviharju rises to filling that last top 4 defenseman spot after Faber, Buium, and Jiricek post Brodin.

Brodin is 31 and will likely be around for another 4 years.  Mids and Chisholm are still in their 20s and playing solid hockey.  Mids, Faber, Buium, Brodin, Zeev, Jiricek, Chisholm.  That is 7 D-men that will be playing at a very high level over the next 4 to 8 years.  Lambos and Kiv will have a difficult time breaking into the lineup.  They may end up on the trade block.

[MNCountryLife]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

(looking at you ogz.  Ogz release valve pass to blue line followed by bogo’s seeing eye wrister doesn’t mean Ogz had a great game)

Agreed.  But I did think he played better.... and better than what Nojo has been giving us.  Would like to see him keep getting minutes and see if he can get comfortable like Jiricek.

[M_Nels]

4 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Agree.  I’ve seen enough in just a couple games to understand why Guerin wanted this kid.  His size and grit are nhl caliber AND the kid isn’t waiting for his “opportunity”.  He’s taking the minutes he’s getting and showing everyone he deserves more minutes (looking at you ogz.  Ogz release valve pass to blue line followed by bogo’s seeing eye wrister doesn’t mean Ogz had a great game)

P-schnozzle this take is spot on! He's gaining confidence every game and making himself noticeable for the right reasons. He's seizing this opportunity and running with it not hanging back playing conservative and too far under the radar which is what Ogz seems to be doing and Rossi was doing in his first stints up here.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, M_Nels said:

P-schnozzle

I see you M_Nels!

[Pablo]

On 1/20/2025 at 7:54 PM, 1Brotherbill said:

As good as they have played this year with all the injuries it is hard to imagine that they could put a seven game series in against Edmonton, Colorado, Vegas, or Winnipeg.  Let alone Florida, New Jersey etc.  

First round would more than likely be Dallas or Colorado.  And if the wheels fall off the Bus they would see Vegas or Edmonton.  I think Dallas is a good match this year.  There seems that there is something off with them this year.  But everyone else seems like they have just a bit more than the Wild.

Then again if everyone is healthy and they are playing at top form come April the Wild could see some success.  As long as the league wants them to win.  Even strength the Wild has a good shot at a playoff run.  But if they also have to play against the Refs it is going to be a short playoff run. 

Also, playoff hockey is different. Are we even built for that when the rink tightens up?