Article: The Wild Must Develop A Joel Eriksson Ek Contingency Plan

[Kalisha Turnipseed]

View full article

[Will D. Ness]

Bennett will cost a lot to pry from Florida, right?  Besides he will be 2X more than Nelson to extend. 

Nelson trade for maybe just a 2nd or 3rd?  Bridge deal value at around 3 years x 4M?

Maybe if it's that cheap.  I could be way off.

[FredJohnson]

It’d help if Refs stop letting JEE get assaulted every shift.

[OldDutchChip]

I'm not a fan of Nelson but....

This may not be a popular opinion, but maybe look to snag Miller from Canucks for Ek....

 

 

[Enforceror]

1 minute ago, OldDutchChip said:

I'm not a fan of Nelson but....

This may not be a popular opinion, but maybe look to snag Miller from Canucks for Ek....

 

 

Just saw something about Russo mentioning Rossi for Miller. Locker room issues would be my fear as I think that our current locker room is a strength. Also Miller ain't a spring chicken. Personally I'd rather keep Rossi and get a Mojo replacement who has some FU and scoring ability but that'll be expensive....sigh

[OldDutchChip]

26 minutes ago, Enforceror said:

Just saw something about Russo mentioning Rossi for Miller. Locker room issues would be my fear as I think that our current locker room is a strength. Also Miller ain't a spring chicken. Personally I'd rather keep Rossi and get a Mojo replacement who has some FU and scoring ability but that'll be expensive....sigh

Miller is a stud though. I don't know, i think if there is a possibility - Billy jumps on it. That opens up your window right NOW. and gives Kap a reason to be here 3-4 years. 

I think Miller is also a rock in FO% which would be helpful with PK.

[Sam]

38 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

Miller is a stud though. I don't know, i think if there is a possibility - Billy jumps on it. That opens up your window right NOW. and gives Kap a reason to be here 3-4 years. 

I think Miller is also a rock in FO% which would be helpful with PK.

Isn’t Miller the guy with all those personal problems or whatever? No thanks..

[Enforceror]

16 minutes ago, Sam said:

Isn’t Miller the guy with all those personal problems or whatever? No thanks..

That's what I was thinking. I watch a lot of the player interviews and they always talk about how tight knit they are. I honestly think that's part of the key to their success.

[1Brotherbill]

Ek gets injured a lot and has never played a full season.  You can say the same about 97.

[Burnt Toast]

I would enjoy watching Charlie Stramel and Ek centering lines for the Wild. When? ….Not sure. Stramel is an aggressive player. Can’t wait!! 

[M_Nels]

10 hours ago, Sam said:

Isn’t Miller the guy with all those personal problems or whatever? No thanks..

That seems to be one of Billy's core philosophies is a good locker room. I mean why do we think Suter & Parise got bought out pretty early in Billy's tenure? Would they still be serviceable players? Yeah probably but Suter especially was known to be toxic and I'm sure Billy has been in a few of those types of rooms in his career. That's one of the advantages of a former very successful player as a GM. He's been through it all.

Makes buy-in a whole lot easier when everyone is on the same page and playing for each other. Like Rossi said it's like a "brotherhood". 

[OldDutchChip]

36 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

That seems to be one of Billy's core philosophies is a good locker room. I mean why do we think Suter & Parise got bought out pretty early in Billy's tenure? Would they still be serviceable players? Yeah probably but Suter especially was known to be toxic and I'm sure Billy has been in a few of those types of rooms in his career. That's one of the advantages of a former very successful player as a GM. He's been through it all.

Makes buy-in a whole lot easier when everyone is on the same page and playing for each other. Like Rossi said it's like a "brotherhood". 

might be just a clash of ego between miller and pettersen that is over blown?

but i think i'd jump on Ek for Miller trade. Miller is amazing. Yeah he is aging, but maybe he'll age more gracefully than ZP.....💩 Very tempting.  

[Imyourhuckleberry]

J.T. Miller has an $8M cap hit through the 29-30 season, when he'll be 37 years old. I don't know that the Wild want him after age 35 and I'm not sure how they would fit him into their cap. Good player who might not be the right fit.

Possible the Wild trade for JT in the summer, but I can't see an in-season trade.

Also, Erikson Ek blocks a lot of shots and sometimes hard shots break bones. I don't know that he's overly injury prone and he's one of the most well conditioned players on the ice. He's fine.

[OldDutchChip]

38 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

J.T. Miller has an $8M cap hit through the 29-30 season, when he'll be 37 years old. I don't know that the Wild want him after age 35 and I'm not sure how they would fit him into their cap. Good player who might not be the right fit.

Possible the Wild trade for JT in the summer, but I can't see an in-season trade.

Also, Erikson Ek blocks a lot of shots and sometimes hard shots break bones. I don't know that he's overly injury prone and he's one of the most well conditioned players on the ice. He's fine.

Sure, the hit is going to be a bit much towards the later years as he ages, but i don;t think he hits the drop off for 3-4 years, and remember the cap will go up so it will be easier to digest. And this is a move for the now. Reality - Miller is an elite talent. He plays everywhere on the ice, is great at FO, and coming off 3 years of superstar play. His numbers are a down, but i don't buy that he is cooked or lost his way. 

If traded for - he would legitimize Wild immediately as a threat and more importantly gives Kaprizov another superstar, while taking a bit of pressure off Boldy and Rossi. 

If you can pull it off, you do it. The salary is not that much more than Ek, so you can work around that. L1 of Kap/Zuccy/Miller would be something....

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Eriksson Ek has missed no more than 5 regular season games in the 4 years prior to this one. Is it more common for players to reach 82 games or miss a few? He's one of the guys I'd be least worried about.

It certainly would be nice to have more 2-way centers like JEE. Stramel is probably at least 2 years away from being useful in the NHL as a 3rd/4th liner.

[MNCountryLife]

If we are that worried about Ek's health pull him off the PK.   Knut, Foligno, Trenin and Lauko have been pretty good PK players and it keeps our top 6 healthier when not blocking shots. 

[Burnt Toast]

4 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

the hit is going to be a bit much towards the later years as he ages, but i don;t think he hits the drop off for 3-4 years

Ahhh why do I feel like I’m in an old Arnold S. Movie? Total Recall. Didn’t we literally just try this approach for over a decade? 13 years maybe half of which felt like being on the Titanic. Is JT Miller a lifeboat or soon to become anchor? I’m not sure if the Kaptain wants to go down with that ship. Do I want to win now? Absolutely. I don’t think trading Ek away for JT is going to make it happen. To a certain degree this team has been built around Ek. 

[OldDutchChip]

3 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

Ahhh why do I feel like I’m in an old Arnold S. Movie? Total Recall. Didn’t we literally just try this approach for over a decade? 13 years maybe half of which felt like being on the Titanic. Is JT Miller a lifeboat or soon to become anchor? I’m not sure if the Kaptain wants to go down with that ship. Do I want to win now? Absolutely. I don’t think trading Ek away for JT is going to make it happen. To a certain degree this team has been built around Ek. 

I think Ek may not have long left, so he may become an anchor soon (speaking of his accumulating injuries - just a reality with the way he plays, how much he plays through those injuries...) but i think it's at least a discussion point. these type of players do not become available all the time. But i did acknowledge that it may age as ZP in one of the posts. somewhere haha

also - greaaat movie

 

 

[Pewterschmidt]

52 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

If we are that worried about Ek's health pull him off the PK.   Knut, Foligno, Trenin and Lauko have been pretty good PK players and it keeps our top 6 healthier when not blocking shots. 

This is a great point and makes too much sense not to do.

[mnfaninnc]

23 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

Nelson trade for maybe just a 2nd or 3rd?  Bridge deal value at around 3 years x 4M?

Maybe if it's that cheap.  I could be way off.

Nelson for maybe a 3rd in a later draft. And a bridge deal needs to be under $3m. His cap hit is $6m this year but his actual salary is $4m. This would be a good team for him to come to, but he'll probably get trade protection and have to give a serious hometown discount. I like Nelson for what he can provide, but he's like Zuccy and starting to wind it down. Plus I don't really like trading with Lou. 

[mnfaninnc]

Looks like I caught up to the Ek-Miller discussion. What I don't like about trading Ek is that he does so much dirty work while sacrificing points. I do not believe this would be a smart move. Ek is also on one of the team friendlier deals right now when we need the cap break. 

I'm still not sold on Miller as a superstar, but he'd probably excel in a top line role with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. 7 years is a long contract. I still think I'd rather have Pettersson. Now, if we're working something out with Spurgy instead, I'd be open to listen. Rumors I've read they're looking for a top 4 defender and Spurgy fits that mold. Do we then put our full faith in Jiricek?

But, it is true that these opportunities do not come up often. 

[Will D. Ness]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Nelson for maybe a 3rd in a later draft. And a bridge deal needs to be under $3m. His cap hit is $6m this year but his actual salary is $4m. This would be a good team for him to come to, but he'll probably get trade protection and have to give a serious hometown discount. I like Nelson for what he can provide, but he's like Zuccy and starting to wind it down. Plus I don't really like trading with Lou. 

Not a bad price for a depth C.  I like him with Trenin and Foligno.

[Sam]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Looks like I caught up to the Ek-Miller discussion. What I don't like about trading Ek is that he does so much dirty work while sacrificing points. I do not believe this would be a smart move. Ek is also on one of the team friendlier deals right now when we need the cap break. 

I'm still not sold on Miller as a superstar, but he'd probably excel in a top line role with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. 7 years is a long contract. I still think I'd rather have Pettersson. Now, if we're working something out with Spurgy instead, I'd be open to listen. Rumors I've read they're looking for a top 4 defender and Spurgy fits that mold. Do we then put our full faith in Jiricek?

But, it is true that these opportunities do not come up often. 

I may not know a lot about the Wild and hockey in general, but Ek is like the most irreplaceable and hardest working guys on the team. It’s kinda dumb to even entertain the idea of trading him for a player who may have a little more scoring ability, but emotional issues that will probably hurt this team.

[RedLake]

Replace Zuccerallo with Jiricek. Forechecking bulldozer with a cannon of a shot.

[MacGyver]

We are not going to see Ek or Spurgeon get moved. Spurgeon to LTIR maybe if he gets injured again but certainly not moved. This franchise has never operated in that way where they sell off players who have been faces of the franchise for years. They held onto Koivu like grim death.  Billy had to be the guy to come in and shoot Ol Yeller. But he isn't going to do it Ek or Spurgeon. 

Moving either of those two would be disruptive to the team at this point. I mean really guys this team is playing pretty damn well and through a lot of long term injuries to our top players. Lets let this thing roll and try not to shoot ourselves in the foot with blowing up the chemistry.