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Article: The Wild Should Become Russia In Kaprizov’s Absence


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successful teams have a collection of good players from all over the world. there are good players in US and Russia and many more places. Kap knows it. will us grabbing some "eligible" khl player make any difference or will it create unneeded tension among the team? do we want to bring in undrafted 'prospect" (cause we ain't bringing in damydov) or bring back kovalchyk and radulov? probably not 

there is a healthy competition now for all players, from all background.  if they want to do a russian night and  learn to make borsch - that would likely be much more received by all, and kaprizov himself - no need to create a strategy for russian players specifically - no ones knows how the russian player will gel with kap (not to mention other players).

imagine saying - "Tom, we are going to introduce you to a guy in Montana, you guys are americans right? so you two will get along splendidly...." doesn't work like that.

now i am all for going after svechnikov, but it's because he is in my mind a great player (in addition to being russian) but regardless - if instead of svech it's Tuch or Tkachuk or Miller - i think Kap would be equally as excited - as long as they are good players and perhaps can stick up for him here and there

 

Edited by OldDutchChip
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26 minutes ago, Willy the poor boy said:

What do we do with the Ogre when NoJo comes back?

Liam Öhgren’s last 7 games: 1G-2A-3P, -3, 10 SOG

Marcus Johansson’s last 16 games: 1G-2A-3P, -3, 19 SOG

If OgZ keeps improving that buys us time for Johansson to clear his head. Concussions are tricky things, like Freddy had last year. We might have to put him on LTIR to make sure he's healed 😉.

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I kind of agree with ODC here, but not entirely. To have a Russian scout or 2 to cover all those miles and find diamonds in the rough would be an almost impossible task. It would take much more, like a full network. 

But, finding some of these no name guys who are from smaller towns might be exactly the way to spend 5-7th picks. These guys have little chance of making it anyway, but why not? It's not because they're Russian, it's because nobody else is looking there. The K is an excellent place to develop talent. 

I'm not sure how large our scouting staff is, or what kind of network it has. One thing is certain, we haven't been able to see Russian prospects on the ice for quite a few years. The WJCs aren't really that good without the Russians in the tourney. 

You know who I think has the inside track on this? Philly. Since hiring a Russian coach he will likely be able to know where to look for some good Russian talent. I'm not sure he knows everyone in Russia (like Montana), but he probably knows where to start looking for kids and what prospect leagues are putting out some of these kids. I would expect them to see from fruit from this in about 5 years.

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In other news- JT Miller is off the board heading to NYR for not much in return. Miller waived his full NMC to go. It may have been the only place he'd waive to.

Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee are headed to Calgary, Kuzmenko headed to Philly. 

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This was another iteration of a "Guerin has failed with many poor contracts" article. Russian, Swedish, Egyptian, Martian -who cares- we need to get more production for our dollars.

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16 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I kind of agree with ODC here, but not entirely. To have a Russian scout or 2 to cover all those miles and find diamonds in the rough would be an almost impossible task. It would take much more, like a full network. 

But, finding some of these no name guys who are from smaller towns might be exactly the way to spend 5-7th picks. These guys have little chance of making it anyway, but why not? It's not because they're Russian, it's because nobody else is looking there. The K is an excellent place to develop talent. 

I'm not sure how large our scouting staff is, or what kind of network it has. One thing is certain, we haven't been able to see Russian prospects on the ice for quite a few years. The WJCs aren't really that good without the Russians in the tourney. 

You know who I think has the inside track on this? Philly. Since hiring a Russian coach he will likely be able to know where to look for some good Russian talent. I'm not sure he knows everyone in Russia (like Montana), but he probably knows where to start looking for kids and what prospect leagues are putting out some of these kids. I would expect them to see from fruit from this in about 5 years.

You know who I think has the inside track on this? Philly. Since hiring a Russian coach.....yeap that russian coach is also a buddy of kaprizov, hence my suspicion about him potentially consider that as his next destination!

and good call on other things! 🍺 

well Miller got moved for crap, so i can stop pushing him as a target. 🙂

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This article does not make any sense at all. If u want good Russian player u will be paying for the good hockey players. Russia have a hockey agents, they have international players in their club so everyone knows exactly what they should be paid. And by the way they are not playing for free in Russia. So if u think u will find second kaprizov u will be paying  him Kaprisov money. If u find second Freddy it will be the same money again. I don’t understand how person who knows hockey can even write something like this

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Surprise, another article about bad contracts.  I won’t even get into the point of the rest of the article, but bear with me on the contracts.

As far as the bad contracts, let me start with Freddy.  2.1 mil a year for a 3rd and hopefully 4th line center in the future is not a bad contract.  He is on pace for 36 points this year.  Last years Cup winning Panthers had 6 forwards with more than 36 points.

NOJO’s contract is only 2 mil a year and is done after this year.  Although I agree with everyone else he should be 3rd or 4th line, it isn’t a bad contract.  

Hartman’s deal isn’t looking as good, but he is a guy that can fill in all over in case of injuries.  

Bogosian is signed for 1.25 mil through next year.  Would say he is worth it for the depth he provides.

Will see how Foligno’s contract ages, but do not think it is that bad for what he brings.  Oh, Bogosian, Foligno and Freddy are also 3 of only 5 wild players that have played all 52 games this year.

Let’s look into the future.  NOJO is gone next year and we have Yurov coming over hopefully for that spot.  We have three other prospects to fill spots in the next year or two, Ohgren, Stramel and Heidt.  If all three of those hit, and that’s a big if,  and Zuc is gone after next year, our lines could look like this in 2026.

Ek, Kap, Yurov or Boldy

Rossi, Boldy or Yurov, Ohgren

Stramel, Khus, and Heidt. (Khus and Heidt at the wing.

A 4th line of Freddy, Foligno and Hartman and Trenin would not be a bad thing.  Slight over pay for a 4th line, but that is assuming no injuries and all 4 prospects make it.  
 

With the cap going up, these 4 mil contracts will be like 3 mil contracts in 2026.  
 

I am assuming we will get one decent top 6 player before next year in free agency so could move Ohgren down to line three.

I don’t think we would have any problem moving Hartman, Foligno, Freddy or Trenin if we needed to, but think they are all good insurance pieces if some of the prospects do not make it.

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12 hours ago, Lovehockey said:

This article does not make any sense at all. If u want good Russian player u will be paying for the good hockey players. Russia have a hockey agents, they have international players in their club so everyone knows exactly what they should be paid. And by the way they are not playing for free in Russia. So if u think u will find second kaprizov u will be paying  him Kaprisov money. If u find second Freddy it will be the same money again. I don’t understand how person who knows hockey can even write something like this

Eventually you would have to pay them, but the way the NHL CBA is designed, you've got a few years before that has to happen. For instance, when Chicago signed Panarin, they had at least 2 seasons before they had to trade him away because he was too expensive. 

I think what Tom is saying is that there is a vast country out there who has a lot of hockey players and very few teams are scouting these guys. If you can convert some 5-7th picks into real NHLers, that kind of hit builds great teams. You're expected to hit on 1sts and maybe 40% of the 2nds, but to hit on a string of late round picks certainly is a win. 

Remember the championship teams that Detroit rolled out? They found success in the Euro leagues with players that nobody else was looking at. So they hit on mid to late round picks. It's kind of like that.

With the geopolitical issues that are current, many teams may have scrapped looking at Russian skaters and just dropped them off their boards. If you had a decent network within Russia, you could exploit that by finding quality prospects that nobody else is seeing. Since Russia is so vast, it takes a network, but a real insider over there would know where the best youth coaches and prospects gather. 

Another thing to think about here is like the other article that was pondering if Yurov is getting shafted because he only signed a 1 year deal with Metallurg. You can look at the way SKA St. Petersburg does business, and they don't want NHL players there. I don't know if you could, but if you drafted a prospect over there, perhaps the right people would be able to get those guys over to a K team that will play a talented young guy regardless of their long term goals? 

I think there is something we can do there after many, many years of ignoring the Russian pipeline. Things will eventually settle down politically, and then maybe we can capitalize on an investment we make when it's not popular to be scouting these kids?

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1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

think there is something we can do there after many, many years of ignoring the Russian pipeline. Things will eventually settle down politically, and then maybe we can capitalize on an investment we make when it's not popular to be scouting these kids?

It's Russia, things can and often do go the wrong way. Russia has lost almost 1 million men killed or wounded in the war over the last three years. Their economy is crumbling and the government is getting ever more oppressive. It is something that bears watching.

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So, Hartman just punched his ticket to Buffalo or some other shit place this offseason.  They may not move him with an NMC, but a 15-Team NTC helps.  Last night was inexcusable.  He dropped Stutzle into the ground DDT style into the ice, and that's just another in the line of Hartman's stupid decisions.

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35 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

So, Hartman just punched his ticket to Buffalo or some other shit place this offseason.  They may not move him with an NMC, but a 15-Team NTC helps.  Last night was inexcusable.  He dropped Stutzle into the ground DDT style into the ice, and that's just another in the line of Hartman's stupid decisions.

That was just stupid on his part, no way you could argue that was a “hockey play”. He deserves every fine and suspension he gets.

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That was really really bad hockey last night. There cannot be any excuse for the whole team not showing up. Where are the coaches? Where are the Captains? Where are the veteran players? We know where Hartman was. He was seen with his head up his ass. Gus was the only player out there trying to earn his paycheck, and that is with a six goal night! They better come out against Boston with some fire or MnFan will get his wish of Sullivan behind the Wild bench.

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Let's remember that this was the 3rd leg in a 3/4. That 3rd game is always a challenge for the Wild. So, it was an emotional night in Montreal, the team drained itself to get Fleury the shutout. 

This explains why everyone was off (except Goose). It doesn't really explain why Hartman went full crazy eyes and drove a guy's head into the ice. That was something else. Ottawa has a good team and they are finally putting things together. It probably took them a bit to gel under Greene's scheme. 

I was expecting to see Fleury start the 3rd period. I was expecting to see some fight in the dog, yet there wasn't one. Ottawa saw blood in the water and stepped on our neck with the 5 minute PP. Honestly, after 2 periods, I think the coaching staff really gave up. Just get out of Ottawa without anyone hurt was how I saw the 3rd period. In a marathon season, you've got times like that. Here, you roll your 3rd and 4th lines more and let them eat minutes. 

Goose was really good for 2 periods. The team was not. This was why I think Heinzy needed to pull Goose, to get the team's attention. He did this in St. Louis and it worked, and it can work in other venues. Had we not had a 40 year old backup who would have needed to stretch out, and had The Wall backing up, would Heinzy have made the switch? Or, maybe Heinzy saw what I saw, a tired team in the 3rd leg of 3/4 and just decided that this one wasn't going to happen? After all, you've also got to know when to fold 'em, right?

I hope the Wild come out in Boston and play really hard to get this out of their system, but let's be real-we are down depth to every other team in the league and fatigue is something that occurs. Even on the best of depth teams, catching them on a 3rd in 4 can tip the scales for an inferior team. 

Also up, JT Miller was traded out of Vancouver. That was a productive piece for them. Currently, the Canucks stand 10 points behind the Wild. I would say that the Canucks definitely weakened themselves. Perhaps they can catch Calgary who just added help? Behind them there is distance, Utah sits at 51 points. It would be nice to sit at 70 when the 4 nations thing starts, but we're still in good shape. OCL requires an invitation to the playoffs, not a particular seeding. At the beginning of the season, I thought we'd be fighting for a WC spot. I think that's where we'll end up, though, Colorado got worse too.

Lastly, in the 3rd period I noticed that OgZ started to take the body just a little bit. He generally does not do this, and this along with the going down the middle of the ice needs to get added to his game. My hope is he will start from the drop of the puck to take the body and simply crash into them. I don't think they play that way in Sweden so much, so this will be a growth item on his list. He may still be thinking too hard on the ice, and the game needs to slow down for him.

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19 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

The Wild played Boston tough and beat them last year.  I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to win, even down Kap and Brodin.  Speaking of Brodin, he's expected back this or next week.  Sure won't hurt.

Sounds like Brodin may play against Boston. The team will be down Hartman and may have to activate NoJo. It will be a thin forward group for sure.

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3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

So, Hartman just punched his ticket to Buffalo or some other shit place this offseason.  They may not move him with an NMC, but a 15-Team NTC helps.  Last night was inexcusable.  He dropped Stutzle into the ground DDT style into the ice, and that's just another in the line of Hartman's stupid decisions.

Agree. Hartman went full retard against OTT and I have to believe Hynzy and Guerin have seen enough

Edited by Pewterschmidt
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1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

in the 3rd period I noticed that OgZ started to take the body just a little bit. He generally does not do this

Agree. He needs to make this a bigger part of his game in order to stay in the top six.  Skill alone won’t do it for him at age 21.  Hope he figures this out

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4 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

So, Hartman just punched his ticket to Buffalo or some other shit place this offseason.  They may not move him with an NMC, but a 15-Team NTC helps.  Last night was inexcusable.  He dropped Stutzle into the ground DDT style into the ice, and that's just another in the line of Hartman's stupid decisions.

I sure hope so. He doesn't bring anything to the team except problems on the ice. This is nothing new. Even his best offensive seasons he had his head up his ass way to frequently. 

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