Article: The Wild Are A Big Tree That Falls Hard

[Tom Schreier]

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[Citizen Strife]

Yawn, old veteran contracts ruining the team: Guerin's fault...

[Citizen Strife]

Getting that out of my system: the Wild still have a chance for a 4-1 road trip.  Consistency is probably an issue, but you could say that about every team except Winnipeg and Washington at this point.  There are a LOT of teams that are still trailing the Wild after all the shit they've dealt with.

They were completely out of it this time last year.  I'm still banking on more internal improvement next season.  Just have to wait for those "rotten limbs" to fall off the tree.

Who knows, one of those (Hartman) might fall off on its own.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Surprisingly, The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, in reverse order of last to first, has gotten to team #6 in his prospect rankings without mentioning the Wild, so he apparently believes they are top 5 in their prospect pool. Definitely anxious to read what he has to say on the Wild when it's released later this week.

[Burnt Toast]

IMO BG has been building a team under a mandate from OCL. Management answers to the owner. Taking into consideration “We gotta make the playoffs” driven priority, having resigned the Vets to some degree then makes sense. It’s a bit of a stretch to say BG is somehow so uninformed as to believe he is adding players like “himself” blindly. Some fit that mold but others don’t. I think the Wild are adding players that want to win. (Mostly). I’m waiting to see what kind of moves they make going into next season. 

[Patrick]

Sad but true. We let Nyquist walk because we wanted Hartman. The truth is the Wild are the same old middle of the pack team they have always been. The only difference is Kirill Kaprizov elevating them to another level.  What did BG have to do with KK. Almost nothing. Hopefully BG can learn from his mistakes.

[FredJohnson]

38 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

he is adding players like “himself”

 

[SkolWild73]

1 hour ago, Citizen Strife said:

Yawn, old veteran contracts ruining the team: Guerin's fault...

I agree.  Another article about the contracts after a bad loss.  Even though we have managed 6 points so far on the road trip where I was hoping to get 5 in a best case scenario and I am an eternal optimist.

[Dango]

The Wild could use a guy like Tom Wilson " minus the bad hits "    6-4-  220  I think  atleast 45-65% of his point production comes via his size  ,   Even if he never fights it would help a team like the wild to have a guy like that  .   "minus the bad hits unnecessary roughing "

 

 

 

GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	SOG	SPCT	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG	TOI/G	PROD
82	3	7	10	1	151	0	4.8	1	0	0	0	0	7:56	65:05
67	4	13	17	-1	172	0	5.1	0	0	0	0	0	10:56	43:06
82	7	16	23	3	163	0	7.1	0	1	0	1	1	12:54	46:02
82	7	12	19	9	133	0	7.4	0	0	0	0	0	12:55	55:46
78	14	21	35	10	187	0	11.4	0	1	1	0	1	15:59	35:37
63	22	18	40	11	128	0	16.9	3	2	2	0	2	18:08	28:34
68	21	23	44	-3	93	0	13.6	5	2	1	1	5	18:16	28:14
47	13	20	33	1	96	0	15.7	4	4	1	0	4	16:32	23:33
78	24	28	52	13	98	0	15.9	4	6	2	1	5	18:34	27:52
33	13	9	22	-13	78	0	15.9	4	1	0	0	1	17:37	26:25
74	18	17	35	-19	133	0	10.7	5	5	2	0	3	18:06	38:16
52	21	17	38	12	50	0	17.9	9	3	0	1	3	18:49	25:45
806	167	201	368	24	1482	0	12.4	35	25	9	4	25	15:12	444:20

[mnfaninnc]

I have to agree with the analogy Tom puts forth here. It's a good one, but one that needs to be explained a bit further. Tom has taken some depth readings and he has seen a lack of root structure. Oh, there's some roots, but not those big deep ones. They were extracted, 2 of them, 5 years ago. The aging vets we now have do not have that much of a root structure because they are placeholders, not deep players with a history, like a Koivu. 

Now, our root structure consists of players like Eriksson Ek, probably the deepest root, Kaprizov, Boldy, Faber. Brodin and Spurgeon also are deep roots but not so strong anymore. But, your Hartmans, Trenins and those guys just don't have those deep roots. Even Foligno's just isn't that deep, though he's been here a long while. 

This happens with turnover. This happens with rebuilding. When we bought out Suter and Parise, let Koivu head to free agency/retirement, and sent Staal packing, we got rid of our deep roots. It's time for new ones. If Kaprizov resigns, he will be one of our deepest roots. Getting Rossi bridged and then long termed may be another one. Buium, Yurov, The Wall, Jiricek should all lay down some deep roots but that takes time. 

Quote

Ottawa has improved this year, but they’re still a middle-of-the-pack Eastern Conference team.

One of the best indicators of a playoff team is simply team +/-. I can't remember where we were in mid December, but right now we're a +3. This suggests that we are the 7th best team in our conference. Calgary and Vancouver are behind us with -11 and -16. 

The Ottawa team that just waxed us was a +2 going into that game. That was good enough for 7th place in the East. They didn't have a very good start to the season, but lately they have been playing like beasts in the East. Sometimes it doesn't matter who you play, it's when you play them. Hopefully we catch Boston on a downswing. They are currently a -26.

37 minutes ago, Patrick said:

We let Nyquist walk because we wanted Hartman.

This is a completely false statement, sorry Patrick. Hartman had 1 more year left on his deal. We chose Johansson instead of Nyquist. I actually believe we could only afford a $2m contract and both were offered the same deal, 1st one to take it got it. I have no evidence of this. Nyquist bet on himself and was worth probably more than what he got. 

Again, I'm not agreeing with the resigning of Hartman, I think we should have let him walk, but I also think he had a handshake deal with Guerin, that if he performed well at $1.8m where we needed value contracts, Guerin promised to take care of him. While most do not see value in honoring those types of things, I do. It makes you the type of GM that players can play for. These types of things get talked about around the league, and players know which GMs they can trust and which ones they can't. 

But like some have suggested, I do think that this is the last year we have Hartman in the lineup. I thought we might bet on a bounce back for next season, but after the Stutzle incident, I have to wonder if the expiration date is flashing.

[mnfaninnc]

21 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

I agree.  Another article about the contracts after a bad loss.  Even though we have managed 6 points so far on the road trip where I was hoping to get 5 in a best case scenario and I am an eternal optimist.

I thought the article was more about when we lose, we lose big. When we win, we don't usually win so big. The underlying theme of deep roots, though, really hit me. I don't know that I really mind, so much, getting killed when we lose but winning all the tight ones. 

Say for instance, we get Colorado in a playoff series. What if the series was tied at 3 and our wins were 2-1OT, 3-2OT, and 4-3. Theirs were 6-1, 5-0, 7-2. What happens in game 7? The ghost of Nino arises!

[SkolWild73]

5 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I thought the article was more about when we lose, we lose big. When we win, we don't usually win so big. The underlying theme of deep roots, though, really hit me. I don't know that I really mind, so much, getting killed when we lose but winning all the tight ones. 

Say for instance, we get Colorado in a playoff series. What if the series was tied at 3 and our wins were 2-1OT, 3-2OT, and 4-3. Theirs were 6-1, 5-0, 7-2. What happens in game 7? The ghost of Nino arises!

Most of it was, but of course it had to mention the bad contracts for aging veterans that seems to pop up in a ton of articles here.

[Enforceror]

12 minutes ago, Dango said:

The Wild could use a guy like Tom Wilson " minus the bad hits "    6-4-  220  I think  atleast 45-65% of his point production comes via his size  ,   Even if he never fights it would help a team like the wild to have a guy like that  .   "minus the bad hits unnecessary roughing "

 

 

 

GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	SOG	SPCT	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG	TOI/G	PROD
82	3	7	10	1	151	0	4.8	1	0	0	0	0	7:56	65:05
67	4	13	17	-1	172	0	5.1	0	0	0	0	0	10:56	43:06
82	7	16	23	3	163	0	7.1	0	1	0	1	1	12:54	46:02
82	7	12	19	9	133	0	7.4	0	0	0	0	0	12:55	55:46
78	14	21	35	10	187	0	11.4	0	1	1	0	1	15:59	35:37
63	22	18	40	11	128	0	16.9	3	2	2	0	2	18:08	28:34
68	21	23	44	-3	93	0	13.6	5	2	1	1	5	18:16	28:14
47	13	20	33	1	96	0	15.7	4	4	1	0	4	16:32	23:33
78	24	28	52	13	98	0	15.9	4	6	2	1	5	18:34	27:52
33	13	9	22	-13	78	0	15.9	4	1	0	0	1	17:37	26:25
74	18	17	35	-19	133	0	10.7	5	5	2	0	3	18:06	38:16
52	21	17	38	12	50	0	17.9	9	3	0	1	3	18:49	25:45
806	167	201	368	24	1482	0	12.4	35	25	9	4	25	15:12	444:20

I've been wondering about Trent Frederic and happened to stumble across this just now:

According to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, the Capitals are one of three teams rumored to have interest in Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic. They are reportedly joined in their interest by the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild.

 

https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2025/02/03/capitals-boston-bruins-trent-frederic-trade-deadline-rumor/

[raithis]

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Yawn, old veteran contracts ruining the team: Guerin's fault...

Tom's articles always seem to be variations on saying pretty much the same thing over and over in different ways.

[raithis]

Quote

Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were healthy for the 4-0 loss to Utah

You can make a case for Surgeon being healthy (though he still seems to be working his way back to form and certainly isn't playing like he was before he was slew-footed into the boards), but that was also Kaprizov's first game back after a lot of games missed and it's been reported that the reason he was seeking surgery is because he was out there playing at 60%.  Saying both of these players were healthy to make your point is completely laughable.

[BillieGismylover]

The Wild are the NHLs version of the Vikings. Both teams have over achieved this season. Both teams are missing key components to get them over the hump and be able to beat the elite teams. I don’t think anyone was expecting the Wild to be in the position they are in this year. Especially with the injuries they have had. Will anyone trade for Hartman while he’s on a suspension? He doesn’t fit in our future plans.

[raithis]

11 minutes ago, Enforceror said:

I've been wondering about Trent Frederic and happened to stumble across this just now:

According to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, the Capitals are one of three teams rumored to have interest in Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic. They are reportedly joined in their interest by the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild.

 

https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2025/02/03/capitals-boston-bruins-trent-frederic-trade-deadline-rumor/

Frederic could be an okay pick up.  Not sure how I feel about it.

I didn't like it when hurt Kaprizov a couple seasons back, but it didn't seem like a particularly dirty play. 

I guess I'd rather have players that play hard and are hard to play against than players like Hartman.  Not that I think we can trade Hartman out for him, but Frederic would be worth exploring.

[FredJohnson]

31 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

We chose Johansson instead of Nyquist. I actually believe we could only afford a $2m contract and both were offered the same deal, 1st one to take it got it. I have no evidence of this. Nyquist bet on himself and was worth probably more than what he got.

“Gustav Nyquist is signed to a 2 year, $6,370,000 contract with a cap hit of $3,185,000 per season, currently playing for the Nashville Predators. His contract was signed on July 1, 2023, and expires at the end of the 2024-25 season, when Nyquist will be 35 years old.” https://puckpedia.com/player/gustav-nyquist

I recall this contract was more than we could have handed out so Gustav went to the Perds and we settled for NoJo.

[Dis-allowed display name]

35 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

 

We chose Johansson instead of Nyquist.

Sigh.  

We could have had Nyquist but we must have needed to save a few dollars.  So that we could have Trenin on a long term deal.  

Sigh.

Edited 2 hours ago by Dis-allowed display name

[Imyourhuckleberry]

16 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

“Gustav Nyquist is signed to a 2 year, $6,370,000 contract with a cap hit of $3,185,000 per season, currently playing for the Nashville Predators. His contract was signed on July 1, 2023, and expires at the end of the 2024-25 season, when Nyquist will be 35 years old.” https://puckpedia.com/player/gustav-nyquist

I recall this contract was more than we could have handed out so Gustav went to the Perds and we settled for NoJo.

I believe Nyquist was expecting $4M, and Guerin didn't want to wait for that price to come down. He took the early deal for Johansson to have price certainty and retain a guy who had some recent success for the Wild. The Wild locked in the contract with Johansson, and set about their offseason plans, long before Nyquist's deal came about--NoJo's contract was signed on May 2, 2023.

Between the 2, I strongly preferred Nyquist, but $2M per year for a top 6 player could have been a really good deal if Johansson was even half the player he pretended to be that season after the Wild traded for him. As good of a run as Johansson just had with the Wild, I was about 100% certain that his reasonably low $2M meant Nyquist could not be retained.

I hoped for the best, but wasn't shocked that NoJo's play returned to the level of a guy who could simply be a press box guy on a contending team.

As I've mentioned before, I'd love for the Wild to trade for Nyquist and insert him into Johansson's role now. Nyquist's cap hit remaining for this season is only around $1.125M, so if the Wild gave Nashville a pick/prospect to help them retain $1M of that, the Wild could add Nyquist to their roster.

Edited 2 hours ago by Imyourhuckleberry
Corrected the cap hit estimate for Nyquist.

[Burnt Toast]

3 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I'd love for the Wild to trade for Nyquist and insert him into Johansson's role now.

I think this is a real possibility. Maybe the best we can expect upgrade wise this TD.

[Dean]

Great article.  It’ll prove itself in the playoffs when this washed up core with there bad clauses makes fools of themselves again .  You can’t take this team seriously when Freddy g is playing 30 min a night. . I’m sick of the Freddy era . I’m sick of moose. Hartman , Jo Jo , Freddy and probably Trenin if I watched enough wild this year . Why waste 3 hours watching Freddy do nothing year after year.  This idea your going anywhere in the playoffs with 3 tiny centers is funny .  The wild can’t play playoff hockey with this roster of little people and they can’t do much about it will Billy’s dumb contracts.  If you can’t get to the middle or defend the middle you aren’t going anywhere. Watching these weak wimps play against real teams is pathetic and embarrassing to watch. . It impossible to be a fan of the Freddy g weak wild . Everything i hate about hockey. Weakness and whining with lots  of excuses .  That’s billy g hockey . 
   

[Willy the poor boy]

24 minutes ago, Dean said:

Great article.  It’ll prove itself in the playoffs when this washed up core with there bad clauses makes fools of themselves again .  You can’t take this team seriously when Freddy g is playing 30 min a night. . I’m sick of the Freddy era . I’m sick of moose. Hartman , Jo Jo , Freddy and probably Trenin if I watched enough wild this year . Why waste 3 hours watching Freddy do nothing year after year.  This idea your going anywhere in the playoffs with 3 tiny centers is funny .  The wild can’t play playoff hockey with this roster of little people and they can’t do much about it will Billy’s dumb contracts.  If you can’t get to the middle or defend the middle you aren’t going anywhere. Watching these weak wimps play against real teams is pathetic and embarrassing to watch. . It impossible to be a fan of the Freddy g weak wild . Everything i hate about hockey. Weakness and whining with lots  of excuses .  That’s billy g hockey . 
   

Other than that the team is doing pretty well this year...

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, FredJohnson said:

“Gustav Nyquist is signed to a 2 year, $6,370,000 contract with a cap hit of $3,185,000 per season, currently playing for the Nashville Predators. His contract was signed on July 1, 2023, and expires at the end of the 2024-25 season, when Nyquist will be 35 years old.” https://puckpedia.com/player/gustav-nyquist

I recall this contract was more than we could have handed out so Gustav went to the Perds and we settled for NoJo.

That's exactly the way I remember it too. However, Johansson was signed before 7/1/23. I believe Nyquist bet on himself and took it to free agency. We had his rights before that so he could have signed with us before hitting UFA status. 

[Enforceror]

Guess we made our big trade for the year 😜

Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has traded forward Sammy Walker to the Utah Hockey Club in exchange for future considerations.