Article: The Wild Would Be Wise To Keep Liam Öhgren At the Trade Deadline

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

Ohgren has years to figure out his shit.  Giving him up better be for someone who is effective right now, not another project like a Cozens or someone too old like a Gourde or Laughton.

Rossi didn't figure out his spot right away.  Here's hoping Ohgren manages to find a similar path to success.

[Up North Guy]

14 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Rossi didn't figure out his spot right away.  Here's hoping Ohgren manages to find a similar path to success.

Neither did Ekker. It takes time and experience.

[Pewterschmidt]

I don't love or hate Ogz.  Too early to write him off but too late to call him a savior & top 6 lock.  Does he project to be just a guy?  A uninspiring middle sixer?  So far yes, and that's why he's potential trade bait at 21.

I'll say this, if he doesn't start to play a more physical game he won't even have a chance to become Nino light.  More like a slightly more skilled Greenway.

You're not 18 year old anymore young man.  Time to play a big man's NHL game or your going to get passed around the league like a joint at Burning Man. (I wanted to go with a Stillwater penetentiary joke here but it's a family show after all)

Edited March 4 by Pewterschmidt

[mnfaninnc]

I agree with Tony on this, don't trade the guy. We have plenty of talent problems right now, but a 2nd problem of cap space. Anyone worth trading OgZ for is to expensive to fit into the room.

Plus, if I'm reading it right, I believe that Shooter is focusing on bringing in the '20-22 drafted players as much as possible. Trading OgZ from the "22 class would mean an upgrade in that group would be needed. 

I believe there is one more add, and that's Sturm. Big center, they know him, he can fill out that large 3rd line. He's not worth an OgZ. Shooter has been good not to trade out these guys. He traded out Hunt ('20) but got Jiricek ('22). 

I believe this is the direction we're headed.

[hydguy75]

To Owner CL:  Bring GMBG  in your office, and tell him man to man, eye to eye, that he gets a report card this year somewhere between above average and great.  Because of his success, he gets a Hall Pass for this season's playoffs.  

Let your injuries heal.  Let your young'ens develop.  Allow your team to gel.  Focus on next season.  Don't mortgage your pipeline and picks for a long shot now.  

This season is over.  It's no one's fault, pure fluke of the injury run this season.  Whether we are in or miss Round 1, don't force it.  Right now there are so many moving puzzle pieces, it's difficult to follow the daily roster let alone figure out what lines mesh well.  There isn't any shining stars carrying the load while EK and KK recover, so that is indicative of your depth.  You've had to bench a veteran, and send a few players down to Iowa.  Your team is not strong, is not well.  

Sure, when EK/KK return, as ODC says "drags you into success" the rest of the team either is not ready, or is not the right team.  We have virtually zero leverage for adding rentals to bolster a shot for playoffs.  Even if you did find the diamond in the rough, and the team starts seeing success, at what cost is giving up your '25-'30 seasons in order for a hope of a marginal '24-'25 playoff run?  Realistically, how deep do you think you can go with adding a couple of minor changes in the roster with what we have to work with right now?

After reading and participating here this season in all of this commentary and analysis, with all of the conflicting positions, reasons, and odd things this season, I am now convinced a few of our $1.7M-$7.575M players need to move out of the way and make space the roster that will win.  KK can't do it alone all season, but he dang sure tried.  He carried the team for half of a season.  With him out, it exposed what was really going on.  

[Will D. Ness]

^ I blame it all on Nojo and Merrill.  

[1Brotherbill]

Whit the current roster and the future elite prospects that are coming it is really hard to imagine the team without Ohgren on it.  He fills a spot not and in the future without him you better have someone fill it that is better.  What would that be?  Someone who can score 30 goals and play a 200 foot game.  

[Need4speed99]

So everyone compares ogz to rossi, and then runs with it. At the beginning of this year they had rossi as trade bait. Then he ACTUALLY got a chance. Played more minutes with higher lines and look at what happened.

You want top prospects to succeed, give them opportunities. Don't throw them on the 4th line. Besides THIS year, the team wasn't expected to do much. Let the kids play and see where they are really at. Just making the playoffs only to bow out isn't anything 

[Enforceror]

8 minutes ago, Need4speed99 said:

So everyone compares ogz to rossi, and then runs with it. At the beginning of this year they had rossi as trade bait. Then he ACTUALLY got a chance. Played more minutes with higher lines and look at what happened.

You want top prospects to succeed, give them opportunities. Don't throw them on the 4th line. Besides THIS year, the team wasn't expected to do much. Let the kids play and see where they are really at. Just making the playoffs only to bow out isn't anything 

I'm starting to come around. I'd like them to play too. Gotta beat the vets though. If we tank, all hell breaks loose.

[SkolWild73]

17 hours ago, hydguy75 said:

To Owner CL:  Bring GMBG  in your office, and tell him man to man, eye to eye, that he gets a report card this year somewhere between above average and great.  Because of his success, he gets a Hall Pass for this season's playoffs.  

Let your injuries heal.  Let your young'ens develop.  Allow your team to gel.  Focus on next season.  Don't mortgage your pipeline and picks for a long shot now.  

This season is over.  It's no one's fault, pure fluke of the injury run this season.  Whether we are in or miss Round 1, don't force it.  Right now there are so many moving puzzle pieces, it's difficult to follow the daily roster let alone figure out what lines mesh well.  There isn't any shining stars carrying the load while EK and KK recover, so that is indicative of your depth.  You've had to bench a veteran, and send a few players down to Iowa.  Your team is not strong, is not well.  

Sure, when EK/KK return, as ODC says "drags you into success" the rest of the team either is not ready, or is not the right team.  We have virtually zero leverage for adding rentals to bolster a shot for playoffs.  Even if you did find the diamond in the rough, and the team starts seeing success, at what cost is giving up your '25-'30 seasons in order for a hope of a marginal '24-'25 playoff run?  Realistically, how deep do you think you can go with adding a couple of minor changes in the roster with what we have to work with right now?

After reading and participating here this season in all of this commentary and analysis, with all of the conflicting positions, reasons, and odd things this season, I am now convinced a few of our $1.7M-$7.575M players need to move out of the way and make space the roster that will win.  KK can't do it alone all season, but he dang sure tried.  He carried the team for half of a season.  With him out, it exposed what was really going on.  

I have said it before, but the record without Kap this year has not been as bad as some make it out to be.  It is 14-10-1 which is a pace of 95 points.  It was 12-7-1 before Ek went down which was a 102.5 pace.  
 

Not saying a couple of moves can’t be made, but they have held up pretty good without him.  

[M_Nels]

46 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

I have said it before, but the record without Kap this year has not been as bad as some make it out to be.  It is 14-10-1 which is a pace of 95 points.  It was 12-7-1 before Ek went down which was a 102.5 pace.  
 

Not saying a couple of moves can’t be made, but they have held up pretty good without him.  

If all of Ek, Brodin & Kap come back for the playoffs and a tuned up Gus Bus stays dialed in I could honestly see this team winning a playoff series.

I've heard Gorg (or Tony maybe?) say Kaprizov is the best player on the team but Ek is the most irreplaceable. 

[SkolWild73]

37 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

If all of Ek, Brodin & Kap come back for the playoffs and a tuned up Gus Bus stays dialed in I could honestly see this team winning a playoff series.

I've heard Gorg (or Tony maybe?) say Kaprizov is the best player on the team but Ek is the most irreplaceable. 

I agree.  With some luck, we could even do more than that.  I dove deeper into our injuries and found that we have only played 9 games with our top 6 forwards and top 4 D all year and were 6-1-2 in those game.  We have played 5 more games with our top 6 forwards and only 1 D missing and were 4-1 in those games.  Only 14 games played all year with our top two forward lines intact, and we were 10-2-2 in those games.

On top of that, when we were only missing one top 6 forward not named Kap, we were 2-1.  We were 6-1-1 missing just one forward not named Kap and 1 D (not including the 4 games Gus was out and the Wall started two where we went 0-4).  So, 8-2-1 with Kap and Gus and only one top forward or one top forward and one top D out.  

Our record starts to drop when we miss more than 1 top 6 forward or more than one top 4 D.  An 18-4-3 record with Kap and a healthy Gus and relatively healthy team is pretty good.  I think we can make a run if we get back to full health in time for the team to gel.  Hopefully by March 31.  Will give us 8 games to get back in sync.

[M_Nels]

36 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

I agree.  With some luck, we could even do more than that.  I dove deeper into our injuries and found that we have only played 9 games with our top 6 forwards and top 4 D all year and were 6-1-2 in those game.  We have played 5 more games with our top 6 forwards and only 1 D missing and were 4-1 in those games.  Only 14 games played all year with our top two forward lines intact, and we were 10-2-2 in those games.

On top of that, when we were only missing one top 6 forward not named Kap, we were 2-1.  We were 6-1-1 missing just one forward not named Kap and 1 D (not including the 4 games Gus was out and the Wall started two where we went 0-4).  So, 8-2-1 with Kap and Gus and only one top forward or one top forward and one top D out.  

Our record starts to drop when we miss more than 1 top 6 forward or more than one top 4 D.  An 18-4-3 record with Kap and a healthy Gus and relatively healthy team is pretty good.  I think we can make a run if we get back to full health in time for the team to gel.  Hopefully by March 31.  Will give us 8 games to get back in sync.

Folks rag on how bad this team looks/is but when fully healthy this team is pretty solid. I know, I get it, "Minnesota sports" and 1st round exits but this team isn't as terrible as people make it out to be. Biz & especially Bowness (who IMO is a great analyst on the panel) were high on the Wild going deep in the last national broadcast.

Theoretically, if you were to take away Robertson/Duchene, Hintz & Lindell from the Stars (using them since they're looking like the 1st round matchup) that team suddenly isn't all that scary and could very well be holding on like the Wild are right now.

Wild do need to keep working on the PK and for the love of Pete somebody needs to start winning 50%+ d-zone draws but unless they go on a major skid and Ek, Kap & Brodin are sidelined for the playoffs this team has a chance to win a round or 2.

PS: Thanks for all that research. 

 

Edited March 5 by M_Nels

[FredJohnson]

2 hours ago, M_Nels said:

Folks rag on how bad this team looks/is but when fully healthy this team is pretty solid. I know, I get it, "Minnesota sports" and 1st round exits but this team isn't as terrible as people make it out to be.

Some “fans” are never ever happy.

[joebou15]

There were an awful lot of people that were ready to ship out Rossi and name Ohgren as the heir for top prospect just last year. I'm not giving up on Ohgren by any means. Kid has some quickness, though not upper echelon speed, and can score. I've generally liked his play, but think his linemates were shit offensively and offered no help on that end of the ice.

That said, if the right offer comes along, I don't know how one can say no. Even with everyone understanding he will need time and experience, teams might offer something decent like Guerin did with Jiricek trade. But, this is and has always been the issue with the re-signing of certain older guys last year and the year before. It becomes a lot tougher for top prospects to graduate and slide into roles that they were drafted for.

And you can make the argument that it's good to create competition and make prospects clear a higher bar. But at some point, the guys in the way will overstay their welcome and force GMs into a decision like this. And if the right offer comes along, why not?

[Need4speed99]

On 3/5/2025 at 2:28 PM, FredJohnson said:

Some “fans” are never ever happy.

Or people have seen the same old and watched patterns for years.

This team is NOT a contender.

[FredJohnson]

11 hours ago, Need4speed99 said:

Or people have seen the same old and watched patterns for years.

This team is NOT a contender.

I feel sorry for the Cup or Bust crowd. You let a sports team you have 0 control over control your happiness.

[Mateo3xm]

On 3/4/2025 at 2:58 PM, Pewterschmidt said:

I don't love or hate Ogz.  Too early to write him off but too late to call him a savior & top 6 lock.  Does he project to be just a guy?  A uninspiring middle sixer?  So far yes, and that's why he's potential trade bait at 21.

I'll say this, if he doesn't start to play a more physical game he won't even have a chance to become Nino light.  More like a slightly more skilled Greenway.

You're not 18 year old anymore young man.  Time to play a big man's NHL game or your going to get passed around the league like a joint at Burning Man. (I wanted to go with a Stillwater penetentiary joke here but it's a family show after all)

You’re doing the same thing you did with Rossi. There are a lot of things I look at when I evaluate a player and how they’re going to be in the nhl. You seem to make your mind up extremely premature. A middle 6 player at best? 

Ohgren is 21 and has done extremely well in every league he’s played in considering his age. His first year in the Ahl he was a point per game. That’s an extremely good sign. You seem to expect a player should produce immediately when they come into the league and it very rarely works like that. High first round picks do sometimes but later first rounders usually need more time to develop. 

It’s a huge jump to go from the Ahl to the nhl especially at 21 and not even having a full season to develop in the A. I could honestly see Ohgren being a 20-30 goal scorer in the nhl if he’s developed properly and given plenty of time. It makes no sense to trade him unless we come out far ahead. You seem to have the same mindset you’ve always had, if he isn’t really good at 21-22 ship him off. If we followed that logic we wouldn’t have JEE or Rossi.

[Pewterschmidt]

36 minutes ago, Mateo3xm said:

You seem to expect a player should produce immediately when they come into the league and it very rarely works like that.

I agree with everything you said except this.  I need to see some flashes from a player during his first year.  Sign of things to come.  Khuz showed almost no flashes.  He treaded water thru 57 games and is now gone.  Ogz is pretty much the same.  Only reason he's still here is because he's taller and heavier than Khuz.  I'm not calling Ogz a bust.  I still think he projects to be a low end Nino.  With Ogz it's the demeanor and body language that makes me think we should trade him while he still has unlimited potential.  I hope he proves me wrong because every team can use a physical middle sixer who can play.  Brazzers was brought in because BG doesn't have faith Ogz can fill this role at 21 years old.  Let's hope Ogz gets more hungry.

[Need4speed99]

On 3/7/2025 at 10:18 AM, FredJohnson said:

I feel sorry for the Cup or Bust crowd. You let a sports team you have 0 control over control your happiness.

Actually no. I've watched sports my whole life and it's always the same. I'm on limited time and would like to see the Wild and vikes finally win won before I'm wormfood.