Article: Wild Acquire Justin Brazeau From Bruins Hours Before Trade Deadline

[Mateo3xm]

1 hour ago, M_Nels said:

I'd say I'm whelmed by this trade. Will it move the needle? Maybe, maybe not.

Love the hustle, speed, tenacity of both Khus & Lauko but simply put Khus was not producing and Lauko's got the injury concerns. Did we give up on Khus too soon? Possibly. 

The thing that worries me is we just got even slower. Billy clearly wants to build a defensive team from the goalie out and not a high flyer with questionable depth and D like Edmonton but we just added another 1-ton and not a Corvette.

While I agree with a lot of what you said, this team is tiny and could use size extremely bad.

[Will D. Ness]

Marat had value, this Brazeau guy does not. 

A young, fast rookie with potential on a RFA vs a 27 year old career minor leaguer on a UFA.  And we gave up a pick?

Also Lauko was injured a lot but certainly made a difference on the 4th line vs the AHL call ups.

I'm hoping this Brazeau guy shows something that would explain this move.

[Will D. Ness]

On the bright side:

At least we didn't pull the Brock Nelson trade... holy shit Colorado!

[MacGyver]

Billy seems to be getting obsessed with size. Trenin, Jiricek and now Brazeau. Hopefully he's not overlooking skill in favor of size. Seems like he's swinging the pendulum pretty hard. As has been speculated he does not like Rossi due to his size as many do here thus the incessant trade talk, but if we get too many lumber wagons we are going to need guys like Rossi. 

Sturm would have been a much better pickup. Size and some skill and is familiar here and we would probably still have Marat at least. As Pewter says #dontbedumbbilly

[Aimlessone]

7 hours ago, Skomonkey said:

All I would say is we gave up 2 that didn’t produce at all, one of which was injury prone. They sucked on the PK. Marat has potential and we saw “brief” glimpses of this at times and asked ourselves where has this been and why can’t he be consistent?  Yes he was 4th line with crappy wingers so likely told to throttle back. His only offensive move to drive in the zone, stop and spin then lose the puck. 
 

in the end I’m willing to roll the dice with a larger guy. 
 

the Wild don’t hit and we need someone other than moose to hit someone out there. We have too many small twirling forwards that the league has figured out will never challenge you on the forecheck. We just spin away. Any D-man worth a damn knows this and just shows patients. 
 

the D’s and Shaw at least went out and kicked ass even if they couldn’t finish. More fun to watch and certainly gave us a more physical presence.
 

Never understood how they said the Wild were hard to play against?  We are not physical enough for the playoffs. we played a good system and with Krill and Ek and a full D core we could sustain offensive play where grit and identity lead to goals. We have lost that. Seattle showed how we had to hold on 30 minutes to preserve a 1 goal lead and lucked out. We are a dump, sit back not chase and try to clog up neutral zone and hold on for life in our own zone. 

I would have to say that this is the most accurate summary of what the Wild have become. I get frustrated game after game of watching them dump the puck and not have the size or physicality to establish a forecheck. As the game progresses the opposing team becomes aware, and we consistently get outshot. I'm a firm believer, without the level of play Fluery has showcased this season, we would be near bottom of the division. 

[Citizen Strife]

Saw a report that Nelson nixed an extension for 7.5m per season.

Um...keep him away from here then.

[OldDutchChip]

47 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

Marat will turn out to be a solid player for a long time.  The  Brazeau will disappear.  And we are doing this to drag a team into a first round loss.    

If you could not unload Hartman or Trenin to anyone, they should have just let it ride until the offseason a few weeks.

yup. these moves do not get you any further along than you already are. you pretty much are a lock to make the playoffs without 36 year old Nyquist and Braz. so why move out youth for the 6'5 behemoth who can't skate? i hear he is this net front beast, but will they / should they deploy him on PP? no! haha so his size is likely as useful as Trenins - slow skater trying to catch up to the play but is always late.... oh this will be exciting!

and if you are THAT concerned if you can make the playoffs - then what does it tell you about the young core of boldy, rossi and faber? seriously, even with Kap and Ek out - you should be fine to make PO with the lead you got in pts!

and NONE of these moves do anything of value once you are in there. so why were they made? just to trade? just for some trade actions to appease fans? Will Brazeau play on top 6? hell no. will he be healthy scratch? perhaps. so we again gave away a pick, plus two solid bottom players on the cheap for junk....

[M_Nels]

24 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Billy seems to be getting obsessed with size. Trenin, Jiricek and now Brazeau. Hopefully he's not overlooking skill in favor of size

Billy must be following some users on here who say we need more size to be able to compete in the WC.

Trenin for me is a headscratcher, he seemed like such a thorn in the Wild's side when he was with Nashville but man is he like a kid whose head is too big for his body, his balance is just off.

Jiri's size was needed on the backend IMO, he's got a ton of upside and is still really young. Faber, Brodin, Zeev and Spurge are all skilled but on the small side. 

I'll reserve judgement on the new kid until I see him play.

Edited Friday at 04:00 PM by M_Nels

[Willy the poor boy]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I would rather we'd given Khuz another year to develop (and Laukzy), but I'm also not heartbroken he's gone because not only was he tiny (and Laukzy's groin broken) but he really wasn't even decent at anything: faceoffs, creating offense, PK'ing.  So bro, what would you say you do here.  

 

BG: Marat, name 5 things you did last week...

Marat: Well, let's see...

[Pewterschmidt]

18 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

Trenin for me is a headscratcher, he seemed like such a thorn in the Wild's side when he was with Nashville but man is he like a kid whose head is too big for his body, his balance is just off.

The comparison I like for Trenin is he's the 11 year old who's a decent athlete, his dad played basketball so that what he's done since he was 6.  He skates outdoors at the park to hang with his buddies.  Then his mom's new boyfriend is a hockey guy so T-Pain goes out for hockey and surprises everyone at tryouts making the A team.  Then by game it's obvious that this is a basketball player, playing ice hockey.  This fucking guy makes me so mad it's affecting my ability to watch games.  

[mnfaninnc]

Breezers is the kind of guy who is a late bloomer and not really a career minor league guy. He was undrafted and then went the professional developmental route. He's produced since Boston got him. 

Skating seems to be his weakness. This may get better still as he ages. Why? Because larger guys take longer to get the skating down.

I see Breezers as a low cost resign for next season. Shouldn't be more than he's making now. I see him as a 4th liner, and much harder to play against than Lauko and MaRat, though I will miss their speed. 

On the trade, there had to be something Shooter concluded that he didn't like about MaRat. Shooter has been very patient with the kids, so for him to conclude that MaRat had to go, this is different. It may also mean that 1 of Haight or Bankier may have caught him on the depth chart. Both guys have larger frames and maybe this gets them something they really don't have in Iowa, a monster.

A couple of other moves caught my attention: 

Big Kahk headed to Charlotte. The sports guys on the news last night had definite problems pronouncing Kahkonen's name! I don't know why that makes me chuckle so much? Soucy headed to NYR ahead of tonight's game. Nelson getting a King's ransom to head to 'Rado. 

I've also got a feeling something else may be in the works, but it's within the FO cone of silence. I feel like not all the dominoes have fallen for it to go through.

[Willy the poor boy]

8 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

 

On the trade, there had to be something Shooter concluded that he didn't like about MaRat. Shooter has been very patient with the kids, so for him to conclude that MaRat had to go, this is different. It may also mean that 1 of Haight or Bankier may have caught him on the depth chart. Both guys have larger frames and maybe this gets them something they really don't have in Iowa, a monster.

 

I had heard Marat could only be in IA. for 7 games before he needed to to be either recalled or put on waivers. And as I recall it was from a source I thought was reliable enough. I think this may have been a cap move. (shrug)

[mnfaninnc]

2 minutes ago, Willy the poor boy said:

I had heard Marat could only be in IA. for 7 games before he needed to to be either recalled or put on waivers. And as I recall it was from a source I thought was reliable enough. I think this may have been a cap move. (shrug)

This seems odd to me being that MaRat was on an ELC. Why could he only be there 7 games? I haven't heard of that in the CBA. Would you care to reveal your source?

[MNCountryLife]

BG seems intent on bringing in more size.  He reaches with Stramel because he is bigger.  We pick up Jiricek and now Brazeau as two bigger guys.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them sign Brazeau for a couple more years based on size alone.  At 27 Brazeau should be entering the prime of his career.  Let's hope it pays off.  

[MNCountryLife]

I liked Marat.  The guy was tenacious.  I thought he played really well for us.  Fun to watch.  He just couldn't find a way to contribute points.  I wish him the best in Boston.  Hopefully they can find a way to bring out the best in him.

[Willy the poor boy]

1 minute ago, mnfaninnc said:

This seems odd to me being that MaRat was on an ELC. Why could he only be there 7 games? I haven't heard of that in the CBA. Would you care to reveal your source?

I'm not totally positive, but I thought it was Pat Micheletti's kid. And it may have been on Locked on Wild or maybe one of his Tweets.

[OldDutchChip]

Ranty to stars…..yup

[IllicitFive]

54 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

yup. these moves do not get you any further along than you already are. you pretty much are a lock to make the playoffs without 36 year old Nyquist and Braz. so why move out youth for the 6'5 behemoth who can't skate? i hear he is this net front beast, but will they / should they deploy him on PP? no! haha so his size is likely as useful as Trenins - slow skater trying to catch up to the play but is always late.... oh this will be exciting!

and if you are THAT concerned if you can make the playoffs - then what does it tell you about the young core of boldy, rossi and faber? seriously, even with Kap and Ek out - you should be fine to make PO with the lead you got in pts!

and NONE of these moves do anything of value once you are in there. so why were they made? just to trade? just for some trade actions to appease fans? Will Brazeau play on top 6? hell no. will he be healthy scratch? perhaps. so we again gave away a pick, plus two solid bottom players on the cheap for junk....

So a small guy with 2 goals and 7 total points who hasn't been producing was traded, along with a 2026th 6th rounder and a guy who has played only 38 games and has 3 goals and 6 total points. By pure numbers they got a guy with more goals and more points than those two combined not to mention the size so many have wanted to get.

Marat did everything he was told to do, and had so much potential, speed, heart...... this is a stupid move, there was no need to ship him out for THIS - why not be patient with him?

Lets be blunt about the situation, Khus is only 1 year younger and his production is nowhere near Rossi or Boldy, even if you compare rookie stats. Heck, Faber has out produced both Lauko and Khus..... playing defense. So bringing in a large body who produces more points than anything given up is a bad thing? Seems odd coming from you ODC talking about "future production" with how much you sarcastically talk about guys like Zeev or Yurov being the saviors when a guy who has almost a full season under his belt has not produced anything. All while questioning 2 of your top 3 forwards about not producing enough as well as the 2nd point producer on the back end. And yes, a team should be concerned about making playoffs if they lose what is considered to be one of the top 200ft centers in the league as well as a top 5 if not top 3 player. Brodin is no slouch either. Why would you not be concerned?

Don't get me wrong, I liked Khus, enjoyed watching him, but besides a good back check and forecheck, what more did he bring? He may develop, maybe not, hard to know at this point. 

 

[OldDutchChip]

3 minutes ago, IllicitFive said:

So a small guy with 2 goals and 7 total points who hasn't been producing was traded, along with a 2026th 6th rounder and a guy who has played only 38 games and has 3 goals and 6 total points. By pure numbers they got a guy with more goals and more points than those two combined not to mention the size so many have wanted to get.

Marat did everything he was told to do, and had so much potential, speed, heart...... this is a stupid move, there was no need to ship him out for THIS - why not be patient with him?

Lets be blunt about the situation, Khus is only 1 year younger and his production is nowhere near Rossi or Boldy, even if you compare rookie stats. Heck, Faber has out produced both Lauko and Khus..... playing defense. So bringing in a large body who produces more points than anything given up is a bad thing? Seems odd coming from you ODC talking about "future production" with how much you sarcastically talk about guys like Zeev or Yurov being the saviors when a guy who has almost a full season under his belt has not produced anything. All while questioning 2 of your top 3 forwards about not producing enough as well as the 2nd point producer on the back end. And yes, a team should be concerned about making playoffs if they lose what is considered to be one of the top 200ft centers in the league as well as a top 5 if not top 3 player. Brodin is no slouch either. Why would you not be concerned?

Don't get me wrong, I liked Khus, enjoyed watching him, but besides a good back check and forecheck, what more did he bring? He may develop, maybe not, hard to know at this point. 

 

Marat (and Lauko) smaller guys had more heart than most of the players on the team and both had a role, which they totally embraced (they didn't cheat and there were growing pains, but they had a role that they played....maybe if Lauko and Marat had a Hartman with them - the line would be more productive....i dunno - but it's a moot point - it's done). no one knows yet how this will work out, but to give up on him for such little is questionable logic. 

production on fourth line with jones, and i don't even know who else from AHL, is a bit hard to come by.  yes he didn't score enough for you all on that line, i get it. 

All while questioning 2 of your top 3 forwards about not producing enough as well as the 2nd point producer on the back end. And yes, a team should be concerned about making playoffs are we that concerned with just making the playoffs? and thats it? is boldy and rossi and faber really that unreliable to produce a few wins during this final stretch to get us in? no? i think / hope they can.....so why did we have to get Nyquil and this boso? some teams are actually planning for PO, we are just excited (for 30th year) just to be invited to the party. sad but true.

[IllicitFive]

4 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

Marat (and Lauko) smaller guys had more heart than most of the players on the team and both had a role, which they totally embraced (they didn't cheat and there were growing pains, but they had a role that they played....maybe if Lauko and Marat had a Hartman with them - the line would be more productive....i dunno - but it's a moot point - it's done). no one knows yet how this will work out, but to give up on him for such little is questionable logic. 

production on fourth line with jones, and i don't even know who else from AHL, is a bit hard to come by.  yes he didn't score enough for you all on that line, i get it. 

All while questioning 2 of your top 3 forwards about not producing enough as well as the 2nd point producer on the back end. And yes, a team should be concerned about making playoffs are we that concerned with just making the playoffs? and thats it? is boldy and rossi and faber really that unreliable to produce a few wins during this final stretch to get us in? no? i think / hope they can.....so why did we have to get Nyquil and this boso? some teams are actually planning for PO, we are just excited (for 30th year) just to be invited to the party. sad but true.

Bozo huh? Watch a lot of bruins games do you? Well versed in how he plays and what he might bring? I am at a wait and see, I don't watch much Bruins hockey so I can't speak to what he is. Nyquist was a warm body with some upside to bring in, because well, injuries are a thing this year, as well as severely lacking fire power outside of top 3 or 4, 1 of which is hurt. I know you don't feel that the wild have 15 mil less cap do to the buyouts, but they do, that mostly disappears this offseason opening up a window to resign and add. That mixed with the cap going up, prospects getting more seasoned and ready for the NHL means the window opens next year, not this year. Maybe they are planning for the future, old players and contracts start falling off opening up more spots for ELC to join opening up even more cap space to sign guys. Were Khus and Lauko going to be the difference makers in the playoffs? Highly doubt it, a big body may make an impact if he uses it the way we all hope. Are you wishing we would be planning for playoffs like the Avs are? Give a first a 3rd and top prospect for Brock? Or lightning trade of a Center, a 2 firsts and a 2nd for Gourde and Bjorkstrand? If you want to plan like that for the playoffs go ahead, I think those are insane trades. I would not have been happy getting Brock for a 1st a 3rd and Yurov but that's what you do to plan for this years playoffs.

[Lovehockey]

I really want to see what Marat will do through the end of the season. Boston still in the playoffs hunt. In terms of his production sometimes I was thinking that his extremely conservative way of playing is just way to get a new contract, (like 3 year $5 mil total). Like for the 4th line young guy with potential. And than he would start taking risks. But could be wrong here

as far is the trade typical BG move. Older bigger nobody over younger players 

what I am curious to know is what Kaprisov thinks about this trade. Not like he has to have any influence but Wild is getting more and more boring slow team with a lot of declining veterans. Will see if he will sigh 

[Quebec1648]

I do not like this trade, because the Wild are giving up 2 players and a pick, for someone who might be gone after the year is over. If they wanted, Boston could resign him, and essentially leave BG holding an empty bag.

Marat was struggling, but trading for a 27 yeard old rookie is not the answer.

[Enforceror]

Rantanen to Dallas is scary. I didn't like our chances before but now....🫣

[OldDutchChip]

12 minutes ago, IllicitFive said:

Bozo huh? Watch a lot of bruins games do you? Well versed in how he plays and what he might bring? I am at a wait and see, I don't watch much Bruins hockey so I can't speak to what he is. Nyquist was a warm body with some upside to bring in, because well, injuries are a thing this year, as well as severely lacking fire power outside of top 3 or 4, 1 of which is hurt. I know you don't feel that the wild have 15 mil less cap do to the buyouts, but they do, that mostly disappears this offseason opening up a window to resign and add. That mixed with the cap going up, prospects getting more seasoned and ready for the NHL means the window opens next year, not this year. Maybe they are planning for the future, old players and contracts start falling off opening up more spots for ELC to join opening up even more cap space to sign guys. Were Khus and Lauko going to be the difference makers in the playoffs? Highly doubt it, a big body may make an impact if he uses it the way we all hope. Are you wishing we would be planning for playoffs like the Avs are? Give a first a 3rd and top prospect for Brock? Or lightning trade of a Center, a 2 firsts and a 2nd for Gourde and Bjorkstrand? If you want to plan like that for the playoffs go ahead, I think those are insane trades. I would not have been happy getting Brock for a 1st a 3rd and Yurov but that's what you do to plan for this years playoffs.

Bozo huh? Watch a lot of bruins games do you? Well versed in how he plays and what he might bring? i am! he brings nothing that we don't already have 🙂 

Nyquist was a warm body with some upside to bring in, because well, injuries are a thing this year, as well as severely lacking fire power outside of top 3 or 4, 1 of which is hurt. upside? he is 36, so he is who he is. and he sure does not bring any fire power nor physicality. the logic would have called to bring in a top 6 physical guy who could play in the top 6 role. but instead we brought in an old, not very physical nyquist who is just like harty (member he wacked our current captain? so likely the same energy bunny as harty!) and a guy who won't sniff any top 6 role in bozo, so his impact will be kind of like trenin's....very questionable....not to mention now most of our team is super slow!!!!!

I know you don't feel that the wild have 15 mil less cap do to the buyouts, but they do, that mostly disappears this offseason opening up a window to resign and add. yes, that's not my thought, that's reality. we could either have had ZP and RS or nothing. to re-use the money is not allowed. 

That mixed with the cap going up, prospects getting more seasoned and ready for the NHL means the window opens next year, not this year. right. that window may open for Kap to leave too. i stand by my call - this had to be the year we get out of R1. and all we done is assure that we are not even winning a game in R1.  

Maybe they are planning for the future, old players and contracts start falling off opening up more spots for ELC to join opening up even more cap space to sign guys. Were Khus and Lauko going to be the difference makers in the playoffs? They were fast and willing to do what is asked. We have dumped them for players that are honestly average at best at this point. Why? Results will likely be the same unless Kap goes beast mode. Cause NONE of the players out side of Kap have shown that they can carry a team. 

Highly doubt it, a big body may make an impact if he uses it the way we all hope. Are you wishing we would be planning for playoffs like the Avs are? Give a first a 3rd and top prospect for Brock?  No of course not. Not for us. But Billy will likely sign him in the Offseason nonetheless.

Or lightning trade of a Center, a 2 firsts and a 2nd for Gourde and Bjorkstrand? If you want to plan like that for the playoffs go ahead, I think those are insane trades. I would not have been happy getting Brock for a 1st a 3rd and Yurov but that's what you do to plan for this years playoffs. why would we even MAKE the moves that we made and throw away these picks? the only logic i see is billy is panicking and throwing picks around. 

[Scalptrash]

Yet another antsy trade deadline deal for Billy G. Way overpaid for this. Brazeau is worth a 4th round pick, at best, and certainly not two NHL starters. Marat needs the Rossi treatment. Send him to Iowa for a year or more and tell him to bulk up if he wants to be a player in the NHL. Gave up way too early on him and gave up way too much in this trade, as usual. 

I would love to hear Billy's long term plans for this team. I suspect he has none, he's just winging it. Other teams fleece him because he's in over his head.