Article: The Dallas Stars Just Upped the Ante For the Wild's "Christmas Morning"

[Burnt Toast]

7 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

Dallas

Dallas is pushing all their chips in. This season is their peak opportunity. Ranty at less than $6M and WJ at less than $1M if you can believe that. Next year somebody’s going to be a player not finding a chair in a soon to be episode of Musical Chairs. All in all I like their moves. Something I can see the Wild doing in 3 years. 

[SkolWild73]

8 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

Dallas is pushing all their chips in. This season is their peak opportunity. Ranty at less than $6M and WJ at less than $1M if you can believe that. Next year somebody’s going to be a player not finding a chair in a soon to be episode of Musical Chairs. All in all I like their moves. Something I can see the Wild doing in 3 years. 

Agreed

[SkolWild73]

1 hour ago, OldDutchChip said:

Wild are still clueless as to (a) who they have in Kaprizov and (b) how to properly build around him. This amazing talent that Wild collected can't do ANYTHING without Kap. Where is Rossi and where is Boldy? Where is Suter Faber? They are there but not really making a difference.

I have stated their record without Kap this year plenty of times so will not do it again.  If you are saying they can't do anything without Kap, meaning they can't win a cup or advance past round 1 I would agree.  Otherwise, they have done great without Kap.  The last 6 games have been tough, as they would be on any team missing their best player in Kap, their best or second-best defenseman in Brodin, and probably their most irreplaceable player after Kap in Ek.

To say the two 23-year-olds in Boldy and Rossi and the 22-year-old in Faber are not making a difference is being blind to what they have done to keep us in it since Christmas.  

[OldDutchChip]

1 minute ago, SkolWild73 said:

I have stated their record without Kap this year plenty of times so will not do it again.  If you are saying they can't do anything without Kap, meaning they can't win a cup or advance past round 1 I would agree.  Otherwise, they have done great without Kap.  The last 6 games have been tough, as they would be on any team missing their best player in Kap, their best or second-best defenseman in Brodin, and probably their most irreplaceable player after Kap in Ek.

To say the two 23-year-olds in Boldy and Rossi and the 22-year-old in Faber are not making a difference is being blind to what they have done to keep us in it since Christmas.  

Rossi, Boldy and Faber are given every opportunity to take the reigns and prove that they can be what Ranty was and Makar was to Mac. They are not those players. We have put our chips in with this trip (which may also carry with it Kap's future) so i was expecting a bit more. And to be honest - their play is fine, but just fine is not good enough. if that is part of our future core - it had to show up - and it hasn't. i'd rather follow the AVS/STARS model and be bold and move one of them. Instead, we predictably, held on. Patience i get it. We always let others go in front of us. 30 years? no prob, we'll wait a few more and a few more.....very pessimistic today

[Tony Abbott]

8 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

I had Dallas as the best team before the trade and this obviously makes them better this year, but I think they may have shortened their Championship window by doing so.  Without some magic this off-season, they are going to lose a bunch of solid players next year.  If they win the Cup this year, I guess it doesn't matter, but if not, I think it will be much more difficult for them going forward.

Rantanen - 28
Hintz - 28
Oettinger - 26
Robertson - 25
Heiskanen - 25
Harley - 23
Johnston - 21

That's a craaaaaaaazy under-30 core of players that they already / will likely have locked up. Don't think reports of the Stars' coming demise are accurate. 

[1Brotherbill]

A year with a week Free Agent class Rantanen is off the board.  Wild right now have 20 million available after the season.  That is before the salary cap increase.  So lets say 30 million to spend.  Where does the 30 million sit compared to everyone else you ask.  That is 19th in the league.  With teams like Calgary, Winnipeg, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Boston, Toronto, Washington, and Detroit being some of the teams with more money than Minnesota. 

Winnipeg has 10 players to sign with 47 million to spend.  Ehlers wants top line money.  Valardi is a RFA.  Might be good team to target one or both of those players.  But it is doubtful that Winnipeg couldn't afford to keep both of those players.  

Toronto have both Tavaras and Marner to sign with a 37 million.  The also have a few players to sign to less expensive contracts.  So it is possible that both those players sign with Toronto as well.  Mathew Knies is a RFA which might be tantalizing addition to the Wild. 

Pittsburgh has 37 million to spend with basically a full roster signed going into the off season.  Toss in the fact that the GM for Pittsburgh has a history with Marner and you end up with Marner more than likely signing the largest FA contract this off season with Pittsburgh. 

Boston is a mess and they have 38 million to spend.  They might go tank mode for the season because even though they have 38 million it is doubtful they could improve the roster enough to make a difference. 

Washington has to make some deals as well with 33 million to spend and a lot of their expiring contracts are probably not going to be brought back.  

So, lets look at what is left in the Free Agent pool.  Brock Boeser is probably going to sign with Vancouver.  Even though they have only have 24 million to spend they only have three people to sign on the current roster. 

What will the Wild end up doing?  There is no way to know.  But tossing money at a player just to get him to play here is the reason the Wild are in the situation they just went through.  I would not spend top dollar on anyone except Marner or Ehlers.  I would put a qualifying offer to a RFA like Valardi or Knies before I give Brock Boeser a six or seven year contract. 

 

[SkolWild73]

15 minutes ago, Tony Abbott said:

Rantanen - 28
Hintz - 28
Oettinger - 26
Robertson - 25
Heiskanen - 25
Harley - 23
Johnston - 21

That's a craaaaaaaazy under-30 core of players that they already / will likely have locked up. Don't think reports of the Stars' coming demise are accurate. 

I agree with that.  I have said that too.  But they will have to fill in with ELC’s next year.  Of those 7 it is 4 forwards, 2 d and a goalie.  They will lose depth.  
 

And I will admit my hatred for the Stars so I am being as negative as I can for them to make me feel more positive about the wild. 
 

Still say they are the team to beat this year.

[SkolWild73]

4 minutes ago, 1Brotherbill said:

A year with a week Free Agent class Rantanen is off the board.  Wild right now have 20 million available after the season.  That is before the salary cap increase.  So lets say 30 million to spend.  Where does the 30 million sit compared to everyone else you ask.  That is 19th in the league.  With teams like Calgary, Winnipeg, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Boston, Toronto, Washington, and Detroit being some of the teams with more money than Minnesota. 

Winnipeg has 10 players to sign with 47 million to spend.  Ehlers wants top line money.  Valardi is a RFA.  Might be good team to target one or both of those players.  But it is doubtful that Winnipeg couldn't afford to keep both of those players.  

Toronto have both Tavaras and Marner to sign with a 37 million.  The also have a few players to sign to less expensive contracts.  So it is possible that both those players sign with Toronto as well.  Mathew Knies is a RFA which might be tantalizing addition to the Wild. 

Pittsburgh has 37 million to spend with basically a full roster signed going into the off season.  Toss in the fact that the GM for Pittsburgh has a history with Marner and you end up with Marner more than likely signing the largest FA contract this off season with Pittsburgh. 

Boston is a mess and they have 38 million to spend.  They might go tank mode for the season because even though they have 38 million it is doubtful they could improve the roster enough to make a difference. 

Washington has to make some deals as well with 33 million to spend and a lot of their expiring contracts are probably not going to be brought back.  

So, lets look at what is left in the Free Agent pool.  Brock Boeser is probably going to sign with Vancouver.  Even though they have only have 24 million to spend they only have three people to sign on the current roster. 

What will the Wild end up doing?  There is no way to know.  But tossing money at a player just to get him to play here is the reason the Wild are in the situation they just went through.  I would not spend top dollar on anyone except Marner or Ehlers.  I would put a qualifying offer to a RFA like Valardi or Knies before I give Brock Boeser a six or seven year contract. 

 

I wish they had 30 M, but they have just under 21, bit including Rossi’s next contract.  If they keep everyone they have and sign Rossi and bring in Ohgren and Yurov, they will only have around 8-10M.  Really depends on what Rossi signs for. 
 

https://puckpedia.com/team/minnesota-wild

[mnfaninnc]

4 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

How did we punt this year's draft

I believe except for maybe the top 5, this draft is supposed to be a down year, so to me, we didn't really punt, we used the currency to buy a better choice.

[mnfaninnc]

36 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Otherwise, they have done great without Kap. 

I just can't let this go unchallenged. They haven't done great, they've mainly treaded water since then. Rossi, Boldy, Faber have not been impressive since the 4 Nations. With Faber, I wonder if he ran out of gas? Or, is he playing injured like he finished up last year? Blueger outskated him in Vancouver to score the empty netter. 

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

Not exactly sure what you are referring to here. If it is Buium, I don't believe the 19 year old thing applies. That is a deal between the NHL and Hockey Canada. Zeev is in the NCAA and can go to the A or the N.

I was under the impression that the 20 rule is for North America, not just Canada.

[SkolWild73]

16 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I believe except for maybe the top 5, this draft is supposed to be a down year, so to me, we didn't really punt, we used the currency to buy a better choice.

Agree 100 percent.  

[OldDutchChip]

5 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I just can't let this go unchallenged. They haven't done great, they've mainly treaded water since then. Rossi, Boldy, Faber have not been impressive since the 4 Nations. With Faber, I wonder if he ran out of gas? Or, is he playing injured like he finished up last year? Blueger outskated him in Vancouver to score the empty netter. 

i'll say it again - use faber as a trade bait this off season (and dump spurgeon preferably for as little money back as possible). run with zeev, jiricek, brodin and midds.

at this point, faber will likely be the one that will draw the most interest. and i ain't talking about faber for tuch. i think the legend of faber far outgrows his talent and there might be someone that will bite on him and let a great player go. 

we need a top 6 monster to pair with kap. sorry but the only one that may fetch him is faber. 

rossi, faber or boldy - two of them needs to be moved. 

[SkolWild73]

13 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I just can't let this go unchallenged. They haven't done great, they've mainly treaded water since then. Rossi, Boldy, Faber have not been impressive since the 4 Nations. With Faber, I wonder if he ran out of gas? Or, is he playing injured like he finished up last year? Blueger outskated him in Vancouver to score the empty netter. 

Before the injury to Brodin and Ek, they played at a pace of 99 points without Kap which would more than likely make the playoffs. That is including games where Kap was gone and also other injuries, such as the game we played without Kap, Brodin, Spurg and Faber.  Would love to see how these other teams would have done without MacKinnon, McDavid, Kucherov, etc. for the same amount of games, with other top 6 forwards and top 4 D missing.

 

[OldDutchChip]

1 minute ago, SkolWild73 said:

Before the injury to Brodin and Ek, they played at a pace of 99 points without Kap which would more than likely make the playoffs. That is including games where Kap was gone and also other injuries, such as the game we played without Kap, Brodin, Spurg and Faber.  Would love to see how these other teams would have done without MacKinnon, McDavid, Kucherov, etc. for the same amount of games, with other top 6 forwards and top 4 D missing.

 

Last 20 games, Wild are 9-11. I am not sure if we really need to drill down or explore the impact to other teams. And it's a moot point. Sometimes you can see the product on ice better than what stats show you. Reality is we are below 500 team without Kap. We have not played Stars that much, and there a horrible road ahead of us, easing up at the end with last four games being somewhat "easy". At this point we need Kap and Ek back to salvage this season and not let Calgary or STL catch us

[RedLake]

1 hour ago, 1Brotherbill said:

A year with a week Free Agent class Rantanen is off the board.  Wild right now have 20 million available after the season.  That is before the salary cap increase.  So lets say 30 million to spend.  Where does the 30 million sit compared to everyone else you ask.  That is 19th in the league.  With teams like Calgary, Winnipeg, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Boston, Toronto, Washington, and Detroit being some of the teams with more money than Minnesota. 

Winnipeg has 10 players to sign with 47 million to spend.  Ehlers wants top line money.  Valardi is a RFA.  Might be good team to target one or both of those players.  But it is doubtful that Winnipeg couldn't afford to keep both of those players.  

Toronto have both Tavaras and Marner to sign with a 37 million.  The also have a few players to sign to less expensive contracts.  So it is possible that both those players sign with Toronto as well.  Mathew Knies is a RFA which might be tantalizing addition to the Wild. 

Pittsburgh has 37 million to spend with basically a full roster signed going into the off season.  Toss in the fact that the GM for Pittsburgh has a history with Marner and you end up with Marner more than likely signing the largest FA contract this off season with Pittsburgh. 

Boston is a mess and they have 38 million to spend.  They might go tank mode for the season because even though they have 38 million it is doubtful they could improve the roster enough to make a difference. 

Washington has to make some deals as well with 33 million to spend and a lot of their expiring contracts are probably not going to be brought back.  

So, lets look at what is left in the Free Agent pool.  Brock Boeser is probably going to sign with Vancouver.  Even though they have only have 24 million to spend they only have three people to sign on the current roster. 

What will the Wild end up doing?  There is no way to know.  But tossing money at a player just to get him to play here is the reason the Wild are in the situation they just went through.  I would not spend top dollar on anyone except Marner or Ehlers.  I would put a qualifying offer to a RFA like Valardi or Knies before I give Brock Boeser a six or seven year contract. 

 

Honestly I feel the Wild should trade Kaprizov this summer for any takers willing to overpay. Build up around Boldy, Rossi, Faber, Buuim, and we all have seen  the elite talent level Yurov has. We have a solid D unit for years to come let's flip Kaprizov for some young talent, pick up Marner and another top 6er in free agency. Tuch is a must going forward. I don't see Kaprizov being the answer.

[SkolWild73]

39 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

Last 20 games, Wild are 9-11. I am not sure if we really need to drill down or explore the impact to other teams. And it's a moot point. Sometimes you can see the product on ice better than what stats show you. Reality is we are below 500 team without Kap. We have not played Stars that much, and there a horrible road ahead of us, easing up at the end with last four games being somewhat "easy". At this point we need Kap and Ek back to salvage this season and not let Calgary or STL catch us

Reality is we are not below 500 without Kap.  We are 14-12-1 this year without him. 2-4 in the last 6 where we were also missing Ek and Brodin, 12-8-1 before that. And the last two games, I think we doubled the scoring chances to both teams and lost.  Sucked, but I thought we played better in the last two than we did in our two wins.  Did everything but put the puck in the net.

I will agree that we need Kap and Ek back.  Don’t think anyone would argue that.   Point I am trying to make is give these guys some credit for what they have done.  No other team towards the top has had more games missed by their top player and other top 6 players.  Both Rossi and Boldy have played every game.

 

[OldDutchChip]

18 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Reality is we are not below 500 without Kap.  We are 14-12-1 this year without him. 2-4 in the last 6 where we were also missing Ek and Brodin, 12-8-1 before that. And the last two games, I think we doubled the scoring chances to both teams and lost.  Sucked, but I thought we played better in the last two than we did in our two wins.  Did everything but put the puck in the net.

I will agree that we need Kap and Ek back.  Don’t think anyone would argue that.   Point I am trying to make is give these guys some credit for what they have done.  No other team towards the top has had more games missed by their top player and other top 6 players.  Both Rossi and Boldy have played every game.

 

AVS are missing their Captain and Nichushkin for majority of the year, yet they are playing fine

Injuries happen. That's when Rossi and Boldy should have stepped up more than they did

14 - 12? ok so we are a bit better than 500. likely due to not playing many central teams. and yes i know we beat avs once. 

my point is let's stop counting small victories, because at some point people need to demand a better product. this ain't middle school where we applaud kids for trying - in NHL you want results or there is consequence. you see that with all the other top teams. not so much with Wild. actually probably never with Wild. 

[Burnt Toast]

5 hours ago, Dean said:

Next year is the year

I hear ya. It’s hard to know what KK is going to do and that’s going to impact the Wild’s immediate future. There’s a lot of unknowns. But that means potentially things turn for the better and we really do start making some playoff runs, competing with the top teams. If that’s labeled a “window”, then the worst of the ZP RS era could be considered a boarded up abandoned building. Next year the planks are coming down. The Blues won a cup not  long ago in a market similar to ours. It isn’t impossible.

[mnhockeyfan03]

Fact is Rossi, Faber, and Boldy aren’t that good and way over rated by our management and fans.  We need a huge cultural shift and our GM fails to realize this.  Rossi, Faber, Boldy, Spurgeon, Zucc, all should be moved to bring in better players.  Lauko was a difference maker on the 4th line and Kuz never got a fair shot with people who could skate with him.  We brought in a stiff who can’t skate and sucks.  Colorado and Dallas gms are doing  laps around us.  I have a neighbor who is a consultant for a team in our division and they just laugh at what our team is doing.  Billy is lost and making bad decisions. We are going to be lucky to make the playoffs and Kaprizov if smart won’t sign here. 

[Burnt Toast]

46 minutes ago, RedLake said:

Honestly I feel the Wild should trade Kaprizov this summer for any takers willing to overpay.

If he wants out the Wild absolutely have to get every asset available in a trade. So whoever the new GM is will have his hands full. 

[SkolWild73]

19 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

AVS are missing their Captain and Nichushkin for majority of the year, yet they are playing fine

Injuries happen. That's when Rossi and Boldy should have stepped up more than they did

14 - 12? ok so we are a bit better than 500. likely due to not playing many central teams. and yes i know we beat avs once. 

my point is let's stop counting small victories, because at some point people need to demand a better product. this ain't middle school where we applaud kids for trying - in NHL you want results or there is consequence. you see that with all the other top teams. not so much with Wild. actually probably never with Wild. 

They have two points more than we do.  Makar, MacKinnon, Ranty/Necas have missed 0 games. Toews has missed 4.

I say 12-8-1 without just Kap, but you use the 14-12 record that includes Kap, Ek and Brodin.  Our record could easily be a lot worse than it is, and I would say Boldy and Rossi playing every game are one of the main reasons it is not.

But whatever.  No matter what I say you won’t give the young guys credit.  Do I wish they were doing more? Yes.  But in the games without Kap since Christmas they both have 20 points in 25 games.  Not as awful as some are making it out to be.  

[Burnt Toast]

15 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

That's when Rossi and Boldy should have stepped up more than they did

I like to get out of market takes on our players/ situation. Both players are considered on the rise with solid seasons. I’m expecting the Wild to make the playoffs , though it’s not guaranteed. After the playoffs I want to see how their performances are evaluated. I think that will give us a better idea of what to expect moving forward. If Rossi falls off I expect he will get dealt. 

[SkolWild73]

3 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

I like to get out of market takes on our players/ situation. Both players are considered on the rise with solid seasons. I’m expecting the Wild to make the playoffs , though it’s not guaranteed. After the playoffs I want to see how their performances are evaluated. I think that will give us a better idea of what to expect moving forward. If Rossi falls off I expect he will get dealt. 

It was nice watching the pregame on TNT where the guys praised both Rossi and Boldy and the last game where they talked about how good Faber was.

[OldDutchChip]

8 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

They have two points more than we do.  Makar, MacKinnon, Ranty/Necas have missed 0 games. Toews has missed 4.

I say 12-8-1 without just Kap, but you use the 14-12 record that includes Kap, Ek and Brodin.  Our record could easily be a lot worse than it is, and I would say Boldy and Rossi playing every game are one of the main reasons it is not.

But whatever.  No matter what I say you won’t give the young guys credit.  Do I wish they were doing more? Yes.  But in the games without Kap since Christmas they both have 20 points in 25 games.  Not as awful as some are making it out to be.  

No matter what I say you won’t give the young guys credit. it goes both ways....you seem to be trying to use stats to paint a better picture of the state of wild. yes stat wise we seem to be very similar to colorado, but deeper analysis (with more emphasis on actual play) would tell a different story. colorado is getting better and is ready for the playoffs. we are stumbling to the finish, and based on our recent activity, are just happy to make it there, with likely a gentleman sweep as the best case scenario. that's nothing to be proud of. 

10 years of NO playoff success. and we still give credit for trying.....i doubt kap has the patience of most wild fans 😞