Article: Marat Khusnutdinov, We Hardly Knew Ye

[Justin Hein]

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[Lovehockey]

Great article. Unfortunately we have a GM who doesn’t believe in young players and keep bringing veterans. As of now with the game Brazeau played like 10in total?  

[Dean]

Razor and Jaffee were talking about him in a Boston podcast. They didn’t seem impressed with Brazeau . They just kept saying there’s no way Boston resigns him. He’s fallen out of favor in Boston. Why , they didnt elaborate. Then you go to this weekend. Why did he get benched? Looks slow when playing. Idk. Why you get rid of center depth an upside for future trade for brazeau ?  
    I’m all about upgrading size but in a smart manner with guys that can play. When ek gets injured again in first playoff game your back to this helpless center depth minus another center. For a 4 min guy who probably is in ahl next year if Boston. Didn’t think much of him. 

[OldDutchChip]

i think the reason is clear enough - marat lady friend was a distraction in the club house - billy acted quick to get the boys to focus attn back on the game. 🍻

[Thatoneguy]

This is very quickly starting to feel like another bone head Blunder. Great job Billy! Only 2 more years until 97 tells you to stick it and the wild finally fire you. 

[PiranhasOnIce]

Thanks for the article, Justin.  This is the lemon juice squeezed into the papercut (that is the trade).

Hoping the 'Rat does well there.

[MNCountryLife]

I understand the article but I don't think BG is using this line of thinking at all.  I think he is trying to increase our size.  He drafted Stramel, traded for Jiricek, Traded for Brazeau.  3 big guys.  Zeev was an obvious must take (can't believe he fell to us).  You don't turn away guys of his caliber of skill.  Nyquist was a win now player that could help our ailing top 6 a little.  But I fully expect BG to continue to find bigger players, especially for our bottom 6 guys.  That is the type of player BG wants.  Think of Reaves and Deslauries.... yet with more skill.  

[Imyourhuckleberry]

I wasn't impressed with this move, but hopefully it works out for both parties.

I guess that Guerin didn't see these guys as the type of bottom line players he wants down the road and didn't see them easily moving up the Wild lines.

Assuming the Wild add a top 6 FA player & Yurov, and want to bring Ohgren back to the NHL next season, I'm not sure there would be much room for Knudi or Lauko, so maybe he did them a favor to send them to a place where they might get more playing time to develop.

Brazeau is on a minimum contract, so the Wild can play him today rather than have him in the AHL due to cap constraints.

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Assuming the Wild add a top 6 FA player & Yurov, and want to bring Ohgren back to the NHL next season, I'm not sure there would be much room for Knudi or Lauko, so maybe he did them a favor to send them to a place where they might get more playing time to develop.

This seems more like what Guerin does. The player doesn't fit his vision so he tries to find another fit for him elsewhere. For all the stuff Guerin is accused of, this particular trait seems to be one that let's players trust him. There have been times where he has just subtracted a guy, but for the most part, he tries to find a decent fit even if the return is less. 

[mnfaninnc]

I hated losing MaRat, because I saw a lot of subtle plays he made to guys like Shore that just ended up in the corner from a fumbled puck. If he had had a chance with some fast skilled guys, I wonder what we would have seen. Trouble is, we don't have any fast skilled guys, unless you consider Johansson one of those guys. Lauko was fast, but not very skilled.

[Justin Hein]

14 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

I understand the article but I don't think BG is using this line of thinking at all.  I think he is trying to increase our size.  

I definitely believe that's part of the strategy, which I identify a bit in the PK section. Brazeau's longer reach could be useful in what they're trying to do shorthanded. 

[Justin Hein]

14 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I wasn't impressed with this move, but hopefully it works out for both parties.

I guess that Guerin didn't see these guys as the type of bottom line players he wants down the road and didn't see them easily moving up the Wild lines.

Assuming the Wild add a top 6 FA player & Yurov, and want to bring Ohgren back to the NHL next season, I'm not sure there would be much room for Knudi or Lauko, so maybe he did them a favor to send them to a place where they might get more playing time to develop.

Brazeau is on a minimum contract, so the Wild can play him today rather than have him in the AHL due to cap constraints.

I just don't see a world in which the Wild win this trade, unless Khusnutdinov is a total bust. The prices at this deadline have been exorbitant. 

I'm higher on him than most but it would shock me if he doesn't peak as a middle-six center. Between those two factors, this is a really impatient move. 

[Pewterschmidt]

16 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

Think of Reaves and Deslauries.... yet with more skill.  

Pat Maroon, Yak Attack....No doubt bill wants size in the lineup and I don't disagree.  The Wal Mart Pat Maroon will be one to watch for next year.  Early signs on Brazo are not positive.  Did anyone watch any game tape on this guy?  He's possibly going to prove to be less effective than Big Yak.  Khuz (and Lauko) don't project to be world beaters but if they continue to grow into effective NHL'rs (ie Eric Haula) and Brazo is driving a garbage truck at age 30 this is another example of bill flushing capital down the tubes. 

[Pewterschmidt]

13 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

For all the stuff Guerin is accused of, this particular trait seems to be one that let's players trust him. There have been times where he has just subtracted a guy, but for the most part, he tries to find a decent fit even if the return is less.

Wow this is a rosy interpretation of Guerin's moves

[Pewterschmidt]

13 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

If he had had a chance with some fast skilled guys, I wonder what we would have seen.

57 games with 2 goals was a large enough sample size for bill

I don't love the trade because it was net negative for the Wild, but Khuz is the first can't miss prospects...to miss.  Yah but P-Utin he was only 2nd rounder blah blah...the hype was very real at the time.

[mnfaninnc]

14 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

57 games with 2 goals was a large enough sample size for bill

If the expectation was that he would be scoring a bunch of goals in the N, then that was a very poor expectation. Even during his best season in the K, he was getting assists, not scoring many goals. One could tell he needed serious work on his shot, there really wasn't an N caliber shot there, a borderline A caliber shot. He ripped a couple but shanked more than a few into the corner.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

30 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I don't love the trade because it was net negative for the Wild, but Khuz is the first can't miss prospects...to miss.  Yah but P-Utin he was only 2nd rounder blah blah...the hype was very real at the time.

I never thought of Khusnutdinov as can't miss, but he has NHL skating and decent hockey sense.

The winner of this trade is the players Guerin traded away because they'll get to play in the NHL in Boston while the Wild didn't have cap space for Marat. Hopefully Brazeau will bring some scoring, but the early returns don't seem particularly promising.

[Pewterschmidt]

41 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

If the expectation was that he would be scoring a bunch of goals in the N, then that was a very poor expectation. Even during his best season in the K, he was getting assists, not scoring many goals. One could tell he needed serious work on his shot, there really wasn't an N caliber shot there, a borderline A caliber shot. He ripped a couple but shanked more than a few into the corner.

No one expected him to come in a be a goal scorer.  His path to an NHL career required him to be a PK specialist with a good face off %.  An updgrade from Connor Dewar.  Tiny Khuz was/is neither.  If you're tiny you better do something above average and he just didn't in his full season of games (counting last year cup o coffee)

[Will D. Ness]

Marat has value.  Bozeau does not.  We literally gave away a RFA rookie for a guy who should be in Iowa.  Oh wait... we sweetened the pot with a pick too!

It was an absurd trade that makes BG look like a doofus playing checkers once again.

[Scalptrash]

Marat was thrown to the wolves. He should've spent a year in Iowa, minimum. His ability to step in and play in the NHL from day one is a testament to how good he is and he was only going to get better.