Article: Elias Pettersson Needs To Become Minnesota's Top Summer Target

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

That would definitely be a ballsy move.  The biggest risk is whether Petterson's recent funk is just a weird slump or a sign of something more.  Then again, if you can't score with Kap, you can't score with anyone.

[OldDutchChip]

We discussed Elias before and there was a massive cry from many about his skill and fit and softness. 

I thought and still think he’d be a good get but might be too costly to pull off in the offseason; it was better to try some scheme to get him at trade deadline.

This statement is completely false - Kaprizov < EP is not a reality

Imagine a world where Kaprizov isn't the best player on the Wild. Adding Pettersson is one of the few ways that could become a reality.

This under appreciation of Kaprizov is concerning, and likely is why management have failed and why he’ll walk. I’ll call this nonsense out every time! He is the best player in the world!

How do we salvage this situation? Well - The one franchise saving move we can make is go after Brady T and dangle Faber for him. Use political tension and steal him from Ottawa. 

This may cause Kap to reconsider walking. otherwise its a future worse than Nashvilles and Pittsburg -

nyquist Foligno Freddy Hartman Rossi Trenin braz Boldy Nelson? Granlund? 

- This is where Bill and Leo brought us. That’s their plan. 💩 

[RedLake]

No.

[Will D. Ness]

Swing for the fences in FA IMO.

[MNCountryLife]

1 hour ago, OldDutchChip said:

How do we salvage this situation? Well - The one franchise saving move we can make is go after Brady T and dangle Faber for him. Use political tension and steal him from Ottawa. 

Would be really difficult for me to lose a player like Faber who is only 22 years old, still improving and likely to be a top 10 D man in the NHL for the next 10 to 12 years.

[OldDutchChip]

12 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Would be really difficult for me to lose a player like Faber who is only 22 years old, still improving and likely to be a top 10 D man in the NHL for the next 10 to 12 years.

Unfortunate faber is not a top 10 D player now and likely won’t be in the future - but Zeev might be - which makes Faber move much more digestible 

Faber is likely the only one that can get us out of this whole Billy dug for us

 

[PiranhasOnIce]

1 hour ago, OldDutchChip said:

This statement is completely false - Kaprizov < EP is not a reality

Agree 100%.

 

[PiranhasOnIce]

30 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Swing for the fences in FA IMO.

There's only one prize in FA.  I don't think Toronto let's him go.   

Unless we bring in a Tkachuk or Elias,  there's no way Marner would consider Minny.

[mnfaninnc]

After Miller was traded, I was unaware that Vancouver was seriously still taking offers on Pettersson. Yes, Pettersson is soft, but he's also electric. I think Pettersson would be a good fit on this roster, especially with guys like Brodin, Ek, the 2 goalies, etc...

Tony got into some of the trade compensation, but I wonder what they were really turning down. It would seem to me that investigating who they were taking offers from and contacting writers for those teams might be the way to go. What we do know is that nobody landed him....just like nobody landed Rossi in the offseason. Could it be he was still out there to talk about other guys who they wanted to trade?

Generally speaking, GMs prefer the PPP method. I could see the '26 1st/Rossi/Heidt being something, but is it enough? If we traded Rossi, then Yurov needs to stay. One thing the Wild have going for them is they can swallow the whole Pettersson contract and perhaps cap retention was the thing that sank the deals?

But, in this I'm thinking it needs to have more value. We have the 2027 1st also that could be added. Could we get Pettersson for 2 1sts + Rossi? If I'm Vancouver, I think I'd want to keep Heidt in the mix. That would be quite a haul for Pettersson, but I also think it would be worth it. 

Now, ODC is on to something. If Brady Tkachuk didn't like the way the anthem was booed, maybe he will ask out of Ottawa, the capitol of Canada. What would it take to land both of these players? 

And, there were also rumors about Thatcher Demko being available from Vancouver. Do we dare think about getting him and Pettersson???

[MNCountryLife]

29 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

Unfortunate faber is not a top 10 D player now and likely won’t be in the future

Wow.  I pulled up oddsshark defensive ranking and the Wild are at number 12.  HockeyWriters has them at 7.  Not bad for team ranking.  I couldn't find a site with any MN Wild D player in the top 30 and only Spurgeon and Mids appeared in the top 50 on Fantasy.  No Brodin or Faber anywhere in any ranking other than TOI.  That surprised me.   

Having Brodin, Spurgeon, Mid, Faber, Zeev, Chisholm and Jiricek on the team next season I would have declared that as a very strong D core.  If none of them are considered top 50 D men in the league I think the question should be raised:  Is our D core a weakness?  I would never have said that.. but the league/voters sure doesn't think much of them.

[mnhockeyfan03]

13 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Wow.  I pulled up oddsshark defensive ranking and the Wild are at number 12.  HockeyWriters has them at 7.  Not bad for team ranking.  I couldn't find a site with any MN Wild D player in the top 30 and only Spurgeon and Mids appeared in the top 50 on Fantasy.  No Brodin or Faber anywhere in any ranking other than TOI.  That surprised me.   

Having Brodin, Spurgeon, Mid, Faber, Zeev, Chisholm and Jiricek on the team next season I would have declared that as a very strong D core.  If none of them are considered top 50 D men in the league I think the question should be raised:  Is our D core a weakness?  I would never have said that.. but the league/voters sure doesn't think much of them.

Bingo our D are undersized and not as good as people think and our top 6 reds need 3 new additions.  Faber is undersized and can’t clear out the front of the net and same with Spurgeon.  Could care less about time on ice.  Someone has to be out there doesn’t mean they are controlling the play. All of Rossi, Boldy, Faber, Spurgeon, Hartman, Trenin and Freddie should be moved if Billy is serious about getting close to competing with Dallas and Colorado.  Tonight just watch how much faster Colorado is then us. 

[mnhockeyfan03]

The undersize of our D and lack of being able to clear the net is a big reason our PK is so bad.  And we don’t pressure near enough.

[Pewterschmidt]

26 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

If none of them are considered top 50 D men in the league I think the question should be raised:  Is our D core a weakness?

Fans inflate the rankings of "their own".  I'd say our Defense is above average.  But not lights out.  Thanks Oba...Brackett.

 I remember when NHL.com had a top 100 in the league ranking and this sites members were counting down to Koivu, and his name never came up.  DOH! 

[OldDutchChip]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

After Miller was traded, I was unaware that Vancouver was seriously still taking offers on Pettersson. Yes, Pettersson is soft, but he's also electric. I think Pettersson would be a good fit on this roster, especially with guys like Brodin, Ek, the 2 goalies, etc...

Tony got into some of the trade compensation, but I wonder what they were really turning down. It would seem to me that investigating who they were taking offers from and contacting writers for those teams might be the way to go. What we do know is that nobody landed him....just like nobody landed Rossi in the offseason. Could it be he was still out there to talk about other guys who they wanted to trade?

Generally speaking, GMs prefer the PPP method. I could see the '26 1st/Rossi/Heidt being something, but is it enough? If we traded Rossi, then Yurov needs to stay. One thing the Wild have going for them is they can swallow the whole Pettersson contract and perhaps cap retention was the thing that sank the deals?

But, in this I'm thinking it needs to have more value. We have the 2027 1st also that could be added. Could we get Pettersson for 2 1sts + Rossi? If I'm Vancouver, I think I'd want to keep Heidt in the mix. That would be quite a haul for Pettersson, but I also think it would be worth it. 

Now, ODC is on to something. If Brady Tkachuk didn't like the way the anthem was booed, maybe he will ask out of Ottawa, the capitol of Canada. What would it take to land both of these players? 

And, there were also rumors about Thatcher Demko being available from Vancouver. Do we dare think about getting him and Pettersson???

too many things to juggle for bill. i think you focus on Brady and use Faber. that's your only objective. if we start getting creative and thinking of other routes - we will end up where we are now - late to the party. 

[OldDutchChip]

44 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Wow.  I pulled up oddsshark defensive ranking and the Wild are at number 12.  HockeyWriters has them at 7.  Not bad for team ranking.  I couldn't find a site with any MN Wild D player in the top 30 and only Spurgeon and Mids appeared in the top 50 on Fantasy.  No Brodin or Faber anywhere in any ranking other than TOI.  That surprised me.   

Having Brodin, Spurgeon, Mid, Faber, Zeev, Chisholm and Jiricek on the team next season I would have declared that as a very strong D core.  If none of them are considered top 50 D men in the league I think the question should be raised:  Is our D core a weakness?  I would never have said that.. but the league/voters sure doesn't think much of them.

yup TOI....that's our claim to fame. 

zeev better be from a different mold.

i full on expect makar or josi or hughes. 

[OldDutchChip]

30 minutes ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

The undersize of our D and lack of being able to clear the net is a big reason our PK is so bad.  And we don’t pressure near enough.

we also just removed marat, who was one of the better thinkers out there on PK. he had a habit of making the right read and taping a puck to the nearest partner for an easy clear. those little nuanced plays will be missed. 

[SkolWild73]

If Pettersson became available, I think he would be a good trade target.  Personally, I like the picks and prospect trade route.  I also think he might be able to fetch a little less with the down year and high contract.  

If you look at what Miller was traded for, and I am not saying Miller is better than Petterson, but it was a first, Chytil, a 25-year-old whose best season is two years ago with 45 points, and a 22-year-old defenseman in Manici who only has 3 NHL games played.  Miller has had a 99 point in 2022 and a 103 last year.  Pettersson had 102 in 2022 and 89 in 2023 and is somehow on pave for only 52 points this year.  Also, Miller's contract is only for $8M a year for 5 more, where Pettersson is $11.6M for 7 more years through 2032.

With the decrease in production the last two years, especially this year, and how big his contract is, I would think a trade offer similar to what they got for Miller might be enough.  

As far as giving up on Boldy or Rossi, I would be a no on Boldy and a maybe on Rossi.  For Rossi it would depend on what else we would have to send and also what he ends up wanting for a contract.

[Tony Abbott]

3 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

Swing for the fences in FA IMO.

With who?, is the problem.

[Dean]

Good article. I like the thinking. I believe it’s the way to upgrade but I’m not sold on Petterson . I’ve been following Vancouver media this year. They are scared to have him on team past July 1 when his nmc kicks In. His lack of play and pouting doesn’t sit well in Vancouver. His price and that nmc would be a major problem if his attitude is like they say.  The other issue is he was terrible In 4 nations. Just like jack hughes was . Both slender weak players who when time and space are taken from them can’t deal with it.  Both are talented players but when it comes to playoff hockey both disappear because they are pushed off puck and manhandled. . That’s not just my opinion but what others in media after 4 nations were saying. Jack fox and Elias had a horrible tournament. Probably due to size . 
imo Elias isn’t worth the risk but a trade similar to this is the way to go. What other center could they go for idk ? 
   Nanne was taking on k fan and he seemed to think free agency won’t be that x-mas were hoping for. . He thinks most high end talent will be signed . He thought for Billy to do something big it would be trade or waiting till next trade deadline to get in on next years ufas . Nanne also thought we need more size on the back end. In the playoffs the d is getting pounded every shift so you need size to hold up.  I agree . 
   On the flip side. Flowers agent was on a podcast talking about free agency this summer . He thought there would be lots of movement and some historic numbers in signing . I agree with him on some big deals coming but the movement of free agents I don’t see like Nanne said. Trades yes but high end free agents no. Imo

i agree the wild need to figure out a legit center to take pressure off ek and hopefully reduce his injuries. I think Rossi is jack hughes. Great in regular season.  Gets totally exposed in playoff due to size . IMO he’s not close to a #1 center or even a 2 nd on a cup team. Maybe he could be a 2 nd . However we don’t have years to wait and find out. Kappys aging or gone. 
   IMO there #1 need is to remake there center depth . Like Colorado rebuilt there goaltending , centers and d core all during a season. Impressive. A legit 1st line center would be a godsend . Who idk at this time. However if that’s not attainable this summer then at least get a heavy 3 rd line center to take load off ek. This team basically has a 1 st line and nothing else. It’s because we really only have one center and one kinda center in Rossi depending on his competition. Hartman, fred and shore are not centers. Enough of Billy’s stupid idea centers aren’t important. Wings can dive offense he says. Well how many years of Billy and it’s proven itself wrong. Losing faceoffs , pushed off puck and not controlling middle of ice isn’t a recipe for winning.  Look at the center depth in our division and conference. We don’t match up to any good team. 
     I don’t see a x-mas of free agents . I agree he needs to make smart trades. Getting a 12 mill nmc slender guy with a pouting problem isn’t the answer in my opinion. 
    

[Burnt Toast]

23 minutes ago, Dean said:

Enough of Billy’s stupid idea centers aren’t important.

I don’t always take what BG says at face value. Watch what he does. Draft Rossi, Yurov, Stramel. When asked on KFAN  “Hey Bill did your owner kinda put some water on the LTIR possibility this year?” He answered really fast and strong “NO”. But they didn’t use LTIR and easily could have. Back to the center thing, my take is he didn’t want to leave an out for his team competing, knowing full well there wasn’t going to be $ to pick up a high level center. The stakes have been raised in the WC with Dallas and the Aves leading the charge. KK’s future here is a big unknown. The cap buyout years have been tough but BG’s biggest challenge might be just beginning. 

[Dean]

The wild have zero players in the top 40 in points or goals. If kap was healthy than one but he’s never healthy.  Dallas has 4 guys in top 40 in points. 4 guys!!! They have 5 guys In the top 40 in goals. .5 guys!!!! Their top 3 centers are in top 40 in goals.  Colorado -3 guys top 40 points and 2 in goals . Winnipeg 3 in points, 2 in goals ..Edmonton 2 an 2.  Vegas 1 an 1. Two different guys.  That’s crazy but the reality is the wild have a ridiculously bad goal differential for a playoff team. It’s a joke and not sustainable. They’ve actually overachieved in getting points with how bad the differential is . 
   Basically that tells me only two players on this team are untouchable kappy and ek . The rest should or could be used to upgrade if necessary. I agree with others that say Faber might need to go into a trade . It would have to be something big in return but he’s not untouchable .  What are they paying Boldy for again?  Dallas kids are in the top 40 an how long has bolds been here. Age isn’t an excuse for him anymore. 
   We don’t have centers, scoring or a big enough d core to win playoff rounds. I think everything should be on table this summer. Billy has to go big and take chances. It’s the only way you can get better . Read the hurricanes gm comments after the mikko  trade . Basically you have to take risk or you’re going nowhere.. he’s not talking about risks with bad contracts for bottom six guys. He’s talking about goi g after big game. So maybe Elias is worth the risk. Idk but Billy has to do something big. Rossi and Boldy are to far away from really being a backbone of this team. 

[Quebec1648]

The Wild should absolutely go after Petterson, which I have suggested in other posts previously. If we could also get Brady from Ottowa, even better. That would be an excellent Christmas morning.

Aside from Wallstedt, Yurov and zeev, make every other prospect available and move on from Spurgeon to free up cap space.

The only question I have, is would Petterson be able to defend Kaprizov and discourage all the cheap shots.

[Dean]

I agree with burnt toast that Billy doesn’t believe in what he’s saying a lot of time or sometimes. I see your points you’re making.  It’s like when Billy had went and spent assets for playoffs because he said he thought they could win cup only to say years later he never thought they were contenders.  Yeah that’s selling tickets. I get it. The center thing is what he said and then what he’s done. Nothing !   Why hasn’t he been bringing cheap centers to find a diamond in rough . Strome. Etc. it’s been year after year of Hartman is a center. No he is not either is Fred .how many free agency’s has he been through and no changes . So now this year he trades away a center when he still has no depth. Why didn’t he go get Nico sturm . Good faceoffs, speed and cheap for a 5 th .  He obviously doesn’t believe in this team or winning a round unless he believes his own words.  You can drive offense from the wing . Great these misfit centers get you to playoffs but they don’t get you through the playoffs . It’s almost like Billy wants to outsmart the league with his version of winning. . No centers and little people. . so yeah I hear you. I don’t believe anything he says . Just watch his actions and boneheaded moves. 

[Mateo3xm]

Would be kind a cool. They got rid of JT Miller so they have to keep Petey. I don’t see any chance of this happening and besides he’s had a terrible season.