Article: The Wild Went Half-In At the Deadline and Got Caught In the Middle Again

[Tom Schreier]

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[Dis-allowed display name]

Half in was a mistake, all in would have been a bigger one.  Sellers was the only correct thing to be.

I don't think Kaprisov will base his decision on this year's final standings, but they still had dead cap, and players with NMC taking up too many roster spots.

I think they have a bright future starting next year and this year is another injury riddled year for an under-funded team.  Take your remaining lumps and then go all in.

[Citizen Strife]

They could have sold and kept the second and Khusnutdinov.  Nyquist has done a lot of nothing.

If nothing else, maybe Guerin will just use those spots more wisely when the new season rolls around.

 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

19 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

Half in was a mistake, all in would have been a bigger one.

I agree that all-in would have been a mistake. I'm not sure that it was a mistake to bolster the roster by adding Nyquist.

The 2nd round pick was higher than I would have liked to see go out and the points have been underwhelming so far, but I could see him having more success. There have been more setups that easily could have resulted in goals. Nyquist hasn't gotten a goal recently in the NHL, but did tally one in Sweden's win over the US at 4 Nations. He doesn't look like the game has passed him by yet, and hopefully he does get more comfortable in this system before the end of the season.

The Wild have had a few rough games, but they've also gotten more from Johansson since adding his fellow Swedish national team veteran. The Wild have tightened up their defense lately and Johansson actually has 6 points in 8 games since the trade. Excluding empty net goals, the Wild have allowed more than 2 goals in regulation just twice since trading for Nyquist, the 5-1 St. Louis loss that wasn't close, and the 4-3 win over Seattle.

The Wild had gone 1-3 following the 4 Nations tourney with a -8 goal differential in the 4 games and the 1 win being an OT win.

Since the trade, the Wild have gone 4-3-1. The goal differential is -5 in that span due to a few empty netters and the St. Louis game going poorly for much of that one, but they've gotten more than half of the available points.

The Blues also have simply gotten hot, so the Wild aren't the only team they've outplayed lately. Since the 4 Nations tourney, the Blues have the 3rd best record and are tied with the Avalanche for 1st in goal differential.

Doing nothing or simply selling players might have the Wild on the verge of falling out of the playoffs, which would be extremely disappointing after their hot start(and their lack of a 2025 1st round pick), particularly if JEE and Kaprizov start skating in a week or two. The playoffs do mean a lot to these guys, so I'm okay with the moves even if they only provide marginal benefit.

[Patrick]

Bill Guerin is a fat faced alcoholic with a short temper.  He pursues players based more on how much they remind him of himself than actual on ice production.  (See Trenin and Brazau v Rossi and Khuznutdinov)  Take KK off of the MN Wild and what are we?  A below average NHL team.  He has done nothing but allow KK to be run into the ground (his 25 minutes a night definitely led to his injuries) and is currently allowing Faber to be run into the ground.  The prospect pool looks good but how much credit does he get for Brackett's work?  

[mnfaninnc]

It would have been nice to have someone on LTIR and bought a piece that we wanted for next season and beyond. But the injuries swallowed up the cap space and we just couldn't afford anything. Sometimes, it's the deals you don't make that benefit you. 

Based upon what we saw, who were the real sellers this trade deadline? There weren't that many out there. When that happens, prices are elevated. Bringing in Rantanen might have been good, or maybe he doesn't fit here either. Carolina plays more of a game like we do. Structured, responsible, 2-way. That is not Rantanen's style. 

We're probably better off with what we got. Should we have simply promoted the kids? I think that may have been the better impact, though it was risking our playoffs. 

[SkolWild73]

39 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Bill Guerin is a fat faced alcoholic with a short temper.  He pursues players based more on how much they remind him of himself than actual on ice production.  (See Trenin and Brazau v Rossi and Khuznutdinov)  Take KK off of the MN Wild and what are we?  A below average NHL team.  He has done nothing but allow KK to be run into the ground (his 25 minutes a night definitely led to his injuries) and is currently allowing Faber to be run into the ground.  The prospect pool looks good but how much credit does he get for Brackett's work?  

You are really blaming the gm for Kaps injuries?  He has played just over 22 minutes a game this season.  You realize that is less than MacKinnon?  Also close to what Draisaitl plays.  Kucherov and MvDavid are not far behind.  The best players play lots of minutes.  
 

As far as Faber goes, their are 5 dmen that play more than Faber and ten that play 25 or more minutes.  All of them are the top defenseman on their team.

 

[Thatoneguy]

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Doing nothing or simply selling players might have the Wild on the verge of falling out of the playoffs, which would be extremely disappointing after their hot start(and their lack of a 2025 1st round pick), particularly if JEE and Kaprizov start skating in a week or two. The playoffs do mean a lot to these guys, so I'm okay with the moves even if they only provide marginal benefit.

What benefit has either player provided? They have done absolutely nothing to make this team better. Marat did nothing less than either player Guerin traded for. In fact since the trade, MK has 2 more goals than both Nyquest and Brazau combined. 

Neither trade made a damn bit of sense, and neither of them made the wild a better hockey team. 

[Will D. Ness]

Nyquist still has time to earn his trade value.  I want to see him play more with Zucc and Rossi.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

56 minutes ago, Thatoneguy said:

Marat did nothing less than either player Guerin traded for. In fact since the trade, MK has 2 more goals than both Nyquest and Brazau combined. 

Marat has not contributed points to a win in Boston, he has won under 44% of faceoffs this season, and his line has been outscored even strength with both franchises. Marat won less than 34% of faceoffs taken when the Wild were short-handed and the goalies saved just 75% of shots when he was on the ice for PK. I believe both Wild goalies are well over 80% when Khusnutdinov is not on the ice for the PK.

He has real potential, but he wasn't succeeding at a high level in the role the Wild had for him and Boston has put him in an entirely different role as a winger that doesn't play nearly as often in the defensive zone.

I realize that Nyquist and Brazeau haven't contributed a lot of points, but the Wild have been collecting over 50% of standings points with them around. Hopefully points come as the two of them gain more familiarity with Hynes' structure and the players around them.

I am not suggesting that the Wild are noticeably better, I'm only suggesting that they may not be worse and that they might be better prepared for the upcoming playoffs than if they had done nothing.

Edited 6 hours ago by Imyourhuckleberry

[Patrick]

5 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

You are really blaming the gm for Kaps injuries?  

 

Yes. Kaprizovs injuries started before this year and after he was playing 25 minutes a night. It wasn't sustainable. You don't let a coach destroy the best asset this franchise has ever had. But it's more than just minutes. It's a pattern of rushing players back and having them get reinjured.  It's leading the NHL in games missed 2 years in a row... without any accountability. (And yes I know Colorado technically is leading the NHL in games missed but that includes Landeskag)

[BeanPole Harvester]

I was just looking this over today regarding salary cap on puck pedia. Currently for the offseason puck pedia has the 88M listed for cap and the wild should have just under 21M to spend.

This puts them at #18 with available cap space.

The teams with the most cap space are Sharks with 43M, Ducks with 39.5M, Flames with 37M, Jets with 37M, Hurricaines with 36M, Hawks with 32M, and Flyers with 27.5M.

Stars have the least with 4.5M and they also have only 15 players signed that are currently on their roster for '25-'26.