Article: The David Jiricek Trade Is Still the Right Call

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

But for every big name - we are never mentioned or never really make a serious attempt.

We've been mentioned nationally in the Pettersson sweepstakes, and we were mentioned with Miller, though, on that one I think it was NYR or nothing. But, I think the main reason for this is the Guerin cone of silence. He does not want his inquiries reported, nor his negotiations. He chided the Chicago GM when he was goaltender hunting. He did this with agents too. I think Russo likely knows way more than he is willing to share and may be the only writer privy to that information.

Now, we can all see that we have reached the exit of the long, dark tunnel that was the cap recapture. Business as usual changes. It is time to go big game hunting. Insider information is the best way to start this, having insight into who might be disgruntled. Being GM of the international team gives Guerin a unique perspective and opportunity for inside information, both from the US players, and a little towards other players, particularly Sweden. 

My expectation is that Guerin takes a late vacation this year, and there will be heavy trading. I think this team gets formed into a contender starting with the '25-26 season, but the results will lag. I expect about 106 points, and at least a 2nd round in the playoffs. I expect Kaprizov resigned, Goose somewhere around $5m/yr., and Rossi maybe matched on an offersheet. (I also expect this to be as good of a deal as Aho was for the Canes)

 

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

Not all teams win, but can we maybe have a team ONE time that actually realistically competes for the cup?

I'm a bit leery of the ONE time aspect here. I think we are building to a 7-10 year cup window. I'm pretty happy with that. For me, Cup window opens for the '27 playoffs, but we will make strides in the '26 playoffs to be considered a contender.

[OldDutchChip]

34 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

So, really then, our differences teeter on 1 simple issue: the resigning of Kaprizov. If you're right and Kaprizov is impatient, this will have been all for naught. If I'm right and Kaprizov sees the future as bright and resigns, this will have been the right course. I don't know that things get resolved on July 1, but I'm pretty sure they will be resolved by October 1.

We seem to see both trades pretty identically. As for Hanzal, I think he broke the locker room and Fletcher had no clue that would happen. Perhaps he came in injured to begin with, but he was far too slow and bumping Haula down was unfair to one of their own. It was as egregious as not starting Talbot game 1 vs. St. Louis.

Yup 🍻 Bill still have an out though -

- give Kap the captaincy

- trade for Top 6 star (full on press for Tkachuk works)

- make it out of R1 

Kap may yet stay 

[OldDutchChip]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

We've been mentioned nationally in the Pettersson sweepstakes, and we were mentioned with Miller, though, on that one I think it was NYR or nothing. But, I think the main reason for this is the Guerin cone of silence. He does not want his inquiries reported, nor his negotiations. He chided the Chicago GM when he was goaltender hunting. He did this with agents too. I think Russo likely knows way more than he is willing to share and may be the only writer privy to that information.

Now, we can all see that we have reached the exit of the long, dark tunnel that was the cap recapture. Business as usual changes. It is time to go big game hunting. Insider information is the best way to start this, having insight into who might be disgruntled. Being GM of the international team gives Guerin a unique perspective and opportunity for inside information, both from the US players, and a little towards other players, particularly Sweden. 

My expectation is that Guerin takes a late vacation this year, and there will be heavy trading. I think this team gets formed into a contender starting with the '25-26 season, but the results will lag. I expect about 106 points, and at least a 2nd round in the playoffs. I expect Kaprizov resigned, Goose somewhere around $5m/yr., and Rossi maybe matched on an offersheet. (I also expect this to be as good of a deal as Aho was for the Canes)

 

Mentioned? Yes

serious? Or at least a proposed trade? No

hence, we are not interest in high stake game

[OldDutchChip]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I'm a bit leery of the ONE time aspect here. I think we are building to a 7-10 year cup window. I'm pretty happy with that. For me, Cup window opens for the '27 playoffs, but we will make strides in the '26 playoffs to be considered a contender.

7-10 cup window? No - there is too many unknowns to pop up for anyone predict such long term success. And history of the wild is a good lesson and an example of where it can take you - believe and patience - right back to the starting point with nothing to show for it in 25 years.
 

We have a superstar now, all this future talk brings only uncertainty as certainty 

[Mateo3xm]

On 4/4/2025 at 3:36 PM, M_Nels said:

Double edged sword here though, SJS, Buffalo, Anaheim, Chicago and Detroit have been in rebuilding mode for several years with no light at the end of the tunnel for any of them really. Could be argued that the Wild doing a "competitive rebuild" are closer to a cup than any of them. 

The only reason they are behind the Wild is because a lot of those teams are in the beginning stages of their rebuild and most of their future elite players are under 24 yrs old. These teams are acquiring the type of elite players you need to win a cup. Number one Centers/Defenceman/Wingers are gotten very early in the draft and seldom become available on the market. See Toews/Kane, Mckinnen/Makar/Rantanin, Crosby/Malkin, Doughty, Hedman/Stamkos, Backstrom/Ovechkin. 

Those players all have a ring and were all drafted very very early in the first round. I’m not saying that’s the only reason they won but it’s an extremely common factor. It also had extremely good management, player development, drafting and trades etc. The Wild were lucky in acquiring a player in Kaprizov who’s elite but you can’t expect them to strike lightly consistently especially when drafting in the middle of the first round every season. You need every advantage you can get in order to make a deep run in the playoffs and I believe rebuilding to get at least a couple elite players is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle.

I’m willing to bet, over time, that Ana, Ottawa, Buffalo will make it farther in the playoffs in 3-5yrs than we have anytime recently. We can’t even get out of the 1st round. One of the biggest thing that has set some of these teams back is poor management(Buffalo for instance) Edmonton was managed extremely bad for years but they still got two of the top 5 players in the NHL and a deep playoff run which is farther than we will sniff anytime soon.

 

SJ has Macklin Celebrini who’s a future #1 Center, Will Smith who’s a future #2 Center, Sam Dickinson who is most likely a top 4 defenseman, William Ecklund who’s a future first or second line winger. They also got Askerov (who’s probably a #1 goalie at the least) with picks and prospects they had stockpiled.

 

Buffalo has: Dahlin (#1 Defenseman), Peterka (top line winger), Power (top 4 defenseman) Jack Quinn (top 6 winger), Zach Benson(probably a top 6 winger) Jiri Kulick (a solid 2nd or 3rd line Center. Devon Levi and Luka. They also have T. Thompson, A. Tuch, B. Byram which they got with the help of stockpiled picks or prospects.

 

Ana has: Leo Carlsson who’s a future #1 Center, McTavish who will be a solid #2 Center, Zegras who’s a top 6 winger or Center, P. Minyukov whose will probably be a top 4 defenseman, J. LaCombe whose a top 4 defenseman