Article: Why Has Gustav Nyquist's Production Dropped In Minnesota?

[Robert Brent]

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[FredJohnson]

Having talent around him helps.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Not many Wild players have been on the ice for more goals for than goals against since the Wild added Nyquist. Hinostroza and Hartman are the only regular players on the + side of the +/- ledger since he was added. Ohgren joins them on it with his 1 goal in 1 game, which was assisted by Nyquist.

There are 6 Wild forwards with more points since he joined the team, and all of them play more even strength minutes than he does. The Wild's top 10 penalty kill unit since they've inserted Nyquist is missing in this article.

He's scoring points more frequently than Khusnutdinov was with the Wild, and producing better results in the crucial shut down role of the PK. Nyquist also created the opportunity for the short-handed goal the Wild scored recently. For players with at least 20 PK minutes for the Wild, Nyquist has the lowest PP goals against/60 among Wild forwards.

Another unmeasurable factor is Johansson's scoring increase. Johansson has never been a player who scored even .5 points per game for the Wild when Nyquist was not also on the team.

No idea how close the 2 are, but Johansson has tallied 12 points in 17 games since Nyquist was added this year, and Nyquist was with the team the only other time that Johansson scored above .5 points per game(for the 20 game stretch in 22-23 where Johansson had 18 points.)

I cannot speak to any on-ice reason that Johansson would play better with Nyquist on the team. Perhaps it's entirely coincidentally, but the two are close in age and Johansson seems to tally more points with his Swedish team companion on the roster. I don't think the Wild have roster spots for them next season, and I surely wouldn't want to risk only having Johansson again.

 

[Dis-allowed display name]

1 hour ago, FredJohnson said:

Having talent around him helps.

So much this.  End thread.

[mnfaninnc]

I think that Nyquist is a perimeter player, both this time around and the other time around. He is surrounded by perimeter players too. You have to get into the home plate area. You have to get dirty sometimes. Nyquist is not really doing that. This is where we need the help and supposedly where Breezers would be valuable. 

Honestly, I'm pretty sick of so many perimeter players, and as a generality, you find these types of players coming in from the Swedish/Finnish systems. Protec is probably right on target with his targeting of NA players, but the other aggressive ones can be found in Eastern Europe/Russia. 

We don't just need big bodies, we need aggressive down the middle types. And, this is an area where Rossi has been sneaky good, he weaves in there and scores a lot of home plate goals. 

But, even some of our NA guys still play too perimeterish. This must be addressed in the offseason by both Guerin and Hynes. 

[Enforceror]

4 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I think that Nyquist is a perimeter player, both this time around and the other time around. He is surrounded by perimeter players too. You have to get into the home plate area. You have to get dirty sometimes. Nyquist is not really doing that. This is where we need the help and supposedly where Breezers would be valuable. 

Honestly, I'm pretty sick of so many perimeter players, and as a generality, you find these types of players coming in from the Swedish/Finnish systems. Protec is probably right on target with his targeting of NA players, but the other aggressive ones can be found in Eastern Europe/Russia. 

We don't just need big bodies, we need aggressive down the middle types. And, this is an area where Rossi has been sneaky good, he weaves in there and scores a lot of home plate goals. 

But, even some of our NA guys still play too perimeterish. This must be addressed in the offseason by both Guerin and Hynes. 

Without Ek, we have Breezers, Hinostroza, Rossi and sometimes Freddy that will go to the net. Boldy will go on a drive there from time to time. Other than Ek and Rossi (sometimes), nobody in front of the net is a big threat IMO. Breezers is good at boxing out but doesn't seem to have the hand speed/reflexes to be consistent. Hinostroza fights hard there but lacks the size make room for himself. I don't see Gadreau there often enough for it to make a difference. One person I don't see there but would like to.....Trenin. He has the strength and attributes to do well there. I understand he's mainly forechecking but it might work to park him in net if he has linemates that can hold possession long enough to get a couple shots off.