Article: Freddy Gaudreau Has Quietly Had the Bounce-Back Season the Wild Need

[Luke Sims]

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[mnfaninnc]

All this and he really hasn't had the opportunity to show off what he's best at: Shootouts.

He makes $100k more than Johansson, but I would argue he's been solidly more useful. Johansson's had a good close to the season, but Gaudreau has been way more consistent.

[Dean]

The pk has been historically bad most of the season. The pp isn’t good. Move him up the lineup and that line can’t score. Proven since he’s been here . Move him down the lineup up and that line can’t prevent being scored on. Everyone is so called slotted now and his line is the weak link. He can’t defend the middle with his weak stick checks. Adam Lowry is going to have a field day playing Fred’s line . You need more than he offers for 3 rd line. At best he’s a 4 th line wing. Then that means you don’t have a physical 4 th line just like they don’t have a physical 3 rd line going into playoffs. IMO he’s the weak link that’s going to get exposed in playoffs. . It’s time to find someone to do his job better and that’s not asking much. 

[Pewterschmidt]

19 minutes ago, Dean said:

The pk has been historically bad most of the season. The pp isn’t good. Move him up the lineup and that line can’t score. Proven since he’s been here . Move him down the lineup up and that line can’t prevent being scored on. Everyone is so called slotted now and his line is the weak link. He can’t defend the middle with his weak stick checks. Adam Lowry is going to have a field day playing Fred’s line . You need more than he offers for 3 rd line. At best he’s a 4 th line wing. Then that means you don’t have a physical 4 th line just like they don’t have a physical 3 rd line going into playoffs. IMO he’s the weak link that’s going to get exposed in playoffs. . It’s time to find someone to do his job better and that’s not asking much. 

This is a hot take and accurate imo.  I was ready to say Fred is a value deal(because the bar is so low for Fred), but Dean accurately points out that Fred is a jack of all trades but master of none.  He’s not an immediate problem that needs to be addressed, but if he’s in the top 9 it’s a Wild problem

[Imyourhuckleberry]

On 4/12/2025 at 2:39 PM, Dean said:

You need more than he offers for 3 rd line. At best he’s a 4 th line wing. Then that means you don’t have a physical 4 th line just like they don’t have a physical 3 rd line going into playoffs.

Freddy has okay value as a 4th line center. He's one of the best on the team in both faceoffs and shootouts. He doesn't deliver a lot of hits, but he's not small and he seems alright defensively.

While he's not a top 6 talent skill-wise, he's a decent plug and play guy on most lines beyond line 1. His contract isn't unreasonable for a depth C. He's not hurting you defensively and he's not useless on offense. I'm not suggesting the Wild must keep him, but he's decent in a depth role.

[FredJohnson]

I sincerely apologize (again) to you, Freddy. I thought you were a one season wonder. 

[Pewterschmidt]

52 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

he's not useless on offense.

This is the only thing i'll sort of disagree with in your post.  Not useless because he has scored goals, but as close to useless as one can get.  I like Fred as a 4th line C, and emergency fill-in for spot starts, but if he's playing middle six minutes we're not a NHL contender.  Fred is a high end Tyson Jost.

[Scalptrash]

I'm still not sold. He needs to do it every year.

[raithis]

1 hour ago, Scalptrash said:

I'm still not sold. He needs to do it every year.

Many players don't do it every year.

Other than last year, Freddy has been fairly consistent over the last 4 years.  If you look at the last 4 years of most players, you will frequently see their stats fluctuate from one year to another - many times due to playing hurt just as Freddy was.

Do I expect a ton from him?  No.  But he's shown he can put up 35-45 points most years.  And while I don't think he's a top 9 player on a playoff team, his 35-45 points are generally top 6 on the team, meaning he is much more maligned than a lot of players on the team should be.