Article: Did the Wild Waste A Good Crisis?

[Tom Schreier]

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[Citizen Strife]

Kap signs a long term deal, and no one will care about anything that happened before.  If he doesn't, Guerin is fired on the spot.  Rossi doesn't matter, Nyquist doesn't matter, Hartman/Foligno/Zucc don't matter.  All that matters is if July 1st, Kap wakes up and says yes to staying put.

But tell me again about Hartman and Foligno were "aging declining players" not worth the money that didn't help in the playoffs.  Coulda fooled me.  Nyquist was one.  

Unless Guerin does something REALLY odd like re-signing Mojo and Nyquist...I don't really think one player being on the outs is going to change the team like signing Kaprizov will.

Now watch ODC somehow think I'm agreeing with him for once.  Just the thought makes me ill.

[OldDutchChip]

6 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Kap signs a long term deal, and no one will care about anything that happened before.  If he doesn't, Guerin is fired on the spot.  Rossi doesn't matter, Nyquist doesn't matter, Hartman/Foligno/Zucc don't matter.  All that matters is if July 1st, Kap wakes up and says yes to staying put.

But tell me again about Hartman and Foligno were "aging declining players" not worth the money that didn't help in the playoffs.  Coulda fooled me.  Nyquist was one.  

Unless Guerin does something REALLY odd like re-signing Mojo and Nyquist...I don't really think one player being on the outs is going to change the team like signing Kaprizov will.

Now watch ODC somehow think I'm agreeing with him for once.  Just the thought makes me ill.

duuuude i thought i wrote this!

 

[IllicitFive]

2 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

duuuude i thought i wrote this!

 

Are we all becoming friends? It feels like we are all becoming friends.

I'd be shocked if there was more than a handful of people who would believe Kap leaving wouldn't be a big deal. I have been on the give Billy time train, but now time is up. If he messes up signing Kap, I agree, fired on the spot. If RedLake gets on board and agrees, well it may truly be a sign of the end times.

[0 Stanley Cups]

BG has had the draft reigns since 2020 when he selected Rossi. Of course it takes time to develop, but the rest of his draft picks have yet to materialize, I would've liked to see Ohgren get more of an opportunity this season over JoJo and definitely Nyquist.  Wall, Yurov, and Zeev will at least get a good look next year.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

The Wild were 35-22-4 on March 3, the trade deadline, with a 97% chance of making the playoffs. They went 10-8-3 after the deadline, nearly missed the postseason, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat them in a gentleman’s sweep.

#1 issue here - The road team does not play more than 2 home games in a "gentleman's sweep".

Quote

[Guerin] created a crisis by buying out Parise and Suter. After five first-round exits in six years, the Wild don’t appear close to contending. Nothing Guerin has done assures the Wild will effectively leverage their prospect pool.

#2 issue here - It's quite evident in the article that Guerin did not fully create the crisis by buying out Parise and Suter. Saying that is suggesting that he could have traded their cap hits away to someone else. His main choice was to keep them or buy them out.

The cap hits due to the buyouts were actually a few hundred thousand dollars lower than they would be with Suter and Parise on the roster. To the extent that you wanted Parise and Suter to be playing for the Wild, through this season, as opposed to Chisholm and Hinostroza, I guess you can say he "caused" a $1.5M "cap crisis". Otherwise, the cap hits were happening whether Guerin bought them out or put them on the ice. Considering that Parise didn't play this season, he would have also been consuming a valuable roster spot. Prior Wild GM decisions caused this cap crisis that Guerin has been managing through.

I haven't fully supported every move he's made, but suggesting that Guerin created this unfavorable situation is just a complete fabrication of reality. The situation was actually created in 2012 while Guerin was learning the ropes in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, as their player development coach.

Quote

The Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Winnipeg Jets loaded up at the trade deadline; Minnesota’s most significant move was trading a second-round pick for 35-year-old Gustav Nyquist.

#3 issue - without the moves Guerin made via waivers or at the deadline this season, it's quite possible that the Wild would have had zero playoff games, Kaprizov wouldn't have been able to see how close they were when competing against top 8 teams, and may have been more interested in playing for an organization that was closer. Kaprizov was disappointed after the season, but didn't talk like someone who was simply on his way out.

Guerin's day to build the roster he truly wants will soon be upon us. This summer, he will have the freedom to act more similarly to the rest of the contenders--those who have nearly the full salary cap available to them.

Given that most people suggested the Wild couldn't contend with top teams, this season showed that they could. The Wild were among the top 8 teams when they were healthy. The Wild scored more goals than the Vegas Golden Knights in a playoff series, and won the 5v5 play by a substantial margin. The defensive corps looks strong. If they can add the scoring Guerin will assuredly be looking to bring in this summer, the next 5 years for the Wild could bring more success than they've ever achieved in the past.

[RedLake]

Kaprizov needs a 1c. 2nd line needs NoJo and Rossi gone. 3rd line needs a bit of work. 4th line needs to be demo'ed and rebuilt. Our D-men are soild with Buuim and Jiricek coming in to learn.

[Dean]

Fan boys of mediocrity . Always next year . No accountability for Billy . What magical free agent is wonder Billy bringing in? An over the hill over priced washed up vet. What assets does he have to trade ? A 9 th overall not good enough to get off 4 th line that he drafted and developed?Lundell-   is tearing up playoffs and Rossi can’t play meaningful playoff hockey.  Where’s lambos? Where is anything Judd drafted that’s helping you win rounds? Oh but next year. Kinda like this year when ohgren was  gonna make the team and tear up NHL . Flipping fantasy land. This constant talk about being good mid season is such a joke. It means nothing . Any team can beat any team any given night. Only a few teams can win series and the wild aren’t one of them. That’s been proven 8 times now . It’s a record fan boys!  But Billy will lead the way out of this with his drafting, development , trading and stellar contract negotiations. Haha. No wonder Craig likes this town. You can sell ice to eskimos here . 

[Dean]

Good article 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

The 2025 WHL Championship Series will follow a 2-3-2 format, with Game 1 slated for Friday, May 9 at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. The action will shift south of the border for Game 3 at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on Tuesday, May 13.

Both teams took out their semi-final opponents in 4 games. Ryder Ritchie's Medicine Hat team features Gavin McKenna, the expected #1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft. For the Medicine Hat Tigers, Ryder Ritchie has 8 goals and 8 assists in 13 playoff games so far. McKenna has 8 goals and 27 assists in those 13 games.

They'll be facing the Spokane Chiefs, led in regular season scoring by #8 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft, Berkly Catton(8 goals, 28 assists in 15 playoff games). He's teamed up with Andrew Cristall(20 goals, 17 assists in 14 playoff games), who went #40 overall in the 2023 NHL draft and came over in a trade from Kelowna mid-season.

Cristall is a Capitals prospect while Catton is a Kraken prospect. In the regular season, Cristall played 57 total games tallying 48 goals and 84 assists--he led Kelowna in scoring despite only playing 28 games with them. Gavin McKenna led Medicine Hat in scoring--in 56 regular season games, he netted 41 goals and added 88 assists. The WHL finals should have some exciting young talent on display.

[MNCountryLife]

BG had to put butts in seats.  Signing Reaves and Deslauriers was about injecting some fun physical play to sell tickets.  It was a good stunt and it served its purpose.  This summer is different. 

Yes, BG must sign Kirill.  But that by itself will not make us contenders.  The Wild have Kirill, Boldy, Ek and arguably Rossi for top 6.  That's it.  BG must properly fill this void to make us contenders or face the ax himself.

[Scalptrash]

From the Wild marketing department. Big fat Billy the Bully acting like a 12 year old and thinking it's hilarious. No wonder he was investigated. How this clown still has a job is beyond me.

 

[Enforceror]

1 hour ago, Scalptrash said:

From the Wild marketing department. Big fat Billy the Bully acting like a 12 year old and thinking it's hilarious. No wonder he was investigated. How this clown still has a job is beyond me.

 

I was thinking the same when I saw this. Like WTF?

[Burnt Toast]

23 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Guerin's day to build the roster he truly wants will soon be upon us

Making the right moves and resignings this summer will reveal what the Wild’s priorities really are. You can’t have it all so what direction does BG and friends want to take the team with the buyouts gone? Next year’s trade deadline should be interesting as well. I’m very excited because I really believe there’s room for younger players coming in to make an impact. I’ve been waiting but now my expectations for this team are quickly rising. The playoffs have shown me that the parity in the NHL is closer than I thought. 

[Pewterschmidt]

5 hours ago, Enforceror said:

I was thinking the same when I saw this. Like WTF?

Same.

Wild Mktg Team: "hey look, all the rumors are true.  bill is a thin skinned bully type just like you thought".

Looks like Hendricks really thinks this is fun huh?  

[OldSchool]

25 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Same.

Wild Mktg Team: "hey look, all the rumors are true.  bill is a thin skinned bully type just like you thought".

Looks like Hendricks really thinks this is fun huh?  

This little 1 minute Bill the prankster video is a cut and paste job using a few short clips cut from a 4+ minute segment showing management hours before the trade deadline this year on an episode of Beyond Our Ice. If you watch the whole segment BG talks about how hard Hendricks worked to make the trade happen, which btw involved AHL players, saying it was incredible that he was able to pull it off. 

Does Guerin come off looking like a bully in this short clip? I don't know, maybe by the way it's edited, but to me, when watching the whole 4+ minute segment, I don't think so.

[Protec]

Wild's marketing department that brought us the "Grit" video and who promote Wild propaganda with Carter, Hockey-Hair guy, and Squinty-Parrish. 

I'd like to see Scarface-Walz punch each of them and walk-out yelling "White Bear sucks, and Audra is just a 5!!!"

🙂

[Protec]

P.S. 

Lazy-Eye Bill been having a few too many Wygu steaks... 🤪

[Sam]

59 minutes ago, Protec said:

Wild's marketing department that brought us the "Grit" video and who promote Wild propaganda with Carter, Hockey-Hair guy, and Squinty-Parrish. 

I'd like to see Scarface-Walz punch each of them and walk-out yelling "White Bear sucks, and Audra is just a 5!!!"

🙂

What is this about Audra? 

[joebou15]

Bill Guerin can't hide anymore. If the Wild flop next season it's on his shoulders and his alone. He shaped this team. He's made the tough decisions, and we've all had to live with them. But now there is no excuses. He must deliver the goods. 

And no kind of spin disguised as tough-man talk will be acceptable from the front office.

[Enforceror]

BG sounded like he was dealing with CTE during the exit interview. Painful to listen to. I'll take Hynes as a GM tbh.