Article: Are Bill Guerin and Judd Brackett On the Same Page?

[Kalisha Turnipseed]

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[Citizen Strife]

I have been curious about this for a while.  Guerin lets Brackett do his thing (falling talent, hoping to find rebounders/faster puck movers), while Guerin seems unimpressed with that when in crunch time.  The weird thing is most the team is still Fletcher or Fenton talent.  Middleton, Faber, and Gus were all gotten his trade.  Rossi is the first drafted player to have significant exposure.

My hope is Guerin, Rossi, and the agent all realize that talent wins out on the end, and Guerin can't afford another Fiala over Dumba thing.

What does the team lack? Offense.  What does Rossi have a knack for above anything else? Right place right time offensive instincts.  There is a value to that, and I think trying to pigeon hole Yurov into Rossi's place before knowing anything is short sighted.

If Duchene, Tavares, Giroux, Bennett, etc are off the table (and no trades are biting), just bite the bullet and mend fences.

 

 

 

[Pewterschmidt]

Many of our top prospects play for the IA Wild.  The very same IA Wild that is at the bottom of the AHL.   
 

Prediction: when thin skin bill’s seat gets hot(happens end of this season if this group lays another playoff egg), Brackett takes the first bullet and gets fired by bill.  

Edited 9 hours ago by Pewterschmidt

[Citizen Strife]

Screw just Brackett.  Guerin is probably gone if this upcoming season ends up like the rest.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Citizen Strife said:

Screw just Brackett.  Guerin is probably gone if this upcoming season ends up like the rest.

I don't have this opinion, I think Guerin's got 3 years of runway left. The biggest thing he has done is buy himself time by making the playoffs and delivering competitive teams throughout the buyouts. 

I think OCL is pleased with him. Think about this: The buyout payout was miniscule compared to the cap penalties. OCL has the appearance of spending to the cap ceiling while paying in actual salary close to the floor. He has made a bunch of money these last 5 years and made the playoffs for 3 more home games. Seats are filled. OCL is happy.

[mnfaninnc]

I've been banging this drum for years now. It is fairly obvious that Shooter likes players with size. It is also fairly obvious that Brackett's list in what he looks for is a smooth skater, high hockey IQ, a body between 5'10"-6'2", and puck moving skills. I'm convinced Shooter highjacked the 1st 2 picks of '23 and drafted size before turning the draft back over to Brackett.

What I don't understand is why Guerin hasn't had Brackett adjust the priorities that he is looking for. Large players are not smooth skaters....yet. They look clumsy. But, projecting them 5 years out overlooks that because you cannot teach size. You also can't teach speed or hand/eye. 

We saw the fastest player in the '20 draft just get traded out because he wasn't getting re-signed. His frame was deemed too small. Yet we continually see Brackett draft these undersized players. Honestly it is an unsolved mystery. Perhaps we call in Robert Stack to investigate?

Here is the thing that really makes me mad. You need all shapes and sizes especially on defense. Zeev Buium, Aron Kiviharju, Kalem Parker, Aaron Pionk, David Spacek, Jack Peart, Carson Lambos, Ryan O'Rourke, and Daemon Hunt are all the same type of defender. A smaller, puck moving defender who can't clear the front of the net nor defend against heavy forwards. He's also left hand heavy. 

Lambos is actually filling out and looked much bigger in training camp last fall. I assume he'll be ready for steady callups this season. Spacek looked the part too, though smaller he was more physical. All of these guys needed filling out and strength weight added. Few have done this. Those who haven't will be useless in the N.

Forwards are also the same type of player, good skill, undersized, need to fill out and bulk up. I also don't see them doing it either. We've already jettisoned Beckman for that reason, more are probably to come. I had high hopes for Mikey Milne, but he looks like a fast A player and an average N skater. 

It's as if the 2 guys never talk to each other. But you know they do, because Judd said that Jiricek was a talent you only find at the top of the draft. 

If you look at Judd's track record, he loves Euro players. He loves the smooth skating finesse type players. He loves the puck moving possible PP quarterback defenders. And this is what happened in Vancouver too. Everyone raves how he hit on Pettersson, but nobody scrutinizes him on how he passed on M. Tkachuk. 

Judd fell into Shooter's lap by being fired weeks ahead of Guerin's first draft. He ran it and took Rossi over Lundell. They traded out Kunin to grab MaRat and Hunt. O'Rourke was supposed to be a rugged possible 2nd pairing who flamed out because he couldn't/refused to bulk up. Several GMs have been fired since Guerin took over. The thought would be that as GMs go, new ones put in their guys. One would think that Guerin should have been picking up seasoned FO guys when this happens. He hasn't. He also hasn't paid attention to Iowa and development. Maybe he hasn't been given the resources necessary for it, though you'd think that if OCL was making a bunch of money with the cap penalties, they could have invested it in development.

Maybe N4S is right and we should be bitter and the clock has struck midnight but few have heard the chime.

[FredJohnson]

I see it as an Iowa Wild problem first and foremost. We’re just not getting enough development from our AHL team.

[Scalptrash]

Billy likes to play Moneyball with this club. Screw the kids, old, washed up vets all the way. Judd is good at finding assets for Billy’s whims, that’s it.