Article: Guerin Ignored the Noise and Had A Smart Offseason

[Up North Guy]

4 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I disagree that we need to trade Rossi or we're not getting to the 2nd round. And, I disagree that we can't move Zuccy with an NMC. Zuccy has full control over whether he goes or stays, but if it's needed, he and Guerin can have a conversation about where he goes. Most players know they will have to move if necessary, but where they go is up to them.

Guerin has been very reluctant to talk to NMC guys about moving on, and perhaps that's coming from being a player in that situation. Instead of approaching Parise/Suter about it at the expansion draft, he merely bought them out. But, other teams seem to be able to part with NMC players cordially. 

As for Rossi, I know we can only have a few smaller players in the lineup. If Rossi can come in at 195, just with leverage he'll play like a guy at about 210. That's not small. It may be short. 

I think it's more important to part ways with the smaller-older players. We did that with Freddy. Zuccy and Spurgy are probably next on that list. I'm very hopeful that Yurov and Ohgren are coming in bulked up from their listed weight. Adding Tarasenko and Sturm really helped our overall team beef. I'm also pretty sure that Buium has been adding strength as he said it was something necessary for this level. 

Buium stated that he wanted to add 15-20 lbs (or maybe it was 10-15 -  memory is shaky on the numbers) this summer.

[ArizonaWildFan]

4 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

If someone else miraculously demands a spot -- great!

Not great because Johansson has one of the 23 man active roster spots. He doesn't have a two-way contract and isn't getting sent to Iowa. Unless he is on IR, he is taking up an active roster spot.

4 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

As for Trenin, he delivered when it mattered and showed why he was signed.

Apparently, in your world all games don't matter. Playing like crap during the regular season doesn't matter. Let your teammates do all the heavy lifting for 82 games, because those games don't matter. Save yourself for the playoffs, if your teammates get you there, so you can "really bring it" like "a $6M player" and have two assists in a six game series that your team loses. 57 minutes, 70 shifts and two assists in six playoff games. WOW... he really did show why he was signed!

4 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

if you are OK moving on from generational players like Kap then you are a bad judge of players. which i guess is true.

The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup. If a particular generational player isn't going to get you there, and the organization isn't willing or able to put a supporting cast in place, than move on and let that generational player give it a shot somewhere else. Apparently, I am a horrible judge of talent based upon my assessments of Johansson, Trenin and Rossi, as well.

4 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

MN really has no bad contracts.

Not going to get too close to this one because there is way too much fecal matter still attached from the place you retrieved it.

[OldDutchChip]

1 hour ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

Not great because Johansson has one of the 23 man active roster spots. He doesn't have a two-way contract and isn't getting sent to Iowa. Unless he is on IR, he is taking up an active roster spot.

Apparently, in your world all games don't matter. Playing like crap during the regular season doesn't matter. Let your teammates do all the heavy lifting for 82 games, because those games don't matter. Save yourself for the playoffs, if your teammates get you there, so you can "really bring it" like "a $6M player" and have two assists in a six game series that your team loses. 57 minutes, 70 shifts and two assists in six playoff games. WOW... he really did show why he was signed!

The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup. If a particular generational player isn't going to get you there, and the organization isn't willing or able to put a supporting cast in place, than move on and let that generational player give it a shot somewhere else. Apparently, I am a horrible judge of talent based upon my assessments of Johansson, Trenin and Rossi, as well.

Not going to get too close to this one because there is way too much fecal matter still attached from the place you retrieved it.

MJ could be sent to AHL or be in the press box. You are over blowing this.

Save yourself for the playoffs, if your teammates get you there, so you can "really bring it" like "a $6M player" and have two assists in a six game series that your team loses. 57 minutes, 70 shifts and two assists in six playoff games. WOW... he really did show why he was signed!

wow what is with this hate on Trenin? it finally clicked for the guy and he was one of the bright spots for us during PO. If it took him some time, well you know it was his first year with the team, there's adjustments. i don't mind his contract now. 3.5 not 6. 

The ultimate goal is to win a Stanley Cup. If a particular generational player isn't going to get you there, and the organization isn't willing or able to put a supporting cast in place, than move on and let that generational player give it a shot somewhere else. so because Rossi is not yet signed and Trenin is on the team - we are falling apart and you are willing to let go the best player in hockey in his prime? you are silly. 

Apparently, I am a horrible judge of talent based upon my assessments of Johansson, Trenin and Rossi, as well. yes you are. 

Not going to get too close to this one because there is way too much fecal matter still attached from the place you retrieved it. ok grandpa.

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, goenzoy said:

That players do have different vacation pattern is clear  but it has nothing to do with 

signing contracts . Kaprisov like any player wants to win and also he did finish a season with half of it on injury .So I doubt very much that Kaprisov will sign before he knows how season is going . For himself, the team and also the other players around him .Him might sign before Christmas and not in 2026 but clearly not before start of season .No rush for him 

I've seen it with many Euro players, not just Kaprizov. They get out of town after the season is done and let their agents do their work and then sign when they get back into town. It's nothing against them, it's just a different way of handling things where their concern isn't focused on having to sign their new deal. They don't sweat it. 

[Quebec1648]

I am happy that Guerin refrained from giving out long term deals to overrated free agents, but I was hoping for some Kaprizov action. Mr. Leopold famously promised that no one would offer more than the Wild for Kaprizov`s services, so it's time for Mr. Leopold to get a deal done. Forget about Guerin for a moment, Leopold should get Kaprizovs agent on the phone and negotiate the deal himself.

The Wild need Kaprizov, so hopefully this deal gets done soon. 

Additionally, if Leopold still wants a "Christmas in July" special, he can call up Ottawa and see about trading for Brady Tkachuk.

[Pablo]

On 7/3/2025 at 2:38 PM, mnfaninnc said:

Maybe Christmas morning wasn't referring to free agents. Maybe Christmas morning was referring to shiny new ELC guys! Possibly having 5 rookies on the roster would certainly change up the team. That's between 20-25% of the roster. That's a lot of change. Factor in Sturm and Tarasenko and we've got a lot of turnover. 

It just doesn't seem like we've let that many guys go, though.

No Fredy G and no J Merril…. Thats the best Xmas ever. 

[raithis]

21 hours ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

Not great because Johansson has one of the 23 man active roster spots. He doesn't have a two-way contract and isn't getting sent to Iowa. Unless he is on IR, he is taking up an active roster spot.

If someone is going to be sitting out games, I'd rather Johansson be the healthy scratch over a prospect that needs game time to get up to speed.  Putting a prospect on the sidelines and not playing them doesn't do enough to help their development.  He isn't blocking anyone.

The way I see it, Johansson solves two problems in this roster spot.  He is there in case of emergency and he is there to show the prospects that they can easily be sent back to Iowa if they can't keep him out of the lineup.  It's a challenge to the young players to do better and put forth the effort.

If Johansson was still making $2M a year, then I've have far more problem with it.  At vet minimum, I'm okay with this.  He's not great, but he's an improvement over the other injury fill-ins we've had in the last few years.

Edited July 7 by raithis

[Scalptrash]

Why is everyone upset or disappointed about “Christmas Morning”? Billy did exactly what he always does, deliver a head scratching disappointment. Another washed up, overpaid vet. Sturm is a good signing, but I suspect his agent called Billy and not vice versa because Sturm lives here and wanted to be close to home. 

[raithis]

1 hour ago, Scalptrash said:

Why is everyone upset or disappointed about “Christmas Morning”? Billy did exactly what he always does, deliver a head scratching disappointment. Another washed up, overpaid vet. Sturm is a good signing, but I suspect his agent called Billy and not vice versa because Sturm lives here and wanted to be close to home. 

I guess I don't really consider it a disappointment.

There wasn't much available.  Most teams had cap space and so actually having some room didn't really give us a competitive advantage to lure the few free agents there were unless we overspent.

Getting Tarasenko I think was a smart move.  If he is no better than last year, it will still be better than what we got from a lot of our roster.  If he does better, great.  If it helps Yurov acclimate/develop quicker, great too.  His contract is at the end of this next season, so if he isn't worth keeping, we aren't tied to him for multiple seasons.

Sturm is a good grab just because of face-offs alone.  I'm not sure how that all transpired.  Maybe he sought out the Wild or maybe they sought him out.  In the end, it doesn't really matter.  The important thing is it's a good fit for what we needed.

We got rid of Gaudreau.  This one I have mixed feelings about.  While we did need to upgrade the position, I don't know if we replaced his offense (as weird as that is to say).  He was consistently 5th or 6th most in point production for the last few years.  I'd like to see Yurov produce at least that much, but until he does, he's still an unknown as is Ohgren.  Tarasenko sort of helps, but if Rossi isn't re-signed, the net result could be less offense, not more. 

How well this all works really depends how the rookies do.

So, no, this not really like he always does.  If it was like he always does, he would have signed an older, gritty player for 3-4 years, and at most ~2 rookies would have a legitimate shot at the roster because other players would pack the roster to the point where there just wouldn't be spots to give them.

For the first time in a while, we have cap space to maneuver, an actual shift towards a younger team, and more potential on the ice (players who haven't already hit their ceilings of how good they can be). 

This isn't the same.  It's a positive step forward, and even though I'm unsure how well it will go, I'm excited to see what the next season brings.  It may not be Christmas morning, but it's the closest thing to a New Year's Day than we've had for a while.