Article: Zeev Buium Can Immediately Impact the Wild's Power Play

[MNCountryLife]

2 hours ago, raithis said:

Almost every team in the league uses 4 forwards on the powerplay.  Is there a particular reason you are suggesting the Wild use two defensemen when they have an advantage rather than one?

Actually I have a few reasons. 

I'm not a big fan of the single man high with the puck.  Makes us one mistake away from a break away going the wrong way. 

I would also consider Buium and Jiricek as very aggressive d-men that are more than capable of attacking low and creating.  Spurgeon is capable of sliding down effectively as well. 

IMO: the D-men I listed are better players than the O-men I didn't list.  Brodin, Spurgeon, Buium and Faber are better players than Trenin, Foligno, Sturm ...

Hartman maybe... I do like his play.  I have no idea if Yurov or Ohgren could be effective.  But quite a few of our best players are on D.  Play them.  Tell them to be aggressive, create and score.

[Mateo3xm]

20 hours ago, Bobby S said:

I watched Buium closely in his college highlights the last two season and have concerns about his defense. I absolutely believe he is a conscientious defender and a gifted puck mover with elite offensive instincts. But conscientious defender and gifted defender are two very different things. I am sky high on him as everyone else is and will be eagerly watching his development over the next couple seasons. 

Any defensive concerns have pretty much been done away with now. Maybe the first season a little bit, but that was never a big concern in the first season in college. He was like +34 his first season. Go watch him lock up Celebrini when he played them in the playoffs that year. If he’s paired with Faber in a few years, it would be perfect. Faber is better suited as a solid #2 defensive defender that could cover for Buium while he’s providing offense.

[1Brotherbill]

11 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I like your point in the comment, but this is a little biased. 1 season with 16 games played. Last season not much PP time. Spurgy may not be the answer here, but it's not quite the black hole portrayed. 

I am not a fan of the 5 forwards either. And, like you, I also observed panic holding the point. 

Last year with his minimal Power Play time as you say he had 1 goal and 8 assists.  So the year before the injured season he was the Power Play guy at a humungous stat total of 1 goal and 3 assists.  It had gotten so bad last year when he was on the ice for Power Play time that the other team didn't even bother pressuring him when he had the puck.  Because the word was out he will just skate around and pass the puck laterally and not attack. 

As a defenseman he is pretty solid.  Probably would have not given up the short handed goal in the playoffs.  However, they probably wouldn't have scored the three Power Play goals either. 

[mnfaninnc]

21 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

My main point is, our powerplay has been middle of the pack or worse every year but two years ago where it ranked tenth.  Even with Kap and Ek, we need something else, and maybe Buium will become that PP quarterback that has been missing to help us maybe add a few percentage points to our PP.  If our PP was the same percentage as Colorado or Toronto last year who were 8th and 9th, we would have had 8 more power play goals.

Did Faber or Spurgeon really QB the PP, or was that player Zuccarello? I thought for a large part, the playmaking ran through Zuccarello, and the defender up top was more of a bumper to the other side of the rink. 

Since we really only had 1 unit functioning, Most of our goals came from the right side. Zuccarello put in a couple from the other side, but since we are left hand dominant, our shooters came from the right side. If Buium can replace Zuccarello's playmaking from the top, then maybe we can sneak in a Jiricek at Zuccy's normal spot to get some shot generation from the other side of the rink? It would seem to me that this adjustment would add chances and perhaps create more rebounds. We have missed any consistent shot generation from the left side, so PKs don't even have to honor it. They merely overplay the right side with relatively no threat on the weak (left) side. Wow, a Zuccy wrister from the left side, scary! 😉 for Pewter

[mnfaninnc]

12 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Last year with his minimal Power Play time as you say he had 1 goal and 8 assists.  So the year before the injured season he was the Power Play guy at a humungous stat total of 1 goal and 3 assists.

Looks like I should have looked at the actual stats instead of assuming he had a real good year 3 seasons ago. I had no idea it was actually that bad. Was that the year Addison had all the points?

[SkolWild73]

30 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Did Faber or Spurgeon really QB the PP, or was that player Zuccarello? I thought for a large part, the playmaking ran through Zuccarello, and the defender up top was more of a bumper to the other side of the rink. 

Since we really only had 1 unit functioning, Most of our goals came from the right side. Zuccarello put in a couple from the other side, but since we are left hand dominant, our shooters came from the right side. If Buium can replace Zuccarello's playmaking from the top, then maybe we can sneak in a Jiricek at Zuccy's normal spot to get some shot generation from the other side of the rink? It would seem to me that this adjustment would add chances and perhaps create more rebounds. We have missed any consistent shot generation from the left side, so PKs don't even have to honor it. They merely overplay the right side with relatively no threat on the weak (left) side. Wow, a Zuccy wrister from the left side, scary! 😉 for Pewter

Usually the defenseman is the quarterback of the power play.  Since Faber and Spurg didn’t really do it kinds of point to why we need one.

 

 

[mnfaninnc]

2 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Usually the defenseman is the quarterback of the power play.  Since Faber and Spurg didn’t really do it kinds of point to why we need one.

That's usually. But if Buium does do that, what do we do with Zuccy?

[SkolWild73]

2 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

That's usually. But if Buium does do that, what do we do with Zuccy?

Replace him with Tarasenko or keep him where he is

[mnfaninnc]

2 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Replace him with Tarasenko or keep him where he is

You wouldn't be worried about the redundancy of Zuccy up there? 

[SkolWild73]

11 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

You wouldn't be worried about the redundancy of Zuccy up there? 

I am not sure what you mean.  Most power plays have 4 forwards and one defenseman. Buium would be that defenseman while the other 4 would play there roles.

[mnfaninnc]

2 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

I am not sure what you mean.  Most power plays have 4 forwards and one defenseman. Buium would be that defenseman while the other 4 would play there roles

In the Wild's PP, to me it looks like Zuccy QBs and is the designed playmaker of the unit. If Buium takes over as QB, we really don't need the other playmaker there, we need more of a lethal shot to balance out the PK coverage. Even the fear of Jiricek's shot will keep most PKs honest and give the Wild's right side or strong side just a little more room to operate, perhaps even a check of passiveness for us to make our moves. Zuccy then becomes a redundant piece on the unit. 

The 4 forwards should then be shooters, not just point getters. 

[SkolWild73]

2 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

In the Wild's PP, to me it looks like Zuccy QBs and is the designed playmaker of the unit. If Buium takes over as QB, we really don't need the other playmaker there, we need more of a lethal shot to balance out the PK coverage. Even the fear of Jiricek's shot will keep most PKs honest and give the Wild's right side or strong side just a little more room to operate, perhaps even a check of passiveness for us to make our moves. Zuccy then becomes a redundant piece on the unit. 

The 4 forwards should then be shooters, not just point getters. 

Is Necas a shooter or more of a distributor for the Avs?  He plays with Makar who is the qb.

[mnfaninnc]

11 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Is Necas a shooter or more of a distributor for the Avs?  He plays with Makar who is the qb.

He's got a really nice shot.

[SkolWild73]

40 minutes ago, SkolWild73 said:

Replace him with Tarasenko or keep him where he is

Time will tell if Zucc belongs, but with Ek out front and two snipers in Kap and Boldy, it is nice to have another guy that can pass.

Edited yesterday at 03:09 PM by SkolWild73

[mnhockeyfan03]

Zucc should not be on PP1.  He is no threat to shot.  We need a RH shot there that can shoot.  Can Jiricek be that guy?  Maybe abd worth trying.  That’s why we need a guy like Necas or Thompson.  They both have great shots in that spot. Not a huge fan of a LH shot D like Zeev running the PP from the point.  To hard for him to 1 time shots as well.  We need to shoot more and more quickly.  Our PP is way to pass happy

[Enforceror]

1 minute ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Our PP is way to pass happy

Do you think any of that has to do with our low-event, conservative brand of hockey?

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

In the Wild's PP, to me it looks like Zuccy QBs and is the designed playmaker of the unit. If Buium takes over as QB, we really don't need the other playmaker there, we need more of a lethal shot to balance out the PK coverage. Even the fear of Jiricek's shot will keep most PKs honest and give the Wild's right side or strong side just a little more room to operate, perhaps even a check of passiveness for us to make our moves. Zuccy then becomes a redundant piece on the unit. 

The 4 forwards should then be shooters, not just point getters. 

Without the PP there is no nhl role for Zuccy this upcoming season.  He’d be a nice 13th forward (only playing in top 6) on an nhl playoff contender.  My guess is he’ll play top 6 minutes all season, and it’ll be tough to watch unless he’s with 97

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

Is Necas a shooter or more of a distributor for the Avs?  He plays with Makar who is the qb.

I’d argue a PP can’t have too many playmakers, and that’s really zuc’s only remaining super power.  Seeing passes most can’t envision

[raithis]

20 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

Actually I have a few reasons. 

I'm not a big fan of the single man high with the puck.  Makes us one mistake away from a break away going the wrong way. 

I would also consider Buium and Jiricek as very aggressive d-men that are more than capable of attacking low and creating.  Spurgeon is capable of sliding down effectively as well. 

IMO: the D-men I listed are better players than the O-men I didn't list.  Brodin, Spurgeon, Buium and Faber are better players than Trenin, Foligno, Sturm ...

Hartman maybe... I do like his play.  I have no idea if Yurov or Ohgren could be effective.  But quite a few of our best players are on D.  Play them.  Tell them to be aggressive, create and score.

Not totally sure I agree, but I appreciate the clarification.

I'm in total agreement on needing to be more aggressive though.  Take calculated risks.  Make the opposing team react.  They aren't going to give the Wild high-danger chances.  The Wild have to pressure the other team into those mistakes.

[mnhockeyfan03]

15 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Without the PP there is no nhl role for Zuccy this upcoming season.  He’d be a nice 13th forward (only playing in top 6) on an nhl playoff contender.  My guess is he’ll play top 6 minutes all season, and it’ll be tough to watch unless he’s with 97

Understand.  I am not a huge fan of him on the team but understand he is Kaps buddy.  He shouldn’t be on our PP1 and shouldn’t be playing top 6 minutes.  On a contending team he wouldn’t sniff either of them.  I’m any our goal to be a contender.  Why do we keep running it back with the same stiffs hoping a different result

[mnhockeyfan03]

22 minutes ago, Enforceror said:

Do you think any of that has to do with our low-event, conservative brand of hockey?

Yes I think it has to do with our coach.  Get Deboer in here to coach and you will see a much better team. He won’t get pushed around by Billy saying who to play where. 

[1Brotherbill]

10 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Looks like I should have looked at the actual stats instead of assuming he had a real good year 3 seasons ago. I had no idea it was actually that bad. Was that the year Addison had all the points?

2022/23 Addison had 18 power play points, was a -17 and was replaced by John Klingberg for the post season.  That was the year everyone had a fantastic season and they are still looking to replace that scoring.