Article: What Can We Learn From Minnesota's Most Hyped Prospects Who Didn't Pan Out?

[goenzoy]

5 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

Considering Billy gave him, Lauko and a 6th round draft pick away for Brazeau, he/they were traded for garbage.

Brazeau did score 4 point's in Wild uniform 

So Wild paid a 2nd ,3rd and a 6th round pick for 4 point's GREAT

[Will D. Ness]

The Brazeau trade was payback for the Wild inoculating McAvoy with a bacterial infection.  

[Pewterschmidt]

50 minutes ago, NoJoSux said:

Otherwise, what are we waiting for on so many prospects while others like Knies, Blake, Johnston, and others are highly successful. MN could have had them, but we got Lambos, Peart, Bankier, and others.

While i think it's unfair to cherry pick people drafted after our terrible picks, I do think it would be interesting to see this list over time.  I'm sure Leipold and Guerin have this detail and are monitoring.

Again I'll predict Guerin's first fall guy will by Brackett if this season goes sideways with the aging already old core of 1 and done's + 4-5 unproven, never played in NHL prospects.  No pressure judd (and bill)

[FredJohnson]

Sad how many guys we gave minutes to hoping they’d work out only to trade them away aaannnddd they did nothing with their new team. Wasted minutes…

[FredJohnson]

On 8/7/2025 at 3:09 PM, SkolWild73 said:

I think the main problem that we have as fans is we expect every one of our prospects to hit and it just isn't reality. 

Every single guy I draft on NHL25 turns into a point-per-game player. Why can’t GMBG do it too?!? (Sarcasm)

[FredJohnson]

1 hour ago, NoJoSux said:

Bringing Sturm back is a similar admission of poor decisions.

Sturm signed elsewhere for a top-6 role and top-6 $.

[FredJohnson]

19 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Carson Lambos drafted in the first round 26th overall.  Seems like he has been in the system for a decade.

He’s 22-1/2 years old - drafted in 2021. 6’ 1” and 193. Bust!

[Willy the poor boy]

9 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

He’s 22-1/2 years old - drafted in 2021. 6’ 1” and 193. Bust!

Rossi weighs more than him...

[mnfaninnc]

On 8/7/2025 at 9:28 PM, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Lesson of these prospects are use these guys as trade chips to better the team and also trading off some of our old deadweight on the team.  Spurgeon, Brodin, Hartman, Zucc, Trenin, Foligno, Rossi.  Need a shakeup to be contenders so let’s start it.  These guys won’t get it done.  Pretty soon will be taken over by Utah, St. Louis if things don’t change

I agree with this take, but to do that immediately would be detrimental, I think. Much of the young guys have to learn from the vets about how to be NHL pros. I think when a prospect overtakes a guy in the lineup, that placeholder needs to be moved, and I believe Guerin has been slow to do that. 

I'll also add Zuccy to your list.

[mnfaninnc]

23 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Rossi scored all 20 of his goals this year from between the dots and no further out than the edge of the circles. His average range from the net on goals was 13.3ft. I would say that is a net front presence or at the very least a very good person to have in close

Let's add a little to this too, as the center, he is supposed to be more of the top of the offensive zone in this offense, so he really isn't the net front screen guy.

[mnfaninnc]

20 hours ago, FredJohnson said:

6’ 1” and 193.

That was his drafted weight. I think he's closer to 205 based upon last preseason. I think he'll be 210 coming into this preseason, and very motivated especially with Brodin out for awhile.

[mnfaninnc]

I'm with P-Judge and probably NJS on this. I do believe that Brackett is the 1st sacrifice, and I have not liked his drafts and what he looks for. 

He gets a bit of a pass on the 2020 and '21 drafts due to Covid, it was pretty much just a crapshoot. He completely whiffed on O'Rourke, but I was very excited about that pick too. In '21, he completely whiffed on Peart too, and Knies was there, in their backyard, and should have been picked. 

My main issue has been the compiling of the same physical type of player. He has been LHS dominant, and he has consistently drafted smaller players who he sees as having smooth skating but can't compete in the NHL unless they bulk up substantially and they lack the willingness to do that. I do not see how that is not a question during their draft interviews with these kids, "Are you willing to bulk up to X amount of weight?" 

But, he also may have been given the mandate in '20, coming on with very little preparation to run the draft table, and just picking BAP. I had Lundell rated higher than Rossi, especially in our system. But the other guys were small even though O'Rourke played a big game. 

Why wasn't Faber taken instead? Perhaps he just wasn't seen as being that good back then?

In '21 I thought he did well to pick up The Wall and Lambos. Outside of Knies, there hasn't been much that has come into the league after him. But taking Peart just wasn't a good pick. I get wanting to build from the back out.

In '22 I thought picking up Yurov and Ohgren were good picks. I also consider this his best draft. I do think Haight has a shot at playing in the N, but he's got to be ready for a lower role than he's had all his life. 

But, this is where the rubber meets the road. We will see what we have this season. We must be patient, but these guys have been marinated quite well and should be better prepared than normal. Year 1, I think these rookies all need to look competent. We should see spurts of great play, but competence is the standard here. If we have busts in the 5 players coming in, maybe 6, I think that is where Judd finds another organization to draft from. But, it's a 2 part thing, we've got to hire a guy who can run the draft table, and Shooter isn't that guy.

[1Brotherbill]

On 8/8/2025 at 3:32 PM, FredJohnson said:

He’s 22-1/2 years old - drafted in 2021. 6’ 1” and 193. Bust!

Not saying that he is a bust.  But reminding everyone that he has been in the system for four years and hasn't been seen on the ice in St. Paul doesn't help. 

[1Brotherbill]

On 8/8/2025 at 12:12 PM, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Rossi scored all 20 of his goals this year from between the dots and no further out than the edge of the circles. His average range from the net on goals was 13.3ft. I would say that is a net front presence or at the very least a very good person to have in close.

Ek scores within 3 feet.  Almost 60% of all NHL goals are scored within 20 feet of the net.  So it isn't surprising that Rossi scored his goals in that area.  Kirill scored all his goals from High Danger areas does that mean he is a net front presence?  How many of those goals you talk about were him just happening to be on the weak side and an open net.  I remember quite a few.  That isn't a net front presence that is just being around the net.  Net front means being able to block the goalies sight lines.

[1Brotherbill]

On 8/8/2025 at 8:49 AM, Scalptrash said:

He was 22 years old when traded, and that was after one year of being forced into a role and a system he's never played before. It will be a couple of years to find out what his real potential is. He should still spend a year in the AHL, in an elevated role.

Considering Billy gave him, Lauko and a 6th round draft pick away for Brazeau, he/they were traded for garbage.

The trade wasn't the best.  Could be one of the worst.  But you can't say the Marat is the next coming of Wayne Gretzky.  He is what he is, fast and good with the stick.  Imagine what they would have if he was still here and his RFA contract was up.  What would they have to pay him?  Would they pay him?  What is his ceiling?  

Marat is a third line center at best and that isn't what they Wild want in that position.  

[Scalptrash]

12 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

The trade wasn't the best.  Could be one of the worst.  But you can't say the Marat is the next coming of Wayne Gretzky.  He is what he is, fast and good with the stick.  Imagine what they would have if he was still here and his RFA contract was up.  What would they have to pay him?  Would they pay him?  What is his ceiling?  

Marat is a third line center at best and that isn't what they Wild want in that position.  

It's way too early to label him or know how good of a player he's going to be. My point was, he should have spent a year in Iowa first. I think due to salary cap constraints, they were forced to play him because they needed another ELC player on the roster. He also could have been a Kaprizov sweetener, getting another Russian. Who knows. The mind of Billy will never be solved.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

14 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Ek scores within 3 feet.  Almost 60% of all NHL goals are scored within 20 feet of the net.  So it isn't surprising that Rossi scored his goals in that area.  Kirill scored all his goals from High Danger areas does that mean he is a net front presence?  How many of those goals you talk about were him just happening to be on the weak side and an open net.  I remember quite a few.  That isn't a net front presence that is just being around the net.  Net front means being able to block the goalies sight lines.

Actually, as per moneypuck. Ekkers average shot range for goals is 17.6ft, so Rossi has the edge on being in close on scoring plays.

[1Brotherbill]

9 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

Actually, as per moneypuck. Ekkers average shot range for goals is 17.6ft, so Rossi has the edge on being in close on scoring plays.

Fantastic sign him to the highest contact in the league.  Rossi is average at best.  He had a decent year last year but is he worth a ton of money for what he brings?  He won't win the Cup.  He can be on a team that wins the Cup but that team could also win a Cup with about 50 to 60% of the league on the roster.  Rossi just isn't that good. 

[FredJohnson]

On 8/9/2025 at 11:47 AM, mnfaninnc said:

That was his drafted weight. I think he's closer to 205 based upon last preseason. I think he'll be 210 coming into this preseason, and very motivated especially with Brodin out for awhile.

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

17 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Fantastic sign him to the highest contact in the league.  Rossi is average at best.  He had a decent year last year but is he worth a ton of money for what he brings?  He won't win the Cup.  He can be on a team that wins the Cup but that team could also win a Cup with about 50 to 60% of the league on the roster.  Rossi just isn't that good. 

I was just presenting the stats from Moneypuck bud. Didn't infer any of that. I do believe he is worth about 6X5 or a short term @ 5m, and that is right in line with what we are seeing similar players, with similar point totals and similar body profiles getting.

[mnfaninnc]

We're likely having 5-6 rookies to start the season. The guys that were listed above all came by themselves pretty much.

My point is that wouldn't we want to look more at the Granlund, Nino, Zucker, Coyle, Brodin era where they all came in at once? All of them are still playing. While some may not have become stars, none are busts. 

This seems to be a very similar position as we're in now. The only difference is that the guys coming in now have had more time to marinate in lower leagues. I suspect we will be looking back in a few seasons comparing these 2 classes. 

[1Brotherbill]

6 hours ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

I was just presenting the stats from Moneypuck bud. Didn't infer any of that. I do believe he is worth about 6X5 or a short term @ 5m, and that is right in line with what we are seeing similar players, with similar point totals and similar body profiles getting.

To be fair to Marco Rossi, he has an equivalent point per game average than most of the players drafted in his class and they all are making decent money.  Problem is they are all considered the stars of the team and the organization is going to build around them.  Marco isn't that guy in Minnesota.  

But at the end of the day he is an RFA and will have to play where Minnesota wants him to play and probably at Minnesota's salary.