Article: Filip Gustavsson's Extension Is A Perfect Balancing Act

[1Brotherbill]

10 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

I think this signing was premature.  Wally is only 22 yo and is coming into his own.  Wally is an inch taller and 30 pounds heavier than Gus.  I would bet that is 30 extra pounds of muscle.  Given a bit of time for Wally to get acclimated to the N I think he will out perform Gus.  If Wally fell short BG could have signed Gus later in the season.  If Wally did step up and perform better BG could have signed Wally for 5 to 8 years at a lower value.

I disagree on this, the team needs two goalies.  The price for the number one is 6.8 million now.  No way Wallstedt is going to out perform Gus being the backup and if he does all the better.  The team has options now that they didn't have with Gus not being signed.  

[Pewterschmidt]

43 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Opening night lines per Russo

 

Kap/Rossi/Boldy

Foligno/Ek/Tarasenko

Trenin/Hartman/Johansson

Yurov/Sturm/Ohgren or Hinostroza

 

Middleton/Faber

Buium/Spurgeon

Bogo/Jiricek

 

Ohgren and Yurov both had a lot of chances to take the 2nd line wing and didn't impress.  I am all in favor of Foligno dunking fools in Vlad's way until they do.

I wonder about Foligno’s ability to create offense and Ek little bit too.  Vlad demonstrated he can still snipe, but he’s not a play driver.  I’ll predict this second line won’t be together long

[1Brotherbill]

As much as I love Wallstedt, it always comes down to timing.  He was put in a difficult situation that was never going to work last year and he suffered from it.  Now he has to play catchup and he has the tools to do it.  

This contract isn't terrible it will cheap when it is all over and the Wild needs two good goalies and that is what they have.  The ball is in Wallstedt's court now.  If he wants to be a number one goalie he needs to play like a number one goalie.  Even Flurey was demoted for two of the three Cups for Matt Murray.

The key is the Wild are set on the back end for a good chunk of time now. 

[Burnt Toast]

4 hours ago, Dean said:

History repeats itself

Actually it’s hard to extrapolate past team failures with future success. Why? Florida was a dumpster fire for years, now they are a contender every year. The league is as competitive as ever, this group of players doesn’t care what happened 10 years ago in MN. The Wild as a whole have enough “Cap Friendly Deals” to afford Kap at his number. It’s go time in MN. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Kap/Rossi/Boldy

Foligno/Ek/Tarasenko

Trenin/Hartman/Johansson

Yurov/Sturm/Ohgren or Hinostroza

I hope Yurov jumps back up and/or Ohgren. Johansson and Trenin down on line 4 with Sturm would be preferred. Foligno, Hartman, and Ohgren could be a solid 3rd.

Wild will miss having Zuccarello to feed Tarasenko for several weeks, but Yurov with JEE and Tarasenko seems like it could have a chance for success. I guess Foligno and Eriksson Ek have a nice history playing together, so I wouldn't hate them with Tarasenko, but Johansson above the 4th line just isn't what I want to see.

I know you already said these are practice lines and not necessarily the game lines, but Yurov and Ohgren on the same line doesn't seem like a great idea to me unless that line is centered by Eriksson Ek, as he can play well with anyone around him.

[FredJohnson]

2 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

I disagree on this, the team needs two goalies.  The price for the number one is 6.8 million now.  No way Wallstedt is going to out perform Gus being the backup and if he does all the better.  The team has options now that they didn't have with Gus not being signed.  

Hear hear! Absolutely this^^^
Having too many good goalies is never a problem.