Article: The Minnesota Wild Have A Kid Conundrum

[Tony Abbott]

View full article

[MNCountryLife]

Hynes Quote: "If they're ready to play, they'll play"

That isn't really true now is it.  It's a bit of a lie by Hynes.  There is an old business saying: "You don't get fired for hiring IBM" .  The quote fits what Hynes is doing.  He has young players that are ready... or are close to providing equal value.   He is choosing to play the Vets because it's a safe choice and makes it less likely to place him on the hot seat.  

While the ceiling for Nojo is high, the floor for Nojo is very low.  In just 4 games he has shown us both sides.  Is Vlad playing bad?  I don't remember him doing anything that cost us but he isn't shining either.

I know I would like to see Haight and Jiricek get back in the lineup soon though.  We need them to see minutes.

[MNCountryLife]

On back to back nights we should be playing guys that sat the night before.  Fresh legs make a difference.  

Edited 13 hours ago by MNCountryLife

[Pewterschmidt]

"It's the age-old NHL coaching conundrum: Ceiling vs. Floor. Maybe you're not impressed with Tarasenko's start, or think that Johansson's contributions don't live up to his role. But they provide a floor. Coaches want to know what they're getting"

While i hate that Hynzy is playing journeymen, go-nowhere veterans over our prospects in the name of his own hide, this quote above helps me understand the levers Hynz is pulling in his brain.  

[Kato AK]

Maybe instead of burying the rookies on the fourth line for 9 mins a night, spread them out with veterans for better development and a rookie mistake is more likely to be covered by a veteran than another rookie.

Go back to the pre-season line of Ogre, Ek, Tank. Maybe do NoJo, Hartman, yurov.

There are options.

[NoJoSux]

The Wild have dipshit coaches and management. Opened the game last night with a NoJoism. How the eff does an NHL coach or manager think this guy should play L2 in the NHL after a hundred proofs that he sucks. Blatant, obvious, assbaggery out there. NoJo frickin sucks! Let me illustrate. 

 

[NoJoSux]

23 minutes ago, Kato AK said:

Maybe instead of burying the rookies on the fourth line for 9 mins a night, spread them out with veterans for better development and a rookie mistake is more likely to be covered by a veteran than another rookie.

Go back to the pre-season line of Ogre, Ek, Tank. Maybe do NoJo, Hartman, yurov.

There are options.

Waive NoJo, option 1A. Do it now...

[NoJoSux]

[Citizen Strife]

I do think Hynes will see the work they put in.  It took a few games to get their feet under them, but it could be Ohgren and Yurov feed off each other better as players together than with veterans.  Neither Ohgren nor Yurov felt that way with Ek or Tarasenko, but I wonder if that's more Tarasenko's issue than theirs.  

Jiricek is more a victim of circumstance.  Unless they want to either shunt Brodin's minutes to cover Jiricek (no way in hell), Middleton/Jiricek (eh....), or Buium/Jiricek (God help us), he's the odd man out until Bogo is traded or there's an injury.

Let's not sugarcoat it, Buium brings something so undeniable they put up with his shit.  The others don't have that.

If Ohgren and Yurov together play better than separately, that would be an interesting thing to find out.  Solving that second line (Hartman maybe) is the only other issue.

 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

While the rookies have yet to do anything spectacular this season with their paltry nine mins of ice time a game, this is also true of every other line besides the first. The only exception to this statement has been Hartman.

Tarasenko has been utterly unnoticable in all his 5v5 time. Nojo has been doing Nojo things, and while zone entries are good, they mean little when it comes right back out again.

One thing I have noticed is our forth line being defensively rsponsible and hungry. Whether it is Haight, Yurov or Ohgren, they have been forechecking hard and backchecking even harder. While we play a rotating carousel of aging vets to try to fill the gap Zucc left with his injury the rookies are mostly consigned to the 4th line with very little ice time. 

When the showing has been so pedestrian, why not try something a little crazy? Something needs to get the team going at is isn't putting another retread on the second line. It would be nice to see them sprinkle a little more icetime to the fourth line to at least let the rookies get in a rhythm. While I understand slow playing the new guys, I think we do them no favours by giving them very little icetime to "prove" they can perform on another line. 

Even if Hynes doesn't want to elevate any of them, spread out the ice time further among forwards to at least give them ome time to acclimatize to the league. While throwing them to the wolves can be a losing proposition, giving them very little chance to go is also a losing one.

[Will D. Ness]

Ek should be playing with #17 and #13.

[Pewterschmidt]

2 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Ek should be playing with #17 and #13.

This is not the worst idea I’ve heard today.  
F-Ek-In A!

[greg]

They talk about hurting the young players confidence in playing them and making mistakes.  Well what does sitting a young player in the press box do.  It's probably worse.  Three days in a row?  Inexcusable.  Hynesriding with the veterans is just plain wrong.  They make several mistakes and they keep playing.  If you are a rookie or young player the lesson learned is don't make a mistake at all if you want to play.  Juricek trade is looking worse and worse by the day.  Giving up all those draft pics for a guy you won't even play makes that trade as when the Vikings traded all those draft picks years ago to get Hershel Walker.  That worked out well didn't it?  Yes Juricek and the others will make mistakes but how do you expect them to improve if they don't play.  This team is no where near a sranley cup contender.  He'll they may not even make the playoffs this year.  If they don't like those young players then perhaps trade them for some more players that are old, slow, non productive and will demand no trade clauses.

[Citizen Strife]

Jiricek will be back in the lineup when he subconsciously stops pinching in like he's a fourth forward.

[Dango]

Maybe its time to re visit the Tuch trade idea , throw in a Bogosian , couple picks ,  Vlad  etc ,  give Tuch a little raise  ,might be better than any center we can get .

[Pewterschmidt]

18 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

Jiricek will be back in the lineup when he subconsciously stops pinching in like he's a fourth forward.

Yes we need to figure out if he’s stubborn or stupid.  Stubborn can be coached out of him.  Stupid is as stupid does.  

[Patrick]

NoJo and Foligno have proven time and time again that they are NOT top 6 forwards.

For the Wild to have any success this year either Yurov or Ohgren has to step up. How can they do that stapled to the bench? 

Hynes is the wrong coach because he is a coward. He should have played Buium and Ohgren in the playoffs and he DEFINITELY should be playing them now. 

Also, on what planet do you elevate Foligno and NoJo over Hartman? Seriously WTF is he thinking? 

Edited 8 hours ago by Patrick

[Teeroy]

Better make the best of your 9 minutes boys or I'll be watching you down here! But, its been that way for so long now. 

[bisopher]

6 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

On back to back nights we should be playing guys that sat the night before.  Fresh legs make a difference.  

This will be more and more true as the compressed season schedule goes on. The teams that learn that lesson first and best will put themselves in the best position to survive the playoffs.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

5 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

Waive NoJo, option 1A. Do it now...

While I do think NoJoSux might be a little over the top, those types of plays are the somewhat subtle things I also see him doing. Johansson gets more credit for solid defense than he deserves.

I also noticed in the defensive zone, he had nobody super close to him and it was even strength, but just collected the puck at the boards and flipped it towards center ice and the other boards--not a pass to someone, just flipping it out of the zone unpressured. While that puck did leave the zone momentarily, the Wild went from having the puck to the other team quickly winning a 50/50 puck and racing back into the zone for an offensive opportunity that they ultimately buried.

In the Columbus game, he fanned on an easy puck with it going to the other team, sending them racing into the zone for a great opportunity that they buried. It's not like they are avoiding rookie mistakes by playing the 35 year old. He skates well, but has a weak stick and does stupid stuff most nights.

Note to Hynes, if the GM is paying him like a 4th line or press box guy, maybe you should be looking at him that way too...

Edited 5 hours ago by Imyourhuckleberry
Added note to Hynes.

[bisopher]

7 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

On back to back nights we should be playing guys that sat the night before.  Fresh legs make a difference.  

This will be more and more true as the compressed season schedule goes on. The teams that learn that lesson first and best will put themselves in the best position to survive the playoffs.

[1Brotherbill]

I don't have a problem with Haight playing in Iowa.  I have a problem with Yurov and Ohgren on the 4th line.  Those two are not going to project to being career 4th line guys.  I can see them being on the 4th line if the players on the first 3 lines are better.  However that isn't the case.  

[Dis-allowed display name]

You can blame the coach all you want for playing Nojo, but it was the stupid GM who gave him another year.  Without the guy, one of the kids would be getting a better opportunity.