Article: Minnesota's Best Trade Options Aren't the Ones You'd Expect

[MNCountryLife]

I'm curious.  How would everyone rank our roster?  Who is the best and worst players starting with the best.

Forwards:  Kirill, Ek, Boldy, Rossi, Zuc, Hartman, Yurov, Foligno, Nojo, Sturm, Trenin, Vlad... Press Box: Vinnie, Pitlick, Ben

Defenders:  Brodin, Faber, Spurgeon, Buium, Bogo, Mids, Jiricek.

Prospects in IA:  Ohgren, Haight, Lambos, Hunt, Heidt, Bankier, Peart.

Even with our best lineup... I don't see us as anything more than a 1st round exit.  

[MNCountryLife]

So if we rolled over on the season and went with a young linup, what is it?

Forwards: Kirill/Yurov/Hartman , Ohgren/Ek/Boldy , Zuc/Rossi/Haight , Foligno/Sturm/Trenin

Defenders:  Brodin/Faber, Spurgeon/Lambos,  Buium/Jiricek

We may not make the playoffs... but would we be better in 2026/27?

 

[MNCountryLife]

BG in trades rarely seems to get that 25 year old coming in to their prime type player.  We usually end up with a guy that takes a year or 2 to earn his wings or has checked out on the downside and just wants a paycheck for 2 more years like Vlad.

So trading away prospects makes me nervous.  I don't want to trade away Ohgren, Lambos and Rossi to get a 33 year old Panarin.

[Citizen Strife]

Forwards: Kap > Boldy > Rossi > Ek > Hartman > Mojo > Foligno > Yurov > Trenin > Tarasenko > Jones/Pitlick > Ohgren/Haight

(I am less than pleased with Tarasenko...)

Defensemen: Brodin > Faber > Buium > Spurgeon > Middleton > Jiricek > Bogo

Goalies: Gus > Wally

*Can't say anything about prospects.  That said, if Ohgren is the best in the AHL...that doesn't instill me with confidence.

 

[Will D. Ness]

1 hour ago, hydguy75 said:

Where are we now at on the spectrum.... Wild?.... Wildfire?.... Dumpster Fire?

PTSD MN fans are definitely at the dumpster fire standing around warming their hands wearing their ear covered trapper hats right now.

[mnfaninnc]

3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Not really sure teams would give up those pesky types though

They might if they are unproven. But then comes step 2, getting them regularly in our lineup, a concept it appears that HCJH does not know.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, MNCountryLife said:

Forwards: Kirill/Yurov/Hartman , Ohgren/Ek/Boldy , Zuc/Rossi/Haight , Foligno/Sturm/Trenin

Defenders:  Brodin/Faber, Spurgeon/Lambos,  Buium/Jiricek

I don't think I'd put Rossi down to line 3, I think I'd keep him up with Kaprizov. Yurov can work with Zuc and Haight.

As for the defense, I hated the Jiricek/Buium pair as soon as I heard about it. My eye test confirmed that these 2 are not a good pair. I think I'd go Faber/Middleton, Spurgeon/Buium, Jiricek/Brodin. I'd still rank Hunt ahead of Lambos. I'd keep Bogosian in play, but if somebody needed a 3rd pair, I'd definitely take the deal to him and ask him if that was something better for him. 

Spurgeon I'd look to unload at the deadline, but I'd keep Brodin. Under that plan, I'd be elevating Spacek and maybe Lambos after the deadline. 

I do believe Spurgeon has value, but we won't really be taking advantage of that value. Detroit, I'd think, would be the main buyer, I'd be looking for Danielson as a return. 

[Dean]

Thank god Craig bought us relevancy. I guess 17 mil makes losing ok.Watching are soon to  be 17 mil guy getting schooled by the new faces of the nhl . Celebrini , Cooley etc. is pathetic . Waiting 6 years to not get good draft picks and watch misfits lose year after year wasn’t worth it. Look around the nhl kids are playing and being productive. Not our kids   Where is this top prospect pool the athletic has been talking about. Just hype kinda like all the crap Billy says. .  Watching the games this weekend you can see our rebuild on fly is and was a disaster. The new nhl is here and the bottom feeders are moving up. Billy and his 6 years of misfits can’t play with the new kids of the nhl. We have no assets to trade that will get us what we need. Which is a #1 center. Same thing we’ve needed for 25 years . I guarantee if we would  have landed Eichel we wouldn’t be this pathetic team. 
    Our kids aren’t that good. Average. Our vets are washed up and only complimentary players.  Not drivers.  We signed some guy to 17 mil that will never earn that money. . We have no draft picks coming that are worth anything. If they were they’d be playing in nhl like the kids that are kicking our asses. 
    Hynes needs to go before Billy decides to trade Rossi and 1st,2nd3rd and 4th for Fred G . That’s the big trade Billy will make because he can’t accomplish anything else. He won’t fire the coach this year because he put him on Olympic team. Go USA with your bottom of nhl coaches . This is going to turn into a dumpster fire because Billy is backed into a corner. Can’t fire coach   Can’t fire entire team ,  can’t make a trade without assets and can’t develop draft picks.  Oh but we’re a few years away from cup. My ass . These kids aren’t good enough. Start over. 

[MNCountryLife]

5 minutes ago, Dean said:

Where is this top prospect pool the athletic has been talking about.

Some teams sacrificed a year to let these kids get TOI.  They gave them a ton of it and worked them hard.  It is paying off.  It is what I am advocating for as well.  Sacrifice the year so the kids can learn.  Otherwise we sit here next season and our old guys are one year older and our young guys are still inexperienced.  You have to be willing to let them play and have the ability to coach them up. 

Edited 9 hours ago by MNCountryLife

[Pewterschmidt]

57 minutes ago, Dean said:

Thank god Craig bought us relevancy. I guess 17 mil makes losing ok.Watching are soon to  be 17 mil guy getting schooled by the new faces of the nhl . Celebrini , Cooley etc. is pathetic . Waiting 6 years to not get good draft picks and watch misfits lose year after year wasn’t worth it. Look around the nhl kids are playing and being productive. Not our kids   Where is this top prospect pool the athletic has been talking about. Just hype kinda like all the crap Billy says. .  Watching the games this weekend you can see our rebuild on fly is and was a disaster. The new nhl is here and the bottom feeders are moving up. Billy and his 6 years of misfits can’t play with the new kids of the nhl. We have no assets to trade that will get us what we need. Which is a #1 center. Same thing we’ve needed for 25 years . I guarantee if we would  have landed Eichel we wouldn’t be this pathetic team. 
    Our kids aren’t that good. Average. Our vets are washed up and only complimentary players.  Not drivers.  We signed some guy to 17 mil that will never earn that money. . We have no draft picks coming that are worth anything. If they were they’d be playing in nhl like the kids that are kicking our asses. 
    Hynes needs to go before Billy decides to trade Rossi and 1st,2nd3rd and 4th for Fred G . That’s the big trade Billy will make because he can’t accomplish anything else. He won’t fire the coach this year because he put him on Olympic team. Go USA with your bottom of nhl coaches . This is going to turn into a dumpster fire because Billy is backed into a corner. Can’t fire coach   Can’t fire entire team ,  can’t make a trade without assets and can’t develop draft picks.  Oh but we’re a few years away from cup. My ass . These kids aren’t good enough. Start over. 

[NoJoSux]

The Wild should start by not giving up five or six goals every game. 

Try not to get scored on during the first 5-10mins of every game. 

Play a complete, congruent game for three periods. 

[OldDutchChip]

Enough tears and hysteria you fools

- Kap is a tier 1 player 

- Boldy is likely one by years end

Give Faber his PP role, trade Buium for Pasta and watch us smack the west and win it all otherwise yes we are doomed 

 

[Tony Abbott]

5 hours ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

You sure about that?

They're more like a hotel at Captain Teeb's!

[NoJoSux]

Couple MN Wild related stories. Remember when lazy-eye Bill wanted Laine. Good grief, what a doofbag idea that was. 

Laine to miss 3-4 months for Canadiens after core muscle surgery | NHL.com

Also, remember when MN decided not to sign Warren who had played with Boldy at USNDPT or whatever the heck you call Team USA officially. 🤨 

Warren fulfills lifelong dream, makes NHL debut for hometown Islanders | NHL.com 

 

The Wild's defense sucks. Paid for Jiricek and waited for Yurov, Wally, and Ogie to look like 1st rounders. NoJo is scoring lots of goals each game while always being minus-1. I think you tank this season and hope for 1st overall. Trade all the vets you can before the deadline save a few. The top four defensemen have not done great, the PK isn't way better. Hynes doesn't seem to be able to light a fire. Guerin's plan is a mystery or fizzling out. Hasn't looked good at all.  

[Dango]

If you can get Laine for around 2 mill in FA because of his injuries etc i wouldnt mind a 2 year 2 mill risk deal .  but i would not risk anymore than that .    

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

6 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

I'm curious.  How would everyone rank our roster?  Who is the best and worst players starting with the best.

Forwards:  Kirill, Ek, Boldy, Rossi, Zuc, Hartman, Yurov, Foligno, Nojo, Sturm, Trenin, Vlad... Press Box: Vinnie, Pitlick, Ben

Defenders:  Brodin, Faber, Spurgeon, Buium, Bogo, Mids, Jiricek.

Prospects in IA:  Ohgren, Haight, Lambos, Hunt, Heidt, Bankier, Peart.

Even with our best lineup... I don't see us as anything more than a 1st round exit.  

With contracts in mind;

Boldy> Kap> Rossi> Ek> Hartman> Foligno> Yurov> Zuc> Nojo> Trenin> Vlad

Brodin> Faber> Spurg> Buium> Midsy> Jiricek> Bogo

Haight> Ohgren> Bankier> Hunt> Lambos> Heidt> Peart for value at this point,

Heidt> Bankier> Ohgren> Haight> Lambos > Hunt> Peart in terms of upside.

If this was next year and Kap is playing like this he would drop probably five spots @17M. Boldy's value is tremendous and the value on that contact will be similar to Ek.

This skid looks like more than a couple players underperforming, something isn't clicking in the background. Did they try a bit of a system switch that they are giving up so many high danger chances? Did the coach lose the lockerroom completely?

[Enforceror]

1 hour ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

With contracts in mind;

Boldy> Kap> Rossi> Ek> Hartman> Foligno> Yurov> Zuc> Nojo> Trenin> Vlad

Brodin> Faber> Spurg> Buium> Midsy> Jiricek> Bogo

Haight> Ohgren> Bankier> Hunt> Lambos> Heidt> Peart for value at this point,

Heidt> Bankier> Ohgren> Haight> Lambos > Hunt> Peart in terms of upside.

If this was next year and Kap is playing like this he would drop probably five spots @17M. Boldy's value is tremendous and the value on that contact will be similar to Ek.

This skid looks like more than a couple players underperforming, something isn't clicking in the background. Did they try a bit of a system switch that they are giving up so many high danger chances? Did the coach lose the lockerroom completely?

Thanks, saved me from a lot of typing. 

Ditto to the above. Maybe Jiricek ahead of Midzy but not sure yet. Time will tell.

[PiranhasOnIce]

At this point, I'd call Nashville and see if they'd be interested in the red-hot NoJo and maybe BoGo and a bag of pucks in trade for the cold-as-ice Stamkos.  He has a terrible $8m contract, but if I was taking a gamble on an aged vet...

Would they take Sanko off our hands?   I know Josi is out for a long haul.  Perhaps a sweetener of one of our established defensemen ( Spurge/Brodin over Bogo), but including our misfit toys 2nd liners I mention would gain us the vet gamer we need, plus allow some kids to play??

[1Brotherbill]

12 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Anyone of the old core not named Boldy or 97 are tradable.  Goalies included.  Time to earn that paycheck (and title) bill. 

Honestly everyone on the team should be on the trade block if you make your team better.  Yes even 97 and Boldy under the right situation.  That has always been the problem with this franchise.  The organization and the fanbase gets attached to a player and they never let that player go.  The talk around free agency last summer was all about bringing home the Minnesota players.  Boeser and Nelson.  Nothing about bringing in Tavares or Marner.  

As soon as the organization and the fanbase figures out that it is a business and you make moves in that business to get better the better off they will be. 

[Dango]

The problem is we are Beggers and not choosers  so we most likely wont like to many options .