Article: Indefinitely Might Have Ended For Jared Spurgeon

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

Spurgeon didn't hit the Goligoski cliff until now.  He played really well last year, so I can't explain the dropoff was due to the injury a couple years back.  It is so weird.

[Pewterschmidt]

Spurgy beat ALL the odds.  But father time is undefeated.  

#sadheyoh!

[0 Stanley Cups]

Reports are that Bogo has a broken foot or ankle, so highly doubt Spurgeon is being moved right now, but very well could at TDL.  Spurg is at 945 games played, does he make it to 1000 in a Wild sweater???  Father time has also caught up to Foligno, his physical skillset doesn't age well either, both could bring a decent return at TDL.  Both at 34-35 years old, sad to say but their stanley cup window leading the Wild is highly unlikely.

With the additions of Buium and Jiricek, with Faber and Spurg and Brods, we have too many of the same type of player, they need a hard nose tough defenseman to play against, we're too soft on defense.  Be prepared for Brods to come back from olympic break injured this year.

[Patrick]

It might be Spurgeon but that's not what the eye test is saying.  The team as a whole is playing high risk, point chasing hockey. KK, who has a chance at breaking the NHL record for turnovers this year, is leading the charge and the rest of the team is following his lead. Additionally, Tarasenko and Foligno would struggle in the AHL with the way they are currently playing. 

Between them they play close to half the game. That is a mammoth liability. 

Ultimately Hynes is the problem. He has very obviously lost the team and should be fired from a job he never deserved in the first place. The only question is should SillyG be allowed to hire another coach?  If I was Leopold I would have fired him the second he suggested offering KK 16 million but now is also a good time!

Edited 6 hours ago by Patrick

[MrCheatachu]

5 minutes ago, 0 Stanley Cups said:

Spurg is at 945 games played, does he make it to 1000 in a Wild sweater???  Father time has also caught up to Foligno, his physical skillset doesn't age well either, both could bring a decent return at TDL.

Spurgy has a 10-team NTC, and Moose has a full NMC this season (15 team NTC next two).

I don't think Moose is going to waive this season to chase a cup, and moving Spurgy doesnt seem like a thing SillyG is even going to entertain considering how he handled Dumba55.

The players w/o protection would be JoBro, Boldy, Faber and Rossi.  

With the '26 UFA class is going to be another rough one, with the cap heading up it seems like a bunch of teams are just extending what they've got rather than go fishing in a desert.  So, if we think there's going to be a big piece that SillyG's going to bring in, we're likely going to see one of those guys heading out of town...I'm guessing it'll either be Boldy and/or Rossi that need to move out to get some 30+ year old who flounders here.

[mnfaninnc]

7 minutes ago, Patrick said:

If I was Leopold I would have fired him the second he suggested offering KK 16 million but now is also a good time!

Was it Guerin who offered that to Kaprizov, or was it OCL? I think OCL was the one with the big mouth prior to this. Let's remember, OCL was the one who said "Christmas morning," "highest paid NHL player," "the deal is almost done." 

Honestly, for a GM trying to sign a player, all 3 of those statements were negative help. I still believe that Kaprizov reset the market and we will start to see what Kapflation looks like league wide next season. Necas' contract is a lot like Kaprizov's when you consider he is a lesser player.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Spurgeon is still making quite a few good plays on the ice, but he hasn't been quite as sound all around as he was a few years back, which isn't shocking given his age. He could still be valuable in a 3rd line role with Middleton.

Might be time to put Buium with Faber and Brodin with Jiricek. If it fails, the Wild get a high pick, but what they've been trying hasn't been ideal so far.

Spurgeon has been a very good player for a long time, but replacing Buium with Spurgeon on PP1 while also expecting Spurgeon to be a main contributor on PK seems like a horrible idea. Let the youth at least play where they excel.

I don't even hate Buium on line 3 with Jiricek, but why limit the PP time? They certainly aren't going to deploy either of them on the PK if they can avoid it.

[mnfaninnc]

Quote

This might not be the end for Spurgeon. Remember, he's got the Old Man Skills, and they've carried him this far. There are 70 games for them to kick in and have them turn this season around. But the end always comes, no matter how good you are at positioning yourself on the ice.

It was said several seasons ago, but it probably still applies. Old man vets take around 20 games to get fully engaged and in the full swing of things. That said, as soon as his game turns around, I'm still pushing for Spurgeon for Danielson in a trade. 

At this point, I don't care whether or not Bogosian is ready, Hunt can play right side, Lambos can be called up. 

Note to Wild coaching staff-I don't know who handles the defense, but whoever it is, they need to call Scott Stevens and find out what his defensive unit coaching points were. When he was on the staff, we had our best defense in a decade. 

[MNCountryLife]

2 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Was it Guerin who offered that to Kaprizov, or was it OCL? I think OCL was the one with the big mouth prior to this. Let's remember, OCL was the one who said "Christmas morning," "highest paid NHL player," "the deal is almost done." 

Honestly, for a GM trying to sign a player, all 3 of those statements were negative help. I still believe that Kaprizov reset the market and we will start to see what Kapflation looks like league wide next season. Necas' contract is a lot like Kaprizov's when you consider he is a lesser player.

Agreed.  OCL really messed up the negotiation with Kirill.  IMO it is on him. Not BG.  

Kirill's contract will definitely reset the market.  The only question is who will be the first to go over him.

[mnfaninnc]

6 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Kirill's contract will definitely reset the market.  The only question is who will be the first to go over him.

I'm not sure what it will look like. He definitely reset the market for the elite, especially the elite switching teams (UFA). But what we saw from Necas is a star getting $11.5 X 8. To me, $11.5 used to be more of an elite number. There might be a lot of "star" players getting nice bumps too.

[MNCountryLife]

We talk about getting rid of some aging vets but you have to fill from somewhere.  If we lose Spurgeon, Bogo, Foligno, Vinnie, Ben, Senko, Nojo and Pitlick.  Who replaces them.   If you backfill with prospects you are promoting Jiricek, Lambos, Haight, Heidt, Ohgren, Bankier and kumpulainen.  Would we even be competitive at the end of the 26-27 season if we did that?

If we are building for next season can we eliminate all trades that result in bringing in another 30+ player.  I hope so.

Is BG capable of finding players on the cusp of NHL ready or cherry picking the 25 year disgruntled player from an opposing roster.  He hasn't shown it in the past.  History says we have had to give up proven skill for hopeful prospects.  

Can we give up Spurgeon, Ohgren and Lambos for Jason Robertson or Wyatt Johnson?  That is the type of trade we need to be looking for.  That would have a real positive impact.  I haven't seen BG make that type of trade yet.  Find a team that is having trouble with contracts and steal a player from them for prospect and an aging vet.

[Patrick]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

 I still believe that Kaprizov reset the market and we will start to see what Kapflation looks like league wide next season. Necas' contract is a lot like Kaprizov's when you consider he is a lesser player.

Kaprizov will make 50% more than Necas. Thats insane. 

Kap didn't reset the market. He is an outlier and it's going to take 3 to 4 years for the market to catch up.

Largest overpay in NHL history.  Especially crazy when you consider the deals signed before and after him.

Who is responsible Leopold or SillyG? Hard to say. Shared stupidity I guess.

[Burnt Toast]

1 hour ago, Patrick said:

If I was Leopold I would have fired him the second he suggested offering KK 16 million

As regarding the KK contract extension, my guess is BG was under OCL’s mandate to sign quickly and at any cost. If KK walks BG gets fired. Put another way OCL was the Wild’s chief negotiator.BG went into that negotiation with “One arm tied behind his back.” Beyond that my opinion about BG is he needs others to help rounding out his weaknesses. Maybe that puts him back in an assistant GM position somewhere. He definitely knows hockey but these days there’s a lot more that goes into managing players. I don’t really want to say this and I hope I regret it but it’s a sellers market and I’m selling. The older core is regressing fast and the younger players will need more time. The 5 year plan is failing. 

[Patrick]

1 minute ago, Burnt Toast said:

As regarding the KK contract extension, my guess is BG was under OCL’s mandate to sign quickly and at any cost. If KK walks BG gets fired. Put another way OCL was the Wild’s chief negotiator.BG went into that negotiation with “One arm tied behind his back.” Beyond that my opinion about BG is he needs others to help rounding out his weaknesses. Maybe that puts him back in an assistant GM position somewhere. He definitely knows hockey but these days there’s a lot more that goes into managing players. I don’t really want to say this and I hope I regret it but it’s a sellers market and I’m selling. The older core is regressing fast and the younger players will need more time. The 5 year plan is failing. 

Weird that BG always has "one arm tied behind his back" Maybe it's just a stupid tax?

[Will D. Ness]

I don't think one defenseman is looking good.  

Brodin is losing pucks that were always his.  He gave up the GWG last night like a dude that has no pride in playing D.  

Faber is actually looking much better, but still hasn't matched his rookie level of play.

Spurge has made mistakes that make me wonder if he is concussed.  He is not the same.

Middleton looks like a 3rd pair guy making 1M... although he has gotten a little better since that fight. 

Bogo was actually looking good. 

Zeev was improving every game and on a positive trajectory but got yanked and barely sees the ice anymore.  WTF?

Jiri... dude has potential but isn't learning.  He needs to focus on playing physical defense and let the offense come to him instead of forcing it.

Bottom line is that we can't point the finger at rookies anymore.  Something is wrong with the d corps vets.  Is it Father Time?  Hard to say... to me it looks more mental/focus/attitude than lack of speed/agility.  

[Enforceror]

Guess we need Merrill back.

[MrCheatachu]

1 hour ago, MNCountryLife said:

Can we give up Spurgeon, Ohgren and Lambos for Jason Robertson or Wyatt Johnson?  That is the type of trade we need to be looking for.  That would have a real positive impact.

I mean, if SillyG can pull off a lopsided trade like that it would be fantastic, but the reality of the market right now is that teams are scared of letting players get to FA since the quickly rising cap is going to absolutely turn the market sideways.

Plus, everyone has cap space to go out and acquire a guy.  It's a great time to be a free agent...

Brock Nelson would be a primo example of the 'current state.'  Colorado had to give up a 1st, 3rd, and two players to get the shot at negotiating a contract with a guy before he hit the open market.

Who's going to be left in FA?  An Panarin, or Kempe? 

[MrCheatachu]

5 minutes ago, Enforceror said:

Guess we need Merrill back.

I thought the PTO for Jack Johnson was a ploy to get me to accept it when SillyG offered Ryan Suter a contract...

[Dean]

I agree with Patrick. Billy didn’t set the market with kappy deal. Eichel did. We are paying a shit organization cap penalty for kappy . What player is going to get 17 mil on there next deal and when? It’s not going to be next year. The league is in that 12-14 range for super stars this year and probably 12-15 next year . Billy got fleeced for a guy who demanded 18 and got 17 . The same guy who won’t talk to media after game last night. Like Russo said if your going to demand being the highest paid player than act like it.  He held up Minnesota fans to squeeze 8 million more and doesn’t give a shit about the fans or organization. He also doesn’t look or play like the guy who was looking for his next contract years prior . Now he just wants to have fun and throw blind  passes around that go in the back of our net. Where is that dog in kappy?  Gone with the payday. . 
   Billy also didn’t set market in trade deals last year when he gave the house away for jiricek. He didn’t start a new trend either in giving every 3rd and 4 th line replaceable players nmc s . Now he’s got bad flexibility.  He’s a bozo that sat on his hands for 6 years while the league passed him by and his lazy players aged themselves out. . He has never had a plan going into any season. What the f is the so called brain trust of the wild doing? How many clowns is Ocl paying to give him this shit advice about running a team. ?  This organization is f d from top down. They really need a new perspective. An entire new drafting department, get all new pro scouts. Turn over every coach , they haven’t  done shit to develop anything . 
  This team needs new eyeballs on it. How do you salvage an over paid baby , mediocre draft picks and aged out veterans who rather go to Halloween parties than pay back the fans by winning a game 

[MNCountryLife]

9 minutes ago, MrCheatachu said:

Plus, everyone has cap space to go out and acquire a guy.  It's a great time to be a free agent...

Yeah.  The ability to steal a Fiala from another team will definitely be harder.   

If that is true and the Wild are incapable of a big trade... is a build through the draft the only viable solution?  If that is the case than perhaps we do let the vets go and let in Lambos, Haight, Heidt, Bankier and the rest and hope for the best.

[MNCountryLife]

What can BG and Hynes do today?  Figure out the D-zone bad play and get the average goals per game down below the league average of 3.12.  The Wild are over 3.9.  Stop worrying about scoring goals.  You can't win when you can't defend.  That has been this team for years.  Have a team pow-wow and figure it out.  Ask the Vets.  Somebody in that organization must have ideas on how to fix the D.

[Fortis]

Spurgeon has 1 goal, 1 assist,* NEGATIVE 12 +/- * in 12 games this year thus far. He is an undersized defenseman. His play and offensive contribution is no longer justifying his place on the roster. 

[0 Stanley Cups]

Brodin is the only one not at practice, taking a maintenance day, he's probably still hurt.  Just play Hunt for crying out loud.  And if Foligno is still hurt, play Ohgren.