Article: We Are In the Minnesota Wild's Metapod Era

[Dango]

 

 

[mnfaninnc]

Tony, this was one fine article. Like McGyver, I'm also old and no little to nothing about Pokemon. But, the caterpillar to the butterfly is pretty much a perfect analogy. This was going to have to come sometime and was always going to be part of the process.

Billy is looking for top 6 help. I find this to be very interesting, considering, they have not tried Yurov or Ohgren in the top 6. No, they bury the kids to the bottom 6. If you're going to get out of the pod, you've got to give the kids opportunity. To me, Yurov seems like the best option to kick up, since he has looked NHL competent. See what he can do!

Now, might it be important to wait on a trade to see if we're out of it yet? Probably, and we can then add youth for vets. Guerin isn't the only GM who values vets. And, we've got some vets who would be good additions to any lineup. Just don't be like the Twins and gut a whole area of the team and then wonder why nobody can work the 7th, 8th and 9th innings consistently.

It's hard to switch gears back to future when we really were wanting to switch gears to present, but we may need more future ahead of switching to present. I know that sentence will need to be read more than once.

Note to Guerin-You've been disciplined to this point not to trade the kids. Now's the time to give them chances, and to build players for now and year's to come. 35 year old Kadris do not do this!

Lastly, that picture of Faber up top perfectly sums up the metapod!

Edited November 1 by mnfaninnc

[PNW Wild]

22 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Just read the article.  Thanks for the heads up.  Some names mentioned are: Zacha, Middlestedt and Kadri with Rossi+ going the other way.  

The article lists Guerin's dangling of Rossi in the past tense and even says, "With Rossi staying put in Minnesota and performing well, there isn’t a specific need to add a center, a team source told me."

There is no indication that BG is still trying to trade Rossi. Or that he is trying to trade Rossi+ for Kadri, or anyone else. In fact if you read the article, the author states that they have no knowledge of the Wild talking to the Flames about Kadri, but simply that other teams have and it would make sense for the Wild. 

Please be more careful when quoting those who are in the business and have knowledge. 

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

The one I read does not include Rossi in the return. It didn't have return price at all, but mentioned Rossi being a pleasant surprise and not necessarily needing to find a center.

Rossi speculation was 100% my speculation

[Pewterschmidt]

26 minutes ago, PNW Wild said:

The article lists Guerin's dangling of Rossi in the past tense and even says, "With Rossi staying put in Minnesota and performing well, there isn’t a specific need to add a center, a team source told me."

There is no indication that BG is still trying to trade Rossi. Or that he is trying to trade Rossi+ for Kadri, or anyone else. In fact if you read the article, the author states that they have no knowledge of the Wild talking to the Flames about Kadri, but simply that other teams have and it would make sense for the Wild. 

Please be more careful when quoting those who are in the business and have knowledge. 

[Pewterschmidt]

6 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Rossi speculation was 100% my speculation

Rossi is maybe the only player with market value and no trade protection

 No that package of trenin +pitlick +ogzy ain’t gonna return much.  All the other stiffs have protection 

[WIWild]

"Good things generally don't happen to coaches of underperforming teams, and that incentivizes them to squeeze every last point out of their veterans at the expense of development" << this. Unless BG has told JH he's safe, BG's in charge of whether our prospects are getting ice time. BG is sending the message that short term success is more important than long term development.

[MacGyver]

I just watched the Sharks punk the Av's in OT. The Sharks with their young squad are flying on the ice. These kids can skate, shoot and score. They are going to be a force in a few short years. They are ahead of the Wild right now because of the lack of the Wild's inability in developing these young kids.  The Wild are not willing to suffer the pain for the gain. They always think the old mules are going to get them to the promised land. They continue year after year to convince themselves they are too good to sacrifice games to let the kids learn. They are just short one aging vet to get them over the hump. 

Right now they are playing even up with a rather poor Vancouver team at home. 

[FredJohnson]

On 10/31/2025 at 12:29 PM, Dean said:

Daily face off is saying Billy is out looking for a top 6.

At what cost? Rossi? "Top 6" from a $hitty team that's no better than what we got? (I know I'm preaching to the choir on here.)

[FredJohnson]

Give Buium, Jiříček, Yurov, Öhgren, and Wallstedt their reps, their experience points, and hope they can grind out enough battles to level up.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mnfaninnc]

With last night's game, do we now think problems are solved? We scored 4 on 23 shots on a pretty good and hot goalie. Maybe our puck luck is changing?

Not at all. The same problems are still there. Hynes doesn't want to develop the kids, instead, he scratches Yurov because he's chasing points. He really has no choice in playing Buium and Jiricek, but he gives them shielded 3rd pairing minutes. 

Now, if Yurov was a scheduled scratch, which from time to time is good for a rookie, and he's sitting down upstairs, sharing a bowl of nachos with, say, Modano, and getting an overhead view of the whole rink, I can see that as a benefit. His scratch did not sound like that at all, and, I expect him to get scratched on Tuesday too (barring injury) because that lineup won.

Why is it that NHL coaches don't use their whole roster? We need to keep everyone involved, but Hynes' version of this would be putting in a guy and scratching a 4th liner, or a 3rd pairing guy, meanwhile all the older vets up the lineup keep playing. Why can't we give them the refreshing game off once in awhile? I guess it's like a Tom Kelly view of the roster. Nobody should sit for 5 or more games and then be called on to come in cold. The kids have the best bounce back legs on the team. They're just going to make mental mistakes. 

Ohgren isn't learning anything in the A. Getting his confidence going isn't his problem. His problem is pretty simple: He has to start hitting bodies hard, he has to get his stick to catch up to NHL speed, and he has to start parking himself in front of the net. This isn't learned in the A, it's learned in the N. Yes, he will make mistakes, but coach him out of it. He is ready! He's one of the guys! He'd also still be early from his draft year. 

One thing I did see, is the Wild, as a defensive unit, started to stay inside and let the other team own the perimeter. Guus was pretty good on the perimeter shots. The ones that beat him were in the home plate area. He also isn't really ready right off of face-offs, and this is coachable. 

In the offensive end, I saw a lot of defense driving. This is how the Wild play when they're cooking. Do we really need another top 6? What happens to that guy when Zuccy comes back? 

I have no problem waiting for the metapod to open, but for it to do that, we've got to play these guys until they're ready. If it costs us a playoff year, so be it. The future is in these kids, and if anyone thought it would be a seamless transition into the N, they were just lying to themselves. Results always lag, and when you finally get to the place where you think you're ready, usually there's a lag and you can pick up a pretty good bonus pick to help your team later. 

I think if Hynes knew he had a job within the organization for awhile, he would probably go big picture and play the kids. It might not be coaching, but it would be employment.

[Citizen Strife]

Yurov might have gotten the night off cause he got a puck to the nuts.  It's only an issue if he's not playing Tuesday.

I get the Wild don't exactly have the best track record, but thinking EVERY decision is because I HATE THE KID DON'T PLAY HIM is a bit much.

Rossi played 4th line in the playoffs and is now a PPG player with Kap and Boldy.  BUT HE PLAYED ON THE FOURTH LINE ONCE HYNES IS DUMB.

Not saying that isn't fair.  I have started coming to the realization that they might be better off punting the season.  But, wins are wins.  I would rather a guy take a night off after almost losing his nuts than think he's being forgotten on the shelf.  If he gets sent down because Zuccarello is coming back, then feel free to laugh in my direction for being dumb again.

 

 

Edited November 2 by Citizen Strife

[Citizen Strife]

Just throwing this out here.  If we get to the point we call for Hynes to get fired for wearing the wrong suit...just calm it down a bit.

I'm happy they won, and I don't care how.

[mnfaninnc]

22 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

I get the Wild don't exactly have the best track record, but thinking EVERY decision is because I HATE THE KID DON'T PLAY HIM is a bit much.

It's not just sitting Yurov, it's also demoting Buium, severe shielding of The Wall, and sending Ohgren down to gain confidence. 

I know that Johansson has been hot lately, but when Zuccy comes back (after a couple of games of warmup), if they leave Johansson up in the lineup and he runs dry, and the kids are getting the 4th line treatment, 3rd pairing treatment and backup goalie, only play in b2b games treatment, I think we can see that Hynes is purposely going to the vets and not playing the kids. 

This is what worries me about Guerin looking for a top 6 player: Further shoving the kids down the ladder. I get that Hynes' job is to win with what he's got, but not playing the kids, shortening the bench in the 3rd is not helping the growth of what is to come. It's as if Hynes is resisting change.

It's a lot harder work for the coaching staff to be getting these guys coached up and ready every night, but it has to be done. Now, I'm with you if Yurov is back in the lineup on Tuesday, but if not, my patience with the coach is wearing thin.

[mnfaninnc]

So, when we are looking at this medapod thing, could it be that the Twins, Vikings and Wild are going through the same stage together? 

McCarthy looked horrible prior to his injury, but he looked very good yesterday. I'm sure the more time he spends with KOC, the better he'll get, and I really like how he has taken down 2 division rivals....on the road.

But, McCarthy doesn't do this without opportunity. And our rookies need the same thing on the Wild. You don't produce game winning goals on the bench, nor do you make crucial saves on the bench. 

The Twins are the team I really didn't get. Why jettison your whole bullpen for futures? Especially when these guys were team controlled? I could see letting a piece or 2 go, but the whole thing? That was nuts! Of course, that's also what tanking looks like.

[Scalptrash]

Where's the highest paid player in the NHL??

[Sam]

37 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

Where's the highest paid player in the NHL??

On a struggling team with twice the amount of losses as wins..

[Dango]

If youre talking about Kirill Kaprizov hes making 7.5 million dollars this year   well within par for his stats  .  Hes probably over achieving again .

Edited Monday at 09:45 PM by Dango
Name correction

[Citizen Strife]

"Kaprizov isn't at 30 points already.  Let me call him out as a big failure!"

Excuse me if being 1-2 points out from the bunch in the Top 3-5 is hardly a big deal right now.

Kap, Rossi, and Boldy (struggling or not) are PPG players or better.  Save the gripes for Foligno, Trenin, Hartman, Yurov, Hinostroza, etc who aren't.  As usual, the top line scoring isn't the problem.  It is the third and fourth lines who do almost nothing but on rare occasions.

Even Vlad, who I spent weeks trashing, came up big against Vancouver. But again, rare occasions.  Kap, Rossi, and Boldy, plus Ek and Johansson are the 60-100 class right now.  Vlad and Buium are tracking about  around 50 point pace.

Kap will be at or near the 100 point mark like usual.  The problem is if (when?) more than half the team don't sniff 40, or even 30

Edited Tuesday at 12:35 PM by Citizen Strife

[Citizen Strife]

As I said a few times, I am not concerned about the top 3-5 guys scoring enough.  I am worried if the team doesn't play defense to compensate for no one else helping.  They are in the mess because they don't (usually) outscore their problems.  

[Citizen Strife]

Can't edit this far, so I have to make one last post to clarify my point.  At some point in a season, you have to accept a player is either a scorer or not.  Regardless of system, luck, time on ice, role, you either do it or don't.

Spurgeon supplanted Buium on PP1 and has two points to show for it

Trenin came in faster and has had shot after shot at goalies.  Two points

Middleton is a core 4 defenseman. One point.

Yurov is a golden boy who can do no wrong, is "acclimating" or is being "held down" in Hynes's system. One goal in over 10 games.

Foligno, Jones, Pitlick, Haight, Ohgren. Jack.

Johansson is playing for dirt cheap and has over 10 points and earned top line minutes.  Buium shoots a puck off a guys head and it goes in.  Same minutes as Jiricek, Top 5-7 on the team.  Even Vinnie said "fuck this" and went coast to coast and scored pretty much on his own.  Wish he did that kinda thing more.  But he made it work.

I understand the want and blame to go around.  But at some point, you have to see players for what they are, and what they aren't doing.  Hynes can tell someone clamp down on defense all they want, but maybe, just maybe, the player is or isn't scoring enough to warrant "not being held down."

 

[Scalptrash]

16 hours ago, Dango said:

If youre talking about Kirill Kaprizov hes making 7.5 million dollars this year   well within par for his stats  .  Hes probably over achieving again .

He's making $9M this year and his NHL record contract is fully guaranteed. The point is, he should be in at least the top 5 scoring in the NHL, ALL THE TIME. If you think you deserve the money, you better show up and prove it.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, Citizen Strife said:

But at some point, you have to see players for what they are, and what they aren't doing.

Journeyman's gonna journeyman

[Dango]

4 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

He's making $9M this year and his NHL record contract is fully guaranteed. The point is, he should be in at least the top 5 scoring in the NHL, ALL THE TIME. If you think you deserve the money, you better show up and prove it.

Kaprizov is the 97th highest paid player this year  ,youre looking at his cap hit