Article: The Minnesota Wild Have A Kiefer Sherwood At Home

[Tony Abbott]

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[MNCountryLife]

Nice Article Tony!

I agree completely.  We don't need another bottom 6er.  In fact, we could purge a bit in the bottom to free up some cash, get another young guy on an ELC.  Then look for that top 6er that requires more cash.

[TCMooch]

I wouldn't mind him in the bottom sick just for his physical play alone. Let the Wild be a super tough team if we make it to the playoffs. Having the currently top 2 in hits in the NHL would be something pretty cool to see.

Also, nobody is really going to cry if he replaces somebody like Pitlick or Tarasenko.

That said, the Canucks are high as fuck if they think their gonna get an NHL player and first round pick. I would trade them a 1:1 bottom 6 role player and a second rounder or a middling prospect like Jiricek, Lambos, Stramel, Benak, etc.

[Pablo]

3 hours ago, TCMooch said:

I wouldn't mind him in the bottom sick just for his physical play alone. Let the Wild be a super tough team if we make it to the playoffs. Having the currently top 2 in hits in the NHL would be something pretty cool to see.

Also, nobody is really going to cry if he replaces somebody like Pitlick or Tarasenko.

That said, the Canucks are high as fuck if they think their gonna get an NHL player and first round pick. I would trade them a 1:1 bottom 6 role player and a second rounder or a middling prospect like Jiricek, Lambos, Stramel, Benak, etc.

Exactly my thoughts. 

[Patrick]

It boggles my mind that we can watch the return of Zuccarello change the look of the team and conclude that we need more sandpaper. 

Hopefully Rossi gets healthy and provides a similar boost that Zucc did. 

[Willy the poor boy]

Who needs Sherwood when we got Yurov...

[MNCountryLife]

I sure like the progress our young guys are making.  Zeev and Yurov are getting better by the game.  Wallstedt has been spectacular.  Even Ohgren is starting to find some game and can be trusted a lot more.  

Let's not forget that Hunt and Faber are both only 23.  Boldy is only 24,  Ben Jones(26), Rossi(24).  Pretty good youth on the team.  9 guys at or under the age of 26.  The future is bright.

[ArizonaWildFan]

Fine article, Tony, and spot on. I am hoping the Seattle game was a learning experience and a sign of things to come for the Wild coaching staff. 11 and 7 last night should be the norm for this team with the personnel they have. 

Why dress a Pitlick or Jones to skate 6 or 7 minutes when you can put a Hunt or Jiricek on the ice to keep the D-corp fresher. Jones and Pitlick-types are going nowhere in the league and Hunt and Jiricek could be part of the future. Heck, I would even consider a 10 and 8 lineup. You have to believe that a Faber, Middleton, Spurgeon, Buium or Jiricek could be effective 4th line forwards for a few shifts a game. They would probably salivate at the opportunity.

Think about Sturm centering Faber and Buium with Spurgeon and Middleton on the blue line. Defensively, overwhelmingly responsible and more likely to drive offense than Jones and Pitlick on the wings. Put a line like that against the opposing team's top line a few shifts per game and shut them down. Leaves more opportunities for the Ek line to be more offensively productive rather than focusing on defending the opposing top lines night after night. 

The Wild have more bottom 4 defensive talent than they do bottom 3 or bottom 6 offensive talent. Play to your strengths and be creative rather than letting talent be wasted in Iowa and lack of talent skating in St. Paul and other NHL arenas. 

Final thought, I have been proven completely wrong about my previous stance on Johansson and Trenin so far this season. Anyone who wants to say 'I told you so', or something more colorful, is justified in doing so. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

Final thought, I have been proven completely wrong about my previous stance on Johansson and Trenin so far this season. Anyone who wants to say 'I told you so', or something more colorful, is justified in doing so.

I've been vocal about Johansson in the past, but quiet since November's winning began, helped out by his scoring. I was on record saying that it was fine bringing him back, but I didn't really want him playing top 6.

If Johansson is scoring above a 50 point pace on his $800k contract, I'm not going to complain about him in the top 6. I am going to wonder why he couldn't do that the prior 2 seasons(30 & 34 points despite significant opportunity for more), but I'll take what the Wild can get in this Olympic year.

Trenin has lower skill than I thought the Wild were getting when they signed him(based upon three years with 12+ goals preceding the signing), but he at least is bringing the physicality and is tough to play against.

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

Why dress a Pitlick or Jones to skate 6 or 7 minutes when you can put a Hunt or Jiricek on the ice to keep the D-corp fresher. Jones and Pitlick-types are going nowhere in the league and Hunt and Jiricek could be part of the future. Heck, I would even consider a 10 and 8 lineup. You have to believe that a Faber, Middleton, Spurgeon, Buium or Jiricek could be effective 4th line forwards for a few shifts a game. They would probably salivate at the opportunity.

Why not come up with something new, like playing a 2-3 instead of a 3-2. Change a whole bunch of angles and gaps with that! It would be different, but it could be done. We've got some young, smooth skating defenders who can eat minutes and jump into the offensive zone play, filling in skill with about the same thing as 4th line forward from the A. 

But, that would require a creative coach doing something completely different. Can we trust Hynes with that responsibility? He doesn't look like the type of coach who likes to reinvent the wheel. If it hasn't been done before, in his mind, it probably doesn't exist. 

This type of thing would likely drive some opponents nuts trying to figure it out. 

[mnfaninnc]

31 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

If Johansson is scoring above a 50 point pace on his $800k contract, I'm not going to complain about him in the top 6. I am going to wonder why he couldn't do that the prior 2 seasons(30 & 34 points despite significant opportunity for more), but I'll take what the Wild can get in this Olympic year.

I think this is the contract effect on Johansson. The other contracts were just too heavy on his shoulders. This one is light and let's him play freer. Worst case scenario he's on the 4th line at that rate.

[mnfaninnc]

Tony's article is spot on. We do have plenty of Sherwood type players. What we would need from that team is a Pettersson, the one who plays center. It's a very easy concept, just keep checking back on the same player, try to grab top end talent and skill. Our grit is fine. 

Hartman is no longer a Sherwood type, though. Every since he hurt his right shoulder a few years back he hasn't been able to mix it up. He's a rat, don't get me wrong, but he just can't chuck the right hand anymore. 

So, because of that, he has to be very disciplined because he's going to instigate and then get lit. He needs to swallow and let the other guy take that penalty.

[Beast]

I agree somewhat.

He’s a much better player than the retreads  and AAAA (to steal a baseball term) guys we’ve ran out in the middle 6 for years now.  I think he would help stabilize things a bit.

But, that’s not what’s going to get them over the hump in the playoffs.  They need a distributor. That helps either Boldy or Kaprizov realize their elite scoring potential.

[Dango]

I would rather pursue a guy like Nick Shmaltz from Utah  , i would offer up Ogren ,  A D prospect , possibly rights to Stramel ,  and Tarasenko .but hes in the final year of his contract so theres that  but i dont really see any other possibilities  that arent major team disrupters , also he would be closer to home Madison WI .  

[1Brotherbill]

The Wild have basically an entire lineup of this type of player.  Someone who does a few things good, most things ok and scores about half a point a game.  Ek, Foglino, Trenin, Hartman etc.  

The thing is that the entire farm system is filled with these types of players as well.  This is where everyone who hates BG jumps in and says it's his fault.  Or everyone who hates Brackett shows up and says he can't draft.  I would say that when they Wild draft in the top 15 they hit on their draft picks.  So it isn't the GM or scouting it's the fact the team wants to be a playoff team every year.  That isn't the NHL model.  You tank for a few years and then when you get a good core you go on a run.  The Wild have never tanked and you could say that when the did draft in the top 5 they had a generational talent on the team.  The reason it didn't work for them was because the coach and the star player couldn't have been further apart.  

The fact that the Wild has 97 and Wallstedt on the roster makes the team very interesting to watch.  But it's only going to get them into the playoff and not advance very far.

The state of the fanbase is so bad that all they want is for them to make it out of the first round.  Wrap you head around that, everyone wants them to be one of the last eight teams in the playoffs.  The fanbase should demand that they at least play in the cup finals.  25 years and they are one of 7 teams that hasn't played in the cup finals.  Two of those teams have become expansion teams in the last five years.  

This team needs to lose a lot of games in order to win.  This 500 plus 10 point cycle that they have been on over the last 15 years is not going to get the job done.