Article: The Wild's Loss To Colorado Highlighted the Risk Of the Hughes Trade

[Tom Schreier]

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[Dis-allowed display name]

They might have been a bit tired on back to back games, but most of what I watched was entirely in our own end.  Tons of mistakes, weak clearing attempts, and fumbled passes made things worse.  I watched two periods of virtually no scoring chances and moved on.

I hope it was a bit of fatigue because it did not look pretty.

[Dis-allowed display name]

The upside is that everyone will learn whether Minnesota is ready to contend immediately. If Hughes doesn’t believe they can, they might want to flip him in the offseason to recover assets.

If they have to do this then Guerin screwed the pooch royally.  Who would trade much for a guy that would want out of this market and have two brothers on another team with free agency right around the corner?  New Jersey would not have to bid anything because they could just wait for him to hit free agency.  Other teams would know they have a slim chance of retaining him. We would have zero leverage.

The best we would get is some draft pick on a deadline deal to a team that wants a cup run and will pick at the very end of every round.  And we would have traded away basically four firsts for that prize.  

I hope he extends, but the flipping him to recover assets is admitting total defeat and a franchise killing mistake.

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Dis-allowed display name

[Pewterschmidt]

12 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

The upside is that everyone will learn whether Minnesota is ready to contend immediately. If Hughes doesn’t believe they can, they might want to flip him in the offseason to recover assets.

If they have to do this then Guerin screwed the pooch royally.  Who would trade much for a guy that would want out of this market and have two brothers on another team with free agency right around the corner?  New Jersey would not have to bid anything because they could just wait for him to hit free agency.  Other teams would know they have a slim chance of retaining him. We would have zero leverage.

The best we would get is some draft pick on a deadline deal to a team that wants a cup run and will pick at the very end of every round.  And we would have traded away basically four firsts for that prize.  

I hope he extends, but the flipping him to recover assets is admitting total defeat and a franchise killing mistake.

 

Yes this is the worst case scenario and hopefully doesn’t happen because this org will look the same way it did at end of Fletcher era, bare cupboards.  And a middling core that just couldn’t get over.  
That’s why it’s imperative Guerin brings in an effective top 6’r this season.  Doesn’t need to be tage Thompson.  I think the bar could be as low as Schenn from STL.  
but if he doesn’t and we have to watch the lollipop guild get face washed out of round one those tickets will be a tough sell next season.  And that is OCL’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd priority

[Pewterschmidt]

18 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Yes this is the worst case scenario and hopefully doesn’t happen because this org will look the same way it did at end of Fletcher era, bare cupboards.  And a middling core that just couldn’t get over.  
That’s why it’s imperative Guerin brings in an effective top 6’r this season.  Doesn’t need to be tage Thompson.  I think the bar could be as low as Schenn from STL.  
but if he doesn’t and we have to watch the lollipop guild get face washed out of round one those tickets will be a tough sell next season.  And that is OCL’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd priority

We’ve now traded away brackett’s mn wild drafts (yes I know there are 4th rounders still in the system) for: 1) hughzy 2) wall-e 3) yurovzy 4) the Jiri project™️

[Beast]

I’m not overly concerned.  The record is now even on the year with Colorado.  We had 8 minutes of penalties that they cashed in, while we didn’t.  They also scored an empty netter.  It was 2-1 Colorado at even strength. 

Wallstadt still had a save % over .900, and the PP is a work in progress after adding a new QB.

We also had 7 guys playing a back to back who have spent significant time on the shelf, while Colorado had a rest day, and had played 1 game in 4 days (this was our 3rd game since December 16th, Colorado’s second - on top of our back to back. They were much more rested).  We have also been playing primarily playoff teams in much of December, while they’ve had one of the easiest schedules in the league.

Lastly, you know Colorado was extra amped to make a statement after the Hughes trade.

We weren’t going to win every game the rest of the year.  It says absolutely nothing about the playoffs (that we already didn’t know).

Were Avs fans panicking about their roster when they lost to Nashville recently?  It happens.

I mean, Colorado is an absolute wagon.  One of the best teams ever.  We’re not likely to beat them in a playoff series with or without Hughes and a new center.  This game adds no further context.  I did not think we would be the favorites in a playoff series before the game, and think our odds are about the same after the game.

[Beast]

46 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

The upside is that everyone will learn whether Minnesota is ready to contend immediately. If Hughes doesn’t believe they can, they might want to flip him in the offseason to recover assets.

If they have to do this then Guerin screwed the pooch royally.  Who would trade much for a guy that would want out of this market and have two brothers on another team with free agency right around the corner?  New Jersey would not have to bid anything because they could just wait for him to hit free agency.  Other teams would know they have a slim chance of retaining him. We would have zero leverage.

The best we would get is some draft pick on a deadline deal to a team that wants a cup run and will pick at the very end of every round.  And we would have traded away basically four firsts for that prize.  

I hope he extends, but the flipping him to recover assets is admitting total defeat and a franchise killing mistake.

 

This is an extreme knee-jerk reaction to 1 game.  If Hughes makes any sort of decision based on 1 game, is he the kind of guy you want on your team?  How is he going to be successful anywhere with that sheer lack of resilience?  How could Hughes look at Nee Jersey or Detroit, the two other likely destinations, and think they’re in a better position?

Hughes is a smarter guy than that.  If he determines he doesn’t want to sign here, he’s either already made that decision, or that decision comes as a result of another playoff flop later this season.

Total defeat is not flipping Hughes.  It’s Hughes playing out his deal here and walking with no value in return.  That would set the franchise back a decade.  I’d commend Bill for flipping Hughes if there’s any reservation on extending here.  

[Scalptrash]

A more interesting thought; which 1C could the Wild have gotten for the same assets? I bet Buffalo would have parted with Thompson AND Tuch for that haul. Would that have helped the Wild more? A true 1C with size and strength, and another top six winger who is also big and can score. Franchise holes filled with beef and skill. Completely different team, but a lot more depth.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

If Bill Guerin adds a scoring forward and potentially another center, the Wild may be contenders throughout Kirill Kaprizov’s prime.

He had the assets to add a substantial forward, prior to the trade.

Now, it's hard to say who he could add with significantly more limited assets.