Article: Marcus Johansson Pushes Wild Past Golden Knights

[Thomas Williams]

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[Imyourhuckleberry]

Liam Ohgren with another shootout win last night, as the 3rd shooter for Vancouver this time around.

Nice to see the Wild outplaying Vegas and putting 5 goals on the board before the 3rd period, helped by the early tally by Johansson. Phenomenal night from that Boldy, JEE, JoJo line.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Liam Ohgren with another shootout win last night, as the 3rd shooter for Vancouver this time around.

If this kid figures things out during this nhl season with VAN the “Wild player development ?” whispers will start again and would be legitimate.  I didn’t see an nhl player lacking opportunity when he was with the Wild, but if he transforms this season then the Wild would appear to be the problem

[Aimlessone]

Good game by the team last night, 5 on 5 anyway. We really need to start trending our power play in the opposite direction. It is severely lacking. 

[MNCountryLife]

Ohgren has 4 points in 7 games.  Not too shabby.  Playing roughly 11 minutes a game with Vancouver.  Looks like that trade was good for both teams and all players involved.

[NoJoSux]

NoJo has been much better this year, no question. It makes you wonder. He still looks lazy to me and I can't stand him but at least he's scoring and helping the Wild win some of the games. That could not be said with any consistency in the past. The first part of this season is nice but not what he's delivered overall. Otherwise, we wouldn't rag on him so hard. 

When it comes to Ogie, there is something about the change of scenery that helps. Whether it's confidence he can make the team and get a shot versus being held down behind a ton of vets, coaching staff who don't use him in the correct roles, or failure of the organization to build his confidence and create a place for him, it's probably some of that stuff. 

MN has sorta given Yurov the grace period. Ogie was an up & down 4th liner between IA and MN, which isn't likely the easiest place to thrive. GMBG will have to deal with the consequences of the Hughes trade. Losing two top prospects and Rossi isn't as painful if they're not a long-term fit for the Wild but if Hughes doesn't get extended in MN, the trade could begin to look pretty crappy. 

Is it MN's development that is the worst part or their NHL level plan to acquire vets and pigeon-hole prospects? Why couldn't Ogie get over the hump in MN? He had some decent opportunity. Buium looks like a liability yet. 

[FredJohnson]

 

Marcus Johansson Pushes Wild Past Golden Knights

Trolling is so unbecoming, Thomas. 😁

[Imyourhuckleberry]

3 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

Why couldn't Ogie get over the hump in MN? He had some decent opportunity.

He's a 21 year old figuring things out against the best players in the world. Rossi was up and down at that age, but turned into a pretty good player. Impatient fans judging kids before they are anywhere near their prime might be the biggest problem. That might have something to do with Kaprizov and Boldy being exceedingly good early on and Faber being very playable as soon as he was done in the NCAA, but not every prospect hits NHL ice and excels.

Ohgren wasn't standing out in a good way, but I don't think he was standing out in a bad way either this season. He was inexperienced at the NHL level, but his game was growing.

The Wild might have given away 4 quality players, including a soon to be star offensive defenseman for 1 star offensive defenseman. Hughes fits the timeline, and the team has responded with good results, but I'm still not excited by the trade because the Wild had good young talent that could have developed into a contender with a deep roster.

I don't love accelerating the timeline so much as it fails far more frequently than it succeeds, but we'll see how things play out in the playoffs and with extension talks. The Wild are likely to get less value in return if Hughes decides not to sign an extension and the Wild end up needing to trade him, but if they win a cup, it will be worth it. It's a major gamble, but there's a chance at a serious payoff.

I hope the Wild at least reach the playoffs with good health this year so we can fairly evaluate the results.

[Tony Abbott]

12 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

If this kid figures things out during this nhl season with VAN the “Wild player development ?” whispers will start again and would be legitimate.  I didn’t see an nhl player lacking opportunity when he was with the Wild, but if he transforms this season then the Wild would appear to be the problem

Minnesota did all the player development with the guy??? Vancouver didn't teach him anything new in seven games, I'm sure. 

[Pewterschmidt]

3 minutes ago, Tony Abbott said:

Minnesota did all the player development with the guy??? Vancouver didn't teach him anything new in seven games, I'm sure. 

Ogz is likely running on excitement/fear/anxiety/retribution fumes right now after being rejected by team that drafted him.  I’d like to see a 20 game sample size before rendering any judgement.  
he was a potato here. 

[Pewterschmidt]

Just now, Pewterschmidt said:

Ogz is likely running on excitement/fear/anxiety/retribution fumes right now after being rejected by team that drafted him.  I’d like to see a 20 game sample size before rendering any judgement.  
he was a potato here. 

Watching Van vs phi now.  Rossi and Ogz playing 2nd line.  Doesn’t mean much as Van is a disaster right now

[AKwildkraken]

20 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Ogz is likely running on excitement/fear/anxiety/retribution fumes right now after being rejected by team that drafted him.  I’d like to see a 20 game sample size before rendering any judgement.  
he was a potato here. 

I think ogz was just starting to look good about 2 weeks before he was traded.  The beginning of the year he was a potato, but then instead of looking bad, he was kind of unnoticeable.  I then noticed that he was starting to make smart hockey plays that were conductive to winning games.  Obviously, he wasn't scoring, but he was a net positive.  A couple of us were giving ogz kudos in the game threads.  

I think a fresh start helped him, but I also think he was progressing here.  

[Pewterschmidt]

45 minutes ago, Tony Abbott said:

Minnesota did all the player development with the guy??? Vancouver didn't teach him anything new in seven games, I'm sure. 

I was using term development not in the sense of edge work or system knowledge or strength training…more so the org’s ability to unlock the value in a prospect and optimize the player. More mental than physical. 

[Pewterschmidt]

After watching two periods on VAN v PHI last night I can report that Ogz is not the one who got away.  He was doing Ogz things including: standing in d-zone defending open ice and looking behind him, losing 80% of his puck battles and bringing first day of tryouts energy.  Same for Rossi.  He showed again he can contribute when paired with 97 or 12 but when left to drive a line with ogz and potato #2 on other wing he’s just a guy.  12 min toi for both.  Which isn’t much and  no points.  Zeev looked like Zeev logging 24 min and snapping the puck around.  

Edited December 31, 2025 by Pewterschmidt

[Sam]

4 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

After watching two periods on VAN v PHI last night I can report that Ogz is not the one who got away.  He was doing Ogz things including: standing in d-zone defending open ice and looking behind him, losing 80% of his puck battles and bringing first day of tryouts energy.  Same for Rossi.  He showed again he can contribute when paired with 97 or 12 but when left to drive a line with ogz and potato #2 on other wing he’s just a guy.  12 min toi for both.  Which isn’t much and  no points.  Zeev looked like Zeev logging 24 min and snapping the puck around.  

[Pewterschmidt]

22 minutes ago, Sam said:

Yah watching that last night made me feel better about the Hughes Hail-Mary™️ overpay. 

[Pewterschmidt]

Re guerin’s next move:  Billy Meatball’s trade style is “biggest name available with another GM who’s in the mood “.   Remember when Patrick Laine said no to the Wild.   Meatball’s ain’t playing 4D chess

[mnfaninnc]

4 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Re guerin’s next move:  Billy Meatball’s trade style is “biggest name available with another GM who’s in the mood “.   Remember when Patrick Laine said no to the Wild.   Meatball’s ain’t playing 4D chess

If Billy were playing 4D chess, he at least would have come back with something more than just Hughes, he might have been able to grab a Sherwood. But, maybe he can go back to that well and grab the right Pettersson!