Article: The Wild Face Two Hurdles In Trying To Land Ryan O'Reilly

[Robert Brent]

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[Pewterschmidt]

I’m afraid to see what Billy Meatball’s gives up if we land 53 year old ROR.  Better win it all this season because we won’t have an NHL prospect in our system until 2030

Edited 2 hours ago by Pewterschmidt

[MNCountryLife]

ROR's contract also expires at the end of 26-27.   Born Feb 7th he will be 36 when his contract expires.   Maybe two more years.  He sure hasn't shown his age. 

[MNCountryLife]

The Wild traded a 1,2,3 & 4 rounder and Hunt for Jiricek... got a 5th back.  I'm really not sure why his value would be less.  At 22 and knowing that bigger players tend to take a bit longer to establish themselves I think Jiricek's value would still be considered comparable.  Add in that Hunt has been playing quite well I think Jiricek is expendable.  That being said... I still think Jiricek has a future in the NHL and just needs games and a bit more simmering in the kettle.

[WildNotMild]

Probably won’t be a popular comment, but I think the Wild should have gotten a solid youngish center for the haul it gave up for Hughes.  Why?  Because although Hughes is a superstar player, I don’t think he will help this version of the Wild in the playoffs.  With Hughes, it means Faber is the “big bad” in the top 4 d-men.  That is significant in that I don’t think most people would consider Faber a big bully like d-man.  In addition, Spurgeon is small and although Brodin is still elite, he isn’t physical.  The big d-men (Bogo and Midsy) are regulated to the 3rd pair and will have limited minutes come playoffs.

Compounding the above issue, the Wild have several smaller forwards and/or guys who aren’t physical (Zuccy, NoJo, Hinne, etc.)

Bottomline, I think the Wild are fun to watch, but it gave up a lot for a dynamic d-man when the most glaring weakness was size and grit in the top two forward lines.  Maybe GMBG can pull off a Tuch rental with the remaining assets, but there isn’t a lot left.  Especially when I think it would be a bad idea to trade the Wall or Yurov.

Could the same trade package have gotten us Thompson and Tuch or even BT?  The d corps was solid before the trade.  Also, consider that Rossi was deemed too small and was thicker than Hughes, with Hughes being on the ice twice as much as Rossi.

If Hughes doesn’t resign, I think the Wild gave up way too much.  Even if he does resign, I think the Wild are 1-2 top 6 forwards away and likely a top 4 d-man with size and nastiness.

I think the Wild are a better regular season team, but not a better playoff team after the trade.  I hope they prove me wrong come playoffs.

[Pewterschmidt]

10 minutes ago, WildNotMild said:

Probably won’t be a popular comment, but I think the Wild should have gotten a solid youngish center for the haul it gave up for Hughes.  Why?  Because although Hughes is a superstar player, I don’t think he will help this version of the Wild in the playoffs.  With Hughes, it means Faber is the “big bad” in the top 4 d-men.  That is significant in that I don’t think most people would consider Faber a big bully like d-man.  In addition, Spurgeon is small and although Brodin is still elite, he isn’t physical.  The big d-men (Bogo and Midsy) are regulated to the 3rd pair and will have limited minutes come playoffs.

Compounding the above issue, the Wild have several smaller forwards and/or guys who aren’t physical (Zuccy, NoJo, Hinne, etc.)

Bottomline, I think the Wild are fun to watch, but it gave up a lot for a dynamic d-man when the most glaring weakness was size and grit in the top two forward lines.  Maybe GMBG can pull off a Tuch rental with the remaining assets, but there isn’t a lot left.  Especially when I think it would be a bad idea to trade the Wall or Yurov.

Could the same trade package have gotten us Thompson and Tuch or even BT?  The d corps was solid before the trade.  Also, consider that Rossi was deemed too small and was thicker than Hughes, with Hughes being on the ice twice as much as Rossi.

If Hughes doesn’t resign, I think the Wild gave up way too much.  Even if he does resign, I think the Wild are 1-2 top 6 forwards away and likely a top 4 d-man with size and nastiness.

I think the Wild are a better regular season team, but not a better playoff team after the trade.  I hope they prove me wrong come playoffs.

 

I agree with every sentence in your post