Article: It's Time For the Wild's Defense Pipeline To Start Shining

[Tony Abbott]

View full article

[Patrick]

It drives me crazy that young players get benched, sat, or sent down for bad decisions but Folingo makes BRAIN DEAD plays game after game after game for YEARS now (remember when his 20 ish penalty minutes cost us a game in the playoffs) and still gets trotted out on the ice. I don't get it. His fancy numbers are not that good anymore and his real numbers have sucked for several years...

[Fezig]

Hynes is the hockey equivalent of Tom Kelly. Let the young players get some ice time!

By the time the playoffs come around Faber and Hughes are going to be out of batteries. It's ridiculous that they are out on the ice essentially every other shift. 

Here's a thought, instead of pairing them together maybe it would be a good idea to pair them with Hunt and Jiricek so they can learn on the ice from two people that know how to play. 

[Pewterschmidt]

10 hours ago, Patrick said:

It drives me crazy that young players get benched, sat, or sent down for bad decisions but Folingo makes BRAIN DEAD plays game after game after game for YEARS now (remember when his 20 ish penalty minutes cost us a game in the playoffs) and still gets trotted out on the ice. I don't get it. His fancy numbers are not that good anymore and his real numbers have sucked for several years...

Foligno is not aging gracefully.  

Edited Saturday at 02:24 PM by Pewterschmidt

[Up North Guy]

Watched the Buffalo game today. Hunt-Jiricek was the 3rd pair. Overall, I think they did a fairly good job. Hunt i think may be regressing a little bit or may have a nagging injury. He doesn't seem to have the same pop in his skating. Jiricek played a pretty good game. He did get aggressive in the OZ one time and nearly was trapped but it wasn't a poor play IMO. I thought Midzy had more errors than Jiri.

[mnfaninnc]

21 hours ago, Fezig said:

Hynes is the hockey equivalent of Tom Kelly. Let the young players get some ice time!

By the time the playoffs come around Faber and Hughes are going to be out of batteries. It's ridiculous that they are out on the ice essentially every other shift. 

Here's a thought, instead of pairing them together maybe it would be a good idea to pair them with Hunt and Jiricek so they can learn on the ice from two people that know how to play. 

I still like the Faber-Hughes pairing. Hunt is here to stay this season as he cannot be sent down or he heads back to CBJ. He also cannot be traded this season. I don't know why Hynes sent Hughes out so much in the 3rd period vs. 'Peg, but there may have been a good reason for this. Hughes is still trying to build chemistry with the forwards, and his game is so unique that it will take time. I did think that he was shifting, maybe half shifting with some other d-men in the 3rd, so maybe that was part of it.

 

[mnfaninnc]

Quote

 Hunt has been the designated No. 7 defenseman, but hasn't exactly dazzled in his 16 games.

I got blocked from watching due to NHLN carrying the game nationwide. I got to watch the highlights, and it must have been an exciting game. 

I disagree with Tony's take here. Hunt's game is not dazzling, but it is a well structured game that is calm, exactly what Hynes likes. When he was out, it looked like he had hyper-extended his knee with a hit, that may be mostly healed but not all the way healed....OR....it could be that he's being careful with it because his brain hasn't figured out if it's healed fully yet. The brain is the last to heal in these things. 

I do think, for Hunt, he has proven to be a very good defenseman this season. Let's remember, that he has a history of some pretty brutal freak injuries. I'm not ready to call him injury prone, but it's leaning in that direction. He has been the only defender that has calmed Jiricek down defensively, acknowledging that Brodin hasn't played with him. That, alone, should be something. He's also had a couple of real nice assists that you wouldn't expect from him. He's got enough sneaky skill to hang in the league.

The other nice thing about Hunt is while a lefty he can play both sides pretty well. That is mandatory for #7. While I comment on this, when Bogosian moved up to pair with Spurgeon, I was not that impressed with his opposite side play. Midsy doesn't play either side well. I do expect that Hughes and Brodin would do well, however. 

I think expectations should simply be "steady" play with Hunt, and that's really what he's given us. He also didn't look terrible when paired with Spurgy, so maybe there is a 2nd pair ceiling for him, at least in a pinch. I'm also more willing to look at an 11/7 lineup with him in the lineup. I think he adds help on the PK and can clear the net. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Lambos has the best +/- among Iowa Wild defensemen who have played 15+ games this season, and could be ready for more regular NHL shifts soon. He just turned 23, so still developing. He played sheltered minutes in a December win over Columbus, but came out of his only NHL game to date with a +1.

He clearly isn't a top 6 for the MN Wild this year, but he's a key player for the AHL Wild, and I wouldn't dismiss his ability to see NHL ice regularly at age 25. He could still end up better than Declan Chisholm or Daemon Hunt.

[Dis-allowed display name]

I watched highlights from a Boston game the other night.  Khusnutdinov sure made some highlight plays.  I am glad we gave him the chance to show what he could do and did not give up on him too early.

That photo of Brazeau hoisting the cup in his Wild sweater made it all worth it though.  And we are bursting at the seams with centers right now.

Edited yesterday at 03:22 PM by Dis-allowed display name

[Imyourhuckleberry]

5 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

Khusnutdinov sure made some highlight plays.  I am glad we gave him the chance to show what he could do and did not give up on him too early.

That photo of Brazeau hoisting the cup in his Wild sweater made it all worth it though.  And we are bursting at the seams with centers right now.

Khusnutdinov has been playing very well lately, but he is not playing C. He has zero faceoff wins in his last 5 games, and just 35 this season in 44 games.

Brazeau is still scoring at a better pace than Nudie this season, but no question that Khusnutdinov seems to be on his way to being a productive NHL winger.