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  1. I hate beating the Rossi drum, I really do, but Billy is about to make another big mistake. Let's put it into perspective. 24-25: Rossi GP82 G24 A36 P60 +3 Age 23 $6-7M Nelson GP80 G26 A30 P56 +6 Age 33 $7.4M Boeser GP75 G25 A25 P50 -25 Age 28 $8.2M Sam Bennet GP76 G25 A26 P51 -15 Age 28 $7.5M Rossi will continue to improve, the other three will only decline. Rossi is young and a long term contract is much safer and probably cheaper. So what if he isn't a power forward, he could easily replace Zuccy.
    15 points
  2. Good playoff teams have an abundance of center depth. The Wild don’t even with Rossi. With trade proposals of sending Rossi plus other prospects to land a better, older and more expensive center, we don’t end up with more centers. Yurov might be another center, but who knows if and when that might happen. Plus, we are counting on the other top prospects (Yurov, Wally, Ohgren, Buium) to make the team next year. Trading any of them out with Rossi just creates another lineup hole or holes to fill. And we are already down some picks from GMBG’s moves this year. I think Hartman played very well in the playoffs, but Rossi should’ve been switched with Gaudreau. Freddy is a great teammate, but he shouldn’t be playing above 4th minutes and maybe not at all on a contender. Getting rid of Rossi all but guarantees that Gaudreau will be one of the main centers. I think Hartman is better suited to be a backup/depth center on his line, but again with the Wild’s lack of centers, he has to be one of the main guys. The Wild have been starved for centers and scoring forever, so of course, management wants to get rid of an actual homegrown center with tremendous offseason work ethic who plays two way hockey and scored 60 points in his second season. No where did I say Rossi is more important than Kaprizov, that Rossi is the best ever or that he deserves 8.5M or more per year. The Wild need MORE centers and more offense. Rossi checks both boxes BEFORE playing his third season.
    13 points
  3. I was very worried about how this team would look after their end of the season trickle into the playoffs. In all honesty, I was happy that they looked like a playoff team in this series and actually had a chance to get passed the first round. I was relieved that they didn't embarrass themselves, they showed up to play. I think fatigue caught up with Kaprizov in latter part of the series, which may be a result of being injured for half the season. Same could be said about Ek. I really think this team isn't that far from being a contender. Zeev will look better after 10 to 20 NHL games and I suspect Jiricek will be very interesting if his skating improves. Ogren played well in Iowa and should be ready to contribute next year. Yurov should be in the mix as well. I hope they can pick up a top 6 talent with size this summer, but I'm not overly excited about the free agent class. We might have to get creative to find what we need. This summer could get interesting.
    12 points
  4. The way I see it is that a lot of these moves can be attributed to the cap penalties, a mostly empty prospect pool, and slow development since then. Hell, the slow development might even be partially due to the empty prospect pool if progression of one's peers helps foster better development in a player by challenging them to be better too. The article says we've only brought in older players, preventing the ascension of younger players while also citing a number of other younger players that didn't work out. Younger players have gotten chances. It's not just Addison and Khusnutdinov that received playing time. Players like Hunt, Walker, Beckman, Raska, and others were given chances and never showed that they belonged up in the NHL. It's not like prospects aren't getting chances. Even Rossi was given multiple chances before he got to the point where he showed he could be a successful everyday NHLer. As far as signing older, veteran players. It's typically cheaper to sign an aging vet in the latter part of his hockey career than it is to get one in his prime. We didn't have the cap space or the depth to go after those players. It's also harder to get those players still in their primed when they know that your team has huge cap penalties against it. The odds are stacked against you and they know it. What will be really telling is if this trend changes now that the cap penalties are mostly gone. With several prospects poised to make the team next year, there will already be a shift towards youth. With the cap penalties gone and showing that we can be a dangerous team, maybe there will be interest from more than just aging players who generally have some ties to Minnesota will be more interested in joining the team as a result. If this off-season Guerin gives a 6yr deal to Nelson and trades Rossi for some player in their lower 30s who is already at their ceiling, then maybe this article is on to something. Until then, I think there are enough other factors that it's premature to come to that judgment.
    11 points
  5. Guerin has a tendency to play fast and loose with trades. But the Wild as constructed are pretty much lacking these things. 1) 2nd/3rd line offense 2) Offensive minded defensemen 3) Overall team size and/or speed 4) PP/PK success 5) Winning a fucking faceoff A lot of this is personnel related. You have to remember the Wild were very successful with Hynes's system, but a lot of players are still people picked by Fletcher or Fenton. How long would we be waiting on prospects if the Wild went a full teardown? Would Kaprizov want to stay around? Gus, the top forward line, and the top 4 D are hard as hell to beat 5on5. They have a "superstar" and a couple "stars" that showed up in crunch time. The issue is their floor is way more leaky than we think it is. Nyquist didn't work, sure. But neither did Khusnutdinov or Lauko. Addison was as effective as a wet dish rag. Bogo was an immediate upgrade on the cheap. It isn't about "veterans bad, prospects good.". If a player isn't a fit, they aren't a fit. How many times have people tried to write off Zuccarello and Spurgeon, yet they remain top 5 in team offense? Gaudreau, Foligno, and Hartman were all pretty clutch most of the season to even stay ahead of the injuries or score against Vegas. I won't write Guerin off just because one center may or may not stay with the team. A Rossi trade may be beneficial, or blow up in his face. My issue is if he somehow keeps Nyquist, Mojo, Merrill, Chisholm, etc, when it is obvious the 10-30 pt players need to go and 40-60 PT players need to be the new floor. If Rossi translates to a similar productive player or somehow part of a 1st line guy, no one will bat an eye. Rossi sold for middle sixers and picks is the problem.
    11 points
  6. No, if the Wild trade Rossi, it will be a for an established goal scoring forward, not a minor league defenseman.
    11 points
  7. Unless it turns out Rossi was injured pretty bad he’s going to be traded. I’m concerned about getting equal value back. Wouldn’t management have wanted to inflate his value if a trade is in the future? Very strange dynamic/vibe coming from the team on Rossi. If it’s just a money thing then we’re going to find out when his agent inks his next contract. Rossi exceeded my expectations for both the regular season and the playoffs. Get him on a decent power play and he is going to be a point per game guy.
    11 points
  8. Somehow, the biggest lightning rod in the Minnesota Wild's abbreviated playoff run was the player with the team's third-fewest minutes. But that's what fans will focus on when a team takes Marco Rossi, their second-leading scorer in the regular season, and plays him for 11 minutes and 8 seconds per night. For context, that's less than Marat Khusnutdinov, a fourth-line center with seven points in 57 games, got during the regular season. Having seen the Wild's postseason play out, it's clear what happened. John Hynes (and possibly Bill Guerin, judging from some of his radio comments) decided that Rossi couldn't make an impact in a series against the Vegas Golden Knights. He started on the third line with Marcus Foligno and a clearly washed Gustav Nyquist, a role Rossi hadn't been in all season. After struggling in his playoff debut, the Wild demoted him to the fourth line with Yakov Trenin and Justin Brazeau. And that's where he stayed. Scoring goals in back-to-back games didn't get him out of the doghouse. Engaging physically in Game 5, where he registered three hits and three blocked shots, didn't do the trick, either. No style of play, no level of success was getting him off the fourth line. There was nothing he could do. In doing so, the Wild doomed Rossi to their self-fulfilling prophecy. By treating him as if he couldn't make an impact, they put him in a position where he was least capable of making one. Despite the three points in six games -- a 0.50 PPG average that is, mind you, tied for 19th in franchise history, between Kevin Fiala (0.53 PPG) and Mikko Koivu (0.47) -- Minnesota got a result they can point to and back up their suspicions. His detractors (including those in the Wild organization) can point to three flashpoints: Rossi being on the ice for the Game 5 overtime goal. His double minor in Game 6. And his having the worst expected goals percentage at 5-on-5 this series, as noted by The Athletic. Make of the errors what you'd like, I guess. Rossi was part of that Game 5 breakdown -- although there's a pretty good case that Zach Bogosian was more responsible. Even though Brayden McNabb lifted Rossi's stick into his own face in Game 6, Rossi still has to control his stick. But as for his expected goals percentage... what did the Wild expect? Out of 18 forwards with 150-plus minutes at 5-on-5 for the Wild during the regular season, Trenin was 10th in goals for percentage (44.4) and 11th in expected goals for percentage (47.5). Brazeau ranked dead last in both categories. Both players were in the bottom half of generating actual and expected goals per hour. That trio didn't generate offense outside of two nice passes off a Trenin forecheck. The Rossi-Trenin duo combined to get just a 28.5% share of the expected goals in their limited time on the ice. Minnesota generated expected goals at a rate of 0.99 per hour with that tandem, which is abysmal. When apart from Trenin, his expected goals share boosted up to 49.3%, and the Wild generated 2.44 expected goals per hour. If you're looking for a reason why Rossi would have disappointing numbers with Trenin and Brazeau, it's not hard to figure out. There's a reason Hynes doesn't consider playing Matt Boldy or Kirill Kaprizov on the fourth line for an entire playoff series. Maybe you're thinking something like, Look, a player isn't entitled to a spot in the lineup because they scored 60 points in the regular season. This is professional sports. It's not about fairness or being a hard-working kid with a good attitude who does everything the team asks of him. It's about results. And, hey, maybe that's right. So let's take a look at Rossi's results. In 66:47 of all-situations time, Rossi scored three points. Mind you, only 3:30 of that was on the power play, less time than the likes of Nyquist and Marcus Johansson. Despite being a power play afterthought, he put up 2.70 points per hour during his ice time. For fun, here's a list of Wild players who Rossi's career points per hour rate beats out: Zach Parise, 2.66 points per hour Kirill Kaprizov, 2.40 points per hour Marian Gaborik, 2.36 points per hour Ryan Hartman, 2.30 points per hour Jason Pominville, 2.28 points per hour Wes Walz, 2.26 points per hour Brian Rolston, 2.03 points per hour Kevin Fiala, 1.89 points per hour Pavol Demitra, 1.86 points per hour Matt Boldy, 1.86 points per hour Eric Staal, 1.86 points per hour Nino Niederreiter, 1.82 points per hour Small sample size, but damn, that sounds like someone Minnesota should've put on the ice if they wanted not to lose three games by a goal each. Only Hynes didn't do that. It's one thing for a coach to bury his team's second-leading scorer on the fourth line and win the series. They can claim they pushed the right buttons, and scoreboard. Who's gonna argue? But when they lose a series of one-goal games? There are gonna be questions to answer, especially for a coach whose playoff results aren't exactly above reproach. It was a predictable outcome for the Wild, partly because they ensured it, both for Rossi and the series as a whole. Minnesota played Rossi on the fourth line, and now they can claim he played like a fourth liner. That makes sense. The logical conclusion for Hynes turning his third-most-potent scoring threat into a fourth-liner was the one we saw. The Wild offense drying up the second Kaprizov and Boldy started running out of gas. Don't worry -- with the increasingly inevitable Rossi trade coming up, it appears that no lessons will be learned from any of this.
    11 points
  9. Man Tony, I agree with us building the team like Dallas, but can’t for the life of me shake the Norm Green move to Dallas and the cup win a few years later. Plus the Cowboys Hail Mary win over the Vikings makes me hate all things Dallas. Edmonton is my hope.
    10 points
  10. One of the biggest failings from the team last year was lack of offense from Bogo, Merrill, and Chisholm. Playing mistake free or at least risk avoidant hockey is nice, but it comes at a price. What I saw out of Jiricek's limited minutes was a guy trying to be more than a "warm body.". Even at a young age, he was better than his defensive partner Dermott, who was the definition of waiver wire pickup. Chisholm also made far too many mistakes late in the season to trust him over giving Buium and Jiricek the nod. Something has to give. I don't think it is either Brodin nor Spurgeon just yet. Reminder, Suter holds the season record for Wild points by a defenseman (49). Bogo, Merrill, and Chisholm together accounted for 30-35. Lane Hutson of the Canadiens by HIMSELF in a rookie year got 60-65... If Buium and Jiricek together come anywhere close to Hutson's offensive impact, the Wild blueline suddenly feels a lot more dangerous.
    9 points
  11. I'm still rooting for the Wild. I realize my chances aren't good. Don't care. Lol
    9 points
  12. Nice article, Tony, and some really good comparisons to what the Wild could become. No problem seeing the Stars win it all and watching Granlund, Dumba and Oerttinger celebrate. Modano, too, probably. For me there's just something sentimental about the Oilers and the Cup finding its way back to our friendly neighbors to the north. I'm in my 60's and loved watching Edmonton in their hay day. Nothing against the other three remaining teams, but it would be nice to see the Cup where there is snow and ice and cold.
    9 points
  13. Everything hinges on what other teams do with those players. Sign them up, and they are off the table to begin with. As long as Guerin says Nyquist, Mojo, Brazeau, and others are just plain gone, I am willing to see some chips fall.
    9 points
  14. Granlund with a hat trick. Interesting since he isn’t mean, tall, and/or heavy. His coach and GM must be stupid for not restricting his minutes by placing him on the 4th line to unlock 4th line players potential or to drive down his value if he doesn’t fit the team’s plans for next year. Oh wait … maybe they are interested in scoring more goals and playing their most skilled players more to do just that and win multiple series. Again, I think GMBG will trade Rossi away. In another classic Billy move, he and Hynes decreased his trade value by having him play 4th line in the playoffs and telegraphing that he wants him gone. I am sure he will get fair value of an older vet that will want the same or more money with too long of term and clauses. If the Wild need more size and grit in the top 6, why was Nyquist played in the top 6 with Zuccy and Gaudreau? Gaudreau wasn’t protecting either of his wingers. This inconsistent and circular argument depending on what player is discussed is ludicrous. But what do I know, Yurov who is more slightly built than Rossi should be able to immediately slot in and be better than Rossi. It isn’t like Yurov has had any injuries the last two years and it isn’t like Rossi has played every single game the last two years. Height was also a magical saving rookie. (Heavy sarcasm for this entire paragraph). Trade rumors have other teams interested in Rossi, but avoiding offer sheets and likely lowballing the Wild since it is no secret the team doesn’t want him.
    9 points
  15. The mind numbing stupidity of Bill Guerin and many Wild fans is further illustrated when you realize that Danila Yurov is actually 6-8 pounds LIGHTER than Marco Rossi. The ability to fixate on size DESPITE production really, really reflects poorly on Guerin. Hopefully he gets fired before he makes a franchise altering mistake.
    9 points
  16. Rossi for 7.5m, especially on a bridge. A long term deal or higher money would give me pause. If Nelson wants say $5.5-6m for short term, then that's something worth considering. The issue for all of this is what if Boeser and Nelson are kinda Parise/Sutering things and coming as a package deal, but taking less to do it? I still think I'd go Ehlers and Bennet over Boeser/Nelson if the money is equivalent. Moreso just to stick it to the Jets. The issue with the team is 2nd line depth scoring (of people at 50-70 pt value), and 3rd line defense/offense from the blueline in general. Increasing overall team speed wouldn't be the worst thing either.
    9 points
  17. 9 points
  18. Given the investments in defense recently, Middleton as a top 4 defender doesn't seem to be Guerin's long-term vision. Middleton as a 3rd pairing defender seems just fine. Hopefully developments from Buium and Jiricek will be substantial this summer and Middleton could end up as a 3rd pairing defenseman when the Wild head into 2026, assuming he's still around.
    9 points
  19. duuuude i thought i wrote this!
    9 points
  20. Kap signs a long term deal, and no one will care about anything that happened before. If he doesn't, Guerin is fired on the spot. Rossi doesn't matter, Nyquist doesn't matter, Hartman/Foligno/Zucc don't matter. All that matters is if July 1st, Kap wakes up and says yes to staying put. But tell me again about Hartman and Foligno were "aging declining players" not worth the money that didn't help in the playoffs. Coulda fooled me. Nyquist was one. Unless Guerin does something REALLY odd like re-signing Mojo and Nyquist...I don't really think one player being on the outs is going to change the team like signing Kaprizov will. Now watch ODC somehow think I'm agreeing with him for once. Just the thought makes me ill.
    9 points
  21. I agree with you bud. It amazes me how a portion of our fanbase has been complaining about needing centers. Then we get one and they want him gone after two years. Rossi is 23 and improved year over year. The lack of patience that some have with our young prospects is crazy. Heck, earlier this year there were a few that wanted Boldy gone. No idea what will happen with Rossi. As long as the contract is good, I hope he is here. I guess we will get our answer in a couple of months.
    9 points
  22. I am not as harsh on Rossi as some. And no, I don’t think he deserves 8.5M or more a year. I do agree that he had a better first playoffs than other current good players (JEE and Boldy). I think it was about half way through the 3rd period in Game 3 where the camera was focused on the Wild bench. I am not an expert lip reader and there was obviously no audio, but Foligno leaned over to Rossi and appeared to say “hang in there” and gave him a fist bump on the shoulder. Immediately after, Gaudreau leaned over to Rossi and appeared to ask “how does it feel” with Rossi replying “it’s okay”. My point is injuries and necessary surgery information will start to trickle out now. Maybe Rossi was completely healthy, but I don’t think he was. And yes, I understand that lots of players are dealing with something in the playoffs. I have said something similar before, but the best teams usually have an abundance of centers with multiple on several lines. This helps tremendously with being able to “cheat” on faceoffs as well as having players that are sound two way and 200 foot players. I think it will be a mistake to get rid of Rossi. He is a dedicated player, just look at his last two off seasons and year over year improvement. Since the Wild are always starved for center depth, I am hoping they will start to accumulate centers. Trading Rossi and other top prospects for an older and more expensive center won’t help us in the long run with building out our center depth, but seems to be the way GMBG is leaning. Trading Rossi and other top prospects for an older and more expensive winger seems foolish to me, so GMBG will probably do exactly that. No where in this post did I say Rossi is the best, is more important than Kaprizov or should be paid 8.5M or more a year.
    9 points
  23. The Rossi trade is going to be quite defining. The buyouts are pretty much over so if BG has a vision that might be more than a number of soundbites given to the press over the years, it should be starting to take shape. Hopefully it's not all just bluster and there is an insight and design beyond "grit". He pretends to be a simple guy, so maybe his moves this summer will reveal if he is just a simple guy saying "Hulk smash" or if he might be playing possum and really does have a strategy to win a cup?
    8 points
  24. Its hard to separate the noise from the facts with BG's tenure. The Rossi situation will provide clarity. Deal Rossi(plus something) for a bonafide top line guy? Great. Deal Rossi for less than that? Hopefully ownership steps in and fires Guerin before he does something that stupid. Based on the allegations of abusive behavior from 2023 and his embarrassing conduct with Rossi, I think BG is an egomaniac who should probably be canned BEFORE he hurts the team more significantly. Hopefully I'm wrong but we ALL know what hockey culture is like and BG absolutely fits the mold.
    8 points
  25. I don’t know what is happening in the Wild's front office or Guerin’s plans, but I hope I am wrong. If Guerin can turn the Wild into the team we have seen flashes of, I will support his vision. This, this I believe is the exact problem. What IS the plan? I gave a pass to Billy due to cap constraints, empty prospect pool, draft pick issues. He, in my opinion has done fine during his time so far, been competitive in these seasons. That time is done, put up or shut up. That starts this off season. If they don't like Rossi, and want him gone, they must get something to offset him in return. If they do then nobody will care, if it falls flat, the pitchforks will be out. For example, Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers along with a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2025 in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau, Cole Schwindt, MacKenzie Weegar and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2025. These were not little names for the Panthers to let go of, the Wild need to do the same. I think Kap, Boldy, Ek, Zeev, Jiricek, Faber, Yurov, the Wall, and Gus are the only untouchables outside of NMC/NTC. We might not like moves made but if it gets the team where they need to be then who will care? It would be awesome to be privy to the plan in place but unfortunately we are stuck waiting and speculating. Other teams will most likely not be giving up their top players, especially center. If they do, it will cost a mint. I hope all fans hope he knows what he's doing, want nothing more than him to bring a cup to Minnesota but if improvements are not shown in short order, then it will be time to cut bait and find a new GM.
    8 points
  26. khuz is playing NHL minutes, Rossi has put up seasons of 40 and 60 pts, Ohgren has a really good shot to make the team next year which is a pretty regular development period. Outside of Lambos, the rest were picked out of the first round. Only 74% of players picked in the first round go on to play over 100 games. That drops to 34% in the second round. If Wallstedt has a good offseason that will be all our first round picks outside Lambos playing NHL games from 2020 when Brackett arrived to 2022 as those kids are just outgrowing junoirs now. In fact if Yurov and Wallstedt stick we will be 4/5. Over average. Considering we have a second and a third rounder playing NHL games Brackett has done his job. Many of these youngins are just about to get their first taste at an NHL level. I suggest we let them play before bringing out the bust stamp.
    8 points
  27. Rossi is good enough to be a top six player on most teams. That means he is expendable because we don't like his size even though we picked him knowing his size. We "fixed" the Rossi "problem" by drafting Stramel, who may or may not turn out to be as good as Rossi. I think the Wild should only trade Rossi if they can get equal scoring production because, and I don't know if anyone has heard this, we can't score goals. We are currently trying to "grit" our way to victories with one goal per game while the rest of the league is lighting the lamp. It is like we are playing Jaques hockey 25 years into the franchise. The last 15 games of playoff hockey, 2 goals won the game twice and the rest had 3 to 5 goals scored by the winner. We would have lost all 13 out of 15 of those games.
    8 points
  28. "Best Available Player" is a phrase that gets thrown around a ton at draft time. There's a beautiful simplicity to the philosophy. Just add talent, and get the best players you can. It's so obvious! Fans thinking, If I were the GM, I'd simply go BPA, is the basis of why, for example, the Minnesota Wild drafting Charlie Stramel in 2023 inspired backlash. It's why fans in 2024 laughed as the Philadelphia Flyers traded down one spot to not draft Zeev Buium, allowing Minnesota to pick up a talented defenseman for a third-round pick and the right to draft lower-ranked center Jett Luchanko. As for me? I'm more inclined to lean towards a "BPA" approach. It's not always that simple, of course. For example, there is rarely a clear-cut "Best Player Available." A team's scouts also might genuinely judge a prospect to have more or less talent than the consensus, muddying those waters further. However, I generally believe the purpose of the draft is to accumulate as much talent as possible, then patching up any organizational holes later. It also appears to be a philosophy that Wild director of scouting Judd Brackett buys into. He's a scout who tends to take fallers -- players with significant talent who slip through the cracks, for one reason or another. By contrast, Chuck Fletcher's regime, led by head scout Brent Flahr, loved late risers: players who were generally off the radar as first-rounders, but made massive strides in the months leading up to the draft. You can see the "fallers" throughout the Wild's recent draft history. Buium partly fell due to a loaded defensive class at the top of the draft. In 2022, Danila Yurov fell because of "The Russia Factor." In 2021, Jesper Wallstedt tumbled down the draft board, despite being widely considered the top goalie of his class. And, of course, in 2020, Marco Rossi fell to No. 9 overall. Statistically, there was an argument to make that Rossi was the best prospect in his class. Hockey Prospecting's model had him as the likeliest player to turn into a star, and the third-likeliest to play 200 NHL games. NHL scouts weren't quite as sold, but among that group, he still had a consensus ranking of seventh in his class. Faced with choosing between Rossi, a skilled winger (Cole Perfetti, who went 10th), a top goalie prospect (Yaroslav Askarov, 11th), and a bigger, lower-upside center (Anton Lundell, 12th), the Wild did what any BPA team would do: Grab the most talent at the most premium position. On paper, it worked brilliantly. This season, Rossi scored the sixth-most goals (24, tied with Tim Stützle) and points (60) of anyone in the 2020 Draft Class. He was sixth among his class in Standings Points Above Replacement (4.4, behind Stützle, Dylan Holloway, Lucas Raymond, Quinton Byfield, and JJ Peterka). He scored massive, clutch goals for a Wild team that made the playoffs by one point. Except, it seems, if you're the Wild's front office. Here, we see the potential pitfalls of Best Player Available. At the moment, Rossi was the best player Minnesota could have drafted. He's arguably still better than anyone chosen after him. But talent isn't everything. Even production isn't everything. The upcoming split between the Wild and Rossi is about more than that. On his "Fellowship of the Rink" podcast, The Athletic's Joe Smith asked his colleague, Michael Russo, where things went wrong in the relationship between team and player. Russo's response was illuminating: "I get the sense, talking to people within the organization, they just always want him to be something that he's incapable of being, because he can't just add a bunch of weight and size to him.... I think that [Bill Guerin] just doesn't feel that, if you add him to this team, that he's somebody that you can win with in the playoffs." You may be familiar with the dissenting argument, but let's take it at face value: What if Rossi isn't, and never was, a good fit for the organization? If they think that, then this is an issue they should have seen coming. Rossi was listed at 5-foot-9, 185 pounds at the 2020 Draft, and he's listed at 5-foot-9, 182 pounds today. It's not like that was a surprise. The Wild were also among the smallest teams in the NHL heading into 2020-21, and that's something that hasn't changed over time, either. How wasn't this a problem in 2020, but is a problem now? Even more frustrating is that the thing Rossi is supposedly incapable of being -- A Mikko Koivu/Joel Eriksson Ek-style power center -- was available to them at that spot! Lundell is 6-foot-1, 196 pounds, and has been a center exactly in that Koivu/JEEK mold: A touch limited offensively, but dominant in his own zone. They could have just done that! Maybe Minnesota wouldn't have made the playoffs with Lundell being thrust into a No. 1 center role instead of Rossi. But they'd at least have the fit they wanted, avoiding this awful situation they're hurtling toward. The Wild have shown their hand on Rossi. Everyone saw his coach bury him on the fourth line during the playoffs. Everyone's heard his name in trade rumors for years. We also know that the Wild don't seem prepared to pay him more than $5 million per season. That last part is perhaps most significant because teams know that if they sign Rossi to an offer sheet in the $6 to $6.8 million range, the Wild will likely take the compensation, which will be first- and third-round picks in 2026. If that route is in their back pocket, and teams know the Wild don't like him, what's the incentive to give up a top center prospect? Or a young player with upside? Or take him as the centerpiece to a blockbuster deal? Why not just get him for two picks they probably won't care much about? I suppose you can give the Wild a bit of credit for fixing this disconnect between organizational and drafting philosophy in 2023 with Stramel. Fans may still be miffed that they didn't get super-skilled winger Gabriel Perreault. However, if Rossi and his 60 points are apparently not good enough for St. Paul's brain trust, it's not likely they'd be high on a small winger with below-average speed. Still, that correction can't make up for the original sin of taking a player the front office never seemed enamored of in the first place. It's been five years since that draft. Five years of development for Rossi, and five years of the organization pouring resources into him, only to be on the verge of selling him at a discount. If that happens, it's hard to conclude anything other than the team wasted the time of everyone involved, including themselves, and the fallout of going BPA might end up setting back their Stanley Cup aspirations.
    8 points
  29. And here we go again. Marco small and average, Nelson big and fast. I feel like one of those underpants gnomes in South Park. Step 1: Get rid of asset. Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit? I'm still more hopeful the Wild go after Ehlers or Peterka. They need to solve winger depth behind Kap and Boldy too. Marner's a pipedream. Same money offer everywhere, and he'd come HERE? Not gonna buy it.
    8 points
  30. Middleton's issues are pronounced, but I think there's something more at play that could counteract it: offense from the blueline. Getting Buium a taste was one thing. But he has to do what everyone except Spurgeon seems to fail at: provide way more offense. Spurgeon, Faber, Brodin, and Middleton aren't great offensive threats. The bottom depth even less so. That was something Middleton did pre-injury and Spurgeon kept up pretty well. But even Faber wasn't what you'd call an offensive presence. The Wild only really have Kap, Boldy, and (for now) Rossi as offensive guys. Foligno and Hartman did that in the playoffs. But I don't think any team is "scared" to let the Wild roam around. The better teams can counterract the mistakes they'd make by just going, "You just keep on peppering the goalie. We're not scared of you. We'll just run and gun right past you and score anyway." I believe this to be personnel rather than a Hynes philosophy. Evason played with more reckless abandon, but that came with it's own risks. The team by and large doesn't have the offense yet to just shrug off any mistakes or scare other teams into avoiding said risks. I'm not saying that's why Middleton struggled. I'm just hoping that by getting some better offensive balance, it won't be SUCH a burden on playing perfect defense or goaltending. Nobody's perfect.
    8 points
  31. Based on my expertise (being fat), the No. 1 thing to know about fat guys is how they all play 27 minutes a night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
    8 points
  32. This is a classic example of why I'm convinced this author is in fact AI. The one position where the Wild have ABSOLUTLY ZERO need is defense. Trade your position of greatest need to your position of least need. 🤡🤦‍♂️
    8 points
  33. Great article. Well said.. not sure why Rossi has been in the doghouse basically since he started with the Wild. It's obvious they plain just don't like him. Such a double standard with the Wild. If a veteran continues making mistakes or playing like crap he gets promoted and patted on the back. If a young player does something wrong he gets benched or demoted. How can you develop young players if you can't help them develop? I'm really getting tired of Guerin. With the cap hits coming off he better produce some great results and quit making excuses. Hynes has proven he can't coach. Especially in thr playoffs.
    8 points
  34. This is very enlightening. It suggest that BG is guided more by emotion than anything else. What is the plan? Is there a plan? Overpaying for bottom 6 grinders and trading the best center the organization has ever drafted for peanuts doesn't sound like a winning strategy. (To all the Rossi haters, Rossi is the BEST center we have ever drafted at this point in his career. Better than Ek or Koivu. He is identical in size, weight and production to Brad Marchand....) Weirdly, a person can make a good argument that BG is doing a great job and also a great argument that he should be fired immediately.
    7 points
  35. If Rossi isn't traded for an equal player, or used as high leverage to get a better one, it is a complete waste. If names start falling off the board, or people aren't interested in a trade, just keep the guy. The Wild have way too many holes behind Kap and Boldy scoring wise to say, "give us a first back." That first round pick coming back, could be anything, even a boat!
    7 points
  36. For the second time in five years, the Minnesota Wild are importing a highly-touted prospect from the KHL to the State of Hockey. The first one, of course, worked out pretty good. Now, they've finally signed forward Danila Yurov to a three-year, entry-level contract starting with the 2025-26 season. You don't have to take our word for it, either: Yurov is the Wild's second first-rounder (after Liam Öhgren) of the 2022 Draft and seemed poised to make the jump to North America last summer. He'd followed in Kirill Kaprizov's footsteps, winning the Gagarin Cup as a KHL Champion. In 2023-24, he notched 21 goals and 49 points in 62 games, surpassing Vladimir Tarasenko as the highest-scoring U-21 forward in KHL history (since tied by Ivan "Dimmadome" Demidov last year). Instead, he re-signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL, telling The Athletic, "I want more consistency from myself and to gain physical strength." It was a bit of a wait, though not nearly as long as the five-year odyssey with Kaprizov, but the moment is here. Now the question goes from, When does he get here? to What's next? The truth is, we don't know. Following his KHL breakout, a lower-body injury slowed Yurov's production, and he only scored 13 goals and 25 points in 46 games last season. You'd probably feel better about his prospects for next year had he stacked back-to-back stellar seasons, but injuries happen. Regardless, this probably isn't going to be a Kaprizov-type situation, where the 2020-21 Calder Trophy winner arrived fully formed. Remember, Kaprizov was 23 years old (and 263 days) when he debuted with the Wild. He came to Minnesota with 293 games of KHL experience -- 340 if you count the playoffs -- a Gagarin Cup, two goal-scoring titles in the KHL, and an Olympic Gold Medal. Alex Ovechkin and Georgy Zhukov are he only more decorated people in Russian history. Yurov has the Cup, but his resume can't touch Kaprizov's, which is understandable. He's two years younger than Kaprizov when he signed with the NHL. Yurov's 209 games played (270 counting the playoffs) in the KHL don't tell the whole story. His 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons saw him log 42 combined games, but at under five minutes a night. The following year saw him play 59 games, but at an average of just barely over eight minutes per game. So really, Yurov has two years of experience as a true regular in the KHL, as opposed to Kaprizov's five or six. There's still some development left for him, where there simply wasn't for Dolla Bill Kirill. Forget the 40-goal, 76-point 82-game pace Kaprizov was on for his rookie season -- Yurov reaching the 27 goals and 51 points Kaprizov actually scored (in the COVID-shortened season) is probably better than the best-case scenario. Looking at first-round rookies from Russia since 2010, their track record isn't fantastic. Let's look at the top 10 in terms of points per game: 1. Matvei Michkov, 2024-25 (age 20): 0.79 2. Nail Yakupov, 2012-13 (age 19): 0.65 3. Vladimir Tarasenko, 2012-13 (age 21): 0.50 4. Evgeny Kuznetsov, 2013-14 (age 22): 0.46 T-5. Andrei Svechnikov, 2018-19 (age 18): 0.45 T-5. Denis Gurianov, 2019-20 (age 22): 0.45 7. Valeri Nichushkin, 2014-15 (age 18): 0.43 8. Vladislav Namestnikov, 2014-15 (age 22): 0.37 T-9: Vasily Podkolzin, 2021-22 (age 20): 0.33 T-9: Fedor Svechkov, 2024-25 (age 21): 0.33 That's three guys out of the 15 who qualified who got a half-point or more per game. And we're talking about some fantastic KHLers who took time to get up to speed. Tarasenko was literally the best Under-21 player in league history, but it took him until his third NHL season to score 30 goals. Kuznetsov had multiple 40-point seasons in the KHL, but it also took him time to ramp up. It's an adjustment that includes, but goes beyond the jump in talent and the speed of the game. Yurov is moving halfway around the world and has to adapt to a different culture. Oh, and he has to keep learning to play the most difficult position on the ice, which he only started playing regularly two years ago. The Wild front office seems confident in his ability to adapt to the center position, intending to start him at the pivot to begin the season. Is he going to be ready for that role immediately? That's an open question, and it's possible he might never be a better fit at center than at wing. That's not to say Wild fans shouldn't be excited for Yurov next year. This is an exciting day, and Yurov is a player who could be electric in Minnesota. But is patience going to be required? Absolutely. Next year may be go-time for the Wild as an organization, but it's going to be Yurov's first step toward a long and productive career. Fans (and the front office) must keep that in mind.
    7 points
  37. If I understand correctly, a $15M KK contract wouldn't start hitting the cap space until 26-27. According to Spotrac we have 17/23 rostered for 25-26, and about $18.5M of available space, and missing at least 2 attackers and a blueliner. Rossi will most likely be ghosted from our 25-26 roster. Either you pay the man, you pay for his replacement, or you pay in terms of lost offensive production this season. For argument's sake, let's say that is worth $7M AAV. Your cap space sits at $11.5M. Most here prefer Mojo and Bogo to go-go. So add 1 more blueliner to the needs list. Where are you going to find 2 PO-Caliber attackers and 2 defenders to ratchet up our PO game for $11M (assuming KK's $6M bump doesn't hit until next year)? The demand is high, the supply is low, add in cap increases for all teams, and prices will be high. I say you sign Rossi. GMBG, you are the the GM. It's called leadership, not like-er-ship. Just sign Rossi and let him flourish here, instead of against us. Preserve your cash and let the prospects gain that experience. At TDL, most likely more seasoned NHL experience supply and now you know how your prospects are doing, where your gaps are, and have funds to make the RIGHT moves then.
    7 points
  38. Would we love to have him? Of course. Will Utah trade a player that just scored 60 points, just turned 22, and they just signed to an 8 year extension for just over 7M annually in September? Almost certainly not.
    7 points
  39. Is this another AI article? If not, back to the drawing board with more realistic ideas. Then ask around and get some feedback. These suggestions are brutal. Trade Spurgeon for a 6.5M aging tendy? Or get Giorgiev, Samsonov, or Big Kahk. Oof... 😬
    7 points
  40. The window is finally opening for the Wild, but won't be opened all the way for another two years. Besides the ever talked issue of re-signing Kaprizov and adding a good (but probably not elite) top six player, the Wild need to spend to re-sign some core pieces this off season and next, hindering the ability to get a truly elite top six piece to make a formidable run at the Cup. Last year at this time Gustavsson was trade fodder, and Jiricek was in Columbus. Both will need raises after next season, and after burning the first year of Buium's ELC, he will need to get paid sooner rather than later also. If Wallstedt comes through as billed, he will need a raise as well, not to mention the Yurov's, Heidt's and others coming up through the ranks. One can speculate any of the various names battered about on various comment boards, and plug in adequate corresponding numbers to get them here for next season, but reality says the Wild won't be able to make a really big splash until the summer of 2027. I just want Guerin to stick to a plan and not blow it all up with bad signings before it even gets started...
    7 points
  41. I really agree with this statement. The Wild don't have to reinvent the wheel, they just have to air it up a little and get it balanced. 2025-2026 Roster and Salary: Dead money - $1.67M (Parise & Suter) C - Rossi - ??? (Offer the Boldy contract, $7M. Not going to find a FA with better production for less money) C - Ek - $5.25M C - Gaudreau - $2.1M C - Ohgren - $887K C - Yurov - ??? (Buium money, ELC $967K) C/W - Hartman - $4M W - Kaprizov - $9M W - Boldy -$7M W - Zuccarello - $4.1M W - Foligno -$4M W - Trenin - $3.5M (Trade for a 3rd round pick and free up the money. He's a 4th liner with no upside. You can get that anywhere for under $1M) W - Hinostroza - $775K D - Faber - $8.5M D - Spurgeon - $7.575M D - Brodin - $6M D - Middleton - $4.35M D - Bogosian - $1.25M D - Buium - $967K D - Jiricek - $918K G - Gustavsson - $3.75M G - Wallstedt - $2.2M Sign Rossi for $7M and Yurov for $967K. Trade Trenin for a 3rd round pick and dump his $3.5M contract. That leaves the Wild with $83.25M under contract with 20 players. Three roster spots to fill and $12.25M to spend given the $95.5M limit. Bank $8M or $9M for in-season or trade deadline acquisitions or trades and spend around $1M give or take on the three open roster spots. No need to make a splash during the off season and handcuff the team down the road. Sign Kaprizov to his record setting extension on July 1 (it will be surpassed by a different player on a different team quickly), Zuccarello and his $4.1M contract will be gone when KK's extension kicks in and the salary cap will bump up an additional $8.5M. Remember when Duhaime, Dewar and Mason Shaw rocked the PK, scored shorties, and forechecked like hell on the fourth line for less combined money than Trenin makes? It can be done!
    7 points
  42. I can't say it any other way. I think he performed at a 2C level this year. You do not. You say I can't use the time he was with Kap? fine. January, February and April, taking out the games Kap did play, 22 points in 28 games which is a 64 points pace. You don't like how I evaluated him? Fine. You can believe he isn't, and I can believe he is. If Kap signs, our window is now through at least 5 years from now. To me, and many others, Rossi is at worst a 2C. He is young, and the majority of players his age who score 60 points in a year improve year over year, with many becoming pgp players by year 25 or 26. If he has the same output or better for the next 5 years, I think that first Kap's timeline perfectly. You want to keep arguing even though in my last response and others I have said I am fine trading him if it is for a definitive upgrade. If it isn't I would rather have him on the team. Really is that simple
    7 points
  43. Second leading scorer on the team this season. 4th line minutes. And we wonder why we can’t get out of the first round of playoffs. This whole management group has to go. i honestly can’t wait until next year for GM Billy to finally be rid of his excuse he created with the cap hit so people finally realize how terrible he is as a GM
    7 points
  44. To put things into perspective. This is Rossi’s 2nd year and his first playoff series. He had 3pts in 6 games, plus minus 0, 22.2% shooting percentage and was 48.9% on face offs and had an average toi of 11:08 min… Let’s compare to some other notable Wild players… Boldy’s first series(21-22)he scored 1pt in 6 games, was -1 and played an average toi of 13:19 min and 75% on face offs with 7.7% shooting percentage. His second playoff series (22-23) he had 3pts in 6 games, was -5 and had an average toi of 20:53 min with 45.9% on face offs and 0.0% on shooting. Third series you are all aware of. He had 7pts in 6 games, +/- of 0, 25:01 min of TOI, 20% on face offs JEE had the same amount of pts in 6 games as Rossi in this series, had an average toi of 22:00 min, 53.6% on face offs and a 0% shooting percentage. In his first 25 playoff games over 5 playoff series he had a total of 9pts.. He was also never higher than 47.5% on face offs. It took him his 5th series to get to 47.5% on face offs. Kaprizov first playoffs series (20-21) 3pts in 7 games, -3, 18:52 min of average time on ice, 20% shooting percentage. The reason I post this stuff is so people understand realistic expectations. Now, I’m not saying Rossi is flawless by any stretch of the imagination, he’s small and does get knocked around because of it. But he does a lot of things this team needs. He’s in his 2nd year ffs. There’s obviously things he could do better but I think a lot of that will come with time. Look at how long it took Boldy in the playoffs, look how long it took JEE in the playoffs, it even took Kaprizov his second playoff series to do much and Rossi had 8-15 min less a game to do it.
    7 points
  45. Brazeau finished with 2 assists and +1 in the series. He was doing his job as a 4th liner. Rossi obviously helped the 4th line tally some points. Unclear if Gaudreau could do the same, but we may find out next season. I don't think Gaudreau will play above the 4th line when the Wild are healthy next year. I could see Hinostroza sticking around as the 13th forward. Minimum contract guys that can plug in on any line have value and I imagine he'd like to stick around even if Ohgren and Yurov are playing ahead of him. In search of a significant upgrade, it's possible that Ohgren might be packaged with Rossi and a pick to get a veteran sniper. Guerin has done a solid job accumulating assets and talent given where the team was when he took control. With the majority of cap constraints falling away, he can assemble the type of team he's been envisioning. Hopefully many Wild fans will be pleasantly surprised.
    7 points
  46. Good breakdown here, I was just typing up something similar but you beat me to it. I have to wonder if Kap and Boldy missing so much time hurt their longevity. Hartzy, man, played like a man possessed. Bottle that up for next season, can be a game changer playing like that. Keeping that intensity up all year is impossible and should not be expected but he danced the line of getting under skin perfectly while not taking dumb penalties. Boldy emerging? Lets keep this version for as long as possible, looked like he found his big boy pants. With Trenin, for the hate he got most of the year I think we saw why he was brought in, playoff hockey and he made an impact. I don't think he has the skill to be top 6, doesn't have the hands or shot for it but is great on line 3 or 4. Braz, passible, I thought he got better as the series went on. I don't hold much against Zeev, the jump from college to NHL, not to mention NHL playoffs is a major jump. There were flashes to give hope of him being a contributor next year, by playing more games the game should slow down and allow his skill to show up more. The rest of the D core, should see some turnover. Lose Bogo and Merril, add Zeev and Jiricek, should hopefully bring more speed and skill to the back end. Rossi....... oh boy this is a tough conversation, I 100% see what you are saying but he also put up 60 points during the year shows he has the skill to play and belongs. This year over last year showed improvement and more willingness to go to the dirty areas. Growth is a real thing so I am more in the camp of lets get him on a bridge deal and see what happens. We have also had stark critisism of other players in the past, think Ek and Boldy, they were soft and couldn't do it until they could, just took some time. Center is still not a strong position for the Wild, they have some prospects but they will have to beat Rossi out to prove they are the answer. Or they get a free agent, though the class is quite old and not too exciting, I would go in on Sam Bennett myself.
    7 points
  47. I went into this season with the expectation of being another year or two away. Turns out I was right to feel that way. The excuses are gone now. Guerin cannot settle for "responsible" players holding spots in the lineup that should go to higher end talent. The depth floor needs to be filled pronto, or other teams will fill it faster than they will. Kap and Boldy proved high end offensive talent. They just need to find 2-3 others to follow suit. Maybe that's Rossi, Buium, or Yurov. Maybe its not. But the contracts Guerin HAD to take are now optional. If he spends the money on keeping Gus or Rossi, that's one idea. If he blows his load on Marner (god forbid he'd actually do that), then ok. Trade? Better be the right one. The fanbase won't settle this time. Leipold won't settle this time. Progress has to be made.
    7 points
  48. 7 points
  49. I think he'd look good in a Blackhawks sweater. But knowing Billy he will deal him to his good friends the Pittsburgh Penguins for 3 used pucks and the office chair Billy used to have there because Billy really liked that chair.
    6 points
  50. I want to win a Stanley Cup! And leaving a player that has scored 24 goals and 60 points over the 82 game regular season in lieu for guys that haven't offered that kind of stat line is the head scratcher. The Wild needed 1 of 2 things to win Game 4. They needed a great 3rd period, but we're out-scored 2-1 in the frame. Just one more goal could have ended it. Or, fresh legs in OT. Hynes shortened his bench and leaned on guys that already played 25 minutes in the game against a team that had it's stars playing significantly fewer minutes. What Hynes did was cut his nose to spite his face. He had tired legs, and kept a player that could have spot in a few times throughout the 3rd period or OT and provided a jump, and some goal scoring skill on the bench. So when you ask us, "what do you want?" I want to fucking win. And these decisions are not what winning organizations do.
    6 points
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