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Neither did Ekker. It takes time and experience.

I think Nyquist has been a plus. His scoresheet might not say but he has improved the PK and is still a good NHLer.

Oldest, most beat up topic. Guerin-haters keep whining and crying cause he's not going anywhere and just GM'd for USA tacking on more resume-boosting credentials. The Wild were total shit at the end of Parise/Suter. They were whining too in the press and the team had zero prospects or useful 1st round picks. You complainers are a joke, giving F-grades while full-rebuilders aren't any closer to a Cup and big-swingers are striking out with newly-signed Stamkos, Big-Apple Blunders, or Vancouver's vanquished playoff chances. We'll see, but I remember people crying Staal shouldn't have been traded, Suter should have, and Fiala wasn't given a fair shake. Suter had to be bought out AGAIN, Staal retired, and Fiala isn't putting LA into the contender conversation so I don't really give a crud if rando rag'n-rippers wanna armchair GM from their office chair or smartphone. It's not even debatable, MN has good youth, solid defense and goaltending. Injuries always hurt, but MN's penalties will end and they'll be handicapped beyond all other NHL teams no more. The Wild have been better ever since Guerin got hired and not alone getting knocked out of the playoffs. Doomers everywhere nowadays.

Ohgren has years to figure out his shit. Giving him up better be for someone who is effective right now, not another project like a Cozens or someone too old like a Gourde or Laughton. Rossi didn't figure out his spot right away. Here's hoping Ohgren manages to find a similar path to success.

I was super down on Freddy after last season and was scratching my head at the term he got for his extension but if we can get this years Freddy for the remainder of his contract that's one hell of a bargain.

Brazeau is now scoring goals at a better pace than Khusnutdinov did for the Wild. More importantly, perhaps, for players with at least 8 games played, the even strength goals against per 60 leaders for the Wild are Nyquist and Brazeau. Brazeau has played around 68 minutes and only 1 goal has been scored against his line even strength. For Boston forwards, only Cole Koepka had a lower goals against per 60 than Brazeau among their regular forwards(those with 20+ games). Guerin traded for Nyquist and Brazeau after the Wild had games where they gave up 3, 3, 6, and 5 goals against in regulation(4.25 per game), with only 1 of them being empty net. Also, before folks completely write off Buffalo, they went into Winnipeg and beat them 5-3 after the Wild smothered their offense much of the last game. Since adding Nyquist, only 1 team(Carolina) in the NHL has a lower goals against per game than the Wild. The Wild's PK has been a tad better since adding Nyquist as well. Hopefully the defense and goaltending can remain stingy against better competition.

Wild are at 81% on PK% since trading for Nyquist, and 31% on the PP in that timeframe. Sample size too small to be meaningful, but at least the special teams have shown some improved results in the last couple of weeks.

I'm feeling generous and give Guerin a B. He had a lot of crap to clean up after the Fenton fiasco and the Fletcher ending. He's built a solid prospect pool which was empty and he hasn't really traded those guys away like Fletcher did. As for results, under his regime, the Wild had their best single season. He was the GM that got Kaprizov over here and the one that resigned him. He's made some moves to bring in Faber, Jiricek and signed some absolutely high valued deals. His first order of business was making sure Spurgeon got resigned, and then he went from there. Also, with the buyouts, he promised us a competitive team and has delivered in 3 out of 4 years, possibly 4 out of 5. This team should have never even had the expectation of being any better than competitive, so anyone who had higher expectations needs to check on those in the mirror because that's on them. He hasn't been a perfect GM, but he's also been the best GM our franchise has ever had. I realize, before anyone calls me out on it, that this is a low bar.

For a short term bump to a lineup that desperately needed a little offense without sacrificing two-way ability (plus another PK option), I'll position myself on the side that thinks this is a decent move. I know, this isn't going to rocket us into another atmosphere but with cap issues, I just don't see too many possibilities for playoff contention without sacrificing some key players (yes I think Spurgeon is still a key player). I'm not too worried about the 2nd round pick given our contention window. The salary retention was a must. This gives us the following lines for playoffs, contingent on injuries. Some mix of Ohgren ($887), Trenin ($3.5), Khus ($925), Lauko ($788), Vinnie ($775), Johannson (2m) Next year, we should be adding Yurov to the mix ($900k?) We'll be carrying 3-4 too many roster spots with potential fall-off/trade or retirement of Zucc, Nyquist, Lauko, Vinnie, Nojo. I like Khus but Vinnie has out-scored him in 6 games and is even LESS money. Some AHL time might not be bad for the 22 year old. Ohgren is in a similar place. Probably too good for AHL but not quite an impact in the N yet. Lauko has great energy, grit and speed but has not showcased much in the skill dept apart from some nice breakaways. Big questions: Is Zucc planning to stick around? He'll be 38 at the start of next season. Is Nyquist the contingency plan? Can Yurov immediately slot into line 2? Do we continue on with Trenin's 3.5m? Does management still have a thing for Nojo? All-in-all, I think we have some cleanup to do which could save us 3-5mil in cap space and after signing KK and Rossi, leave us with a bit to make an off-season change to beef up the lineup where needed based on the answers to the questions above. Ok, done rambling 😉

All things considered, getting Nyquist seems like a godsend. He instantly is a top line player game 1, and looked significantly better than a number of guys who have been hanging out in our top 6 all year. No need to get excited, but if Nyquist can remove Nojo from the top 6 we all should be happy.

TRADE HIM!!! But seriously, dude still has game. It's amazing to me to see how he can out leverage guys with 3-6" in height and 30-50lbs on him. Still kills me Addison wasn't glued to his hip in practice and seemingly didn't want to be. Could realistically see him on 2nd pair again next year unless his body breaks down.

Agree on this 100%. Which means this is exactly what bill will do. Sign them both so they can play 3 games and burn an ELC year #dontbedumbbill

Great article Tony. All this for a guy making $2.1m a year. I think Freddy is a guy that is vital to a team. In a year or two if some of our young players blossom, he might be down to the 4th line again, but I would take him over any of the other players we have had on that line the last few years.

This team is exhausted due to the players having to play elevated roles. But, I think the schedule moves back into our favor against the Devils. Now, we've got to put up points again. ODC is spot on, Faber, Boldy, Rossi must lead tonight. Quit deferring and take it to the net. The spotlight is on you to bring us out of this slump. Is it a tall ask for 23 year old players? Yes, but needed. This is how you build champions, when an opportunity arises where you can lead the team. You guys have dreamed about this your whole lives, now go out and do it. This cannot be a 1 or 2 player team (Kaprizov & Ek), their absence means new heroes must emerge. This is your time to shine, go out and get it done! Dominate like you've dreamt about, and bring these fans to their feet....repeatedly. The main lesson of Kaprizov & Ek being out is that this team is not dependent upon their contribution, that the others can gain confidence that they can perform too. We need them to know this. I am hoping for Nyquist to get on the board too, I think he needs it for his confidence.

If Kaprizov & Ek is back and close to 100% - we have a shot. I don’t really care if it’s Vegas or Jets - bring it! Enough of laying out excuses for why we’ll fail (again the obligatory cap mention) The loosing has to end this playoffs! Boldy, Faber and Rossi - step up and lead the team - starting with tonight game. It’s not Hartman or Zuccy - it’s you three that need to lead!

Gustavsson started 5 games, winning 2 games in 2023 and had the best goalie performance for the Wild since Talbot in 2021(who went 3-4 with a .923 save percentage). Against a top 8 offense, Gus posted a .921 save percentage in his 5 games while the team in front of him was outplayed badly in stretches, partially due to injuries to important Wild players. Fleury got shelled for 7 goals against(.811 save percentage) in his only appearance that playoffs. He started that playoffs with a thrilling 3-2 OT win, and won his next start before Dallas really took control of the series. The Wild only scored 3 total goals in the final 3 games of the series. The officials also didn't do any favors for the Wild in that one, but if the Wild were healthy, it likely could have been a better series.

Just a couple of thughts about this article. PuckPedia projects the Wild will have roughly $22 million in salary cap this offseason. However, we must factor in Kaprizov's eight-figure extension. Therefore, Minnesota will still have $10 to $12 million to spend, leaving Guering to fill in the pieces of a roster that has been one of the worst teams in hockey since the start of the calendar year. Kap is signed through next year. His extension has no bearing on our cap space this offseason. Rossi's extension would, and if they decide to resign someone else (hopefully not). The number of $10 to $12M might be correct if they make some moves, I guess. The Stars and Avalanche took the opposite approach, building the foundation and supplementing it with big free-agent moves. But while Guerin hypes up his future, it’s all about the present, satisfying this franchise’s desperation to get out of the first round. What big free agent moves did the Stars make? Of their top 15 scorers, they signed Mason Marchment Sam Steel and Matt Duchene as FA's. Duchene was a huge pickup, after getting bought out by Nashville in 2023. He was in such high demand that Dallas had to fork out a one year $3M contract. Results were great but would not call him a big FA signing at the time. The rest of their team was through the draft and trades. How about Colorado? Same thing as Dallas, 3 FA signings among their top 15 scorers. First, Nichushkin all the way back after the 2019 season, a season where he scored 0G and 10A in 57 games for Dallas. Second, Kirvanta, signed in 2023 after lighting it up with the Stars with 8G and 1 A in 70 games. The last "Big" FA signing they had was Parker Kelly who they signed this year after 8G and 10 A in 80 games with Ottawa last year. Neither one of these teams went out and signed a big FA. They signed small deals to players and filled in their gaps with players from their system and trades in Dallas case, or made a ton of trades like Colorado did. Out of their top 15 scorers this year, only MacKinnon and Makar were drafted by the Avs. The players we signed as FA's are Zucc, Hartman, Freddy G and Trenin. The rest are through the draft or via trade. I would say we are building or have built the foundation with Kap, Boldy, Faber, Brodin, and Rossi with hopefully some young guns coming in next year. I will have to wait and see what is done this offseason to add to the roster, but I would say the foundation is there.

Come on, Tom, this isn't anything like the circus that is the Cowboys. It's not even remotely close.

If the Wild traded tons for Laughton (30-40 pt player ceiling), it would have been railed on way harder than even Nyquist is. At least with Nyquist, you know if it doesn't work, he's gone after the season. Gourde might have been an option, but he's only played 35 games. There were risks regardless if the team was able to aim high or low.

such an interesting and unexpected decision.....leaving many in wonder which star is next? maroon or reaves?

Huge win! Blues pulled out the come from behind win over Nashville, but still trail the Wild by 2 points and have 1 fewer game remaining. If the Blues go 5-3 in their last 8 games, the Wild only need to win 4 to retain the 1st Wildcard. Blues have the 10th most difficult remaining schedule while the Wild have a bottom 10 schedule difficulty, so hopefully the Wild win at least 5 of their 9. Vancouver has a top 5 schedule difficulty ahead. It would be shocking if they played a more difficult schedule than St. Louis and passed them by. Calgary's schedule isn't as daunting, but they would need to win at least 77% of their remaining games just to catch the Blues and I don't know that they're good enough to win over 80%. The Flames must face Vegas twice and have games against Colorado, LAK, and Edmonton, as well as a late season game against the Wild, likely with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek back in the lineup.

I love the optimism. I will admit I did have to double check the poster😃.

So which of the three commenters are you?

Its the whole "that's why they play the game" type of thing. Winning the cup, highly doubtful. But when healthy and if Gus (or MAF) get hot who knows what will happen. Puck luck is weird. Being as close to 100% healthy as they possibly can be can't hurt. Losing Ek hurts effort getting to the middle of the ice, Kap, well we all know, Brodin shuts down their best on many occasions. Look no further than 2019 Blues, or 2012 Kings for weird things that can happen. I will jump on the bus MacGayver is driving, if they go in fully healthy they will get past the 1st round.

BINGO!!! When the Wild started gooning it up and playing undisciplined is when that series went south. Say what you want about Dallas diving but the fact is the team took far too many penalties and Dean made some very questionable coaching (non) decisions. Non-Wild fans can keep up the "Mild" moniker but when this team plays a structured defensive style from the goalie out they can hang with anybody in tight games. We don't have the firepower to win 6-4 type games but can hang with anyone in tight games.

Wild currently have the 1st tie breaker against all of the teams behind them in the standings, which is regulation wins. The teams behind them would not only need to make up 8 standings points, they would need to get at least 6 more regulation wins than the Wild in the next 14-16 games if they tie MN for points. If the Wild can average at least 1 point per game the rest of the way, they'll almost certainly stay in the 7th spot, unless of course they win at a significantly higher rate and move up ahead of the Kings and/or Oilers. St. Louis seems poised to grab the 8th spot now. They have a winning record since changing coaches early in the year and have been playing well lately. Very possible the standings tighten up with St. Louis making a playoff push, but the Wild close the season with San Jose, Calgary, Vancouver, and Anaheim, 3 of the 5 worst goal differential teams in the West. St. Louis has a few games against Nashville, and a game against Chicago in the next couple of weeks(one of the easier schedules over the next 6 games based upon standings), but closes the year with a more challenging schedule after that, including 2 against Colorado and one each against Winnipeg and Edmonton in their final 8.

Points are points, even if won by slowing the game to a crawl to survive.

To be fair, when Kaprizov and Zucc are there, they play catch behind the endline for a 1/3 of the PP until they can send it over to Boldy to wiff on a one-timer.

I think this is all about bringing in a 4th line guy, some size, and can put a couple in the net. I liked watching Khus, but lets be honest about what he brought. A good fore and back checker..... that's about it, he has 2 goals all season. Always had hope he would take a next step but he hasn't. The wild had 3 total right handed players, one of which is now Vinnie. Marat is 5'11" 176, Justin is listed as 6'5" or 6'6" 227. Per the Bruins blogs he sounds like a big body, decent hands and vision down low. They had hopes of being a net front guy on the PP and "Brazeau impressed with his willingness to be physical and his presence on the forecheck, traits the Bruins needed down the stretch." I view this as a future 3rd or 4th line guy if he gets resigned. Lots of people wanted the Wild to get some size, well there it is. Plus being right handed and the ability to "bang down low". Lauko is always hurt, Khus, like him or not, produced less than Justin and didn't have much size. Best we can hope is he takes off a bit like Vinnie and contributes, and if the wild make the playoffs we can hope he has some snarl, take a page from Folignos book and not Jordan Greenway. This is not a get them over the hump type deal, try viewing this as a solidifying the bottom 6 and making them bigger and tougher. May be all pie in the sky, but as fans, what else do we have?

First off, I would like to thank Tom for another article with a link to our "bad aging contracts". I missed it in the other articles he has wrote. Now to comment on some stuff from the article, specifically for those of us that see many of the good things that this team has done and maybe to help those that don't view it as good to see it better. Minnesota also would have benefitted from extending Rossi after his All-Rookie season last year: Hindsight is 20/20, but if I recall a majority of fans did not want this to be done. They wanted to see it for more than part of a year, which he has done. Even still, some are not sold on resigning him. They traded a second-round pick for 35-year-old Gustav Nyquist in what’s likely a lost season. That’s weird. A lost season? 8th best points percentage. Also, compared to what some teams are giving up for other players, (Nico Sturm aside), it doesn't look that bad. the Wild have a strange approach to player development So, Rossi scores one point in 19 games, gets sent down to work on things. Comes back the next year and scores 40 in 82 and has 51 in 62 this year. I would say that is what you do to develop a player. Isn't that what Iowa is for? Boldy played a total of 24 games in Iowa and then came up and has played great since. It's not like the we kept him there forever. Minnesota was competing with the Winnipeg Jets for the Central Division at Thanksgiving. Three months later, they’re battling to stay out of a Wild Card spot and made a desperate trade for a 35-year-old former player. Below is how many points teams have gained on us since Thanksgiving (40 games) Colorado- 4 Vegas-5 Oilers-6 Jets-8 Start-10 The following teams we have gained points on Flames-5 Canucks-2 Kings-same Since Christmas, or since Kap went down, we have gained points on Calgary and Vancouver and held the same or lost 2 or less points to everyone but Dallas and Winnipeg. Not too bad without your best players and some of the injuries on top of that. Furthermore, they’ve prioritized veteran experience over young players with upside. So, what young players would have helped us? Ohgren and Khus played a combined 80 games to the tune of 3G and 8A and a -13. I am glad we had some vets, so we were able to send them down, like we did Rossi, and hope they learn some things and come back better next year. It sucked to send them down when we got Nyquist, but would we rather roll with one of those two instead of Nyquist in the playoffs?

That has worked wonders for Buffalo, Chicago, San Jose, etc. People are worried about Kap resigning with us with what we have done. So a tank would have been better?

Averaged 101 points the last 3 seasons before this. They had only exceeded 101 points one other time in their history prior to the last 3 seasons and they were on pace to finish above that again prior to Kaprizov's injury. Everyone knows Kaprizov elevates the team like nobody else, and he's highly competitive, so getting him back to the playoffs should be incredibly important ahead of a summer in which they want to sign him to a long term extension.

If the Wild were going to trade Spurgeon (a bad idea). The time to do it would have been two years ago. Now it makes zero sense. Cap space is ideally used for productive players. Spurgeon is still that. People are overreacting to the Wilds injury situation. If you add Kaprizov and Ek to ANY of the 7th,8th, or 9th seeded teams they would immediately become contenders. When healthy the Wild are contenders. Buium and Yurov will make them better next year AND they have money to sign a legitimate top line forward. Stay the course!

I will admit that 2 or 3 years ago, I suggested the Wild might need to trade Spurgeon in order to have cap space through these last 2 seasons. Now that they have gotten through the worst of their cap situation, it's hard to imagine them trading out his leadership/play for a return that would be as solid. When I initially suggested the following pairings early this year, I was mildly concerned that it might be putting too much on some young guys, but with more time to think it through, I think these lines could give the Wild one of the top defensive units in the league next season. Faber/Buium Jiricek/Brodin Spurgeon/Middleton Faber and Buium seems like the future top pairing, so might as well get to it right away. Jiricek(with a summer of skating training) and Brodin seems like a really complementary combination, and the Wild have seen success with Spurgeon and Middleton already, as the top pairing not long ago. The Wild should be able to play these lines fairly evenly and get strong play for 60 minutes without exhausting anyone. Faber, Brodin, and Middleton would be more of the stay at home guys while Buium, Jiricek, and Spurgeon bring some offense to each pairing. Bogo and Lambos would be the 7th D and AHL callup options. Faber and Buium both seem confident and smart with the puck, with strong skating. Their pairing could lead to strong offensive results, particularly with anticipated upgrades in the top 6 forwards.

I understand the fear he'll fall off the Goligioski cliff. But the team has seen what happens when both he and Brodin are both out. Faber isn't Spurgeon's replacement just yet. Bogo, Merrill, and Chisholm are solid 3rds who get exposed when higher up. Buium and Jiricek are wild cards. Spurgeon should still be able to offer a lot when or if those guys are good enough to move on from him. It's like the Zuccarello thing: you keep waiting for him to fail spectacularly due to age, but he doesn't. If he falls off in a year or two, sign his last contract on a discount or let him walk. He's far from that point though.

Please don’t burn a year of Yurov or Zeev this year. We are going no where. It’s not worth it. It’s better to keep the cap savings for a extra year

Well… National media and I mean respected NHL hockey pundits had the Wild as a bottom 10 team this year, a lost season, hoping for a nice draft position kinda thing. They remain enigmatic, unpredictable, a real WILDCARD. That leaves room for a wide range of speculation and potential outcomes. Personally I believe in the team as a group. I think the front office and coaching staff are informed and qualified. No matter who they play in the playoffs they will be the underdogs mostly because they lack some high end skill. They remind me of the Blues SC year in that they have a shot if their goal tending out preforms every other opposing team’s. I like this year’s group more than any other recent Wild team so I’m going with the WHY NOT US?

I did some rushed math in my head while looking at games lost by just Kap, Ek, and Brodin. About 25-30 per guy. At the paces they were scoring goals (23, 9, 4 respectively), I guess anywhere from 20-25 goals just by them was left on the board. This isn't accounting for any effect they would have had on other players. Current GF and Rank: 192 (T-25th) Added 20-25 Goals: 212-217 (12th-T-17th) While it isn't Stars, Avs, Vegas level, it isn't nearly the gulf that it's been. I know we shouldn't say, "Injuries, bleh." But it does make an impact.

The Bluesers are playing some great hockey right now 8-1-1 in their last 10 but I don’t see the Flames or Nucks catching for the 2nd WC. The Wild would have to go on a serious skid and epic collapse for that to happen. To address your other points. It’s not like Dallas blew our doors off last night. Yeah the PK blew it like usual but if Freddy chips that puck 2” further past Ranta that PP goal doesn’t happen, if Bogo gets the puck around the boards that PP goal doesn’t happen. Point is, if the Wild can play that structure from the goalie out and we get KK, Ek and Brods back at close to 100% they can hang with anybody. We’re not going to win games 6-4 but they do have it in their DNA to win 2-1, 3-2, 3-1 type games. Can they sustain it for 7 games in a PO series? We’ll see.

Red Lake has come to tell us that a team that led the NHL in points when healthy cannot compete in the playoffs, but provided no reasons for it. I see the Wild as underdogs, but you never know how things play out once playoffs arrive. I'm sure not many people expected Boston to lose in the 1st round of 2023 after posting a 65 win season, scoring the 2nd most goals and allowing the fewest goals against. Dallas and Winnipeg would be really hard matchups. Vegas and Colorado would be tough, but I suspect they could be competitive against them.

The problem I see is that 2 seasons ago Merrill couldn't keep up with the speed of the Stars. What makes anyone think that Merrill can keep up with our 1st round opponent? Buium can. In fact, just to throw it out there, wouldn't a Buium-Jiricek 3rd pairing be an interesting storyline for the playoffs? It adds a ton of offense to that 3rd pairing.

Riley Heidt is the same tier of player as Khusnutdinov. Yurov and the free agent the Wild will presumably sign with their cap space should be better. Again, Khusnutdinov was not succeeding at a high level in the role the Wild had available. The Wild did not have an elevated role available in future years as they have better players to fill those roles. Putting Khusnutdinov in the AHL to build his game could have been useful long-term, but we'll see what he develops into. I'm not saying it sounded like a great deal to me, it's only that it may not end up being overly bad. The team is not being dominated with Brazeau on the ice even if it's taken him some time to get comfortable with the Wild. Khusnutdinov is a good skater. His NHL skills seemed to be below average outside of skating right now. Perhaps the Wild could have gotten something more in return, but I think they'll be okay given the prospect pool they have to add more talent in the not too distant future.

The next big contract that needs to be signed is Kaprizov. All others will be back burner until that dollar amount has been determined. If Kaprizov drags this out and stays mum past July then Rossi will be getting paid somewhere else. The Wild's entire hockey universe is now centered on a guy who is spending an awful lot of time on the IR.

Probably wise to just let him go after this season put foligno, trenin and harty on 4th line and build up top 9 with youth, speed and skill (braz has none of which)

I agree that all-in would have been a mistake. I'm not sure that it was a mistake to bolster the roster by adding Nyquist. The 2nd round pick was higher than I would have liked to see go out and the points have been underwhelming so far, but I could see him having more success. There have been more setups that easily could have resulted in goals. Nyquist hasn't gotten a goal recently in the NHL, but did tally one in Sweden's win over the US at 4 Nations. He doesn't look like the game has passed him by yet, and hopefully he does get more comfortable in this system before the end of the season. The Wild have had a few rough games, but they've also gotten more from Johansson since adding his fellow Swedish national team veteran. The Wild have tightened up their defense lately and Johansson actually has 6 points in 8 games since the trade. Excluding empty net goals, the Wild have allowed more than 2 goals in regulation just twice since trading for Nyquist, the 5-1 St. Louis loss that wasn't close, and the 4-3 win over Seattle. The Wild had gone 1-3 following the 4 Nations tourney with a -8 goal differential in the 4 games and the 1 win being an OT win. Since the trade, the Wild have gone 4-3-1. The goal differential is -5 in that span due to a few empty netters and the St. Louis game going poorly for much of that one, but they've gotten more than half of the available points. The Blues also have simply gotten hot, so the Wild aren't the only team they've outplayed lately. Since the 4 Nations tourney, the Blues have the 3rd best record and are tied with the Avalanche for 1st in goal differential. Doing nothing or simply selling players might have the Wild on the verge of falling out of the playoffs, which would be extremely disappointing after their hot start(and their lack of a 2025 1st round pick), particularly if JEE and Kaprizov start skating in a week or two. The playoffs do mean a lot to these guys, so I'm okay with the moves even if they only provide marginal benefit.

I missed the game last night. Starting to wonder if I should stop watching because every time I miss a game we win. If you see me on the game day thread, tell me to GTFO.

He is the 'Lizard King'...

Gus has his ups and downs but in the end he is our starter. BG needs to let Wallstedt be the #2 guy. He has been down in the A for long enough. It is time he plays up and stays up. I have confidence that he will play just fine. I would even be willing to bet that Wallstedt has a higher save percentage then Gus from January of 2026 to the end of the season next year. I'm not a fan of paying good cap space for 2 goalies. Especially when we have a solid keeper sitting in IA. We need that money for on ice players.

Stat sheet doesn't have Boldy with any hits, but I'll tip my cap to him this game. He looked like he was playing a physical game, and Zuccarello's goal was 100% due to Boldy's pursuit and compete. Between being rewarded for working his ass off with the apple, and the nifty shoot-out move, I'm hoping this kick starts a Boldy hot streak that this team desperately needs. The whole team was playing physical, and the compete was there. I know Colorado was on the tail end of the back to back, but the board battles were being won and the zone entries were difficult. And they kept the compete level up through the end of the game. The last shift MoJo was hustling his ass off to not let Makar get to open ice. A much needed 2 points for the team, and I hope they can keep riding this momentum. They were able to shutdown a very good looking Colorado team.

This move makes the Wild better right now, without significant cost to the team over the next few years. I think it’s important for the Wild to make the playoffs this year. They are NOT a lock, especially with injuries to top players. I see this as a smart, measured move. If you want high risk, all in, 2027 might be a better year to do so. Why is making the playoffs important? There’s no better teacher for our players than experience. I think it is important for KK as well.