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Since the the Wild came in to the league theve had 1 -3rd overall pick in the top 3 no 1sts no 2nds the Blackhawks have had 7 picks 3rd overall or higher ..

Agree. I call this hockey sense and the kid seems to have it. Seems like his motor is good too. And he didn’t grip the stick all night worrying about failure. Kid passed his first big test!!

Looking like Yurov will be getting those 1st line minutes some folks have been clamoring for. Hope he seizes the opportunity.

You have to admire Rossi's off-season progress. Great work ethic... and it has paid off. Hats off to the young man.

Playing Kaprisov 27 and Yurov less than 7 is not SMART coaching

Shhhh! We don't want others to think we're hot. One thing that is hot is our goalies, though. I did want to point out one insignificant play last night that showed us something. Coming down the slot was Adam Lowry, the guy who fought Foligno last night. However, Danila Yurov had his stick under Lowry's and simply would not let Lowry get loose for a rebound chance. Not only was Yurov in the right position, but he did something many other Wild players don't do, he tied up Lowry's stick so it could not hit the ice. This kid has underrated strength that I think we need to acknowledge, and this is why he will not be sent down to Iowa if his offense isn't there. And speaking of his offense, it's starting to come. He scored while centering the top line, but had just changed and still had Trenin and Foligno on the wings. He's starting to get more ice time, and the improvement in his game is climbing a little faster.

They weren't incredibly crafty passes, but Yurov being in the right place and using his stick to move the puck to teammates got him 2 assists in his first game on the top line. Kaprizov and Zuccarello make it much easier to get some points, but Yurov continues to do the right things as well. Also, I knew the Wild were missing Zuccarello quite a bit, but I wasn't expecting a 7-game points streak(in the standings) where they'd earn 13 points immediately upon his return. That's fun hockey! Wild are now 10th in points% in the West, but tied with the 4th place team in points, right on the cusp of playoff position. It was just the first 9 games that were really bad for the Wild. Since then, they have earned points at a top 5 pace(.708), and in November, it's been at the 2nd best pace(.833). If they continue earning at least 60% of available points along the way, that should get them back to playoff hockey by the end of the year.

I read in these comments so many times that if Rossi was so good, how come he was not offer sheeted by someone or shown interest by other teams. Does that mean players like Luke Hughes or Mason McTavish this year were not seen as great players because they were not offer sheeted either? Or how about Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Seth Jarvis, or Matthew Beniers last year? I would say all of these players were as good or better than Rossi when they were RFA's and none of them received anything from any other teams either. Maybe, just maybe Rossi did not receive one because teams very rarely give offer sheets and it had nothing to do with his skill or perception from other teams in the league.

Stats aside watching Rossi play he’s clearly a very important player for the Wild. Every year he gets better. I’m having a blast watching him because his ceiling is kind of a mystery. I’m thinking 70-80 as CS mentioned. Who knows though maybe even higher.

Young players learning how to play isn't the only problem.

That's just utter nonsense with "very available" Only offersheet was possible for other teams If Wild are sellers upcoming trade deadline we will see how other teams judge Rossi

Keep him on the team, and they will succeed. He has an innate knack to be clutch when a lot of the team isn't. Kap and Boldy are great, but Rossi is right there with them.

Maybe it is just me, but I am not seeing superstar play by Kappy this season. I see someone who is trying but not getting it done. Too many turnovers and too little puck control.

Ugh these would ve trading our young prospects for another journeyman. No thanks. Let’s wait for a home run mega trade later in year

I think it's important to mention we are also missing Sturm. This team might actually be solid up the middle in depth as we are missing two or three of our starting centers. We very well could have four centers who are capable of playing the 1C spot (Yurov still has more to prove, but looked capable last night). With depth comes options for Hynes. If Trenin and BJ can hold strong at 3C and 4C, I think we can survive until the calvary returns. Oh yeah, solid goaltending is a must.

The Oilers had a lot of top 10 draft picks and even top 5 picks that ended up being draft busts. Year after year they had High picks and flopped. They got lucky with McDavid and Draisaitl. The Sabres also have a lot of experience with drafting high and going nowhere. Assuming the Wild owner was willing to go the rebuild route, would you trust the Wild front office to draft and develope that #1 pick?

That was me. I am psyched about Yurov. He looks like Selke material. It's just rare for us to have a rookie hit the ground running and Yurov is doing exactly that. I like his game... it's disciplined and he has great instincts for puck control in the Ozone. He shows little flashes of skill and is confident but still reserved. I think there is a lot more in the tank with Yurov. I don't know if he will mesh well with KK and Zucc. It will be interesting to watch tonight. I thought he was great with Folino and Trenin. I'm also psyched about Zeev. Makar comparisons with Zeev are as outrageous as Barkov comparisons with Yurov I guess so call me guilty. Zeev's game is evolving game by game. He has toned it down (maybe too much) and is playing more balanced. His D game is also getting better. I really like him on PP1 and maybe work him into OT slowly. His decisions on the blue line are starting to look less frantic and loose game by game. He is engaging in the O zone at times and blowing me away with his talent, but hasn't developed the vision yet to be that playmaker. These two rookies are worthy of getting psyched about. Wally too. I won't let MN PTSD fandom bring me down.

Most important: Foligno and Trenin are just wrecking faces. A lot of the Wild's success and energy last night was in no small part to laying into Vegas hard. This team will probably never be a track meet team. If the first part of the season is any indication, they shouldn't try. It led to them stumbling really hard. Hynes talked about "identity" a lot. Punching one of the highest scoring teams in the mouth and keeping the last 4-5 opponents to 2 goals or less is what Wild games are. Hunt for Jiricek also made a huge difference. One day, Jiricek may be better, but results never lie: Hunt is a better fit.

Anyone thinking the team is "done" already can stop. The team will not just give up on its own. What this stretch should tell us is whether or not the weird parity this season has been on is a mirage or not. Too many teams are where the Wild are (no mans land). What I hope for is seeing is some separation happens so the Wild know by the fabled Thanksgiving, "What can we we do and what "should" we do, cause those are different things Wins and OT points will work wonders. The "defeatist" will only happen if all these teams just beat the Wild to a pulp and they get nothing.

Some of you guys will never ever get it. Rossi is a very effective, silent, clever Center and getting better every season. He is a playmaker, making his line scoring without losing defensive responsibility. He is not the (expensive) hey-man, but provides solid, effective productivity. In other words: you can't buy that breed.

Always been a rossi fan. Each year he gets better and takes all the criticism and works on improving those areas of his game. He also does it without fanfare or pitching a fit, making demands. If he continues to improve and hits 70 to 80pts, I'm with CS and the others that mention the trade talks better be put to bed. But I worry about Billy and his unwillingness to change as several on this board previously pointed out. I would still like to see yurov elevated as well.

If he ends the season at 70-80 points, I think any complaints will probably get ditched in a bin. I get that people want a McDavid, MacKinnon or what not, but having Kaprizov, Rossi, (and hopefully Boldy) at those kinds of point totals will calm things down. But this again goes to the "1C vs. Top 10 scoring center" argument I've had for a couple years. Haters won't be happy unless Rossi is those players levels. Reminder that Staal had 76 one time. Rossi doing anything close should be cause for celebration when Koivu, Ek, Granlund, and Staal for a cup of coffee have been the slim center pickings.

Maybe I am the odd man out in the comments here, but I feel like our defense is getting worse. This is the second game in a row where our defenders got out muscled on the puck in our own zone multiple times a game. These led to grade A chances for the Canes and puts Gus in a bad spot. And this isn't just forecheck, I'm referring to when we clearly have possession, should clear the zone but a single forward comes in on an attack and wins the puck with authority. What gives with that?

In other news Benak had another three point game. He's at 30p in 15GP, 2nd in the OHL only to his teammate.

Buium won't learn how to defend by playing wing. He has to see real NHL moves, save them in his brain archives, and not fall for it again. Same thing for all the kids, especially The Wall. Ever since Spurgeon has taken over PP1, it looks stagnant with 5 pylons. Buium needs to be put back on that unit, they were all over the ice and had a lot of success. PP2 is now the scoring unit. Yurov is going to take a little time to get used to. He's got sneaky skill and passing and sneaky acceleration. Some of his passes look to be perfectly placed but his linemates are not ready for them. To me, that would indicate he should be with more skilled linemates.

Which is exactly why Ohgren should be playing up as well.

If he was 26 or even 28, sure, but he's not so that isn't worth it.

I like the home run idea because they just are so lacking in elite skill. They have a ton of mid-grade players. Hein's suggestion of adding two upper mid-grade is the kind of move they have been making for years, and you are supposed to be hoping your youth of Yurov or Ogie or Haight can offer that kind of play. If you trust nobody in your system to be equal or better in the near future to a 30+ year old $5 million player, then what the hell have you been doing in you drafting and development? Boldy and Kap, and pretty much Faber and Buium came ready to play in the NHL. Their farm system has done jack sh*t for the last decade to prepare anybody or they have drafted players who had low ceilings. Maybe both. And let your young guys play a bit and make a couple mistakes before total banishment. It is REALLY frustrating to watch playoff highlights of other teams that all seem to have our former players playing well in the playoffs.

I’d vote for playing the kids and letting them learn this year alongside the journeyman and chalking up this season to learning. The kids are Zibo, jiri, yurov, ogz, Haight, Lambos and bankier. This would be a more fun season for this fan to watch and more productive in terms of wild future development than sliding sideways for 70 more games watching Nojo do button hooks at the blue line and Sanko looking lost and tired.

I think last year’s hot out of the gate wild was more mirage than trend. Let’s remember they were coming off their first season with hi NZ and they miss the playoffs so when they started the season last year after a full Heinze’s first full camp, they were stinging with embarrassment of missing the playoffs so we were getting peak journeyman core at the beginning of last season, they squeaked into the playoffs and the rest of history I think what we’re seeing this season is more trend than Mirage. The journeyman are all one year older slower, less motivated and that’s what we’re watching now.

Not to take anything away from the goalies as they deserve all the praise they are getting, but I really like how our defense has changed since the beginning of the season. We are no longer turning the puck over in our defensive zone. Single attackers have not muscled us off the puck in our own zone in several games. We have not allowed more than a few high-danger chances per game in this winning stretch. Makes the goalies job much easier. If we can keep this up, it should be an interested remainder of the season.

Zeev doesn't look as comfortable with Bogo as he did with Hunt. That isn't a knock on Bogo either. I thought he played pretty well.

Both goalies have played some great hockey in November. The Wall seems to be seeing the puck through people right now. Amazing play. A shout out to the team D-zone structure as well. The whole team seems to have bought into a style that limits high danger chances even when prolonged time in our own zone. The Jets owned us in the first period but only got a couple high danger chances because of the structure. We are doing something right that is frustrating opposing teams.

Plan the fuckin’ parade already, ya doomer’s

Goalie voodoo, good defense, and timely puck luck (two stick lunges and a crossbar) are in the Wild's favor right now. They win not by overpowering opponents, but screwing with the opponent "just enough" to get the right goals when you least expect them. Winnipeg "deserved" to win, until they didn't't funny how games work.

Now after 100 stories about Rossi trades we start over again and do the same with Yurov ? This team does have a shortage of centers so what exactly is the point ?

So far after 20 games, this has been a tale of two 10 game seasons. Penalty kill: First ten games: 14/23, 60.9%, 31st, Last ten games: 19/23, 82.6%, 13th +/-: First ten games: 28-39, -11 Last ten games: 28-22, +6, tied for 8th Points: First ten games: 8 points, 29th Last ten games: 14 points, tied for 5th Guess it depends how you look at it, but I tend to think we are closer to the team of the last ten games than the first ten games. Not sure if we can match the .7% points percentage for the rest of the season that we have the last ten games, (that would have us finish with 109 points), but somewhere between .62%-.65% would give us between 99-103 points at the end of the year.

Hunt has really stabilized the D pairings and seems to work well with Buium. Spurgeon and Mids are back to being comfortable. I would not say that Brodin is back to being Brodin. But even a lesser version of himself is still an adequate top 4 player. Faber has looked good. Box outs and goal side play by all 5 players on the ice is working. I'm not seeing the shots coming from the slot anymore. I would still get Jiricek on the ice. He is a part of that future core. As well as Hunt is playing I don't think he comes out of the lineup either. Perhaps a 50/50 game split between Mids/Jiricek would be the way to go. No wag BG does this though. We are getting points. He won't change it while that is happening.

Just a little context: Currently the Oilers (-9 goal differential) are neck in neck with the Sharks and the Ducks lead the Pacific Division. The Panthers have one points more than the Islanders. The Capitals are dead last in the Metro division. I haven't been excited by MN's (-8 goal differential) start this year by any means but I'm betting there are some fans of other powerhouse teams that aren't exactly thrilled either. It's been a weird season.

I would settle for 60 minutes of playing hockey the right way. We seem to take off entire periods and our feet look sluggish at times.

This will haunt my dreams

Old man feebly yells at sky. Looks to bring in another 35yr old reclamation project instead of developing player. Water is wet. Welcome to OCL and GMBG's vision of full seats on another first round exit.

BOO!!! Rossi only needs to outlast Silly G. in the organization... hopefully that happens!

Mostly because he gave the appearance of just mailing it in shift after shift and plays well when he is on an expiring deal.

Smart move would be to parlay top D prospect Zeev (future potential ) for top 5 player Pasta(proven result) - that aligns us for peak years for Boldy Ek Kap and Pasta, you’d likely loose Rossi, Ohgren or Yurov and Zeev and a pick - but you can go for it all in the next 5-7 years - I don’t think it’s too bad of an outcome for either team (fair blockbuster) I bet there’ll be takers to join Wild on the cheap too next year (Panarin perhaps) reality - Bill will ship Rossi for Buravskiy or some other crap

What a horrible return for one of the few pieces that's actually working out.

Haight made the team with a strong camp! Oghren going to get some playing time! A few moments later.... Jones and Pitlick up, Ohgren and Haight down. Way to let them build some confidence! Give your young guys the self esteem beatdown every chance you get to throw some nobodys into the lineup. Oh they made some mistakes did they? Maybe were not giving the right intensity? Maybe because if they blink they get sent down. Their approach to youth and inexperience is fear, the press box, and demotion at a change of wind direction. That is why we will have Nojo until 2030.

The Wild from the third period looked like high quality hockey players. The problem is they either can't or won't play to that standard all the time, or even half the time. Players like Vlad are doing it 0% of the time. The Wild would also be well served to get younger, not prop up the team with 32-33 year old replacements of 38 year olds. Just add by subtraction for now. Players you can't move: Kap, Boldy, Rossi, Buium, Faber, Wally, Gus. Players You SHOULDN'T move unless you have a slam dunk deal: Yurov, Jiricek, Ohgren (Jiricek and Ohgren are struggling, but they have years to make up ground). Everyone else, even Ek, Brodin, and Spurgeon, should be looked at as trade bait. The team is all out of sync, and I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. But 10 games in is telling me something in this team is just lost. 2-3 types of players are reading from 2-3 types of pages and are getting beaten by everyone. Pick a lane: Choose your hard like the 3rd period or choose to play somewhere else. There IS talent and drive peaking out. But getting scorched by a team with no defense tells me this "vaunted" defense first team is a mirage.

Guerin was on a game recently and said in no uncertain terms that the team gets too cute and tries too hard. On that same call, the opposing team scored. You would think a GM telling you to just go for the net and stop doing fancy shit would register sometimes. Maybe Boldy is one of the few trying that a bit more.