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Neither did Ekker. It takes time and experience.

I would guess that patient teams end up with more assets to make moves when they truly need them--the Wild winning a cup this year doesn't seem possible, so trading for a more interesting team today doesn't excite me. Teams that try to accelerate their success often fail to reach the ultimate goal when they run out of assets to make a move to put them over the top. Ohgren could be part of a trade at some point, but he has a really bright future and may end up more productive in a couple of years than guys you could trade him for right now. The Wild currently have a pipeline of prospects that could improve the team along with cap space to do so. Trading assets now for players the Wild could get in the offseason doesn't seem like the best way to maximize assets for future years. Yes, I'm always fearful of the next Hanzal deal. That deal made the team worse in both the season he was obtained and in future years. Dallas selected both Jake Oettinger and Jason Robertson with picks that occurred later than the 1st round selection the Wild traded away in that 2017 draft.

We're dinging Marco Rossi for playing well with Kaprizov, now? Isn't that what we've wanted a center to do?

"Minnesota’s young talent is being blocked out by guys who don’t deserve to be ahead of them on the depth chart. " I wonder if people writing these articles will ever get tired of this. None of the players worth giving roster spots to were available last year (and this year either, in Yurov's case). I'm not pining for the return of Adam Beckman and Sammy Walker, if it's all the same to everyone else. For all the shit Johansson gets, he can at least score goals once in a blue moon. Just because Guerin decided the team should make 1-2 rookies per year a priority instead of just letting 4-5 on all at once, that doesn't mean anyone is blocking them. Rossi/Faber jumped the line in last year; Addison, Walker, Beckman...not so much Ohgren and Khusnutdinov (and Heidt) get their chance Next year "should" be Yurov and Wallstedt. Could we give the whole "blocking players" line a rest please?

Serviceable veterans on moderate contracts are easy to move. This is mostly fear mongering. The only way it becomes a "problem" is if ALL of the prospects develop into NHL players. Great problem to have and the same could be said about every NHL club. Am I a fan of the extensions? No. Do they block prospects. Also no.

Collectively, the Wild also had about 195 games from the group of Lettieri, Duhaime, Lucchini, Shaw, Beckman, Petan, Khaira, Raska, and Sammy Walker. That collection of guys combined for 12 goals on the season, with 5 from Lettieri, 4 from Duhaime, 2 from Lucchini, and 1 from Shaw. Khusnutdinov and Ohgren combined for 2 goals in 20 games, and hopefully can build upon that to significantly outpace those 4th line guys from the prior year. And Trenin might deliver more goals than most guys outside the top 6. The Wild definitely need to score more this season, and defend better. We'll see how good Hynes is this year. If Gaudreau only reaches 12 goals in regulation/OT, but rediscovers his shootout touch, that could still impact the standings points as well. The Wild were not strong in shootouts, nor penalty shots, last year.

Brad Marchand 5' 9" and 176 pounds Year 2 stats. 20 goals, 21 assists Marco Rossi 5' 9" and 182 pounds Year 2 stats 21 goals, 19 assists. The Wild should be over the moon about Rossi. They have never had a player of this caliber at this age at the center position. Give him decent linemates to play with consistently and his stats will only get better.

Trade a #9 overall pick who's scored 21 goals, has good attitude, is cheap and plays center FOR A disgruntled AHL defensemen who cannot crack the vaunted CBJ lineup after we spent a ton of draft capital on d-men last three years. If this happens I'll buy a Nojo jersey and then punch myself in the face until my arm is too tired to punch anymore. Good grief let's change the "Wild want to trade Rossi record".

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.

So, the Wild are playing well. Even as of late they are still pretty good. Everyone has a feeling that the team is terrible right now. Here is their monthly records for the year. February 2-2, January 8-6, December 7-7, November 10-5, October 8-3, September 2-2, they have also gotten 4 points in 4 loses. The team has not been bellow .500 in any month of the season. It is doubtful that they will finish below .500 in any month the rest of the season. Calgary is 10 points behind the Wild and has 26 games left, Minnesota has 25 left. If the Wild play .500 the rest of the way out Calgary would have to get 35 points in 26 games. That is a .626 win percentage, at two thirds of the season Calgary has a .524 win percentage. As far as missing the playoffs it is going to be hard for this team to miss the playoffs. As for what they will do once they get into the playoffs we don't know. It is assumed that when everyone gets back and plays a few games before the playoffs they will be a pretty tough out. But we don't know and that is why they play the games. Hopefully the 4 Nations will wake Boldy up and he can start scoring again.

He's a crusty old veteran who hits like a rock but doesn't skate or shoot very well. Nobody stands in front of the net with this guy...at either end. His crosscheck is lethal and his right hook is a knock out blow!

What Happened To the Wild's Offense? It has a lower body injury...

Don't look now but Charlie may be finding his groove. Wouldn't that be nice... The Wild prospect pool is looking pretty good again to go along with a team that's outperforming expectations yet again despite a myriad of injuries yet again. Go Wild!! Stramel is finding the net and his teammates, may just be the big man's skates and IQ are catching up with his body. Buium is making a historic run for Consecutive 50 point seasons for a college Dman which has not been done for 2 1/2 decades. Yurov (who likely has been getting his minutes cut to develop youngsters who will replace him) should be a top 6 forward sooner rather than later. Ang Ogzie has looked good in his recent stint at IA and with the Wild. The future looks bright, don't blow it up BG. And for those saying the Wild need to get bigger well thats in the pipeline and looking like it could happen soon with the Oger and Charlie...

I don’t get this either. I’m in the camp that we let bygones be bygones. Giving up assets to get him back after losing him once already (with no compensation) feels like we’re paying for Tuch twice.

To be fair, most teams are not well prepared for the loss of their top d man and their top center at the same time.

Johansson got Boldy crushed along the boards with a poor passing decision in game 2 last year(a game Boldy scored his 1st goal of the season), prompting Boldy to leave the game and miss a few weeks. He almost certainly came back before he was fully healed from his upper body injury. Boldy did pick up 6 assists in the 10 games after he came back from injury, but he didn't score his 2nd goal of the season until November 28th. At that point, he started scoring at roughly a point per game pace, accumulating 28 goals in his final 63 games--a 35+ goal pace per 80 games. If Boldy can stay healthy this season, he has a shot at surpassing 80 points.

I wouldn’t say MN refused to make a place for Jack McBain. College guys can do that. I really can’t blame a guy for taking an offer in ARI and getting straight into the NHL. Kinda screwed the Wild but if I were in his shoes, would it be a smart career move to join a better club with a GM who wants young guys to really earn it? The Wild are in a good position. Here’s why. This season will give the players and organization fair time to succeed on the ice and in assessing the situation. By Christmas and especially the deadline, MN will know what they’ve got at the NHL level. Rossi, Ogie, and Knudi will all have had the opportunity to show up. Lauko, Clarke, Walker, Fred, NoJo, Gus, Wallstedt will get a chance to prove what’s up. At that point in the big picture, Guerin will be in a nice position. There’s assets and value to work with in a playoff/non-playoff scenario. I believe MN will at that point see the future clearer with Yurov or Wallstedt sending a strong message. Guerin can at that point make a decision about where to allocate AAV and what the team needs most. At that point a salary dump sending a veteran before playoffs or a prospect and pick going to add a complimentary player won’t be difficult. Maybe even a big-splasher if MN moved Spurge or Knudi/Rossi to get bigger/heavier? I think that’s what’s gonna happen around the times we see Buium, Heidt, Lorenz, Stramel, etc. and where they’d fit long-term. Other questions about Boeser staying in Vancouver or not and is Trent Frederic staying in Boston? Pius Suter will be a free agent again. Verhaeghe, Jeannot, Kolesar, Raddysh, Vatrano, there’s gonna be more UFA options if MN holds onto prospects and picks. Of course Raantennen, Draisaitl, Crosby will be UFAs too but not likely for MN. Not too shabby IMO. Lot of doom’n is just unnecessary.

Carter is talking out of his ass. If you want Rossi to be a playmaker, then don't center him on a line with guys who skate around the perimeter and turnover the puck trying to be playmakers.

Great article and I'm in the keep Rossi camp. I assume Guerin's logic in moving Rossi+ is to acquire a linemate for #97, to incent 97 to stay with the Wild. This is the only logic i can think of that makes sense to me. If the return for a package including Rossi is to get a 26 year old studly linemate to keep 97 around I'm on board. If the return is multiple prospects, FAIL If the return is a 30 something formerly studly fwd + some spare parts, FAIL If the return is a 1 for 1 trade, FAIL (because what we'd get back is a young player with hockey upside, but attitude downside) #don'tbedumbbill

Hey look, a young player in a position of historical team weakness who looks like he wants to get better. TRADE HIM NOW *said no one but the Wild and its media I guess*

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.

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.

Like Goolash or Mashed Taters & Roast Beef. I couldn't agree more. Like an overcooked noodle, NoJo never even nudges anyone off the puck. He's so soft, pillow-merchant Mike Lindell asked if he could add essence of neck beard to his line of Egyptian cotton sheets. Soft Rock also called and asked GMBG if they could trade Rod Stewart for NoJo, to boost their mushiness-levels. Stick-Droppers Inc. offered NoJo a CEO position after this season, but a competing offers from Barrel-Breezers R-Us, and Water-Ski Backcheckers of Scandanavia are on the table. I'm hoping he finds a role with Chicken-Wing Concussion Collectards Consulting. Anything but the Wild though, honestly. 😊

The Athletic just released an article on Buium too, kind of centered around that lingering question of how long he might be at Denver. Wild comments: Denver Coach comments: Athletic writer comments:

Guerin should be fired. 😁

Teams aren't afraid of the Wild because they don't "beat people up." That's Tony's point of the article. You want to make teams pay? Make them reticent to pull off stupid shit by having a better offense or a killer defense (or both) to frustrate them. Make them think, "oh shit. If we go down a man, we lose to this guy, this guy, this guy, or even THAT guy." The Wild have a glaring hole in the Top 6 already with Johansson. That'll rectify itself with a trade if he wants to leave, which is unlikely, or waiting for the off season to roll off. Yurov can't come until next year (probably). Getting Tuch or Nelson or Boeser, or any of those solutions can't be figured out easily without losing something the Wild need: structure to screw with teams heads and the firepower to make them pay for mistakes. Injuries screw up whatever structure the team had to play competitive and smart to overcome the offensive deficiency this year. If you want Rossi or Boldy gone, do it after the season. Making a seachange of that magnitude with an injury ravaged mess and throwing out whatever good offensive or defensive players we have to do it makes things even worse. Teams don't just swap players with ease. It's not a video game. My main issue is trying to salvage a season that is already on leaky waters as is with no money to fix the problem. Doing thing during draft time would make way more sense. If you want to get rid of Rossi for someone else, do it after you have evidence that he was the one sole reason the team failed. The team has way more issues than one player swap.

Since I'm not sure everyone will go to the older thread where I posted this a little earlier, I'm posting it again here. Russo confirms the plan is for Ohgren on line #2, and a Faber return Saturday! 1. Boldy-Rossi-Zuccarello 2. Ohgren-Eriksson Ek-Hartman 3. Foligno-Gaudreau-Trenin 4. Shore-Khusnutdinov-Lauko Gaunce 1. Middleton-Faber 2. Chisholm-Bogosian 3. Merrill-Jiricek Dermott

The Wild need to get a 2nd line scorer to HELP Boldy, not to send him out and find a replacement...

I think the best part of getting him is that, for us, he doesn't HAVE to be that smooth skating defenseman who can keep up with a Connor McDavid or a Connor Bedard like he did for Columbus. We have those players already. What we don't really have is a blueline bomber since we shipped out Addison for being bad at defense. So, for now, Jiricek can focus on the positive aspects of his game while continuing to work on the weaknesses behind the scenes and, hopefully, during the offseason. Honestly reading about his struggles at the NHL level reminds me a LOT of what Marco Rossi went through. And he's turned out pretty okay with a little more experience so far...

We've seen the difference between AHL speed and NHL speed. However, you can counterract that in ways. Trenin and Foligno aren't fast guys, but they are defensively sound and hit people. Rossi isn't the fastest center, but always seems to have a knack for clutch points. I don't think anyone is expecting a Brodin, Spurgeon, Faber, or Buium smooth skater. They are giving Jiricek a chance to be "different." If he disrupts and plays fearlessly, that can be an ice tilting player. Those reports tell me he isn't all offense. It's just a part he can play. If he has the willingness to use his strengths and hide his weaknesses, he could be a Middleton type, but even younger. No one accuses Middleton of being the strongest skater or defensive wizard, but look at this guy this year. He has his place next to a more defense oriented guy and doesn't shit the bed unlike last year. Jiricek has the size and apparent confidence to be a game changer. Unless he's Ryan Reaves slow, he should get a leash.

Interesting how nearly every early scout on this guy had skating as a strength. Now it's not? I have only seen the available clips and can't really guage it, but it's not sticking out as a glaring issue. I am excited for the transaction. The Wild need someone who likes to punish on the ice. Plus, that hammer of a shot. Get Mr. Ness to work.

Nice article, nice move. I'd been itching for news since about 3pm this afternoon. The return? It had to be done! This was a win that Guerin needed. The time was absolutely right. I'd like to see him get a few practices in, assess him, and send him down to Iowa to work on some stuff. He'll have a friendly face down there in Spacek. My hope now is that Andy Ness dusts off his magic wand and applies it to Jiricek. Jiricek must familiarize himself with our system, with our checks, with our pinches, and with his new teammates. I suspect he will be just fine! On the other side, Waddell got what he could. My suspicion is that he didn't like the prospects being offered and went for draft picks instead. It's not his fault any of this happened, previous management really screwed this kid up. For Jiricek, pinned on his jersey as he heads to Iowa should be the instructions: Play this man 22+ minutes a night, all situations. Personally, I'd like to have him teamed with Lambos on the #1 pairing. He's got some things to work on that only heavy minutes will produce. Call him up whenever Spurgy needs some maintenance time. As for our fanbase, we've got to be patient with him. Just put it in your expectation bucket that there will be mistakes, particularly on the defensive side. Cheer for him anyway. If he fills in for Spurgy, he'll have Brodin as a partner, a very calming influence. Please remember he's just turning 21. I like the future right side of Faber-Jiricek-Spacek. This was a very nice move. Where else are you going to find a player for a 1st rounder in the 20s? That guy is going to take 5 more years to develop and the same with the subsequent picks. More importantly to us, this signals that Shooter has changed course. The flags are blowing and they read "We are now in NOW mode." This is who we're running with. Now we've just got to get them developed.

It also helps that the start of the season isn't bogged down by Addison, Merrill, Mermis, and Goligoski. Instead, you get Spurgeon back with Middleton, Bogo, Chisholm, and Faber one year older. I'd like to think many of Gus (and Fleury's) problems were a result of the defense being a mess last year. They played better when Bogo and Chisholm were added, but you can't tell me Brodin/Faber and Middleton/Spurgeon doesn't settle things down quite a bit. If Spurgeon gets anywhere close to his former self, you really only have Merrill at #7 that's "kinda" weak. There's no excuse for Gus and Fleury to improve from 55-60 in both major categories. You'd also assume Wallstedt would not surrender 7 to a Dallas team if the D is on their game. This is a chance for a refresh for a lot of people on the team. If the defense plays the way they always do, the goaltending trio has no one else to blame if they falter.

I think there's this notion that the Wild NEED one of these forwards to be Kaprizov 2.0. I mean, that would be nice, but the reality is, what they need is someone, if not all of them, to be at or better than the 50-60 pt. getters. A Hartman/Zuccarello type. If you told me Yurov or Rossi or whatever became a 60-80 pt. player like Ek or Boldy, I'd be ecstatic. - There were less than 20 players who scored 40+ goals last season, 20-25, who scored 35+, and less than 50 who scored 30; many of those at 30 were bunched up together AT 30. - Less than 10 players got to 100+ points, less than 20 who hit 90, less than 30 who hit 80, and the Top 50 players top out at 70 pts. *Note: these are all NHL players, not just forwards. Players plural. That probably makes the forwards list even smaller, when you consider the tip top defenseman like Makar probably dot the list. I checked again, and 7 defenseman had 70+ points* I think the people at the tippy top and the very bottom skew what the reality is. Even getting 50 pts and being a Hartman or Zuccarello is fucking hard. Yurov getting to that and more would be nice. Kaprizov level would be a bonus.

In the past three seasons with mostly the same group, last year was the worst without Spurgeon and with okay goaltending. The Wild now have important core players signed with many young guys poised to be better. Faber, Chisholm, Boldy, and Ogie primarily but Wallstedt is there too with Buium who can play in big games. So I'm not too worried the Wild have Foligno or Fred for an extra year or million. I like Lauko and Trenin. For me, the Wild look pretty good.

Good Article. A big thank you to Shaw as well for his time in MN. Was fun watching him play. Good luck Shaw.

If he blocks a shot or strips a puck from an opposing player, he'll already be better than Addison.

A-plus, working on my long reaction for tomorrow AM.

We could use that as a rule for any prospect that's been in Iowa over one year. If you cannot beat out Fred Evason for a spot in lineup, that player is not an NHL prospect

They'd have to trade down to get locked out of a great prospect. I'd say the list of guys the Wild would pick that would get an automatic, "Great pick, no notes, let's go" grade for me are: Celebrini (obv not happening) Buium Catton Demidov Dickinson Eiserman Helenius Iginla Levshunov Lindstrom Parekh Silyayev Yakemchuk I could talk myself into a few more players at 13, but there are more no-brainer types than there are spots ahead of the Wild.

What I don't get about that is -- Remember when Boldy and Ek + Kap made the best line in hockey? Just do that, win, and shouldn't that be all you need to attract Kaprizov?

What Would It Mean For the Wild If They End Up With Two Calder Finalists? It would mean a lot of articles/comments about trading them for bigger players that are bottom 6 quality.

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.

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.

He had 5 shot attempts, and played the most minutes of any forward on team USA. Only thing I saw was he, like some other players, tried to make the extra pass on two occasions when he probably could have taken the shot. Just because you do not show up on the score sheet does not mean you shrunk in the big game.

There are only 3 defensemen in all of the NCAA that are above 1.0 in points per game this season and Buium leads them all at 1.231(tied for 12th among all NCAA skaters). While he might be considered an offensive defenseman, he is definitely a 2-way player. His coach uses him to shut down top players on the other team and he played at least 29 minutes in both games they played in the frozen 4 last year.