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BUT WHAT ARE WE GOING TO ARGUE ABOUT IN THE COMMENTS NOW?!

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.

The first month may be a bit difficult with 4 rookies (Yurov, Ohgren, Buium and Jiricek). But if we give them the minutes to learn it should pay long term dividends. Play them. We don't make it in the playoffs without them getting better.

All I've gotta say is if they trade him they better WIN the GD trade! No WTF did he do now, or well, that's an even trade, he needs to hands down win it. Rossi's gonna be good and depending where he goes he easily could be top 6 on a SC champion team. There are plenty of small top 6 guys with their names written on the Cup. and Rossi def has the talent to be one of them. I'd say a 20 point increase in production from your first to second season is a nice sign that things are clicking for you. Especially when you have to play throughout the lineup.

Neither did Ekker. It takes time and experience.

I know it’s a small sample size but MR scored both of his playoff goals sitting right out in front of the net. If he gets traded it better be for a BIG difference maker. Marco has a ton of upside.

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.

I know many think we will trade him. Others say he isn’t built for the playoffs because of his size. In reality, we have no idea if he can play in the playoffs. He has played one game and 12 minutes. I don’t think playing on the 4th line tonight will help. I am not saying Rossi is as good as the following players, but he is 23 and has room to grow. So those who say he can’t be a playoff performer because of his size think the following players are not either? Brad Marchand: 5’9 180 pounds Patrick Kane: 5’10 175 pounds Brayden Point: 5’10 183 Johnny Gaudreau: (RIP) 5’9 165 Jonathan Marchessault: 5’9 180

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?

An article that warms the heart of Minnfaninnc.

Just sign the guy and be done with this stupid saga. The Sabres did the Wild a favor, and getting rid of Gaudreau opened up some cash to sign both Rossi AND Boeser/Ehlers. None of this stops Yurov or Ohgren from making the team next year. If Yurov outplays Rossi after that, fine. This really shouldn't have been so hard. Due diligence is fine, but Kap, Rossi, Top 6 wing, fucking done...overthinking is right.

If we trade Rossi for another young D-man I'm done trying to understand bill's long-term plan and will determine that there is no plan

In what world does a defensively responsible 60 point CENTER have less value than a defensively average 60 point WING? I swear BG has created a legion of bobblehead fans that will swallow ANYTHING he claims. Rossi is TWO!!!!! pound lighter than Peterka! This entire article is INSANE!

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.

Don't fall for this again. Get as many free spots as possible for Yurov, free agents, and other callups.

Tom, Great article! Full of insight's, new perspectives (for me) and hot takes. This quote is why I’m not a fan of thin skin bill: “This might sound harsh,” he said, “but if you’re betting on yourself with 15 million dollars in your pocket, that’s a pretty good safety net. bill, just shut the fuck up sometimes. Drag Rossi thru the mud for 6 months, win the signing in terms of AAV and term, and then spit in Rossi’s face. What do you think this accomplishes? Answer: it only further poison’s the well with a potential young star. Just too stupid for words

A clap bomb from the point that entirely missed the net? By god, sounds like he's prepped to fill that Dumba55 size hole in my heart!!!

To be fair, Buium has never played a regular season NHL game and doesn't turn 20 until December. Nobody should be expecting Makar, but if he can be somewhat average on defense and deliver above average minutes coordinating the power play, that could go a long way. Not overly important, but Buium is also pretty young for having played 2 college seasons already. Makar, for example, was a full year older when he finished his 2nd college season and debuted in the playoffs for the Avalanche(averaging 17:22 TOI in that first playoffs fresh out of college). Makar has played 6 NHL regular seasons(7 playoff seasons) and turns 27 in October. Buium will have his first NHL training camp and have time to acclimate to the system this time around. I have high expectations for Buium, but I don't expect him to meet all of them in the upcoming season. He'll almost certainly make numerous mistakes in 2025-2026, but his overall play will hopefully be at a level that the Wild can live with them as long as he's learning and growing from them, developing knowledge and habits that will reduce future mistakes. I mean, you generally don't become the most trusted defenseman in your age group, garnering the most ice time from multiple coaches while vying for NCAA titles and world junior championships if you keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

Hopefully Sturm is the floor. As a 1st round pick, I would hope for another JEEK or Anton Lundell as a ceiling.

I can report some quotes from Marco Rossi he gave in an interview to the biggest Austrian newspaper 1 week ago. After holiday he resumed conditioning training with his personal coach at his home in Austria. "It's really challenging, exactly what I need. I can see the progress. The goal is to train even harder then before. I want to score at least 60 points again and prove myself. I don't even want to know too much about the talks my agent has. I just focus on strengthening".

So, what top 6 center, or real scoring winger was available? No legitimate top 6 centers were available, Boeser was offered his contract before free agency opened, and Ehlers wants to play in a warmer climate. Also, even if Rossi were to sign a one-year deal, he would still be a RFA next year with us still controlling his rights.

The longer this Rossi thing continues, the increased likelihood of BG fubar-ing this thing up.

-2 on the whole year isn't horrible, especially if there was a run of injuries that affected things. When Faber was merely eating minutes, to get us through games, that was useful too. Personally, I felt that the 4 nations tournament was too much for Faber with his responsibilities on the team. I thought he came back looking drained, more so than Boldy did. I do think Buium will help, but I still see a logjam at the position. I'd really like to see a Jiricek-Brodin pairing, and a Buium-Spurgeon pairing. That leaves Middleton-Faber as a pairing that has been successful in the past. I think with those pairings, you could probably just role the pairings and give them pretty much equal time. This will help Faber with his minutes and probably give him more in the tank as the season goes on. There is also the possibility Faber simply went through a sophomore slump and will be better next season. Remember, in '24, Midsy had a pretty bad +/-, but he rebounded this season.

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.

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.

No, if the Wild trade Rossi, it will be a for an established goal scoring forward, not a minor league defenseman.

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.

Foli-Rossi-Boldy might be a good #2 line for the playoffs.

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.

Here is every Wild fan's house this season...

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.

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.